The “Arch”-itecture of a Rhapsody
One might expect a “rhapsody” to be a sprawling affair in which new ideas are invented in the enthusiasm of the moment, but my Rhapsody for Woodwinds and Piano is not that at all. All the melodic material is based on the main theme and its component motives, first presented in the bassoon part beginning in bar 16:
Of particular importance is the opening “arch” motive, on which we will focus here. It consists of a leap up, a stepwise movement, and a leap down. This motive is first stated by the flute in the opening bars, reappearing thereafter throughout the piece.
The Rhapsody’s mood changes dramatically in bar 44, where the arch motive leads into a playful, Prokofieff-like march.
As the march develops, the arch appears in its original note values (quarter notes), in diminution (eighth notes), and in augmentation (half notes), all woven together in the contrapuntal texture.
The march rises to a climax and subsides. The opening phrases of the main theme are nostalgically intoned by the clarinet and then the flute. In this same passage, occurrences of the “arch” motive are chained together in a sequence – which, remarkably, causes the arch to emerge in inverted form as well (see below).
This inverted arch gives rise to the fugue that follows.
In the final Molto tranquillo, the arch motive appears in supremely peaceful quarter notes in almost every measure, as the harmonies in the upper voices shift constantly over a long tonic pedal point.