Moment musical No. 6 is from a set of character pieces by Franz Schubert (1797-1898). It is a very rich sounding piece full of many occurances of structural phenomena. The most important and most evident use of structural phenomena are the abrupt changes in tonality. The piece begins in Ab major, but shifts to E major and back a few different times. At the trio, the key changes to Db major. While the changes in tonality are fairly obvious and pretty abrupt, they really contribute to the mood and the emotional value of the piece. To me, the sections of the piece that are in E major sound very bittersweet and sentimental, and create a romantic feeling of longing.
Another noteable use of structural phenomena are the dynamics. The changes in dynamics are the result of the editors dynamic markings rather than a change in density or texture. For the most part, each phrase begins pp or p and gradually crescendos to mf or f, which keeps the piece interesting. The bulid up to the forte dynamic causes a sense of urgency and importance.
The third fairly prominent element of structural phenomena is the recurring motive which we hear in the opening of the piece. The beautiful melody appears again after the trio section, which gives the listener a sense of resolution and completion.
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4 comments:
Hi Katie!
Thanks for adding a bit of history to your post. Before I read it, I couldn't stop thinking, "is Moment musical No. 6 from a set of character pieces by Franz Schubert? Or is it just something he whipped up for the fun of it?"
Ok, that sounded a little sarcastic, but I really do think giving some background is a good idea.
What year was this piece written?
This piece is the subject of Edward Cone's "Schubert's Promissory Note," which is very interesting and provocative.
Many music theorists would argue that the piece never actually modulates to E major. Rather, the E major sections are simply bVI in the home key of Ab enhormonically respelled as E. This is just mode mixture. Additionally, some of the E major sections clearly have E7 chords which tonicize A major. But A major is really bII (Neapolitan) in the original key of Ab. These V/N sections do indeed resolve to N6 and finally to V and I in Ab major.
I agree that the piece modulates to Db, but I don't think that it actually modulates to E major. Regardless, it's a GREAT piece of music that is masterpiece of Schubert!
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