Saturday Night Waltz – key facts
Form and structure
The song uses the structure of the folk musicTraditional music from a particular country. song I Ride an Old Paint. The waltz is developed in various ways.
- A variation on A-B-A structure. The main sections are:
- introduction
- section A - waltz Music written for dance in triple time.
- section B - developed waltz theme
- section A - waltz theme returns
- ending
Harmony and tonality
The slow waltz is accompanied by a simple tonic and dominant harmony, and modulates through types of thirds. Also consider the following points:
- the introduction begins with the strings playing double stoppingOn a stringed instrument playing two strings at once, plucked or bowed. on open strings a perfect fifthThe interval from the first to the last of five consecutive notes in a diatonic scale. apart. The double basses play a pedalHeld or repeating note on the same pitch, while the chords change above it. on G.
- after the introduction the pitchThe frequency of a sound. Sounds with a high pitch have a high frequency. moves down a semitone to G♭
- D♮ leads the music into the tonicThe first degree of a scale and the central key of music. In Roman numerals this is I. key of E♭ major
- the outro returns to the tonic key of E♭ major
- the movement closes on an bare fifth/open fifthA chord that doesn't include the third, eg in a C major chord only the pitches C (I) and G (V) are played. using the tonic and dominant of E♭ major
Tempo
Saturday Night Waltz is a slow waltz and uses the following techniques to implement this pace:
- contains a number of tempoThe speed or pace of performance in speech, dance or music. changes throughout
- the intro is played at a quick tempo marked 152 crotchet beats per minute
- the ending of the music returns to the ‘slow waltz’ tempo before slowing down at the end
Rhythm and metre
The rhythm of the waltz is created by the following:
- the waltz is in a 3/4 time
- the first eight bars feel like duple time
Dynamics
There are gradual changes in the volume of the piece which are deployed with the following:
- the introduction begins forteShortened to f when written in the score. It means to play the music loud.
- Saturday Night Waltz reduces in volume from fortissimo to mf and then to p
- the outro returns to forte until the end
Texture and melody
The melody is based on the song I Ride an Old Paint/Houlihan and features:
- a homophonicA texture based on chords. introduction in texture, played by the strings double stoppingOn a stringed instrument playing two strings at once, plucked or bowed. and triple stopping On a stringed instrument playing three strings at once, plucked or bowed.
- the slow waltz melody is played by the oboe
- the melody begins with a minim anacrusisAn upbeat. - augmented - but the overall melody has been rhythmically shortened compared to the original
- the solo flute adds decoration, eg acciaccaturaNote played as quickly as possible before the note that follows.
Timbre
The suite is written for a large orchestraA large ensemble made up of different instrument families. , however:
- the third movement sounds as though it is scored for chamber orchestra
- not all of the instruments are included in all movements
- the transposing instruments are clarinet, bass clarinet and trumpet in B♭. The Horn and cor anglais are in F.