Comparing Eras Listening Journal

The task for this assignment was to find two pieces of Western Classical Art Music from two different musical eras. We could choose from the medieval, Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and modernist eras. I decided to focus on the Handel/Casadesus Viola Concerto in B Minor (composed in 1924, representing the Modernist era) and the third movement (Courante) of Bach's First Cello Suite (composed sometime between 1717 and 1723, representing the Baroque era).
A recording of the Handel/Casadesus Viola Concerto in B Minor is provided below:

Instrumentation:

• Full orchestra (accompaniment) 
• String section
• Wind section
• Brass section
• Viola (solo) 

Meter/tempo:

• Simple duple or simple quadruple. Most likely 4/4.
• On the lower side of moderato (~108)

Tonality:

• This piece definitely has an overall minor tonality even though the melody moves quickly and the timbre of the viola is bright. I know this because of the minor thirds present throughout the majority of the piece. 
• Although the piece has a minor tonality overall, I believe that it has several major progressions mixed throughout. The most prominent modulation is at the start of Section B (2:15). This transition is a bit odd since there doesn't seem to be a pivot chord. The orchestra finishes their bit of the melody in the original minor key and the solo enters in a totally different major key. Furthermore, the melody seems to be restated once again at 4:05, this time in another minor key instead of a major one.

Texture:

• The texture of this piece is a bit hard to place, since throughout there is only one central melody. However, the piece is far from monophonic because the orchestra is present playing all sorts of harmony. Despite the presence of the orchestra, a clear, contrasting counter-melody never really appears, so the piece cannot be classified as polyphonic. Because the orchestra creates harmony that supports the main melody throughout, this piece can be classified as homophonic. 

Melody:

• The melody belongs largely to the solo viola, although the orchestra does take over when the viola rests. 
• The melody seems to have an equal amount of disjunct and conjunct sections. The main theme moves stepwise during the runs, but it also makes jumps. Larger jumps between notes are more common within the solo part, which has a very wide range; the lowest note being an open C (C3) and the highest being an E harmonic (E5).

Structure:

• This piece is a type of strophic form, following an ABACA format. 
• Section A starts right at the beginning of the piece and goes until about 2:15. There begins Section B, which lasts until 2:57, where Section A returns. At around 4:05, the melody switches to a different minor key, yet follows the same rhythmic pattern. This third section does not last long, however, as the melody returns to the original key at 4:30 and lasts until the end of the piece.

In contrast to the Viola Concerto in B Minor, Bach's Courante, the third movement of his first cello suite, is provided below:

Instrumentation:

• One unaccompanied cello

Meter/Tempo:

• The meter is slightly hard to distinguish because the melody tends to travel over the bar lines. However, I believe that it is simple triple, or 3/4 time.
• The tempo that it is taken at in this recording seems to be allegro (~120).

Tonality:

• Much like the famed first movement of the Cello Suite, this movement also has a major tonality. This tonality is constant almost throughout the entire piece, with the exception of a few chords. 

Texture:

• The texture is clearly monophonic, as there is one, solo cello throughout the piece, without harmony and/or counterpoint. 

Melody: 

• The melody is held (obviously) by the solo cello throughout the movement. There are two contrasting parts of the melody, the bold, staccato eighth notes and the smooth, progressing sixteenth notes, that move in different ways. The eighth notes tend to be more disjunct, moving in arpeggiations. The sixteenth notes, however, move entirely stepwise, creating a more conjunct style. 
• The range of the melody is fairly wide, ranging from low C2 to a much higher D4.

Structure:

• The structure of this piece is binary strophic form, as it follows an AAB format. The first section begins at the start of the piece, and repeats at 1:04. Section B begins at 1:49 and continues to the end of the piece. 

The huge gap in time between when these two pieces were composed is reflected withing the contrasting musical elements of the two movements. The most obvious difference between the two is the addition of orchestral accompaniment in the Handel/Casadesus work. During the Baroque period in which the Cello Suite was composed, string instruments were newer, and were used primarily as solo instruments, not yet as full orchestras. Despite this difference, the two pieces are similar in the fact that neither include counterpoint. Although counterpoint was well-developed and fairly common when the Viola Concerto was composed, Handel/Casadesus decided not to include it. Counterpoint was not yet formulated when the Cello Suite was composed. Both are stylistically similar because of the solo component.