The Concept of Structural Delineation

And so it is not uncommon to hear recordings of the Chaconne where the beginning and the ending sound almost identical in intensity.

Beginnings and endings must be differentiated.

Especially in material that is similar.

A beginning must sound like a beginning and an ending an ending.

Like a good movie, you know when it’s the end, even before the credits have started rolling.

How do you know?

Because there’s a sense of conclusion, a sense of resolution, a sense of finality.

After a long conflict ridden saga, the end comes as a relief, a wrapping up of things.

Especially for long scale works, structures should be articulated in the same way as melodies. The beginnings, the middle, and the endings should all be differentiated.

This differentiation can be done at all the basic levels—dynamics, timbre, and articulation.

—May 18, 2003

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