Ia. Homophonic. This is one of the classic homophonic textures: one part (in this case a violin) plays a melody, while another part (here the piano) provides an accompaniment of somewhat secondary interest. A more specific name for this texture is, logically enough, melody-accompaniment texture. The passage comes from a violin sonata by the 19th-century composer Clara Schumann.

Ib. Imitative polyphony (or imitative counterpoint). Imitative polyphony occurs when several parts sing or play the same melody beginning at different times. Listen until you can hear the voices enter at the beginning, all singing the same motive, or musical idea, in "staggered" imitation. The first words, "Absalom fili mi," are set to notes that ascend a major scale. The excerpt comes from a Renaissance motet by Josquin des Prez.

Ic. Nonimitative polyphony. This kind of texture can be hard to hear: the trumpet, clarinet, and trombone are all playing distinct melodies. Compare this to Ex. Ib, where the voices all sang the same melody in staggered entrances.

Id. Homophonic. Another common homophonic texture, though it's worlds apart from example Ia (the sonata for violin and piano). Be certain that you can hear that there is more than one voice singing in this passage. Because all the singers sing in exactly the same rhythm, they tend to blend together; you hear the top voice, and the bottom voices provide a sort of support or accompaniment. The technical term for this texture, since the voices sing their chords together in block like fashion, is block homophony. From Old Hundredth, a psalm setting from Colonial America.

Ie. Monophonic. No problem here, hopefully: one voice part, without accompaniment or imitating voices is by definition monophonic. The work is a secular song by the 14th-century composer Guillaume de Machaut.

If. Nonimitative polyphony. Actually three separate songs sung simultaneously. Leonard Bernstein's "Tonight" from West Side Story is sung as a simple love song so often that it's easy to forget that the original had a much harder edge: the famous tune was sung in counterpoint to melodies sung by gang members that discuss a brawl that's going to take place "Tonight."

Ig. Imitative Polyphony. A classic example since the two voices chase each other almost literally.

Ih. Imitative Polyphony. As long as you recognized the "many voiced" (i.e., polyphonic) nature of the passage, don't worry. Some imitative polyphony uses only one musical idea (Row, Row, Row Your Boat, to name a simple example). Here there is imitation of several musical ideas, which gives the piece its complex sounding texture. From a Mozart piano concerto, K. 459, final movement.

Listen as carefully as you can for the form. We'll be discussing this work in class; the better you know the work, the more you'll get from the lecture, so prepare carefully, but don't be discouraged if you get lost or feel overwhelmed. The last thirty seconds or so are a thrill whether or not you know where you are in the form!

You may want to refer back to Assigment #1 which contains the translation, to help you prepare.

*End of Listening Assignment 4*

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