Page 270 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

into eight connected sections that differ in tempo and mood (see Listening Cue). Copland provided a brief description of each of these orchestral scenes.
section 1
“Introduction of the characters one by one, in a suffused light.” The quiet beauty of the land at daybreak is revealed (Example 16.1), as the orchestra slowly pres- ents, one by one, the notes of the tonic and dominant triads.
Example 16.1 > a musical dawn (download 47 at 0:00)
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LiSTeN TO . . . Example 16.1 online.
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While this overlapping presentation of two triads constitutes a polychord of the sort created by Stravinsky (see Chapter 15, “Dissonant Polychords”), the effect is only mildly dissonant because of the slow, quiet way in which the notes of the two chords are introduced. The serene simplicity of the introduction sets the tone for the entire work.
section 2
“A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote of this scene.” The early calm is suddenly broken by a lively dance with a salient rhythm played aggres- sively in the strings (Example 16.2). The dance has all the modern rhythmic vigor of Stravinsky’s music, but none of the extreme polymeter (see Chapter 15, “Poly- meter”). As the dance proceeds, a more restrained hymn-like melody emerges in the trumpet (Example 16.3). The juxtaposition of these contrasting themes could not better illustrate the sonic difference between European Modernism and American folk simplicity.
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 16.2 online.
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 16.3 online.
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Example 16.2 > modernist dance style (download 48 at 0:17)
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248 chapter sixteen american modernism and postmodernism
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