Music Analysis Bach Suite No. 3 in D Major Gavotte Essay

This composition consists of three movements of which we will further examine movement II, Adagio Cantabile. This movement is placed in high contrast with the other two, particularly in tempo.

The connection between the second and third section is that it goes from fighting for freedom to finally having it. In this last section, we can see the

This section concludes with a run or lowering pitch and a repeat of open notes of the E Major open chord created by the capo:

The poem is formed of eight stanzas, each one is six lines long except for the fifth stanza which is an octet. The stanzas are formed of sets of three rhyming couplets in the

Throughout section A there is a consistent IV-I chord progression. These are aligned with each phrase and through the use of plagal cadence it makes each phrase seem resolved before moving onto the next.

sunrise theme of the development which is ‘y-y-x’ then ‘x-x-x-x’) and the fact the second melodic phrase of the sunrise theme is one bar longer. The development then continues again similarly to

Broadly speaking, the first movement can be divided in to three pieces, each beginning with a version of what I have denoted A_0, the introduction to the piece inwhich motifs float around in a constant void, gaining energy, and morphing into musicalthemes. If we were to impose the sonata structure onto the piece, we would say that the three pieces are the exposition, development, and recapitulation. The exposition introduces two large thematic blocks separated by a transition that

Just so you know before hand, the lyrics to the music came from the CD with trademark of Delta Music Inc. The movement opens agitatedly as the orchestra picks up fragments of one theme after another from the previous three movements, as if seeking a satisfactory vehicle for its expression; but each is discarded in turn. The first seven notes of the main theme to come are tentatively uttered, but it too is abandoned as the search continues. Once again the theme begins, this time in the woodwinds, but it soon breaks off. Finally, the theme emerges decisively in the basses for a subdued first statement. The second statement is calm, tranquil, confident, and the theme continues onward in the various voices of the orchestra, broad and flowing. The winds make a strong statement of the theme. The flow of the music abruptly halts--there are rapid shifts--great agitation, until the orchestra introduces the baritone singing the first three lines of the poem, rejecting the feverish discords of the previous passage, calling for a different music, whose nature is suggested by the strings beneath his voice:

The exposition is finally completed with a third closing theme. Thundering octaves of scalar G major material with a variety of applied harmonies lead us to the final PAC of the exposition. Beethoven would have surely failed his part-writing test on this last cadence on four counts of parallel fifths and two counts of parallel octaves, with doubled leading tones.

E1 Bars 52-54 (beat 2) C minor (Tonic minor of C major) Bars 54 (beat 3)-55 (beat 2) F minor (Subdominant of C minor) Bars 55 (beat 3)-56 Leading to C minor Bars 57-59 E flat major (relative major of C minor) E2 Bars 60-63 E flat major Bar 64 A hint of F minor Bar 65 A hint of G minor Bars 66-67 (beat 2) C minor E1 Bars 67 (beat 3)-69 (beat 2) C minor Bars 69 (beat 3)-70 (beat 1) F minor Bars 70 (beat 2)-71 (beat 2) C minor Bars 71 (beat 3)-72 (beat 1) F minor Bars 72 (beat 1 s)-73 C minor Bridge 1 Bars 73-76 (beat 2) Chromatic scale passage leading to A flat major A’’’ Bars 76 (beat 3)-83 A flat major Bar 83 (beats 3-4) Leading to C minor (Dominant)

simple harmonies (Fig. I) of the tonic and dominant seventh, reassuring the listeners the sense of finally returning home.

Traditionally, the transition should segue way into the second theme. However, this transition leads to another idea, which is characterized by majestic chords (mm. 17 – 18).

28 No. 15 was written during the second period. This movement (III) is in ternary form (ABA). This first A section (A1) is in binary form and consists of 70 total measures in the key of D major. It is made up of two 32-bar sections that are divided into eight 4-bar phrases, a 4-bar extension at measures 45-48, and a 2-bar cadence at the end of the section. The second A section (A2) is made up of nine 4-bar phrases. A1 consists of a repeating theme that follows the chord progression I, ii6, V7, 1 in measures 5-8 and then goes to V6, vi6, V7/V, V I in measures 13-17 and the repeats these same progressions in measures 18-32 except measure 32 ends on the V chord instead of the 1 chord. A2 continues in D with a different and less melodic theme in measures 33-49 before repeating to the main theme in measures 50-70. This section crescendos and grows in

The cello and organ provide the basso continuo, following the figured bass. The modulation in bar 10 to A major ends in a V7 - I, providing strength to the piece. This differs from Sonata pian’e forte which is in the Dorian mode with lots of root position chords (bar 1 and 2) and suspensions (bar 3). The melody is mostly stepwise and the tierce de Picarrdie in bar 4 gives a sense of balanced phrasing. This is felt again in bar 8, due to the consonant 4th. The modal harmony in bar 13 creates an imperfect cadence to mark the end of the A1 section. An interesting phrygian cadence (IVb - V) is used in bar 16 leads into a short circle of 5ths (bar 17) and then a perfect cadence in F major with a 4-3 suspension (bar 20). This ‘busy-ness’ before cadences was not uncommon, due to the very expressive works that were composed in this era.

The piece has a time signature of 4/4 (C=common time) and is primarily in Db Major, modulating to C# Minor (the enharmonic equivalent). The accompaniment (left hand) through section A is based around the tonic and dominant chords- Dᵇ and Aᵇ- with the repeated quavers being Aᵇ - the dominant. In the B section, the repeated quavers played both as singular notes and octaves are on the dominant G#, which is the enharmonic equivalent to Aᵇ and therefore is the repeated quaver as in section A.