Cantecul Miresei Bride's Song Analysis

Cantecul Miresei, a piece also known as “Bride’s Song” is a Romanian piece, which by the english title is used for weddings. The ensemble playing it consists primarily of a brass sections with trumpets, tubas, trombones, and baritones, giving allowing the melody to be doubled in a higher and lower octave. The lower instruments also articulate the polymeter structure: triple meter with 2 extra beats. This meter is made more prominent by the scratch board and percussion. The dynamics stay mostly constant, until the closing of the piece where the quick diminuendo leads to nothing and the tempo stays constant. The melody travels between octaves, first starting with the trumpets, making it bright and piercing, virtually impossible to mistake. The

higher pitches are doubled in the lower octaves. The timbre throughout the piece is harsh, which is set up by the upper brass. During this first part, some of the lower brass is doubling the percussion, outlining the chord progression. This section is repeated twice at the beginning of the piece and twice after the second part where the lower brass becomes more prominent and all of the instruments sit in a lower area of their range. The melody in both sections is very quick, and the first and second sections are separated by a single beat by a scratch board and lower brass instruments. The loud, nasally sound of “Cantecul Miresei” or “Bride’s Song” is very emphatic, especially with the distinctive meter. The soundscape also has a Latin American feel because of the trumpet melody and quick tempo and rhythm. At times the rhythms seem very sloppy in relation to other parts, especially in the bass.