MUSICAL RHETORIC IN RICHARD STRAUSS'S DON JUAN, OP. 20 –
Part II: The Rondo, and Episode One
In the RONDO form, there is always one theme
that keeps coming back, as a separator between various contrasting episodes.
This main theme of the Rondo is called the REFRAIN.
The rondo form, appropriately represents the character of Don Juan.
"A" is "Alpha," the Alpha Male.
The character has an "episode" with one woman, then rushes off [mus]
to find another.
And another.
We can diagram the rondo form with the letters ABACADA.
Recall that Strauss was a 24-years-young man when he composed his tone poem, Don Juan.
So the notes written in the score visually depict a stylized phallus, as effectively
as the steeples of Christendom.
Full of the bloom of youth and male vitality, this REFRAIN theme is in the key of E Major. Four sharps.
[mus]
An article in The New Oxford History of Music
refers to its "energy and erotic desires."
See the Description.
The mythical Don Juan may have a reputation as "the world's greatest lover," but
he is only out hunting for trophies.
It is the challenge of the next "conquest" which interests the man, even more than mundane
sexual pleasure.
[mus]
With music notation software, we can easily
modify the piano transcription we've been hearing.
Temporarily, we can restrict the refrain tune to its rhythm alone, with a single, repeated
high note in the right hand.
Thus, in this special example we emphasize the rhythms of the Refrain, the dotted notes
and triplets, which give the theme its military flavor.
[mus]
To this conquistador, or conqueror, women
are merely prizes, or "interchangeable objects of temporary pleasure."
Now that was a quote from the classic theatre piece, Dom Juan, by the great French playwright
Molière.
Let's take a look at that opening melodic figure.
When first introduced (bars 1-3) it runs from the lowest open G of the violins up to high
B—a span of three octaves and a major third—a very wide range in less than three measures!
Few human voices could actually sing the violin part, but it highlights an important technique
for media composers: the wide range of this melody contributes to the sense of – not
calm, but – of restlessness, of adolescent male hormones running wild. Here it is:
[mus]
Eventually, a "pretty young thing" enters
his field of view, catching his attention, and we hear a "wakeup call" in the music,
the rising fifths, at bars 41 and 43.
[mus]
Do you hear those rising triplet figures in the bass?
Again, triplets are used to showcase the warrior side of this conqueror.
In the orchestra, the triplets are played by the cellos and basses.
The motive ends first on a C# then repeats and ends on D.
[mus]
Ending the repeat of the phrase a semitone higher increases the tension.
Don Juan moves in to "take a closer look," and of course she, the object of the rondo's
first episode, reacts to the male attention.
Biological imperatives at work.
Before going on, let's take a minute to listen again to the piano transcription of
bars 1-43.
Allow the musical rhetoric to evoke the images and emotions discussed so far.
First the opening, and rushing off to the battlefield.
[mus] ...
Refrain [mus]
… aaaannd …
Transition to …
Episode One: An attractive peasant girl, from the rondo perspective, with Don Juan as her
"possessor", characterizes the melodic content of Episode One.
In response to her flirting dotted figures, at first in C major (no sharps), bars 44, 45
[mus]
Rapidly rising figures ensue, especially the
rush of unison strings, representing male arousal, shown here in measure 45
[mus].
Let's say her name is "Zerlina" to parallel the peasant girl in Mozart's opera, Don
Giovanni – which is Don Juan in Italian.
Same story.
A chameleon herself, Zerlina now responds by mirroring the four-sharp tonality of Don
Juan: E Major/c# minor (upper strings and solo woodwinds, 48, 49).
[mus]
Zerlina's music is marked "flebile," an Italian word meaning weak, plaintive; this
encourages the hunter's advances.
One wonders just who is manipulating whom. (?)
In the orchestra score, curious triplets on
C-sharp appear in bar 48 of the bassoon part.
These may refer to the man's pounding heart, or to male sexual climax.
Or, these gloomy triplets in the bassoons may foreshadow impending doom for the libertine.
More about that later.
[mus] Though Don Juan himself is of noble birth,
the bassoons do not produce a brilliant or noble tone.
Zerlina, however is of a lower social class than Don Juan, so the bassoon sounds unrefined,
clumsy, or perhaps comical.
(Berlioz/Strauss 190). [mus]
Episode One is of course no great achievement for this aristocrat, merely another notch
added to his … "gun."
The man seems to be a bit disappointed—after all, bars 46-48 present a deceptive cadence
in the relative mode of C# minor. [mus]
Another detail: the cellos (or Violoncello
in the score) have triplets marked "sul ponticello".
This is a rather tense sound created by moving the bow close to the instrument's bridge.
See link in description to a YT clip for a demonstration of the sul ponticello technique.
The restless intro figure returns, and Don Juan is galloping off through a series of
sequences that ultimately lead to B-flat major, a tritone away from the tonic.
Do you hear the "laughter" in these sequences?
— those grace note "hahahahas" in the upper woodwinds of bars 50-62.
[mus]
– from Don Juan, poem by Nikolaus Lenau.
Episode Two is coming up next, so if you like this installment, be sure to Comment, Share,
and Subscribe!
Thank you for watching!
Music by Richard Strauss.
Presentation Copyright © Mark Priest 2017.
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