audrina's analysis

Climax point 1:
Bar 18-19

At bar 18, the first violins make their first entrance and in contrast to the earlier bars, where there is a solo line, the orchestra now states the theme together (doubling) and hence giving it a thick texture. Earlier on, the strings section have been doing tremelos, which builds up the tension with (sur la touche) which means to play the bow nearer to the fingerboard which produces a softer and mellower sound. During the climax, (position nat.) back to the natural position of the bow, makes the strings section sound louder and harsher. Unlike before, where mostly, there were long notes (e.g.minims) then running chromatic notes, this time, there are moving quavers. There is also a repetition of G# B C# and each time louder than before, building up to the climax. There is an obvious increase in dynamic for the first time.

Climax point 2:
Bars 40-48

In bar 40, the horns are being unmuted, violin ones are bowing instead of plucking and there is a crescendo contributing to an increase in dynamic. The register is also very high with the highest note being F# from violin 1. There is also imitation between flute 1 and violin 1 and in the sequence, there is Aflat and Bflat changing the key. There are also running semiquavers, which are shorter than the previous climax’s quavers.

Climax 3:
Bars 63-70
From bars 63 to 72, the melody is played by strings section excluding the double bass. The registers are going up for the woodwinds and especially the harps. The texture here is especially thick. In bar 70, almost all the sections are moving in an upward motion. There is also an increase in dynamic the loudest being ff which is also the loudest in the whole overture.