[Listening extract audio not available in printed QP] QP Music skeleton score: see Insert. Read questions below. A harpsichord plays a passage in which a sh...
Question 1 Report
[Listening extract audio not available in printed QP]
QP Music skeleton score: see Insert. Read questions below.
A harpsichord plays a passage in which a short melodic idea is repeated at different pitch levels.
(a) What is the compositional technique in which a melody is repeated at a different pitch level. [1]
(b) What is the keyboard instrument described and give one feature of its sound that distinguishes it from a piano. [1]
[Total: 2 marks]
Answer Details
(a) The compositional technique in which a melody is repeated at a different pitch level is called a sequence. [1] A sequence occurs when a melodic or harmonic pattern is restated beginning on a different pitch, either higher (ascending sequence) or lower (descending sequence). The intervals and rhythm of the pattern are preserved, but the starting note changes. This is distinct from imitation, where a melodic idea is taken up by a different voice or part, though imitation at a different pitch level can also apply here. Sequences are a common developmental technique in Baroque keyboard music.
(b) The keyboard instrument is a harpsichord. One distinguishing feature of its sound: the strings are plucked rather than struck, producing a brighter, more metallic tone than a piano. [1] Unlike the piano, where felt-covered hammers strike the strings (allowing the player to vary dynamics by touch), the harpsichord uses a mechanism called a jack with a small plectrum (originally quill, later leather or plastic) that plucks the string when the key is pressed. This means the harpsichord cannot produce gradual changes in volume through touch alone, and it has a characteristically crisp, clear, and brilliant tone quality.
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