Music 251A Chamber Music Profile No. 1: Foreground

Each profile will highlight a specific problem of orchestration for chamber ensemble.

In its simplest terms, the foreground is the first thing which catches the listener's attention. Throughout an extended piece, this entity changes character to create structural oppositions. It is often thought of as a melody; but, all melodies are not foreground, since a melody may accompany some other musical gesture (think of any passage in a piece like Wagner's Tristan which the solo voice accompanies the tutti foreground in the orchestra), or a complex of equal melodies or motifs might prevail (Beethoven's Op. 135 opening is a good example). The significant aspect is that of linear extension: the foreground is perceived as linear through time and thus confirms the forward motion of the piece. The following examples illustrate how various foregrounds are supported by the parameters of rhythm, register, meter, and texture, often in combination wtih one another.

It is also important to realize that sometimes there is no foreground, as in some non motivic transitional passages or developmental sequences of harmonies or vertical aggregates. The very reestablishment of foreground may be a major signpost for large scale structural nodes in a extended developmental composition.

Sometimes the decisions on foreground are not easily made by the composer: In the Sixth Movement of his Lyric Suite, Alban intended to use a soprano voice and create a seting of Baudelaire's De profundis clamavi. He later changed his mind and removed the vocal part; as a result, the meaning of Tristan and Von Zemlinsky (Lyric Symphony quotes in this movement became shrouded in mystery. The first musical example shows the opening of this movement where the voice selectively doubles violin I. The recording uses the vocal part as reconstructed by George Perle. This example shows how essential those decisions on foreground are at a compositon's outset. Please notice that the violoncello's C string is tuned down to B (actual pitches in score).

(Lyric Suite, Movement 6 in both versions).