Listening Exercise 6 Texture

Texture

A famous passage from Beethoven furnishes a clear example of monophonic, polyphonic, and homophonic textures — the initial presentation of the so-called Joy Theme in Symphony No. 9, the “Choral” Symphony. The theme, a tune known around the world, takes its name from the words set to it, an enthusiastic ode to the joy that comes from human freedom, companionship, and reverence for the deity. The words are sung by soloists and a chorus.

But before anyone sings, the theme is played several times by the orchestra, in a way that suggests that joy is emerging out of nothingness into its full realization. Beginning with utterly simple monophony, and growing successively higher and louder, it is enriched by polyphony and then reaches its grand climax in homophony.
0:00 Joy Theme Low register Monophony: a single melodic line; cellos and double basses playing together, with no accompaniment
0:49 Theme An octave higher Polyphony, non-imitative: the theme with two lines of counterpoint, in low strings (cello) and a mellow wind instrument (bassoon)
1:36 Theme Two octaves higher
2:21 Theme Three octaves higher Homophony: full orchestra with trumpets prominent
Our example of imitative polyphony comes from the Symphony of Psalms, another symphony with chorus, a major work by the twentieth-century composer Igor Stravinsky.
0:00 A slow, winding melody, unaccompanied, played by an oboe
0:25 The same melody enters in another instrument, a flute, as the oboe continues with new material; this produces two-part imitative counterpoint.
0:58 Third entry, second flute plays in a lower register — three-part counterpoint
1:20 Fourth entry, second oboe — four-part counterpoint