Ginestera's Impetuosamente

This piece is very contemporary and therefore doesn't use traditional cadences like many classical, but uses familiarities of certain tones to allow the listener to be able to anticipate and enjoy the experience of the music reaching a destination. As implied with the title Impetuosamente, the song has a lot of energy.

The A section is in a brisk 3/4 and 6/8 (there is a constant flux between the two pulses in different measures and parts which adds to the effect.) It begins with a jagged rythmic melody by the bassons with marimba playing constant eighth notes on two notes a half step apart, which sets the feeling of uneasiness and a lack to tonality. By having the melody slowly increase in pitch and switch from the bassoons to the french horns and then the clairnets the piece gains momentum into the first unison, which consists of the higher range instruments playing a simple melody which almost ends with a decending scalar line that sounds like a fa-mi-re-do. This whole section is filled with a switch every few bars from the highly dissonant jarring chords with the melody to a simpler form with timpani solos and low brass with marimba accompaniment. Another timpani solo forms the transition to the b section which has a theme of a horn part that is a sol-do, like a V-I but just the single note.

The B section features the woodwinds with a more peaceful melody (though the fluttering of the woodwinds does give the piece some darkness) and is in a slower 3/4. There are also little rememberances of the A section that remind the audience that it will be back eventually. The horn part is also mixed in with the familiar sol-do.

The return to the A section features a crecendo like the beginning of the piece but this one is slightly different. It has a more funky feel with the melody having constant eigth notes and the accompanying line switching the pulse back and forth between 6/8 and 3/4 each measure. This development also features the use of a ascending pitch range with the constant timbre of the marimba and moving timbres from bassoon to clarinet to trumpet as the crecendo rises and the original A melody feels like a point of arrival. The A section keeps building to the end with an emphasis on the tonic for four unions notes and then ends with a scale flourish up the octave to give the piece a anticipated and exciting ending.

I really like this piece because it has a good sense of predictibilty but with very exciting and emotional dissonant chords and a rhythmic structure that gives the piece an interesting yet likeable feel to it, and if you haven't already guessed it, I have played marimba on this piece.