Hello. My name is George Marshall and I am the founder of Any Old Music. I am a composer with over 10-years of experience, having completed work on 50+ projects for video-games, films and the concert hall. In 2020, I completed my doctorate in Music Composition. My PhD was on constraint and how it emerges in creative projects. For example, team discussions in video-game projects. If a video-game team presented a mood-board and certain briefs, these constrain and challenge the composer to compose in a particular way or style. Less quantifiable than, say, the application of serialism, but probably just as (if not more) constraining and creatively directing. It was during my PhD that I realised that there would only be two outcomes for me as a composer: I became a professional composer who needed to compose lots of music in not enough time. I became an amateur/hobbyist or semi-professional composer who needed to compose less music but still with not enough time. With this in mind I eventually opted for something more along the lines of semi-professional, but with an ambition of setting up Any Old Music as a means of helping similarly time strapped music makers. Particularly those in the second group, the hobbyists and semi-professionals, whose composing competes much more for time against other aspects of life. Composition is incredibly rewarding. You never stop learning and developing as a composer. Furthermore, many of us boast renegade autodidactic personalities to a certain extent. My hope is that Any Old Music’s self-paced composition courses can help composers to continue growing, by learning through creating and doing so in their own time.
Transposition and modulation in Åse's Death
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One of the recurring themes in this series has been Grieg's economy of means. Repeatedly, we find him achieving more with less. If you are joining this series partway through, we have already explored:
Today I would like to look at one of the principal techniques Grieg uses to extend his material: transposition. Transposition and modulation in Åse’s DeathMore of the same... but somewhere elseExtracts & annotation: Transposition and Modulation - Ase's Death.pdf One of the easiest ways for a composer to create more music is simply to repeat what has already been written. The challenge, of course, is making that repetition feel meaningful. Like Morning Mood, Grieg achieves this through transposition and modulation. The difference lies in the tonal plan. Where Morning Mood often moves through mediant relationships, Åse's Death relies primarily on the more traditional tonic–dominant axis. The overall scheme is remarkably simple:
Yet from this modest harmonic framework, Grieg creates a movement of considerable emotional depth. The A sectionSee p.2 of pdf: Transposition and Modulation - Ase's Death.pdf Grieg's treatment of the A section is almost startlingly direct. The opening eight bars are in B minor. The next eight bars are, for all practical purposes, identical. The rhythm is the same. The passing notes are the same. The harmony follows the same pattern. The only substantial difference is that everything has been transposed up a perfect 5th into F-sharp minor. The dominant minor (v). To return home, Grieg simply reverses the process and moves the material back to B minor. On paper this might sound mechanical. In practice it does not. What prevents the repetition from becoming stale is this transposition and the orchestration. As the section unfolds, Grieg also divides the strings, introduces octave doublings, and gradually broadens the overall pitch span. The material remains fundamentally the same, yet the texture becomes richer and more expansive. The register (and timbre with it) changes. A single eight-bar idea grows into twenty-four bars of music without requiring significant new material. The B sectionSee p.3 of pdf: Transposition and Modulation - Ase's Death.pdf The B section is a fascinating study in tonal harmony that we will look at more closely next week. The same principle appears in the B section, but on a smaller scale. Instead of transposing complete melodies, Grieg transposes phrases within the melody itself. The opening four-bar phrase begins on B and descends chromatically towards F-sharp. The following four bars repeat the same pattern a perfect 5th lower. Rather than introducing contrast through invention, Grieg creates continuity through transposition. The complete eight-bar melody is then repeated an octave lower. Once again, variation comes not from new ideas, but from a change of register and perspective. The same material is presented differently. Tonic Dominant Relationships ContinuedIn addition to this, the starting and ending pitches are enough to hint to the dominant emphasis of the harmony in this section. B is the central pitch: where the melody begins and ends. F# is the closing pitch of the first phrase, while E is the starting pitch of the second phrase. B is the tonic, E is the sub-dominant and F# is the dominant. Variation without inventionBy now a pattern may be beginning to emerge. Grieg rarely relies on constant invention. Instead, he tends to return to familiar material, reshaping it through transposition, orchestration, register, and variation. The result is music that feels coherent and unified. In Åse's Death, the tonic–dominant–tonic motion creates a sense of harmonic breathing: tension and release contained within narrow limits. The chromaticism of the B section introduces poignancy, but never undermines the broader tonal framework. Perhaps this is one reason the movement feels so sincere. The music never seems interested in showing us how clever it is. Instead, Grieg allows a small amount of material to speak clearly, patiently, and with great emotional weight. Closing thoughtsIf you take a look at the score, I would be interested to know whether you hear these transpositions consciously, or whether they simply contribute to the movement's overall sense of unity and continuity. As always, if you have any questions or observations, I would be delighted to hear them. All the best, George P.S. If you would like to explore more of Grieg's compositional and orchestration techniques, you can find my Learning from Grieg course here. P.P.S If you’re tired of hearing from me. Please find the unsubscribe button below. |
Any Old Music
Hello. My name is George Marshall and I am the founder of Any Old Music. I am a composer with over 10-years of experience, having completed work on 50+ projects for video-games, films and the concert hall. In 2020, I completed my doctorate in Music Composition. My PhD was on constraint and how it emerges in creative projects. For example, team discussions in video-game projects. If a video-game team presented a mood-board and certain briefs, these constrain and challenge the composer to compose in a particular way or style. Less quantifiable than, say, the application of serialism, but probably just as (if not more) constraining and creatively directing. It was during my PhD that I realised that there would only be two outcomes for me as a composer: I became a professional composer who needed to compose lots of music in not enough time. I became an amateur/hobbyist or semi-professional composer who needed to compose less music but still with not enough time. With this in mind I eventually opted for something more along the lines of semi-professional, but with an ambition of setting up Any Old Music as a means of helping similarly time strapped music makers. Particularly those in the second group, the hobbyists and semi-professionals, whose composing competes much more for time against other aspects of life. Composition is incredibly rewarding. You never stop learning and developing as a composer. Furthermore, many of us boast renegade autodidactic personalities to a certain extent. My hope is that Any Old Music’s self-paced composition courses can help composers to continue growing, by learning through creating and doing so in their own time.
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Over the past few weeks, we have explored the form, melodies, motifs, and transpositions that make up Åse's Death. Today I would like to turn to the harmony. Yet rather than beginning with the specifics and theory--Italian 6ths and secondary dominants--I would like to begin with a question. What if Grieg's music is doing more than expressing grief? A crossroads At this point in the play, Peer finds himself at a crossroads. His mother has died. He has been shunned by the community in which he...
One thing worth noticing in Åse’s Death is that, although the two melodies contrast strongly in character, they are not truly independent of one another. Instead, Grieg builds both from a very small pool of material. If you are joining this series partway through, over the past few weeks we have explored: The binary form of the movement The internal arrangement of the A and B sections Melody 1 and its phrase, idea, and motif structure Melody 2: Phrases and Ideas Today I would like to turn to...