Compare and contrast the use of Melody and Rhythm in Sing we at Pleasure and Der Doppelganger

The melody in these two pieces is very different. In SWAP, there are scalic passages, especially at “Whilst we his praises sound”. Also, there are many leaps of 3rd, 4th and 5th for example at “Content is our treasure”. There are also octave leaps for example in the bass at the second fa-la refrain. Also, the alto part has less melodic interest than all the rest of the parts. The word setting is syllabic. In DD, the melodic interest is entirely in the voice part, apart from the four-chord motif in the piano. It continuously returns to the F sharp, which wordpaints “stillness”. However, similarly to SWAP, DD’s word setting is syllabic with occasional melisma, with one five not melisma and a few two/three note melisma. The rhythm in these two pieces is also very different. SWAP relies heavily on the dotted crochet, quaver, crochet rhythm. There are quaver runs in the tenor and bass at the end of section 2, and at the end of each fa-la-la refrain there is a hemiola. In DD, the voice closely matches the rhythm of the text; strong syllables have long, accented notes on whereas weaker syllables have shorter, unaccented notes.

Compare and contrast the use of harmony and structure in Sing we at Pleasure and Der Doppelganger

In SWAP, Weelkes uses root-position triads (e.g. bar 10), and some first inversion triads (e.g bars 5-7). It also uses suspensions, and unaccented passing notes. The cadences used are all perfect (V to I). DD’s harmony is different. There are incomplete chords at the beginning, which show stillness, and you don’t know whether they are major or minor. There is a slow harmonic rhythm, and a pedal dominant F sharp right the way through to the verse 2. At the end, there is a tonic pedal.The structure in these pieces is also different. SWAP has a binary structure, with the first section being repeated exactly and then the second section being repeated with soprano parts reversed. DD has a strophic structure.

Describe the stylistic features of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms which make it unsuitable for a church service

Symphony of Psalms would be unsuitable for a church service because the instrument group is too big for a church. Also, the singing parts maybe too difficult for amateurs to sing. Some parts of the piece maybe too loud to be heard in a small service.

Describe the stylistic features of Weelkes’ SWAP which indicate that it is a typical Renaissance secular song

SWAP as a binary structure, which is typical of renaissance, along with the fa-la-la refrains, which close both sections of the piece. The dance-like feel created by the dotted rhythms is also very typical of a secular song, as well as the dance-like feel created by the syllabic word painting of the lyrics. The subject of the lyrics is also very typical of this period. Another typical feature is that all the parts (except maybe the alto) have their own melodic interest at some point in the piece. The 3:4 time also is another typical renaissance dance feature.