Music Analysis - My style

[mcgillcomposer]

Hey everyone,

I am starting another analysis thread similar to that I did for the Alegretto of Beethoven's 7th symphony. It will not focus on post-modern analytical methods because I find them to be too restricting and often irrelevant in terms of what one actually hears. For example, Schenkerian analysis is often useful for discussing the macrostructural harmonic plan of a composition, but it completely ignores a lot of the wonderful details. Evidently, composers don't just think of long-term harmonic goals...

I am going to focus on a few aspects of the music to demonstrate what is so wonderful about a certain piece (what separates Beethoven's work from Joe Blow and Jonny Nobody's). It will involve aspects of harmony, form, counterpoint, and orchestration where applicable.

Things such as complete harmonic analyses, superficial descriptions of form (e.g. ABA, sonata form...essentially meaningless terms in themselves) are, in my opinion, quite fruitless. The reason is farily simple in that no two sonatas are exactly alike even though they may follow, more or less, an architypal plan. These names describe what is frequently found, but they do not account, by any means, for all that is out there. And by definition, great music is NOT what is ordinary.

So, come share your thoughts, and work together to make the experience of music more enriching for all of us.

* see the Beethoven Allegretto (7th symphony) thread...I am going to start one on Beethoven's Op. 2 No. 1 soon...this is a PIANO forum after all

[pianistimo]

ok.  what now? 

i kind of liked the fast run through that one of my professors did with the concertos.  bsically only stopping on what another teacher called 'points of articulation' - or something like that - where something changes.  the harmony drastically - or the registers/instruments - things like that. 

he also made sure we DID know the form - but would point out especially with haydn and beethoven the unique elements that made some of their compositions not fit the 'mold' exactly.  mozart, too.  and schubert.  i guess a lot of composers.  chopin.  liszt.  as you get into romantics - of course- every rule is broken.

we have with one of the last works of chopin - a 'polonaise-fantasy.'  a combining of two forms.