INTRODUCTION Link to heading
Orchestral Forces Link to heading
Before we even begin with our analysis of the score, let us first take a look at the orchestral forces, as this will give us an idea of what will be coming, i.e. orchestral forces chosen and the number of each functions as a kind of restriction function. We have piccolo flute and two flutes in the highest register; this is standard, as two flutes must be playing simultaneously to be as auditory as one piccolo flute playing, due to its higher frequency range. Of course, one can somewhat circumvent this in the case of a chamber orchestra with limited forces, by having a single flute play louder, in terms of dynamic marking, than the piccolo. However, a louder dynamic marking subtly changes the timbre of the instrument, and so ultimately opportunities for colour are therefore more restricted in the case of the chamber orchestra, in exchange for more intimacy.
Two oboes and two clarinets serve to add colour to the highest registers, and to either play solo or double the oboes and flutes. In terms of volume for the listener, the ratio between these middle and upper-register instruments and the piccolo flute is 2:1, respectively, as in the case for the flutes.
We have a single bass clarinet and contrabassoon. The contrabassoon is a fascinating instrument, particularly in more modern and contemporary works (we owe much to Stravinsky and the Russian school in general): doubled with the standing bass, it generates a sound of great, reverberant power, while in the higher registers, it has a nasal, wheezing sound, wonderful for different kinds of sound effects (if it is played, say, marcato, or accented, or with a slow vibrato, etc.), or when doubled with other reed instruments, particularly the oboe. The bass clarinet here rounds out the bass registers, and is highly useful in tutti sections, and in general to thicken the bass lines, or when we’d simply like to have a solo clarinet line, but in a lower register.
Turning our attention to the brass section, the ratios between the numbers of each instrument is roughly the balance we need such that if they were all played simultaneously (as in a tutti section), all with the same dynamics, they would all be heard distinctly within the tutti chord, assuming a classical voicing (bass notes for the bass instruments, altos for the altos, etc). What is interesting here is that we specify that certain instruments are supplied with a sourdine, or a metal whistle, letting us know that sonic effects in this work will be important. Furthermore, in the case of the trumpets, we have one extra trumpet specified than we normally would in a late-German romantic classical brass section setup.
A wide variety of percussive instruments are specified, indicating a percussive thrust will be important in the work, in conjunction with sonic effects. On that note, a piano is also specified: as we know in particular from works by Stravinsky (Symphony in Three Movements, first movement) the piano playing at opportune times doubles wonderfully with the strings to create a colourful and pulsing marcato effect, simultaneously harmonic and percussive. We can expect a similar sort of usage in this work.
Lastly, in the string section, the ratio of the violins (high register) to the violoncellos and basses (low register) is roughly 2:1 respectively—the distribution we would need to play the instruments together in a tutti at the same dynamic levels and have each audible, assuming a classical voicing. The violas round out the section; here it is not clear why there precisely ten chosen, rather than a few more or less, but this will become clear as we analyse the piece in more detail.
We close the discussion of the orchestral forces by including microtonality under the umbrella of effects and colour.
Composer Remarks Link to heading
The Composer Remarks are an essential inroad into the structure of the piece. It is clear from the remarks that the structure will be textural and episodic, mirroring episodes from Dante’s Inferno, with a dominant leitmotif tying the episodes and overall structure of the piece together. It is interesting, in conjunction with the orchestration, to consider that while the piece is modern, it is indebted, in terms of both the orchestral forces utilised, and the leitmotif driven structure, to the late-German romantic tradition.
ANALYSIS Link to heading
Opening Material Link to heading
The opening is indebted to Bruckner in its near-silence (save a low rumbling in the grand cassas, analogous to the low rumbling of vibrato strings in Bruckner’s first movement symphonic introductions) before a booming entry of the grand cassas in bar 26—sudden but structurally sound, due to the cassa rumblings occurring previously. This is a structural technique composers often use: pedal point, only now used orchestrally (not a fixed tone, but a fixed sound that is used as a jumping off point to generate continuity). Soon, timpani hits in F are introduced, varying in tempo and pattern and adding the flavour of tonality, before pizzicati in the strings followed by a fortissimi Bartok rapping of them are introduced, augmenting the silences with new colours, before the grand cassas boom once again.
Soon, the bird whistles are introduced, followed by a crescendo in the newly heard tambourines—all of this is justified by the increase in tension proceeding before, as we alternated between different members of the orchestra permeating the silences with colours before hits of the grand cassas. The tambourines are the culmination of our slow buildup percussively, supported by subtle hints of tonal colour, to bar 38, a monstrous, intense tutti chord of piercing tonality. All of this, up to bar 38, is immensely reminiscent of the first movement of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9—there a low rumbling of strings, followed by coloristic additions of horns, leads into a crescendo of the horns, before a tutti of horns with strings follows. Coincidentally, a more modern example is the introduction of Wolfgang Rihm’s Symphony No. 2, which has a similar buildup and use of silences before a monstrous tutti chord is introduced.
Section A-B: Tutti Leading into Development Sections Link to heading
Section A: Link to heading
The tutti chord is repeated, using a variety of different orchestrations. We do not list all of them here, only the most interesting ones that give insight into Mr. Moliner’s orchestral technique. The introduction of the tutti is essentially classical in nature: flutes doubled by oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, and strings naturally mirroring the distribution of voices in the woodwinds. What is interesting here is the shrieking of the piccolos and the fortissimi in the trumpets, instruments that when played accented give a metallic, rough sheen and combine in a jarring manner with the piccolos. It is this combination that gives the tutti such a powerful effect, and is chosen very deliberately, as it is in the Rihm mentioned earlier.
Starting at bar 60, we have an episode that features an orchestration of the tutti that is wonderful and original. Harmonicas doubling flutes, in turn doubled by piccolos, with horns rounding out the middle of the harmony, and eventually the tubas (C2) and double basses (E2 followed by Eb2) rounding out the lower registers in bars 65 and 66—placing us squarely in C minor, the chromaticism adding a layer of the demonic and dramatic. This orchestration and the underlying harmonic language (chromatic movements in the strings in bar 68, for example) is again, fundamentally Brucknerian, with the usage of harmonicas and interspersed grand cassa hits a delightedly modern touch that works quite well, and adds dramatic flair.
Section B: Link to heading
A decay function in the horns, and low aggressive rumblings in the strings a la Wagner leads us after a cymbal crash (a dramatic but essentially white noise function that clears what preceded it) into the next episode of the work, section B, which can be thought of as an eerie, lyrical Adagio, late-German romantic and Second Viennese School in bent, acting as counterfoil to the introduction. Setting the tone is the orchestration of the opening bars, which we now analyse.
Central to this episode is the introduction of whistling in conjunction with the harmonicas. Observe that selections of many of the elements we have observed so far (harmonicas, whistling, grand cassa hits, low rumblings of strings, horn usage, timbral doublings of woodwinds, etc.) are being introduced by Mr. Moliner at different moments in the piece, and here is no exception: the harmonica, previously functioning as harmonic layering in the middle textures of the orchestra, is now being isolated as a harmonic layering in the upper registers, doubled with whistling to create a more lyrical texture. In short, we are being provided a different perspective on the harmonica. Main melodic content is provided by the tuba playing solo. The oboe eventually enters in bars, followed by a percussive and jarring hit on the piano, after which the central tutti melodic content of the section enters. The lyrical theme is then passed to the trumpets, doubled by the violins, and then taken up by the woodwinds. It is passed a bit more amongst different instrumental registers, before a slow build to a series of semi-tuttis occurs, interspersed with chordal harmonica effects. This in effect ties together the section, structurally—the harmonica functions as a pedal point. The section ends cadentially via a crescendo in the bird-whistle, supported dramatically in the bass by a flutter tongue tremolo in the tuba. Unlike other composers in the late German romantic tradition who provide cadences often n the form of strident, sudden block harmonies (Bruckner), or rapid, intense scales layered on top of each other (Strauss), Mr. Moliner sometimes prefers in this work to have as cadence the reintroduction and crescendo of a striking whistle, or screech, or general very-high register metallic sound.
Sections C-F: Middle Development Link to heading
Section C: Link to heading
This is a contrapuntal section that opens with a chromatic figure introduced by the oboes, taken up by the clarinets, and then passed amongst various instruments. Critical is the climax, a glockenspiel given an icy sheen by the celeste, which often octave doubles it, but with an important exception in bar 136, which expresses a movement from E major to D minor, contrasting with the D major material in bar 133. In general, rapid movements between parallel minor and major are unnerving and highly unstable—this, in combination with the unsettling nature of the glockenspiel joined with the celeste, prepares us for the haunting waltz figure in section D that we are led into in the culmination of this section by the return of the contrapuntal figures from its introduction, only now gradually sped up in the highest registers, operating as a kind of cadence.
Sections D-E: Link to heading
Tubas playing bass, and the sourdine harmonies on the trumpets, introduce a dark, late German romantic waltz figure which dominates the content of this section. Important to note is that the sound of the harmon sourdine on the trumpet mirrors the sound of the harmonica heard in the introduction and section A; this is not accidental. This common sound acts as a kind of pedal point that will allow us to return to the material from section A more seamlessly in the future. The harmon sourdine on the trumpets and tubas is complemented by the waltz figures in the clarinet after bar 160; the sound of the clarinet pairing so naturally with the sourdine on these instruments drives the development into section E, which opens with the reintroduction of the glockenspiel. Tremolo glissando scratchings from the violins briefly accompany it, followed by a crescendo acting as a cadence into the tutti opening Section F. However, this crescendo has been prepared by the entry of the glockenspiel, as well as the glissando scratching—we can now easily enter a high-register crescendo without it feeling too abrupt, due to the instability introduced by the glockenspiel (always ominous) and more directly by the brief glissando scratching.
Section F: Link to heading
We have the whistles and grand cassas make a reappearance, reiterating the waltz figures. The orchestration calls to mind the introduction, but where now they are playing sub-theme material (the waltz), with critical sub-theme orchestral forces (glockenspiel), amplified by orchestral forces from the introduction and new material in the form of human voices from orchestra members. This is deliberate: we need to remind the listener of the opening material, in order to induce a unifying structure for the entire piece, while simultaneously varying it in interesting ways, so that we actually have a development section and not just a straight repetition (which can also work, depending on the goals of the piece. In the case of this one, given both its length and the large number and variety of instruments provided, it was implicit that it would be a sort of sonata form—where the development section would be driven both by passing themes between various instrument groups, as well as introductions of themes and sub-themes and connecting material between them). A brief tutti connecting episode dominated by high-register playing of trumpets and strings leads into the next section.
Sections G-L: Recapitulation Link to heading
Section G: Link to heading
The opening low tubas create a sneering, ominous Wagnerian effect, as the timpani crescendo into a brass and strings sforzando chord of C#’s and D#’s, clearly influenced by the storm movement in Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, which also has a section featuring a similar buildup and sforzando explosion in its opening minute. Observe also that in the opening of the recapitulation, we are reminded again harmonically of mixtures of E major, D major, and C minor, tying the recapitulation harmonically with the chromatic movements between these keys earlier in the development.
The return of the metal whistle glissandi high above the tubas also clearly indicates the start of the recapitulation, in a manner that is Brucknerian at heart (deep bass rumblings contrasted with soaring high flutes is a Bruckner staple). Recall that the metal whistle featured centrally in the introduction to this work and in the lead-in to the development section via rapid oscillating glissandi.
Following is a sequence oscillating second intervals, essentially repetitions of dominant to tonic movements but deliberately ambiguous here, played first in the timpani quietly, then taken up by the trumpets more noticeably before our final arrival in C# major in bar 219, hinted at by the opening second interval oscillations and made striking by the entry of the flutes and low woodwinds (bassoons and contrabassoons and bass clarinets). Interesting to note is that both the bass clarinets and bassoons are played in their upper registers—this technique is common in Stravinsky, and gives a reedy and piercing tone in particular to the bassoons. This slow build-up to tonality is therefor made striking by the choice of orchestration at our arrival, and prepares us for a move into a lyrical episode.
Sections H-I: Link to heading
With a backdrop of lyrical input from the clarinets and tubas and the low rumblings of the grand cassas, we recall our bird calls from the introduction via metal whistles, which are soon joined by the glockenspiel (recalling the development section) and the strings are rapped on a la Bartók in bars 222 and 224. A brief development via small scale traversals and chromatic figures passed amongst the instrument groups and mini-climactically to the horns leads us into Section I, where the human voice enters once again, followed by a lyrical figure from solo violin, joined shortly thereafter by the harmon trumpets. All this recalls the material of the sardonic waltz section in the development, but mixed rapidly with other thematic material from there. A new addition of tambourines spices things up in section I in bar 247, complemented by the Bartók hits, human voice, and whistles. Mr. Moliner is here recontextualizing the waltz themes introduced earlier, using percussive colours (here sforzandi voice acts as a kind of percussive hit). In that respect, we can view the recapitulation here as a kind of collaged theme and variations, where various previously occurring large episodes are being recontextualized and rapidly mixed together. This fits in with the overall structure and vision of the piece, outlined in its opening: recall that it did not start with a focus on harmony or melody in the traditional sense, but rather was percussive in nature. Hence, Mr. Moliner’s vision for this piece and compositional technique becomes clearer in these sections: percussion, augmented by tonality, as opposed to a more classical perspective (Bruckner, Bartók) where tonality is augmented by percussion (in Bruckner, most importantly by timpani; in Bartók, a variety of string sound effects).
A stringendo in the newly introduced lotto flute, supported by voice effects like trumpets speaking near the mouthpiece, metal whistles, and the strings and tambourines filling out the middle and low registers, acts as a fitting high register harmonics laden cadence (voice effects acting doubly as colour and percussion) into the next section.
Sections J-K: Link to heading
Notably, the piano returns here: we heard it earlier as a percussive element, amplifying and giving colour the strings, a la Stravinsky. Now, it features more as a part-solo, part-coloring instrument. Chopped melodic fragments are passed rapidly between the piano and the flute and woodwinds that gives a contrapuntal feel to the section, before longer lyrical solo dialogues between the solo violin and solo flute appear, before the climactic lyrical content introducing section K, taken up by the horns and tuba, begins in bar 294, recalling Brahms and Bruckner, but here they are coloured by bird whistle glissandi (in Bruckner, high-register coloration and harmony often occur in the flutes). However, here the tuba also performs glissandi, which creates a thicker effect—the extra overtones highlighting the chromaticism and therefore leading into the ominousness of the following lacrimoso section. Horn glissandi couple with violin’s sul ponticello scratchings and glissandi to introduce a magnification of the ominousness, culminating in a series of chords, reaching a peak in bar 308: a held high G in the flutes (not piccolos), the highest note by the flutes played so far in the piece, close to the end of the range of the instrument, and creating a piercing, airy note that is held over continuing glissandi in the tubas. This continues the pattern of Mr. Moliner using the ends of the ranges of instruments in search of interesting effects and colours. A high F# in the violin, one step down chromatically from the flute, generates a dissonant metallic sheen over the chord, echoing the metal whistle heard earlier in the piece. Sul ponticello scratchings in the violins are then overtaken by the return of the glockenspiel chromatically shaking downwards, echoing the usage of the tambourines earlier, but here in a tonal fashion. They are soon embellished by the return of the harmon sourdine on the trumpets, descending chromatically—grunts from the tubas and trombones and a pianissimo vibrato in the strings combine with all our previously discussed effects, still persisting, to generate a delicate tutti, leading us into the coda.
Sections L-M: Climax and Coda Link to heading
Section L: Link to heading
This section functions primarily as a buildup to section M. Whistling-wind effects in the upper registers, and the Westminster Quarters melody in the glockenspiel complement a newly introduced technique occurring right before: horns, played microtonally, which then glissando a half step down to a new microtonal note. This effect is reminiscent of the Terminator 2 soundtrack’s theme for the T-1000, and is immensely foreboding, especially coupled with the highly contrasting glockenspiel. In general, we comment here that some of the critical tools that Mr. Moliner uses to create a sense of unease throughout the piece are: harmon sourdine on the trumpets, microtonal expressions, the harmonica as middle-register, the glockenspiel, and powerful bass notes often sounded by the horns and tubas and combined with the double bass and low strings. The recapitulation, among other things, refeatures all of these techniques, first introduced in the development.
A crescendo of rising strings in the bass, coupled with timpani rumblings, is a classical and quite Straussian technique that Mr. Moliner employs beginning in bar 324, to cadence into section M, which begins with a full tutti where we hear the re-entry of molto fortissimi grand cassas. Their re-entry in this manner primes the listener that the end is near.
Section M: Link to heading
Important to this section is the tempo marking: lugubre, sempre molto marcato. We are going to hit things, and hit them very hard, as we did in the introduction to Estructura IV. This is not accidental, and brings the orchestral structure of the piece full circle: we opened with fortissimi hits on the gran cassas, embellished by a variety of colours, and we are going to end that way. What has changed via the development section is our textural associations with each percussive instrument: we now view the glockenspiel as both an unnerving coloristic and lyrical instrument, associated directly with a dark and sardonic waltz; the whistles have a tonal association in our mind due to their being played earlier while lyrical material was playing simultaneously; the harmonica is now associated with the foreboding, a sort of demented middle-woodwind-string mixture, et al. Melodic content from the introduction is repeated via flutter tongue glissandi in the piccolos—but most importantly, the harmonica returns after a long absence, playing G4-C5-G5 chords and filling out the middle register of a full-orchestra C minor chord (recalling earlier in the development the chromatic movements from C major to C minor), while the strings and horns rumble piano underneath. We are back to Bruckner, coloured by the harmonica. This is driven home starting in bar 341, which is played explosively—harmonicas played fortissimi, the timpani accented and molto sforzando. The chords repeat, the gran cassas entering and booming, along with the introduction of tubular bells for the first time, adding an air of finality. The brass section sounds a dissonant Db2-C3-G3, which in conjunction with the timpani playing F#-Ab, creates a very dissonant cluster chord that now keeps repeating, with coloristic additions (siren, thundersheet) up until a brief chromatic movement in the brass appears once again (an allusion to the chromatic movements throughout the development) before we arrive at a sudden relative silence, filled most prominently by the sirens: our associations with this instrument are primal (police cars and ambulances in most cultures, which we in turn associate with violence, death, fear, and destruction). That Mr. Moliner has chosen the glockenspiel players to play it is perhaps a textural meta-observation: other instrumentalists surely could have, but given the ominous role the glockenspiel has played as an instrument in the piece, it is consistent symbolically that they should be the ones to introduce and play the siren at the very end of the work. A sounding of the bells once again, followed by a chromatic movement downwards then upwards in bars 346-347 places us firmly in C major in bar 348, coloured by a massive cluster chord in the tubas—in effect, acting microtonally, in terms of colour and the overtones. Our tutti here, with all the overtones and sounds generated by the percussive instruments, is fundamentally unstable, and so while we technically end on C major in bar 350, it is anything but, especially given the chromatic note movements occurring so often previously in the development and coloured there by the percussive instruments.
We remark that the chromatic movements throughout the piece, hovering around C minor, and the ending of the work, again starting around C minor before ending with a tremolo and crescendo in the strings and timpani to an unstable C major, is surely influenced by the Bruckner Symphony No. 8: set in the key of C minor, it uses similar orchestral build-up techniques; indeed, its first movement theme is introduced via chromatic rumblings in the strings before repeating plangently in the oboes and leading into a lyrical section.
Summary Link to heading
This work owes its genesis above all to a love of Bruckner and of the late German romantics. We close by repeating an observation, made earlier in this essay, that is indeed the heart of this piece and of Mr. Moliner’s approach here:
Percussion, augmented by tonality, as opposed to a more classical perspective (Bruckner, Bartók) where tonality is augmented by percussion (in Bruckner, most importantly by timpani; in Bartók, a variety of string sound effects).