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Rock: Variations on a theme of Erik Satie by Blood, Sweat & Tears
Listening activity
The
1960s' rock group Blood Sweat & Tears
performed two variations on Gymnopédie
No 1 on their second album,
released in 1969 by Legacy Records.
A digitally
remastered version of this album
was released in 2000.
If you are unable to source a recording of this album, you can
find mp3 and real audio
samples of featured tracks on a number of Internet sites. The
samples should be long enough to enable you to complete this
tutorial. For instance: Blood, Sweat & Tears (released
in 1969 by Legacy Records) at: http://entertainment.msn.com/Album/?album=121480 
.
Listen to an excerpt of Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie while following the listening guide.
If
you have a
recording of the full version, listen also to the second variation
and follow the listening guide.
Listening guide
| Musical concepts | Variation 1 | Variation 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | ¾ time signature. Phrase 1 Flutes: crotchets, minims. Guitar: crotchets, minims. Phrase 1 Guitar: addition of quavers. Flutes: addition of quavers. Phrase 3 Mostly quavers. |
¾ time signature. Section 1 Slow, crotchets, minims. Section 2 Faster, shorter notes. Section 3 Double time, much shorter, and faster. Contrasting tempo between each section. |
| Pitch | Phrase 1 Unison flutes. Phrase 2 Countermelody in flute 1, melody enters in canon in flute 2. Phrase 3 Flute 1 & 3 play contrasting countermelodies, flute 2 enters canonically with melody. |
Section 1 Two phrases in contrapuntal harmony. Lower brass ascending chromatically during second phrase. Section 2 Four shorter ascending melody, fanfare style, still polyphonic. Section 3 Fragmented melody, canonic. |
| Dynamics and expressive techniques |
Piano, with small crescendos and diminuendos at the beginning and end of phrases. Lyrical and legato melodies. Gentle guitar accompaniment. |
Accented, loud passages. Use of crescendo and diminuendo. Contrasting sections balance the movement. |
| Tone colour | Guitar accompaniment consists of bass note followed by chord. Flutes have a sweet, breathy sound, soaring with the melody. Use of triangles from the end of second phrase. |
Full brass section with synthesiser and drums. Heavy, muddy at first, then shorter, higher, brighter. Uses electronic effects such as phasing and ping-ponging. |
| Texture | Phrase 1 Homophonic. Phrases 2 & 3 Polyphonic. Light texture due to instrumentation, but not sparse. |
Contrapuntal, polyphonic. Use of canon. Addition of drums. Synthesiser. |
| Structure | Phrase 1 Phrase 2 Phrase 3 Essentially the same melody but varied on each repeat. |
Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Quite contrasting treatment of the melody in each section. |
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