Barcarolle for flute and piano (Myroslav Volynskyi) DIGITAL

This is a 3 minute work in a neoclassical style at an Intermediate Level.

This is a short one-movement work in ternary form that takes inspiration from barcarolles, which are a Venetian boat song tradition sung by gondoliers. Typically, they have a gentle and rocking rhythm in 6/8 or 12/8 time signature to depict the rocking motion of a boat gliding over waves. The work begins with a short piano introduction that introduces the two rocking rhythmic motifs of 1) quarter note followed by an eighth, and 2) dotted eighth, sixteenth, and an eighth note. Often throughout the A Section “Tempo di Barcarolla” the flute and piano are utilizing these motifs either in a homorhythmic texture or in a dialogue manner such as the motif being passed back and forth while the other has a long note value. Overall, the flute part is very lyrical and vocal-like consisting of scalar and arpeggiated motion. At the end of the A section, the piano becomes more active introducing arpeggiated sixteenth notes trading between the hands to set up the new character for the next section. The B section changes character to become more anxious and tense. The thematic material consists of two main elements: 1) an offensive marcato dotted figure in the piano’s left hand and 2) a pleading descending line in the flute. It begins with a string of sixteenth notes that weave around the harmony while the flute plays a syncopated melodic line overtop. The return to the A section begins with variation as the flute plays a highly ornamented line of sixteenth notes filling in the theme with step-wise passing tones and arpeggiated intervals from earlier, while the piano brings back the ostinato accompaniment. Next, the flute returns to the original melody while the right hand of the piano takes over the sixteenth notes, which later transfer to the bass line. As it progress the flute plays a richly ornamented contrapuntal line of sixteenth notes that fill in the original theme, while the piano plays an ostinato figure underneath. Finally, the flute returns to the original melody when the piano’s right hand takes over the melody with a new syncopated motif introduced in the left hand to conclude the work.