Question about Rhythm in 3A

[nova.music]

Prof Belkin,

I noticed that the phrasing in exercise 3 starts on beat 2 and ends on beat one of the next measure. My natural insticts, had I been composing this piece, would have been to start the phrase on beat 1 and end up with the accent on beat 4. This might be an insignificant thing, but does that effect the performance of this phrase, especially how the cresendo works?

Thanks you again for a great course! I enjoy it and working with Gary's String Orchestra.

[belkina]

The feeling as you describe it would be syncopated, which was not what I wanted. In general, a syncopation like that only makes sense if it is eventually "resolved", otherwise the listener will hear it the simplest way.

Prof Belkin,

I noticed that the phrasing in exercise 3 starts on beat 2 and ends on beat one of the next measure. My natural insticts, had I been composing this piece, would have been to start the phrase on beat 1 and end up with the accent on beat 4. This might be an insignificant thing, but does that effect the performance of this phrase, especially how the cresendo works?

Thanks you again for a great course! I enjoy it and working with Gary's String Orchestra.

[khiun]

It is one of those old (yet, very useful!) thumb-rules of classical music, that a musical climax should coincide with the strong beat of a bar, often its 1st beat! So, in this case, as the main theme grows along the first four beats, the best solution is really the one presented by Prof. Belkin: starting in the 2nd beat of the first bar and ending in the 1st beat of the next bar.
For reference, Bach's chorales are a great example about this matter. Non the less, all known classical composers used this rule instinctively (with few exceptions!), and it is still very much in use in today's music, as it prevents that syncopated feeling that Prof. Belkin wrote about and helps with the musical flow.

[nova.music]

Thanks guys,

As a guy who comes from a Jazz background, I never would have thought this phrase starting on 1 would feel syncopated. I'm starting to see it now. I did think that starting on beat 2 (the weaker beat) would make playing "pp" more natural, and playing an accent on a strong beat (beat one) would help the cresendo develop and end more naturally. This sheds new light on orchestral phrasing for me...Thanks again.