Assignment 5 - WAM and Nature: Analysing a Musical Work

Bedřich Smetana: The Moldau

 Law Vanessa Lok Tung

The Moldau, composed by Bedřich Smetana in 1874, is a symphonic poem that depicts the river Moldau. The picturesque landscape portrays two springs join in the Bohemian woods becoming a river, flowing through the Czech countryside and into Prague. The cool spring and warm spring unify into a single current. 

 

 

The following analysis will mainly focus on a segment of the work from 0:00 to 2:47. The piece first begins with semiquaver ascending notes performed by the flute solos (bar1 to bar15) at a relatively quiet dynamic, creating a tranquil night setting. The continuous sound of the flutes with small crescendo and decrescendo in each bar, showing fluidity and small wavy of water. It also mimics a rapid running of water on rocks in a mountain stream. 

 

The joining of clarinets (bar16) and viola (bar28) with similar semiquaver notes with the flute, seems like illustrating the confluence of the two rivers, and their interlacing. However, the rivers depicted by the clarinet and flute soon separate from each other, when the clarinets disappear (bar36). Pizzicato of the violins can also be heard at the beginning of the piece (bar1 to bar34), which sounds like sprinkles of water drops. In the first half of the excerpt, it gives me a calming and relaxing feeling. Water is sparkling under the moonlight. The flute part opens my interest in following and chasing the journey of water, eager to know where the river ends. 

 

The strings (bar36 to bar63) and woodwind instruments take over the conjunct melodic line with higher pitch, louder dynamic, and warm tone colour. It adds thicker texture to the piece. Crescendo (bar48 to bar50) and diminish (bar51 to bar55) are used in the first violin. Compared with the flute solo at the beginning, this lengthening of dynamic may imply that the velocity of water is slowing down. Additionally, the legato of string instruments gives me a feeling of strengthening the water currents, and the original small river stream becomes a mighty river. Brass instruments, such as trumpets and horns, are added to the melody, and gradually dominate it. Meanwhile, the string instrument continuously playing semiquaver notes in the background, reminding me of the context of water. 

 

On top of that, the triangle (bar 60 to bar63) sounds like tiny water droplets, and a sprinkle of light on the water surface. Woodwind and brass instruments build up repeated small climaxes with crescendo (bar64 and bar 66), that mimic the potential energy of wave before hitting to rocks, for trill of triangle (bar 65 and bar88 to bar 89) sound like bigger splashes of water. Finally, these layers of swift current and wavy motion disappeared (bar70), revealing the movement of water, demonstrated by the strings. The river has traveled through the circuitous area and continue its journey. 

 

The reappearance of the melody entails the dynamic of water, and the trumpet and brass instruments (bar88) brings me a grand feeling of river flowing into the sea. Resultantly, the water moves slower and becomes calm water when the dynamic of instrumentation is weakened and diminished to ppp (bar108 to bar117).  

 

More percussion instruments are added in the final part of the piece, including drum set and English cymbal, to simulate different textures of splashes. I found it impressive that the sound made timpani evoke my imagination of water hitting some large obstacles, possibly large rocks, causing water to change its direction. Generally speaking, it seems to me that the work is not only describing the context of a river flowing into the sea, but also leading the audience to become part of the natural system, by putting ourselves into the water line itself. As a work in the 19^th century, nature is conceptualized in a way of ‘sublime’ experience, enabling the audience to have a feeling of transcendence and overpowering. It gives us an immersive experience that beyond beauty, which romanticizes and idealizes the overall flow of river - river water, originally with small water line, should flows from upstream, intersecting some small rivers, encountering obstacles and finally reaches the ocean.