Melody (Difference)
A ballad cannot survive if the housewives and merchants, troubadours and children are unable to sing it. As a result, the melody for "Scarborough Fair" has a very controlled vocal range of an octave and a half. This simple, repeated melody that is used in the English ballad places more emphasis on the words and the story it tells, while demanding more varied and gripping lyrics to make the song interesting. The words in Scarborough Fair are very syllabic, and sound much simpler as a result. This simple tune is easy to remember, as is characteristic of a ballad, lending "Scarborough Fair" its timeless quality. |
The large vocal range of the Tibetan singer comes from the high altitudes, reflecting the geography. In order to successfully perform this song, it is important to be able to shift from “piercing high pitches to soft low tones”, making this piece one of the hardest songs to perform [6]. The song, "Tibetan Plateau" requires a vocal range of three octaves, from B3 to B6. The impressive melismatic flair in the beginning and ending measures (0:00 – 0:12) and (3:13 – 3:39) evoke the large open plains of Tibet. The high notes are piercing and unusual, making them easy to remember, lending the song its timeless quality.
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Harmony and Texture (Similarity)
In both pieces, the solo female voice is consistently very clear, and is never covered by the instrumental accompaniment. Even during the instrumental interludes, when an instrument such as the flute or the violin takes over the melody, the melodic line is consistently above the other voices, or the harmony.
As such, both pieces have monody, a style in which the vocal line is embellished with simple or expressive harmonies. For "Scarborough Fair", the harmony was probably added on after the 16th century, as instruments became more widespread and available to be used as background music to the ballad. The use of monody was fitting because it traditionally kept the emphasis on proper articulation as well as expressive interpretation of the highly emotional lyrics. For "Tibetan Plateau", the harmony includes a basso continuo in the lower strings, which occurs in (0:58 - 2:04) and (2:22 - 3:13), whenever there are vocals. The basso continuo also allows for improvisation in which the melody is imitated, or elaborated upon. Variations of the singer's melody can usually be heard after the end of each of the vocal soprano's phrase, such as (2:12 - 2:14), (2:20 - 2:22), (2:43 - 2:44), and (2:53 - 2:55). Imitations of the melody occur after the end of each melodic phrase in the instrumental interlude. The harmony 'echoes' the singer as a refrain. This type of harmony supports the strong vocals without detracting from it.
As such, both pieces have monody, a style in which the vocal line is embellished with simple or expressive harmonies. For "Scarborough Fair", the harmony was probably added on after the 16th century, as instruments became more widespread and available to be used as background music to the ballad. The use of monody was fitting because it traditionally kept the emphasis on proper articulation as well as expressive interpretation of the highly emotional lyrics. For "Tibetan Plateau", the harmony includes a basso continuo in the lower strings, which occurs in (0:58 - 2:04) and (2:22 - 3:13), whenever there are vocals. The basso continuo also allows for improvisation in which the melody is imitated, or elaborated upon. Variations of the singer's melody can usually be heard after the end of each of the vocal soprano's phrase, such as (2:12 - 2:14), (2:20 - 2:22), (2:43 - 2:44), and (2:53 - 2:55). Imitations of the melody occur after the end of each melodic phrase in the instrumental interlude. The harmony 'echoes' the singer as a refrain. This type of harmony supports the strong vocals without detracting from it.
In nearly all renditions of "Scarborough Fair", the melody is the same while the harmony can change. For piano sheet music, as an example, the right hand melody will always play the same notes as shown. The left hand harmony, however, will play chords or have a homophonic style.
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For the "Tibetan Plateau", the basso continuo only has improvisation or variations after the vocal line, so as not to compete with the singer's voice.
These 'echoes' can be heard at the following times: (0:16 - 0:17), (0:20 - 0:21), (0:24 - 0:25), (0:28 - 0:29), (1:42 - 1:43), (1:45 - 1:46), (1:50 - 1:51), (1:54 - 1:55 ) |
In addition, both pieces use similar instruments in the harmony - most notably, the chime and the full orchestra. In various different renditions of these two pieces, percussion may or may not be added as well. The overwhelming importance of the melody allows for greater variety in the harmony, as long as the harmony does not overshadow the singer.
Meter (Difference)
"Scarborough Fair" is in triple meter, which is characteristic of folk songs. A triple meter is more lyrical than a duple meter, which is more martial and driven. Folk songs in triple meter can be lively and are common among rural dances. As a slow song, "Scarborough Fair" focuses much more on the lyrical aspect, but still reflects the rural culture that it belongs to. |
The constant interweaving between the melodic lines and harmony variations creates a very irregular 4/4 meter. In addition, the melismatic sections are a cadenza in which the improvisational, ornamental notes have no clear beat. This evokes a very free-spirited tone, reflecting the nomadic Tibetan culture that it belongs to. |
Form (Similarity)
In both pieces, the simple melody is repeated without much variation in the subsequent verses. This is characteristic of a piece with strophic form, in which each stanza is sung to the same melody. For "Scarborough Fair", this is a typical form for any ballad, as it originated from a culture where complex melodies could not be written down on sheet music. As a result, for many popular ballads or folk tunes, the versus were sung to the same melody over and over again. For the "Tibetan Plateau", there are two distinct melodies that correspond to each stanza of the song. However, they consistently follow in an ABA format in which the first A section is an instrumental interlude. As a result, the strophic form describes the song the best.
The repetition of “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” and "then he'll be a true love of mine" in the lyrics evokes a nostalgic and romantic tone.
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In the "Tibetan Plateau", the repetition of "Can there be a song without words?" and "That's my homeland, the Tibetan Plateau" emphasizes feelings of patriotism.
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