Grieg norwegian march

What features give the piece a folk style?

- sustained drones
- open fifths
- narrow melodic shapes with the falling 3rd prominent
- melodic ornaments
- diatonic harmony
- the three motifs

What features give the piece a march style?

- compound duple time (6/8); two beats every bar
- every beat sounding in the accompaniment (gives a left-right pattern)
- frequent repetition of two bar phrases
- long sequences of short phrases (crescendo and diminuendo \= approach and retreat)
- unrefined four-square style

What is the form of the piece?

Binary Form

What is the structure of the piece?

A (1-40) - mid register
B (41-79) - high and low register
A' (80-107) - as before but 1-17 have been condensed into a 4-bar phrase
B (108-147) - as before
Codetta

Motif X

CDE (3 rising notes)

Motif Y

ECE (falling and rising third)

Motif Z

Grieg's fingerprint motif

Tonality

- C major
- little tonal contrast
- chords from other keys occur in juxtaposition to add colour to the harmonic palette

Tempo

Allegretto marcato - fast with emphasis

Metre and Rhythm

- 6/8
- compound duple time
- the two beats in a bar of the dotted crotchets gives a march feel (bars 1-21)
- 'left-right' feel of the chords; open fifths \= reminiscent of folk (bars 25-38)
- syncopated rhythms \= hemiola (e.g. bar 3, tied quaver from first beat to second beat) \= dance-like

4 part texture

- The melodic line at the time
- Largely conjunct dotted crotchets in the inner parts that move in parallel 6ths
- A tonic pedal note that changes to the dominant at bar 6 (typical of the era)

What is the significance of the ffp dynamic marking?

This is so the drone can easily be heard

Key melody points for section A

- Begins with an anacrusis at every point that the melody returns
- Appoggiaturas used as if upper mordents to decorate the melody (traditional of folk)
- melody falls throughout this 8 bar phrase partly sequentially

Phrasing

- two 8 bar phrases (exactly the same as each other) both ending with a diminuendo to close the phrase

antiphonal two bar phrases: bars 17 - 25

- 18-19: A minor, 3-part texture, melody in bass, ff, marcato
- 20-21: E major, 4 part texture, melody in treble, p, legato
- 22-23: C minor, 3-part texture, melody in bass, ff, marcato
- 24-25: G major, 4-part texture, melody in treble, p, legato

- minor phrases: the final note of motif Z is chromatically altered to give a hint of a German augmented 6th harmony, imperfect cadences
- major phrases: take the original harmony, emphasising the major 7th above the Ic chord in the Ic-V7-I cadence, perfect cadences

Hardanger

bars 1 -17 uses all the notes of C major except F, reminiscent of a Hardanger fiddle and therefore showcases Norwegian influences

bars 26 - 40: aural representation of the receding march and reminiscent of receding bells

- repetitive phrase of a syncopated rhythmic diminution of motif X
- chain of suspensions (adds dissonance)
- circle of fifths progression
- open fifths in left hand \= 'left-right' march feel
- diminuendos 'sempre' (always) \= subduing
- 38-40 \= span of 4 octaves

Section B (41-79)
- reminiscent to church bells

- tessitura is now at the highest register; the left hand is also in treble clef now (uses the full range of piano)
- whole passage built on the opening theme
- two bars of dominant pedal followed by 2 bars of inverted dominant pedal
- music cascades 2 bar and one bar descending sequences for 24 bars
- bars 45-68: split in 8 bar phrases; descending down 5 octaves; juxtaposed by crescendoing dynamics; entirely diatonic of C major
- changes in musical effect; starts off a tinkling music box and becomes a ferocious march

Climax (bar 69)

- melody moves back into right hand and is rich in octaves
- heavy chordal texture
- ff
- tertiary modulation to Ab major (flattened submediant \= unrelated key); impactful due to long tonic passage preceding this
- 'left-right' ostinato accompaniment thunders below with accented power chords

bar 73

- back in C major
- march is receding (dim; smaller texture)
- fragments of melody used

Section A' (bar 80-107)

- more subdued and reflective in nature
- first 17 bars condensed into 4 bars
- tranquil and p (change in dynamics)
- melody in tenor register (octave lower than before)
- no modulation to dominant

Section B return (bar 107-146)

as before

Codetta (bars 147-159)

- entirely C major
- built on tonic pedal in bass
- motif X permeates final bars in accompaniment twice; inverted and augmented below melody
- tranquillo, p