A2 Area of Study 3b Chamber Music from Mendelssohn to Debussy

USE OF RHYTHM REVISION

General points

The nineteenth century was not noted as a particularly innovative or striking

one in terms of metre and rhythm; adventures in harmony and tonality
seemed to predominate.
Nonetheless composers certainly used rhythm to differentiate themes,
structures, and textures. Close study reveals a wealth of imagination and
technique which might otherwise go unnoticed in a post-Rite (let alone post-
Elliot Carter, metric modulation) age.

Mendelssohn: String Octet (1824), 1st movement

Syncopation in violas at start create excitement and energy
1st violins melody starts with five-quaver anacrusis, unusual and
expansive

Rhythm of melody in bar 4 changes to as it reaches

its peak: rhythm used to create sense of climax within a phrase

Subsidiary idea defined by distinctive rhythm:

Classical dualism at letter [A] between upward 16th notes and

answer. The 16th note idea is reduced at letter [C]

to potent idea
2 subject contrasted from preceding music as much as by rhythm as
nd

anything else with qtrs. and eighths, creating smooth and flowing
effect
Letter [F] sees soloistic use of 1st violin highlighted by continuous use
of 16th notes for six bars
In development section, passage beginning letter [H] takes antiphonal
rhythmic exchange from letter [A] and develops it. The quarter note

response is reduced to just three notes in homophony, a

dramatic effect, made more so bar after [J] when 1 vln enters with
st

whole notes / semibreves. The poignancy of this moment owes much

to rhythmic distinction between the solo 1st violin and the others
Lead back to recapitulation is achieved by rhythm (as well as dominant
preparation, of course). First, violas syncopated rhythm

from the start is introduced, then 16th notes, which

eventually extend to all players at bar 216, which makes a headlong
rush back to the return of the opening idea.
Schumann: Piano Quintet (1842), 1st movement

1st eight bars use very simple rhythm:

which sounds bold and assertive,

making a dramatic start to the piece
Link into 2nd subject puts emphasis on second h beat a typical
Schumannesque rhythmic displacement
Rhythmic displacement yet more apparent at start of development
section; emphatic chords such as diminished 7th and dominant minor 9th
being placed on 2nd beat
Use of diminution in development section, where bars 3 & 4 of opening 1st

subject become a typical developmental process

Schumann: Piano Quintet (1842), 2nd movement

Opening section of this movement assumes character of funeral march.

Drum-like repeated notes.

Use of rests highly significant in creating dark & foreboding atmosphere
B section (beginning letter [P]) is complete contrast, not only in key, but
in rhythm. Sustained melody in 1st violin, accompanied by triplet q s in
piano and e s in inside strings, making blurred effect of contradictory
rhythms. This idea is developed at letter [R] where piano has triplet
eighths.
Rhythm of 1st violin melody at [P] characteristically halting, with its 2nd
note extended by 2 beats. This also has the effect of prolonging the
exotic chord containing the A flat
Agitato section makes use of triplet and duplet eighths in opposition.

Brahms: Clarinet Quintet (1892), 1st & 2nd movements

6/8 metre lends fluid effect contrast with opening of Schumanns 5tet
for example
Brahms achieves rhythmic subtlety by sometimes placing chords in
metrically unstressed positions. E.g. the D major chord on the last eighth
of bar 4, and tied over
Complementary rhythm between clarinet and cello in bars 79, almost
baroque-like technique.
 Bridge passage (beginning bar 25) contains typical Brahmsian hemiola

effect with 2-eighth motif: Note that it is

not just the melodys shape which implies this cross rhythm, but also the
harmonic progression
The two-note shape is then extended to make a three-eighth unit, and
then again to make a five-eighths worth group. This irregularity is highly
characteristic of late Brahms.
Much of 1st part of development section makes extensive use of three note

cell , which is passed around instruments so that its incidence does

not coincide regularly with the 6/8 metre. E.g. letter [F] clarinet:

2nd movement
Very opening sets triplets and duplets against each other
1st violin imitates clarinet at metrically disruptive distance of 3 eighths
Another disruption occurs at letter [A] where clarinets 1st two phrases are
4 quarters long, which goes against 3/4 metre. Followed by seven qtr
phrase
Middle section of movement (Pi lento) is evocation of Gypsy Hungarian
music. Rhythm plays an important part roulades of very fast notes in
clarinet to suggest improvisatory, virtuoso quality
Accompanying string parts have great deal of tremolo alternating notes,
which come under rhythmic heading (just)

Debussy: String Quartet (1893), 1st movement

General aspect of French impressionist music is avoidance of strict

metrical patterns and a fluidity
Several instances where obvious reinforcement of 4/4 metre is avoided,
e.g. very opening where the second beat of bar 1 is emphasised both
because it is prolonged by being dotted, and because it contains more
harmonic tension than the first chord.
Use of triplet groups to lend fluidity e.g. . . . find an example!
Although bridge passage might seem active on paper, the very
continuousness of the 16th notes in the accompaniment mean that they
lack rhythmic definition.
Over that, the 1st violin goes across the metre to some extent, starting on
the second beat and being tied over barline.
Like Mendelssohn, the 2nd subject acieves contrast through rhythm
 Debussy introduces triplet quarters for 1st time in recapitulation
Use of this rhythm leads to final climactic bars where all four players play
descending eighths

Actually the second movement offers more interesting points rhythmically, but
we havent studied that!