Journal of the American Viola Society Volume 26 Online, Summer ...

Example 4. Elwood, Capricious AApparitions,
movt. V, Sppaceship
to thhe
Inferno, mmm.
24–30.
The exceerpt
from the e fifth movemment,
Spaceship ip to the Infe erno (ex. 4), alludes to
ideas fromm
at least th hree other moovements:
the use of
the tremolo o from the fi first
movemennt,
the accom mpanimentall
rhythm
found thrroughout
the e third movement,
a
descendinng/ascending
line from tthe
third
movemennt,
a restatem ment of the oopening
“Bartókiaan”
motive from f the firsst
movemennt,
and a sho ort glissandoo
alluding to
the seconnd
movemen nt. The scenee
in the
movie that
this sectio on is evokingg
programmmatically
is at the very eend,
where
all of thee
film’s chara acters join hands
and
dance in a circle on a raised platfform
aroundd
the semi--completed
rocket r in thee
film.
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26 SUMMMER
2010
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If thhe
consistenccy
between mmovements
II,
III,
and V lies in thee
rhythmic ddrive,
then thhe
corrrespondence
between II aand
IV lies iin
colooristic
use off
glissandi, hharmonics,
annd
chorrds.
The secoond
movemeent,
The Girl
at
the SSpring,
depicts
a scene iin
which Guiido
is att
a health spaa
and imaginnes
that a
beauutiful
womann
is giving hhim
spring wwater.
The movement oopens
with tthe
banjo plaaying
a sinngle
bowed ttone
that is tthen
tuned
upwward
on the sustain
through
scordaturra.
Afteer
establishinng
the harmoonic
tone on the
banjjo
with the bbow,
the boww
is released and
the lleft
hand bennds
the pitchh
of the string
withh
the tuner. TThe
violas thhen
take up tthis
gestture
using haarmonic
glisssandi.
This
techhnical
capabiility
on the bbanjo
inspireed
the
use of glissandi as a primaryy
motivic ideea
in
the ssecond
moveement
(ex. 55).
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