Schoenberg: Peripetie (1909)

Texture:

• Polyphonic
• Occasional examples of monophony and homophony
• Built up through use of imitation and inversion
• Extreme dynamic contrasts

Harmony:

• Atonal – no tonal center
• Dissonant
• All notes considered equal
• Chords built up from 6 notes, hexachords
• Chords built up from remaining 6 notes are known as the compliment

Instrumentation:

• Large orchestra of over 90 players – extreme writing
• Uncommon instruments used, including piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet, contrabassoon and tam-tam
• Extreme pitch range exploited to develop the timbre
• Unusual effects through new playing techniques: cymbals played with mallet, cymbals played with cello bow, double basses playing tremolo (harsh sound), brass players to play “bells up” to make sound travel further

Rhythm:

• Changes between 3/4, 2/4 and 4/4
• Marked Sehr rasch (very quick)
• Complex rhythms, varied
• Polyrhythmic texture created through layering
• Augmentation to develop the melodies

Melody:

• Short and fragmented motifs
• Not step wise, wild leaps: disjunct
• Angular and unsteady
• Octave displacement
• Inversion and augmentation to develop melodies

Form:

• Rondo form (A,B,A,C,A)
• Sections identified by moods and emotions suggested by the music