"By the Fireside" sounds as childish as the title alludes to. The tempo and dynamics are the most evident structural phenomena. The piece begins very softly. When new material enters, the dynamics grow from a piano to mezzo forte. This makes the new section of music more obvious. The written in ritardandos also complete phrases. The rit. at measure 16 is especially beneficial in concluding the phrase with a PAC. The performer played the piece with swells that defined the composition through tempo. The density doesn't change much which makes the piece a bit stale. At measure 9 the tonality changes without a key change. It's difficult to know what key these next seven measures are in since the accidentals don't match with the the relative or parallel minor key. The piece is played very quickly which adds flare but I still don't enjoy the piece due to the simplicity in harmonic texture and the lack of varied structural phenomena.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I think the entire Kinderscenen was meant to played as a whole, and not have the individual pieces taken separately. Certainly, we do see them printed sepaarately in various collections of music, but I think it unfair to judge the piece simplistic (one is grateful for easier pieces!) when it is taken out of context, as it were.
Post a Comment