8/13/2019 Triple Helix Performance Review
1/1
Adelene Lai25 th April 2012
MUS 111 Assignment 13 Analysis of Untitled by Adelene Lai
My piece was originally written on and to some extent for
guitar, which resulted inmany chromatic phrases, especially in the
melody, since large skips are possible but
not very convenient fingering-wise especially at this speed.
Subjectively, I imaginedthis piece to describe a running or
bustling scene, but not without a moment oftenderness as in
measures 504-507 before succumbing to the bustling again (Iadmit to
being ve ry heavily influenced by Agustin Barrioss La Catedral in
terms ofthe affect I wanted to achieve). The fact that the key is
minor (specifically, Aharmonic minor) as opposed to had it been in
its relative major enabled me toachieve a sense of suspense and
tension because of the particularly pregnant effect of the raised
^7^. Ive been learning a lot of milonga music lately which inspired
thearpeggiations and much of the chord progression (Am-Em-C i.e.
i-v-III or somevariation thereof). I feel the arpeggiations helped
me achieve consonance for themost part since the pitches within
each unit are largely all from the same chord
respectively. With respect to the rhythm, the bulk of my piece
is written in 8 th notes(with a full bar of triplets in measure
513), with the strong beats occurring mostlyon beats 1 and 3. This,
and the fact that there are hardly any rests contribute to asense
of pulsating breathlessness I was hoping for. I was particularly
pleased withthe texture of measures 498-502 for the c ellos part
where I had included pizz. andarco variations which gave that
phrase a mischevious feel. Although I didnt includeany instructions
for the violins texture in measure 503, I appreciated how
theviolinist had included a trill of some sort which had a very
jarring and dissonantsound that created a tense mood.
In terms of orchestration, I hadnt intended for this piece to
have sounded asmenacing and dark as it did when played by Triple
Helix. I did not anticipate thevioli ns part to sound so crisp and
see -saw like (measures 485 493), since whenperformed on guitar it
would have sounded brighter. Also, I didnt realise that thecellos
parts would have sounded so crunchy because it is written quite low
on thebass clef (I would rewrite it up an octave). Most of all, I
had not anticipated that thepiano would be as soft as it was
compared to the more dominant violin and cello,which is unfortunate
since I had given the piano part the most interesting bits i.e.the
arpeggiations and melody! I would therefore in the future make sure
to includesome sort of instruction for the interplay of the
dynamics of the instruments.
