The above is a functional and phrasal analysis of The Point of No Return.
The song is basically built up of sentences of the form 2-2-3 (short-short-long) with another 1 bar by itself. I would like to think of that bar as a linkage between two parts, so it's not really considered within the sentence structure. However, seeing it from another way, it can be of the form 2-2-4, making it more balanced. Then again, because of the breakdown in part 2, which is of the form 2-2-3, 2-5, 1, I think the bigger form of 2-2-3 will be more likely..
As for the functional analysis, I think it's not too difficult despite all the modulations, because ultimately it's really just tonic and dominant expansions, and it follows the model of T-PD-D-T too. :)
Okae, this song actually uses some non-harmonic tones such as suspensions (there's one in bar 5), neighbour notes, passing notes and so on. These can be seen from the score.
An interesting thing to note is that the composer (Andrew Lloyd Webber) also made use of arpeggic patterns, as can be seen from bars 19, 20 and 21.
Yupyup, so this ends my analysis for The Point of No Return. Feel free to comment on any mistakees! :D
1 comment:
Dorcas,the phrase analysis here is a little tricky. To my ears, it's 2+6 then 4+8 and 2+5+3.
For the final 3 bars, note the modified circle of fifths: Eb-Ab-D-G? The Ab chord is a Neapolitan of G (not V of Eb).
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