Connie Ju | [The Moldau] Smetana | Year 11 Music 2 Musicology Essay |
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Smetana’s Moldau is a musical portrayal of the main river which runs through the countryside of Bohemia (present day Czech Republic).
The piece begins with a sweet one bar theme that is played by two solo flutes, representing the trickle of a small creek. The soft melody played in piano and “lusingando”, which means to be played in a coaxing style, convey the delicate and smoothness of the water. The ascending semi-quavers accompanied with a slight crescendo at the beginning of the phrase as well as a two quaver rests at the end of the bar create a rippling effect, symbolising the slight waves of a stream. Furthermore, the lone plucked pizzicato quavers…show more content… This polyphonic texture continues until the end of the excerpt. These additional tone colours further build upon the majestic nature of the river as well as its more powerful movements. Bar 36-37 (increased layers) Bar 40 (different melodies, thick texture)
The dynamics of this piece correspondingly represent the growth of the river. In both bars 1 and 2, there is a lone crescendo plus an accent, this is the river just starting out so it is not very dramatic compared to bar 20 and 21 where there is a crescendo and a decrescendo within one bar. Moreover, in bars 41-42, not only are there crescendos and decrescendos but the additional sforzando sign. The “p” for piano in the bar directly after (bar 43) simply adds to the tempestuous nature of the water as there are more dramatic things happening in a faster-flowing large river. Bar 1 (slight crescendo, “lusingando”, accent, “p”) Bar 20-21 (crescendo and descrendo) Bars 41-43 (dramatic dynamics)
The tone colour of the instruments also changes as the river grows. The solo flutes at the beginning create a sweet, airy, light sound of a stream but the orchestral playing altogether from bar 40 onwards makes a stormy sound much like the torrents of a wild river.
