The common means of musical expression are melody, rhythm, timbre, harmony, pattern, intensity, tempo, beat, register, key, tonality, and weave. These means of expression are usually utilized by composers to achieve certain effects and create certain moods. In the piano piece "Piccolo", the violin concerto "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" and the song "Moonlit Night of Spring River", the composers' flexible use of these means of expression made me marvel. The following are detailed analyses:
One Piano Piccolo
As a pianist, I had contact with and played the piano piece Piccolo a long time ago, and recently listened to the live versions by Shi Shucheng and Lang Lang, and couldn't help but analyze it.
1 Overview
Piccolo for Shepherd Boys was composed by He Luting in 1934, and is named after the Chinese nursery rhyme, "The little shepherd boy, riding on the back of a cow, plays the piccolo without a loudspeaker". The whole piece is in ABA'three-part form.
The presentation part (A) and the reproduction part (A') depict the beautiful idyllic scenery: the bright spring sunshine, the green fields, the clear streams, the happy shepherd boy riding on the back of the oxen leisurely playing the piccolo, and the melodious flute sound, which makes us feel as if we have seen the innocent and lovely shepherd boy, and smelled the refreshing fragrance of the countryside soil.
Development (B) is a more cheerful and lively dance music, with rhythm and chords as the background, the melody is like a flute, bright and high, lively and swinging, the music depicts the pastoral children playing with the sound of the flute, the mood is relaxed and lively.
"Piccolo for Shepherd Boys" utilizes the techniques of Western music, but also displays the characteristics of folk music. From its inception to the present more than 70 years, with its rich and fresh local feelings of the country people happy and touched, surprised and marveled. The music depicts the beautiful fields of Jiangnan, with floating clouds above, flowing water below, shepherd children and old cows, flutes and songs. It is an audible lyric poem and a visible landscape painting.
The following analyzes each part one by one.
2 Presentation part (A), with the following melody: (score omitted)
In this part, we can clearly see the polyphonic style.
3 Development (B), with the following melody: (score omitted)
It is clear that the development (B) is lively and joyful, and the polyphonic setting in the presentation (A) is changed into a harmonic pattern accompanied by the main key music. In this section, the key is shifted to G major. The wide range spanning between phrases in the right hand high register, and the brisk tempo within each phrase, with lots of 32nd and 16th notes ...... show a very different mood from the previous one.
A final word on the closing phrase. The crescendo and slowdown bring to the listener's attention the sight of the shepherd boy walking away. It naturally closes the whole piece and brings the mood of "lingering sound" to the listener.
II Violin Concerto "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai"
Chen Gang and He Zhanhao wrote the Violin Concerto "Liang Zhu" in 1959. The piece is based on the Chinese folk tale "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", which is a well-known household name in China, and some of the cantatas from Yueju Opera are used as musical materials. The whole piece is divided into 3 parts with the three representative episodes of the story - falling in love, resisting marriage and transforming into a butterfly. The most important significance of the piece is that it incorporates elements of Chinese opera into Western music and uses abstract music to tell a concrete story.
1 Presentation Part (Love for Each Other)
The introduction and love theme of Liang Zhu Zhu is as follows: (Score omitted)
Suddenly, the music takes a sharp turn, with loose and fast panels to show Zhu Yingtai's accusation to the heaven in front of Liang Shanbo's grave. Here, the technique of backward shift in Peking Opera and tight pulling and slow singing in Yue Opera are used variably to form the second developmental climax - weeping and throwing oneself to the grave
After the violin has played the last line of the extemporized song, the gongs and strings sound in unison, and Zhu Yingtai throws herself to the grave, bringing the whole piece to its climax.
3 Reproduction (Butterfly)
The flute and harp bring the music to a fairyland, and the violin, with its muted voice, plays the love theme again. Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai are transformed into a pair of butterflies, flying out of the tomb, both dancing and never parting.
Three The song "Moonlit Night of Spring River Flowers"
The full song is as follows: (sheet music omitted)
This song is adapted from the ancient song "Moonlit Night of Spring River Flowers". With the lyrics added, it is more favorable for us to understand the mood of the song. The whole song is medium tempo, subdued and rhythmic. The first line
creates a quiet atmosphere. As the lyrics suggest, the melody has a "slinky" feel to it, even though it jumps around a bit.
In the middle of the music, the rhythm is slow and sharp, singing; the melody has big ups and downs, with clear layers and rhythms.
At the end of the piece, the theme of the previous song is repeated, and is accompanied by a sad tone that lingers on for a long time.
Above I have analyzed in detail the melody, rhythm, harmony, pattern, intensity, tempo, beat, register and key of the piano piece Piccolo for Shepherd Boys, the melody, rhythm, timbre, pattern, intensity, tempo, beat and weave of the violin concerto Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and the song Night of the Spring River and Moonlight in a comprehensive and brief analysis. Through these analyses, I can clearly see that the composer is utilizing these means of expression to "achieve certain effects and create certain moods".