In the oratorio Song of the Forests op. 81, that part of melody appears in two version, the short and longer versions as seen in fig. 2. Borrowing the terminology mentioned by Pauline Fairclough, the short version is the motive x, and consequently, I will call the longer version as the melody x. Melody x often becomes a tool to signify a pastoral setting, and usually is played by the wind instrument. Motive x starts on the first scale degree and ascends until the fifth scale degree, while the sixth scale degree serves as a diatonic upper neighbor pitch. According to Fairclough, motive x connects song number 1, 6, and 7, and this proves that the oratorio was composed very carefully. In addition to Fairclough’s statement, motive x, in fact,…show more content… 3: Melody x (mm. 3-6) embedded in the pastoral melody in song no. 1 (mm. 1-10).
In song no. 6 mm. 41-43 and mm. 72-74, melody x appears in the same manner with the one in song no. 1 but in the key of G major, and is played by the English horn (fig. 4). It also serves as a pastoral melody representing the singing nightingale mentioned in the text of the song. Fig. 4: The modified melody x in song no. 6 mm. 72-74.
Song no. 3 and 7 show the expansion and the extension of motive x. In song no. 3 mm. 100-101, the interval between the last two pitches of motive x is expanded to become a perfect fourth interval. Then, a new perfect fourth lower pitch is added at the beginning of the motive x (fig. 5) to extend the motive. However, as for the violins, Shostakovich added a new minor second lower pitch at the beginning of the motive (fig. 5). Fig. 5: The modified motive x in song no. 3 mm. 100-101.
The additional first and fifth scale degrees at the beginning of motive x in song no. 7 extend the motive (fig. 6), while at the same time, its rhythm is also slightly altered at the end of the motive by substituting the eight notes with a dotted eighth note and a sixteenth note (fig.…show more content… 6: The extended motive x in song no. 7 in m. 2, m. 4, and m. 6.
The shortened version of motive x appears in song no. 2 and 3. In song no. 2, the strings play the shortened version in B major in mm. 74-77 and mm. 128-129 (fig. 7). It spans from the first scale degree to the third scale degree with the fourth scale degree as the upper neighbor
