Viktoriya Molchanova

Professor Buck

The Analytical Musician

26 February 2020

Homework Assignment 2

The piece chosen for this assignment is Joseph Schwantner’s “Black Anemones” written

in 1980 for voice and piano. The composer was inspired by Agueda Pizarro’s poem “Black

Anemones.” The poem describes a child falling asleep while dreaming of its mother carrying

black anemones surrounded by silver lions and ancient tapestries. The composer of this piece

reflects this scene by evoking an ethereal and eerie atmosphere. There is no steady pulse because

there are many ritardandos that happen in the middle of phrases. The phrases themselves are not

symmetrical. In addition, there is no hierarchy of strong and weak beats. There is not a particular

key that can is fortified with tonic and dominant harmony resolutions. There are open fourth and

fifth harmonies that mostly appear in the piano line. On top of that, these open harmonies

frequently and quickly modulate. Yet these frequent changes harmonize with the melody through

open fifths and fourths with consonant intervals like thirds and sixths. Dissonance is present in

this piece, but it mostly happens when the piano hits fast high notes to resemble little bells. The

texture of this piece resembles more of a homophony since there is a clear melody that is

accompanied by open harmonies. This piece is in ternary form ABA’. The A section features the

main theme in the voice’s melodic line that transforms two motives through melodic inversion,

fragmentation, and transposition. The first motive is a major second interval between two notes

while the second motive is a fast embellishment that spans a third interval that constantly

changes qualities. These two motives constantly interact with each other throughout the piece.
The B section starts when the piano plays running fifth fast notes while the voice rests for the

first time. When the voice does come in, it plays a melody that alternates between Ab and Db

major. The B section is rhythmically confusing since the melody seems to be in compound meter

while the piano is in simple meter. Then in the A’ section the piece returns back to the main

theme which is transposed up by a semitone. Overall, the melody itself spans around an octave

and a half while the piano part spans probably around four octaves. It makes sense to keep the

melody singable for the voice while the piano can easily change octaves.

The two performers chosen for this assignment are Dawn Upshaw

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5yHOALtbL8), voice, and Ransom Wilson

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9txFnCwDMZQ), flute. One obvious difference in

performance is the type of instrument. This difference becomes important when Wilson plays the

melody in the B section up an octave. Even though it may add a more dramatic effect, I do not

like his interpretation of moving some chunks of the melody up an octave since the melody goes

way beyond the singing range. I think a very important aspect of this piece is its melody that is

within a singable range so it should not be altered in terms of register. I do like that Wilson plays

the A sections in a slower tempo than Upshaw. A slower tempo helps deliver the ethereal mood

better because there is more space between the open harmonies and the melody does not feel too

rushed. However, I disagree with Wilson’s interpretation of the transition right before the B

section. When Upshaw sings, “You don’t know how fearful your beauty is while I sleep,” her

tempo is twice as slower as Wilson’s tempo. This is the only moment in the piece when the

melody and piano’s left hand have similar motion with identical rhythm. For me personally it is

one of the most dramatic moments and it should not be rushed. Both performs do a great job in

portraying the character of the piece through ritardandos and dynamics.