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Structure in Music: 20th century
What is structure in a piece of music?
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A result of patterns of repetition and contrast between musical elements –
themes, tonalities, rhythms, textures and instrumentation (timbre) in various
combinations.
The opening bars of the Sinfonia from Pulcinella return twice during the
movement, for example, to create a ritornello structure (from the Italian for
return).
Shostakovich uses the musical monogram DSCH in a similar way in his 8 th
quartet to create a rondo-like structure.
Some of the other pieces in the C20 section of the Anthology were composed
around familiar structural patterns common in music since the 18th century.
Both Webern and Cage’s pieces are cast in binary form – two repeated sections
– similar in outline to countless pieces of baroque and Classical music.
Both Berio and Reich avoid the relative structural clarity of the other pieces:
Sequenza III is freely composed, without any obvious patterns of repetition
(although there is plenty of contrast) whilst New York Counterpoint goes to the
other extreme, with very little contrast within a seamless flow of music.
Complete the table below, indicating which element(s) are most important in
determining the structure of each piece:
Themes
Tonality
Rhythm
Texture
Timbre
Stravinsky
Webern
Shostakovich
Cage
Berio
Reich
Essay
Compare and contrast the pieces by Webern, Shostakovich and Reich from the point
of view of each composer’s approach to structure.
Questions
 What is the overall structure of each piece?
 How does each composer create continuity and contrast in their music?
 What smaller structural units can you identify in each piece?