Analysis of "Marriage D'Amour"

2008-09-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

An Analysis of the song "Marriage D'Amour" by Richard Clayderman

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The piano transcription of this song illustrates several elements of phrase analysis, which will be discussed further.

Time Signature and Hypermetric Organization

Throughout the piece, the time signature changes. As such, the stress patterns also vary. The diagram below attempts to illustrate the hypermetre of the first 13 bars:

There is phrasal symmetry in this piece.
The opening is in common time. Two bars later, a 3-4 rhythm is introduced. In the following bar, a 7-8 time is used and after this comes a 6-8 time. The song then continues alternating between 12-8 and 9-8 time. The difference heard is subtle. The purpose of this change could have been to inject some sort of variety in the melody by distorting its rhythm.

Counterpoint & Melody

By and large, the entire piece is heard in 2nd species counterpoint with little variations here and there.
Marked in slurs, the melodic phrase seems to take after a period structure in Bars 1-5 with Bars 1-3 acting as the antecedent phrase and Bars 4-5, the consequent phrase.
Bars 8-9 are a repetition of Bars 6-7 and is not considered to be structured like a period.
The chorus of the song, from Bars 10-13, showcase a sentence-like structure, with the first third of bar 10 as a SHORT phrase, the second third of bar 10 as another SHORT phrase and the rest of bar 10 till the end of bar 11 as the LONG phrase.
Bars 12-13 portray a period structure with Bar 12 as the antecendent phrase and Bar 13 as the consequent phrase.
The phrases are mostly repeated in sequence.

Harmony

The opening key in B flat Major.
The first chord used is a (vi) chord, which acts as a tonic substitute for the tonic chord.
In terms of Harmonic function, a TONIC - PREDOMINANT - DOMINANT - TONIC function is seen where the (vi) chord acts as the tonic, the (IV) chord in bar 3 serves the role of a predominant chord, the (V) chord in bar 4 acts as the dominant and the tonic chord of B flat major, as the tonic function.
In bars 6-7, the chord progression of (vi - vi 6/4 - vi - ii - ii6 - V - I ) is noted. Here the (vi) chord thats acts as a tonic could have been expanded (i.e. tonic expansion).

Cadence

A perfect cadence in B flat Major is seen in Bars 4-5.

The two phrases from Bars 6-7 and 8-9 are also punctuated with a perfect cadence.

The phrase is bar 13 is concluded with an interrupted cadence in B Flat Major.

Non-harmonic Tones

A (G flat) note is used in Bar 5. I am still unsure of its purpose. Perhaps, it could have been used to create a diminished (vi) chord.

In bar 7, an (E natural) note is used. This is a chromatic passing note from E-flat to F.

In the left hand part of Bar 11, two notes (i.e. E-natural and G-flat) are consecutively used. Could the notes have been to momentarily give the illusion to the listener that the key has changed to E major?

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The Sound of Music

Analysis of "Marriage D'Amour"