Locus Iste by Anton Bruckner displays several stylistic features of Romantic music. The melody remains mainly in the soprano register, allowing it to rise above the other parts. The melodies are generally stepwise with long note values and dotted rhythms, permitting rubato. Modulation and chromaticism add harmonic color. There are suspensions and imperfect cadences. The texture includes homophonic and monophonic sections. Written for SATB choir, it has a ternary ABA structure to celebrate an cathedral anniversary.
Locus Iste by Anton Bruckner displays several stylistic features of Romantic music. The melody remains mainly in the soprano register, allowing it to rise above the other parts. The melodies are generally stepwise with long note values and dotted rhythms, permitting rubato. Modulation and chromaticism add harmonic color. There are suspensions and imperfect cadences. The texture includes homophonic and monophonic sections. Written for SATB choir, it has a ternary ABA structure to celebrate an cathedral anniversary.
Locus Iste by Anton Bruckner displays several stylistic features of Romantic music. The melody remains mainly in the soprano register, allowing it to rise above the other parts. The melodies are generally stepwise with long note values and dotted rhythms, permitting rubato. Modulation and chromaticism add harmonic color. There are suspensions and imperfect cadences. The texture includes homophonic and monophonic sections. Written for SATB choir, it has a ternary ABA structure to celebrate an cathedral anniversary.
Locus Iste by Anton Bruckner displays several stylistic features of Romantic music. The melody remains mainly in the soprano register, allowing it to rise above the other parts. The melodies are generally stepwise with long note values and dotted rhythms, permitting rubato. Modulation and chromaticism add harmonic color. There are suspensions and imperfect cadences. The texture includes homophonic and monophonic sections. Written for SATB choir, it has a ternary ABA structure to celebrate an cathedral anniversary.
Describe the stylistic features of Locus Istewhich show
that this music is an example of Romantic Music. (10) In Locus Iste, Anton Bruckner uses the melody line to create a sacred and holy atmosphere. The melody remains mainly with the sopranos, in the upper register to allow the melody line to rise above the accompaniment and bass. The first motif we hear is formed of a descending C major scale and, apart from bars 14, 16 and 20 (as examples), the melody is mostly stepwise. The note values of all melody lines sung by the SATB choir are generally long with a dotted crotchet and crotchet dominating the rhythm. This allows for rubato on the singers part which ties in to the Romantic setting of the motet. The melodies themselves can be described as angular and conjunct, with the words being set to them mostly syllabic and melisma at bar 40. It can be noted that the basses have melodies containing the biggest interval jumps of an octave whereas the sopranos have a maximum leap of a perfect 4th. Locus Iste is in C major but as is with most music from the Romantic period, it modulates to other keys to provide interest. An example can be found in bar 4 where, although still in C major, ends on a D minor chord. The following bar introduces a F# allowing the piece to modulate into G major (the dominant). However, this is short-lived as the piece swiftly moves back into its home key of C major. At bars 40-42 we also see Bruckner sway through numerous chords and harmonies, although his use of harmonies is mainly conventional with occasional uses of dissonance. We also hear frequent examples of imperfect cadences (occasionally a Phrygian cadence) and a perfect cadence at the end. There is a lot of chromaticism used in Section B (bar 20) where Bruckner scores a descending chromatic scale for the altos and tenors. The introduction of chromatic notes in an otherwise diatonic piece, notably in bar 13, adds some tonal colouring to the music. The are also several suspensions in the piece, for example a 4-3 suspension at bar 27. The texture of the piece is defined by it chordal and homophonic movements. The first few bars provide examples of homophonic and monophonic texture. At the beginning of Section B, the tenors can be heard solo creating a monophonic and thin texture. It should be noted that throughout the whole of Section B, bars 20 - 30, the basses do not sing a single note, passing on the bass line to the tenors and creating a thinner texture. The use of a Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass choir is fitting for the purpose of the piece; a celebration of the anniversary of a Cathedral. The function of the sopranos is to provide a melody with altos and tenors accompanying underneath. The basses provide a bass line that is occasionally imitated by the sopranos (e.g. at bar 13 and 14). This motet is written with a ternary ABA1 structure with Section A being 20 bars, Section B being 10 bars and the return of Section A slightly shorter at 18 bars. A1 reflects the first section with a few variations. For example, at bar 40 Bruckner introduces a new harmonic idea followed by a rest bar that makes use of the crescendo forte before it to create an echo in the Cathedral that it would have originally been performed.
