Christmas Village - Composition Walkthrough - Part 2

This is part 2 of this composition walkthrough. Part 1 can be found here.

Bar 19-26

This is a relatively extended transition back to the main theme including a relatively sponatenous modulation a whole tone up. Again, as mentioned before, I deliberately free up a lot of the downbeats to break up the rhythmic staticness.

Harmonically there is a little surprise in here which is the Gm/Bb in bar 20. If we look at this functionally, as we are still in the key of D, bar 19 with Em is a ii, followed by a "minor IV", meaning that we borrow the 4th degree from the parallel minor (Dm) with the third of the chord in the bass. This is one of the "christmas chords" which you can also find in "All I want For Christmas" at the lyrics "underneath the Christmas tree". From there the progression is lead by a descending bass line over D/A (back to the major tonic with a fifth bass) followed by an E/G# (borowed from D Lydian) to the subdominant of G major (with a lydian C# thrown in for extra warmth), where it stays for two bars before going to the Dominant of A7sus4. Bar 26 pushes this Dominant up a whole tone into a spontaneous modulation which forms the V of the new I in 27 which is E major. So the modulation is quite "In your face" but one of these very effectively working ones.

Melodically speaking there is a motivic connection between bars 19 and 21 and as before long notes that sustain in the melody get filled with side lines (e.g. horns in bar 20) and/or flourishes (e.g. high woodwinds bar 23). Bar 23 and 24 work melodically by using another cliché line, this time in the horns+3rd Tbn which utilize the 9th, root, major7 and 6th  of the G major chord in linear motion. I tried to keep it rhythmically interesting by making this melody based on more off beat rhyhtms. Bar 25 and 26 cycle back to the main motif of the descending fifths (lead by the trumpets but doubled in many other instruments).

Orchestrationally, there is quite a lot of "decoration" going on. Especially the woodwind flourishes in 23/24 (all in octave unison, all starting on chord tones) as well as the descending line in high strings line that is doubled in the Glockenspiel. The measured tremolos add more movement and "excitement" to that line. Another decision here was to drop out the bass register again after the downbeat of 23 to create this "suspended in the air" feeling and make the re-entrance of the bass register in 25 more impactful.

So the entire purpose of this section is to create a big momentum for the modulation and the reappearance of the theme.

Bar 27-30

Harmonically, this is a quite literal copy  of the first theme statement, again using a lot of bar wise I-vi-ii-V or progressions that are related. However, of course the new key makes it feel very fresh and exciting again.

The melody is being carried by the trumpets with quite high notes on all three (sounding high B) and a relatively busy 16th note line which of course is also not super easy to play so this one is a bit challenging for the trumpets. Strings, Low Brass and Bassoons all join in on the "oom-pah" rhythm. Another element that looks relatively complicated buy really isn't are the woodwind flourishes which are simply the current chord (or an inversion of it) quickly moving up to a higher scale note. It's not always the next higher scale note but sometimes even a fourth higher. As this cambiata is so brief it really doesn't make a lot of difference to which note you switch as long as it's in the scale but I decided to go for some specific voicings.

The fourth element here are the horns which on count 2 and 4 play ascending lines with occasional chromatic notes in between to have the start and end points of these lines fall on a plausible chord tone (in case of the F#m in falls on the 11th which I found quite pleasing in this context). The strings play the off beat chords in open position and celli/basses are doubled in octaves.

Bar 31-33

These bars are relatively similar to the previous ones but change roles around a little. The horns join in on the "oom-pah" while the woodwinds take over the ascending motifs that were in the horns before. As a new element, the high strings are playing a soaring line in octaves to create some dramatic lift over the previous section.

Bar 34-39

The finale of the piece is being harmonically lead through a descending bass line and an ascending melody line. The harmonic switch that is happening at 34 again is a form of that "christmasy" minor iv chord. A F#m7(b5) could also be seen as a Am6 chord (which would be that iv chord) and the C in the bass is just an alternative bass note that makes this chord progression from the B7 more plausible by this step wise motion.

From there on, I wanted to build towards the finale. The bass line moves downwards in steps with mostly diatonic chords from E major (except for borrowing the F#/A# from Lydian) until it reaches the ii in 36 that leads to a V in 37/38 and eventually to the I in 39. So harmonically the finale is relatively straight forward but in a piece like this, I found that it works really effective. The V in bar 37 gets a bit more interesting by being an unresolved sus 4 chord which makes a lot of sense with the whole piece starting with a sus4 sound and the main motif being based on one as well. To not be completely expectable, I delay the conclusive I by one bar of "bell ringing" in 38 (still on that Bsus4 chord) which in my opinion creates a very nice moment of anticipation before concluding into that relatively cliché ending in 39 with almost everybody joining in on that repeated e.

The melody in this build-up (harmonized in the brass) repeats a motif that keeps moving upwards with a slight rhythmic variation in bar 36. It's again a relatively simple device that works quite effectively. Through that descending bass line and the ascending melody, the build towards the finale gets really strong as two lines consequently target towards the final bars. Again, as mentioned several times before, here I also free up the downbeat. This does not only create rhythmic variation compared to the downbeat heavy main motif but leaving the downbeat of a bar free is sometimes called a "tension rest". The absence of something that you expect to be there and gets delivered delayed (as in an eighth later) creates a tension in our perception that of course is very welcome when building towards a finale. This device can even be observed in pop music where on the 2nd or third chorus, the first beat or even half or whole bar gets freed up from the band/beat/etc. which enters late. This is essentially the same principle.

Orchestration wise, we see again some fill ups in the woodwinds on the longer notes in the motif (count 3/4 ofbars 34 and 35) and some very busy flourishes in the woodwinds in bar 37, with added sparkle with a triangle roll.

In bar 38, besides the bell ringing (a combination of Glockenspiel and Tubular Bells), count 3 and 4 get a dramatic "upward swish" with woodwinds, celeste, harp and string glisses.

Bar 39 again could be seen as the previously mentioned tension rest as the expected fulfillment of the final I gets delayed to count 2 of the bar.

And this concludes the walkthrough for this little piece.

I wish you a wonderful Holiday Season. See you back in 2022!