NAM 8

 Performing forces and their handling  Texture  Structure  Tonality  Harmony  Word-setting and Melody  Rhythm and Metre

 Small scale sacred choral piece  “Motets” – a genre of music that can be defined as a sacred polyphonic composition with Latin text, with or without an instrumental accompaniment  Sources of Latin text would feature in “proper” of the Roman Catholic liturgy  In Locus iste, Bruckner was setting the words of the Gradual in a Mass for the Dedication of a Church, the Gradual being the section which preceded the reading of the Gospel.

 Austrian composer  (Romantic Period)  This piece was first performed in 1869 after Bruckner had moved to Vienna. First performance took place in Linz Cathedral at a service to dedicate a chapel within the building.  Romantic musical features =  Rich harmonic language  Polyphonic/homophonic texture (depending on the piece)  Dissonance  Unprepared modulations  Expressive dynamics

 Analyse the score…  What range of voices are singing?  Male/female?  Dynamics?  SATB  All male – the Cathedral Choir at Linz at that time would have been all male, with boys singing soprano and alto.  Carefully marked, ranging from ff (bars 17-20) to pp (bars and 44-48)

 The motet is mainly in a four-part chordal (homophonic) texture, but what do you notice about the following:  The bass part?.....  The bass part often leads in ahead of the other voices, eg in bar 2. Where does this happen again?  In bars 12 and 16, the bass part begins the next phrase ahead of the other voices, leading to a loosely imitative effect in the soprano when the other three voices enter a bar later.  What happens In the middle section (bars 21-29)?  The texture is reduced to three parts, the basses being silent.  Which part leads?  In this passage, the tenor parts leads, with soprano and alto entering a bar later.  What is similar between the tenor part and the soprano and alto part at this point?  S and A are imitating the rhythmic pattern of the tenor part but not the melodic line.  From bar 26, the three parts move in a more homophonic texture as they approach the cadence in bar 29 and the recapitulation in bar 30 (will go into more detail later)

 Summarised as Ternary A B A1  Bars 1-20 Section A (consisting of two subsidiary sections)  1-12 Locus iste a Deo factus est (This place was made by God.)  Two closely related four-bar phrases, the second a modified repeat of the first, followed by a further four bars (1 + 3 bars), ending with an imperfect cadence.  What is an imperfect cadence?  I-V  inaestimabile sacramentum (a priceless mystery)  Two four-bar phrases, the first ending with a Phrygian cadence in D minor, and the second a sequential repetition of the first, finishing with a Phrygian cadence in E minor.  What is a Phrygian cadence?  A type of imperfect cadence in a minor key… ivb-V

 Bars Section B: irreprehensibilis est (It is without reproof.)  Differentiated by absence of bass, this is initially a series of two bar phrases in descending sequence, started by tenor and answered by soprano and alto.  The final four bars lead to imperfect cadence in C, preparing for return of Section A.

 Bars Section A (adapted)  Words as in bars 1-12  exactly as 1-10  bar phrase, melismatic, more chromatic setting of the word Deo  43 silent bar  bar phrase with slower-moving harmony and final perfect cadence.

 The basic tonality of the piece is C major but there are several modulations that we need to work out…  How do you work out modulations?

 In case of a major key, find the subdominant (IV) and dominant (V) chords, their relative minor keys and the relative minor key of the main key: Do this exercise starting in D, A, Eb and Db

 In case of a minor key, find the subdominant (IV) and dominant (V) chords, their relative major keys and the relative major key of the main key: Do this exercise for Dm, Cm, Bm and Fm

 What is the key of Bars 5-6?  G major  What key does it return to at bar 7?  C, with the F natural in the bass  Key in bars 15-16?  D minor (uses a phrygian cadence to modulate)  Bars 19–20?  E minor (uses a phrygian cadence to modulate)  What is a phrygian cadence?  Bars Rapidly changing tonal scheme with much chromatic movement:  E minor (bar 22)  D minor (bar 24)  Stabilises on dominant of C (imperfect cadence in bar 29)  Bars 34-35?  G major (as bars 5-6)

 The style of harmony is basically functional, with clearly defined perfect and imperfect cadences. Other features include:  The use of appoggiaturas and suspensions in a classical manner, with appropriate resolution, e.g. the appoggiatura at bar 4 in the soprano and the suspension at bar 40 (beat 1) in the alto.  The use of chromaticism – 23 (alto and tenor descending a semitone)  Diminished seventh chords vii7 at bar 40 (beat 4) and bar 41 (beat 4)

An appoggiatura is a note that does not relate to the harmony (chord) but then resolves by step to a harmony note. Appoggiaturas were often written out like this. This has become less and less common.

A note that is prepared (by being part of the previous chord) which is held over a new chord which then resolves into this new harmony.

In minor key signatures: An interval of a diminished 7 th between the root and the upper note of the chord Easy to form a diminished 7 th chord as each note is a minor 3 rd higher than the previous one So, in the key of D minor, it would be C# E G Bb In major key signatures: Two minor 3rds plus a major 3 rd (the 7 th note you are adding is therefor a minor 7 th, not a diminished 7 th ) So, in the key of D major, it would be C# E G B This is also known as a half diminished 7 th chord (as the 5 th is still diminished, but the 7 th isn’t)

 Syllabic setting, except for the melismatic section bars  The melodic writing is mainly diatonic with regular phrase construction. Notice the following features:  Descending step-wise line at opening  Modified sequential repeat at bar 5, with the second note repeated rather than continuing down the scale  Rising sequential repetition in bars  Descending sequential repetition in bars 21-25

 The piece is in simple quadruple time throughout. The rhythmic patterns are to a large extent dictated by the word-setting, in which Bruckner displays great sensitivity to the natural stresses of the Latin text. He does this by having the stronger syllables on the stronger beats of the bar, of course, but also by using longer notes at these points, eg the first syllables of ‘locus’ and ‘factus’.  The two longer words in the text, ‘inaestimabile’ and ‘irreprehensibilis’, are both set to patterns of steady crotchets with a dotted rhythm in each case to break the regularity.  The middle section (21-29) and the final section, particularly, both end with a phrase that has longer notes than the general movement of the preceding bars.  At the end of the piece, longer notes occur in the final phrase,

 What is the total range of the soprano part? The bass part?  Compare the soprano parts in bars and What technical device does Bruckner use here?  To what extent is imitation used in this motet?  Which features of this piece do you feel make it appropriate for use as church music?