Musicology Essay

Year 12, Term 1

Music 2
Compare Street of Crocodiles to Bolero
(a work composed between 1900 1945). Discuss the
similarities and differences between the two works.

Due:

22 March 2004

In modern musical eras, from 1900 to 1945 and even more so in the last 25 years, the
exploration of tone colour and expression has been arguably the most thought about
and desired preoccupation of many composers. Two musical works that show these
similarities and differences between the two ages of music are Street of Crocodiles by
Lisa Lim and Bolero by Maurice Ravel. These pieces not only manipulate the basic
concepts of music such as pitch, duration, dynamics in innovative ways, but really

delve into the possibilities of tone colour and expressive techniques in a significant
manner.
During the 20th century, new trends began taking form music. New ways of
composing were discovered, new techniques, new sounds and new use of concepts.
The other major aspect that changed was the way music was written to be heard.
Music works became more thought provoking which led to, really, a total rebellion
against romanticism, the period prior to 20th century. Lims inspiration for Street of
Crocodiles was born from this type of music as can be shown through her use of many
new expressive techniques leading to new sounds and a variety of new tone colours.
Ravel did not adopt these new techniques for his Bolero and opted for a richer
Romantic sound. His music can still be characterised as 20 th century through his use
of dissonance and energetic duration. Bolero was inspired by the visual images of a
Spanish woman dancing progressively livelier in a dimly lit Spanish caf and as she
gets faster, the men get excited and stamp their feet and a fight begins. This use of a
situation or incident to base Bolero on is totally different from Lims inspiration for
Street of Crocodiles and can be more closely related to Stravinksys inspiration to
depict images through music. Lim is more interested in, as she puts it I like the
sensual quality of the musicians touch on the instrument before and after the sound is
made The element of touch suggests the spiritual dimension of music beyond its
actual physical sounding manifestation.1
This piece was inspired when Lim listened to a performance of Koto. The cello player
turned two pages at once and this left, as Lim puts it An extraordinary, impromptu
silence1. This led Lim into a different and yet parallel world which provoked her
thoughts. Lim is also inspired be a piece of chamber work by Bruno Schulz written in
1934. Another Australian composer influenced by text is Sarah Hopkins for her piece
Songs of the Wind. These two composers are quite similar in their compositional
styles and influences. Lims love of the element of touch can also be linked with
Sarah Hopkins both she and Ms Lim write for a mixture of art forms and combine
music and to create a more artistically satisfying piece.
The two pieces are very different, especially when it comes to pitch, duration,
expressive techniques, dynamics. As for tone colour, both Ravel and Lim attempt to
write contrasting tone colours in the one piece of music but their strategies to achieve
this are far from similar.
Bolero is two themes played by different instruments so for Bolero, there is not much
development. This will be explained with tone colour. Lim uses many new expressive
techniques to alter pitch. Use of harmonics is very characteristic of the last 25 years
through the search for different sounds. The technique of multiphonics in the wind
section is also related to pitch as the player overblows the instrument to produce
different sounds. The most important technique used is scordatura which involves the
retuning of the baroque cello. Not only does this alter the pitch, it also gives a feeling
of the cello trying to catch up with the rest of the performing media. Bar 131 in the
strings section (Appendix 2, Extract 1) shows Lims use of a pitch directed glissando
pattern. The notes are not written in yet the shape is outlined. Four stringed
1

As quoted by Meet the Music, Australian Composition 2004 Australian Composition Resource Kit
pp 3-4

instruments play this glissando at one and the mixture of different notes is
extraordinarily encapturing as they move in similar shape yet with different
harmonies of notes. This sound is very far from anything to be heard in Bolero.
With duration, even though Lim includes a time signature, the counting is not strict.
This brings out a very free feel for the music. This is shown in bar 1 (Appendix 2,
Extract 2) with the baroque cellos solo. Even though the time signature says , this
bar is written for a cello player who Lim has gotten to know so he knows just how to
express her music through touch, feel and emotion, just as Ms Hopkins brings out
other feelings and art forms in her works.
The rhythms Lim uses are quite tricky and difficult to count. This unorthodox style of
rhythm is very unpredictable and the short bursts of music can build tension as they
layer themselves on dissonant pitches. An example would the three bar section from
bar 74 to bar 76 of the Alto Saxophone part (Appendix 2, Extract 3) as it plays
nothing and suddenly plays a bar and a quarter of loud, fast paced notes which are
played over the cimbalom notes.
Bolero is played in as a Bolero (Spanish dance). The ostinato played on the snare
drum constantly keeps the timing consistent. As well as the percussion ostinato,
another one is kept in the lower strings section using a constant three crotchet pattern
played pizzicato (plucked). These are both introduced in bars 1-2 (Appendix 3
Excerpt 1). Ravel wishes for the expression of the music to come out in constant
repetition of this ostinato which is heard and layered upon throughout the piece. The
rhythm of the themes are not straight though, with the use of many ties and slurs to
give the melody a smoother flow. In theme B, bars 4-6 (Appendix 3 Excerpt 2) writes
a syncopated, improvisation sounding little phrase which just repeats the D flat but is
timed so that it sounds as heartfelt as the Spanish womans dance steps.
Dynamics are also used to develop both pieces and each composer has used this
concept differently to achieve their aim. In Bolero, the piece is a gradual crescendo.
As the piece goes on, more and more instruments are added and they player a little
louder each time. The piece then reaches a climax in bar 339 (Appendix 3 Excerpt 3)
and especially in the middle of the bar when all instruments played a held chord, this
is very intense and played ff but is shortly lived and quickly finishes in the first beat
of the next bar.
Lisa Lim uses dynamics in the a totally opposite way as she differs alternates the
piece between pp and ff and included crescendos and diminuendos from pp to ff in a
matter of two and even one bar. An expressive use of dynamics is shown in bar 1 of
this piece (Appendix 2 Extract 2). These rapid swells give sudden bursts of life into
the music and you are constantly listening and taken by surprise by this piece. The
uses of dynamics in both pieces is appreciated and very different levels.
Expressive techniques and tone colour are the two concepts that draw these two
pieces together yet break them so far apart. Both Ravel and Lim attempt to use a vast
range of expressive techniques in order to achieve a wider variety of tone colours.
Both composers do this is such different ways but these uses classify them both into
20th century music.

Lim uses a great many expressive techniques, some even created by herself, in order
to grasp her desired timbre. These have been listed in Appendix 1 2. Shimmering
affects are achieved using this technique. This is a rapid alteration between notes like
a tremolo. These two techniques and show a graphic notation of pitch direction for
glissandos. This is left vague so that instruments do not all play the same notes which
gives it a free and spiritual feel. Hopkins also uses graphic notation for her piece
Songs of the Wind as she does not want a particular not, just wants the shape of the
piece to resemble the graphic notation.
A feeling of mounting tension is born from the technique of tremolando requiring to
play short, rapid strokes thus creating a trembling or shivering sound. Col legno is
also effective and requires the player of a stringed instrument to strike the strings with
the wood of the bow sending out a harsh vibration emitted from the strings. This is
also used as an expressive technique and is a different sound from the usual arco bow
stroke. The tone colours created by these strings techniques are noticeable as the
strings are quite pronounced throughout the piece.
In the woodwind section the two major techniques used are actually created by Lim
herself and are doodle tonguing and flutter tonguing. Doodle tonguing is a tonguing
affect which creates acceleration on a repeated not. Flutter tonguing achieves a trilling
type sound. This odd and new techniques create new sounds and are used by Lim to
involve the spirit and mind into the listening of her piece. A great passage to view
Lims use of many techniques is bars 8 10 (Appendix 2 Extract 4). A composer by
the name of Ross Edwards similarly uses traditional instruments in an unusual way to
achieve his desired sound such as in his piece Mountain Village in a Clearing Mist.
Ravel was also interested in expressive techniques and variations in tone colour
similarly to Lim, however he went about writing Bolero with quite a different
compositional path to achieve the tone colours of his choice. Ravel put a lot of
importance into his orchestration and the instruments he chose to play the melody.
Ravel uses the sounds of different instruments to describe different stages of the
piece. For example, the start of the piece is with the Spanish girl dancing softly and
delicately. Ravel has used a flute with only the snare drum playing the bolero ostinato.
As the dancing becomes livelier, he uses horns with fuller sounds and the heavy
excitement comes from the full bodied strings section as they play together. This use
of a full orchestra can be seen as a similarity to the music of Debussy, a French
composer of the same era. An example of this is his use of this orchestra in Prelude a
lApres-midi dun faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faune). Not all the
instruments play at once but the development of the piece is played through solos of
different instruments. In Bolero, at the climax section with the full strings section
playing, the ostinato is played by all the other instruments and this mixture of sounds
brings about an exciting sound quality as the Spanish girl begins dancing wildly and
the onlookers get exciting and the men stamp their feet. The consistent ostinato is also
another technique used as it keeps a bit and as the music gets faster, the ostinato
becomes more distinct and the continuity adds to the lively tone colour of the music.
The contrast in orchestration can be seen in (Appendix 3 Extract 4) where bar 5 and
2

Extracted from Meet the Music, Australian Composition 2004 Australian Composition Resource
Kit pp 10-12

bar 338 have been placed along side each other to show the increase and development
in orchestration Ravel has used.
It is obvious that in this new century, the search for new techniques and new sounds is
the main concern and composers are on the quest for new tone colours that encourage
thought. This is the aim that Lim has taken in her piece Street of Crocodiles. Lim
has used a variety of expressive techniques, and also techniques for pitch, duration
and dynamics that have helped her achieve the tone colours she desires. Ravels goal
was a little different as he experimented with tone colour using orchestration, a
repeated melody and a gradual crescendo.

Bibliography
Primary Sources
Contemporary Australian Art Music [Cassette] Australia: McNeill, J. (1996)
(Listened to): Sea Chant Peter Sculthorpe
Songs of the Wind - Sarah Hopkins
Mountain Village in a Clearing Mist Ross Edwards
Music: An Appreciation. 7th ed. [CD] USA: Kamien, R. (2000)
CD 7, Track 8 Bolero by Ravel.
In Tune With Music. 3rd ed. [CD] Australia: McGraw Hill, Australia (2003) CD 2
Track 7
Lim, Liza. Street of Crocodiles [Music Score] Australia: Ricordi (1995)

Secondary Sources
Bennet, Roy, (1982) History of Music. United Kingdom: Press Syndicate of the
University of Cambridge
Sydney Symphony (Syd) Meet the Music, Australian Composition 2004
Australian Composition Resource Kit. 2004 ed. Sydney: Burwood Press , 2004
Aspects of Music by G. Hodge[et al] Australia: Science Press. pp24 - 27
Dorricott. I, Allan, B. (2002) In Tune With Music Australia: McGraw Hill Australia.
pp119 144
McNeill, J (1996) Contemporary Australia Music: A Course for Year 11 Music
Students Sydney (Conservatorium)
Meet the Music 1& 2 (2004) Moore, M. Burwood Press
Kamien, R (2000) Music, An Appreciation, 7th ed. New York: McGraw Hill Higher
Education