Overview

Harmony The Clarinet in A and Bass Clarinet are harmonized in fourths and are descending chromatically while the bassoon continues it solo. The bassoons second to last note on measure 5 is a Gb which is played by the piccolo clarinet at that exact moment to sound like it's played on the same instrument. Technique In order for Stravinsky to have long wind passages without the wind players running out of breath he would let wind players share a line of music; for example, at the start of measure 4 the Clarinet in A sounds like it has a continuous line until measure 9, but on measure 6 the first clarinet player stopped playing and the second clarinet player continued the line. A similar instance occurs in this section with the bassoon and the piccolo clarinet, but it's not for the same reason, it is for a timbre effect. Texture In order to achieve a dark and mysterious sound, Stravinsky used the chalumeau register of the clarinets.

Vocabulary Colla parte: To follow the tempo and phrasing of the soloist. Solo ad lib.: To play freely in tempo and phrasing. Harmony The Bassoons solo suggests that the key of the piece is in C major. Then the French Horn comes in with a C# with is the major 3rd of the first note of the bassoons second measure, but a minor 2nd on the second note when the bassoon returns to C. This would then imply that we are not in C major rather we are in a freely tonal piece since from here on out there will be an excessive use of polytonality. You could say that Stravinsky's remark on these first three measures is foreshadowing of whats coming ahead. Technique The solo Bassoon is playing at its highest register which creates a pale and delicate timbre.