An Introduction to America’s Music

190 PART 2 | FROM THE CIVIL WAR THROUGH WORLD WAR I

date: 1896

performers: Royal Philharmonic

Orchestra; Karl Krueger, conductor

genre: orchestral music

meter: compound duple in the A sections,

simple duple in the B section

form: ternary (ABA), with introduction

and coda

Listening Guide 8.1

Gaelic Symphony, second movement

AMY BEACH

timing section comments

0:00 introduction Solo French horn, accompanied by strings, anticipates the A theme and sets a

nostalgic mood.

0:24 A Solo oboe, accompanied by clarinets and bassoons, states the A theme (aaba

form).

1:13 Second half of the tune repeats (ba), with addition of fl ute and French horns,

extended by a two-bar tag or codetta.

2:02 transition Abrupt shift to faster tempo and new meter; a long trill in fi rst violins, the other

strings playing pizzicato (plucking the strings), then a rapidly rising, skittering

fi gure in strings and winds.

2:18 B Violins play the B theme, a variation of A, arco (with the bow), accompanied by

pizzicato strings. Crescendo from piano to a loud passage for full orchestra, then

diminuendo with orchestration returning to strings alone.

2:39 The B theme repeats.

3:00 Contrasting section begins with a fragment of A in the fl ute and a new

continuation, answered by the violins; rapid modulations to distant keys add

excitement.

3:18 Return of B, with new conclusion.

3:40 Developmental section begins with fragments of A in augmentation (with each

note “stretched out” in slower rhythm), fi rst in the French horn, then clarinet, then

other solo instruments.

4:08 Passage for full orchestra slowly builds to a loud climax, then subsides.

4:34 B section closes with slow crescendo, arriving at a loud, accented chord on an

unstable harmony, followed by silence.

5:02 transition Return to the opening tempo and meter, again with solo horn and strings, plus

clarinet.

5:26 A The A theme returns in the English horn (a lower-pitched member of the oboe

family), with low string pizzicato and high string tremolo (rapidly repeated notes).

The three phrases describe an abb form.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

• lush timbres and wide dynamic range of
  romantic orchestra


• folklike quality of principal melody


• transformation of principal melody in
  contrasting B section

CD 1.25

172028_08_183-204_r3_ko.indd 190 23/01/13 10:24 AM