01 August 2012

Imitative finish

This morning, I had a good look at the closing 28 measures (Largamente assai) of Après-lullaby, and I believe I have found the solution. The whole movement up to that double-bar will fit the string quartet scoring, untransposed. But, that last flourish of imitation, no.  I have not wanted to transpose the first 126 measures of the piece, in order to accommodate the closing 20%.

The chord in m.126 is a stack of fifths (though not voiced so plainly): G, D, A, E. The E is in the bass, which then resolves up a semitone to begin the point of imitation on F.

It is an easy matter to re-voice that chord in m.126 so that the A is in the bass, resolving up a semitone to B-flat — and if I transpose that section up a perfect fourth, it will work fine — at one point Vn II and Va will need to swap parts II & III, and I'll want to broaden the overall range by raising the violins an octave for a few measures … but the conversion will be smooth.

The result may, indeed, be an arguable improvement upon the original.

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