Winston Diep

Compare and contrast the use of rhythm and structure of the Brahms, Reich and Miles Davis (36marks)

All three works are composed in various different styles and uses rhythmic and structural features that are typical of the style and period of time they came from. Brahms piano quintet is in Ternary form in both the scherzo (A:1-67, B:67-100, D:100-193) and the trio (A:193-221, B:225-241, A:241-261) which is a typical structure that is used in the romantic period. In addition to this Brahms has also built his composition up using themes (A:1-13, B:13-21 and C:21-25) which is used throughout his composition, creating variations of each theme throughout this piece e.g. bar 38-41 which is variation of theme A. Compared to the Brahms which uses clear structure throughout his piece Reich's New York Counterpoint has no real label. The lack of clear structure is a typical feature of minimalist music (music that Reich composes). Similar to the Brahms Reich uses a motif throughout his entire theme that can be seen in the first to bars. However unlike the Brahms which uses many different themes to build his structure upon Reich uses a single motif that can be seen throughout his entire piece which slowly adds more to it but always keeping the original motif in bars 1-2 keeping it simplistic which is a typical of minimalist music. Unlike the Reich, Miles Davis uses a set structure throughout his piece, splitting between his Head section which is a 16bar section but is then however repeated using a turnaround chord which increases the length of the Head section before going into the break section and then finally going into the improvised chorus section which is a typical structure of bebop music. However the same chord sequence that is used in the Head section is used in the Chorus.) The rhythm of the Miles Davis is syncopated at the beginning as seen in H1 in the trumpet part. In addition use of anticipation in the piano part can be seen in H3 which 'pushes' the beat making it hard to distinguish the beat which is a typical rhythmic feature of bebop music. In the chorus section the rhythm consists of a quaver based melody throughout. There are also use of triplets in 2.5-2.6 which is only used in that section and not used in the Brahms or the Reich. Similar to the Miles Davis, Brahms also use syncopation in the violin 1 and viola part in bar 2-6 over the top of the cello. This continues to bar 22-25 where all instruments are playing the same rhythm (homorhythm). However at bar 22-25 there is use of augmentation of one of the original motifs used throughout the piece (motif x) (which is originally used in the piano right hand (5-6). Compared to the Miles Davis which is mostly quaver based and syncopated throughout Brahms has explored the boundaries of rhythm which is a typical feature of a romantic composer.

Winston Diep

At the beginning of Reich's Counterpoint is homorhythmic which similarly is used in the Brahms. Starting with 2 clarinets playing the same rhythm it slowly builds up, adding more and more rhythms and clarinets such as in bar 3 where the live clarinet joins in, the melody is syncopated. In addition to this at bar 6-7 is the use of phasing where the live clarinet is playing the same melody but with half a beat difference. This effect creates a difficult to follow rhythm which is a typical use of the minimalist style it is composed in. Unlike how Brahms would use many different rhythms Reich doesn't change his use of rhythms throughout keeping his composition simple. As seen in my analysis all three compositions use features that are typical of their period and style. However while they are all in different styles or in the Brahms case different time period they all have similar use of rhythm such as the similar use of homorhythm in the Brahms and the Reich.