Composing Phrase by Phrase 23

Coda Incoming...

Hello and welcome or welcome back to Composing Phrase by Phrase! We're nearing the very end of the first composition for this series. There's just two or three more phrases left to go. We're going to have a bit of a longer one this week, but only because there's a lot of repetition. Let's hop right in!

mms. 206-221

When we last left off in measure 205, the ensemble had built up to a big, climactic moment marked at triple-forte (fortississimo, for the very particular). The viola and the cello had a descending scale and they arrive at their target note, B-flat. The viola ends abruptly there while the cello continues with a break in the volume, a forte-piano marking a sudden drop in dynamic from very loud to fairly soft.

The cello then begins a repeated B-flat that is punctuated every now and then by B-flatM7 chords. Hooked slurs (a short flying spiccato at this speed, really) are used mostly to keep the bowing aligned for down bows on the chords, which are easier to perform, rather than being used as a distinct articulation. At this speed, only two notes of flying spiccato won't sound much different frorm separate spiccato bow strokes anyways.

mms. 206-213, cello

Rhythmically, I will admit this was all worked out intuitively. I didn't have a particular method or source from earlier in the piece. I suppose, if I were to revise it, I could go back to the "interruption" motifs and draw from those. I don't think it's quite necessary. Each interruption phrase was loosely conceived, regardless.

Looking at it again, I can see there's a bit of an additive process going on. In measure 207, the B-flat chord is played twice; in 208-209, three times; 211-212, four times. I wish I could say this was planned, but no. This is a Bob Ross style Happy Accident. Sometimes, you just got to trust the gut, especially when rhythm is involved.

The viola joins in at measure 210. It's part is in rhythmic unison with the cello, although it starts at an F to create a perfect fifth. It's chord punctuations are also an F major chord, rather than B-flat. Taken together, it would all technically be labelled a B-flatM7add9. Is that what the ear hears? Sure, I guess. It's more of a crunchy, percussive sound, though, and while the chord does reference the previous section in B-flat major, it's not serving any particular harmonic function.

mms. 210-213, viola and cello

From 214 to 221, we have four measures repeated twice, more or less. It starts with this little pentatonic figure in the cello. The figure is then passed to the second violin (inner voices, hype!) then back to the viola.

m.214, main motif

When the cello finishes its line, it changes to chords punctuating the meter of the passage. The B-flat from the previous part of the phrase has now resolved to an A, which is then going to set up our final approach to D at the end. Seat belt lights are now on, ding. To keep the overall density of the passage, the second violin pics up the chugging eighth note job from the cello. It progresses from the B-flat major chord to a D7-ish chord (-ish because the third is missing, but the 7th strongly implies the quality).

mms.214-217

The first violin enters at measure 218, which adds another layer of density to the passage. It confirms the D7's major quality with an F-sharp then progresses to an A minor7 with the second violin.

mms. 218-221

And... that's about it! Sometimes, a passage that has lots of notes in it doesn't actually have a lot of complexity to it. The repetition of elements is joined with a slow layering of instruments joining to texture to create a sense of building tension for the last approach to the ending. Also, coda sections typically don't have a lot of complexity to them (some exceptions may apply) because their function is to help bring the energy of the composition to a successful conclusion. Adding more development or complexity at this point runs the risk of creating an implication of more to come, which sort of defeats the point of a coda, which is trying to end things. Not saying its impossible, just saying there's a reason why so many classical pieces seem to end with lots of I-V-I phrases.