This has been on my mind for a week or two, and it’s driving me a little crazy. I’m not sure if I can explain it well enough for you guys to get it, and it might be obscure, but I’ll try my best.
It’s either a classical piece or a film score, probably the former. If so, I would guess late 19th to mid 20th century. It’s pretty dramatic.
At a fairly climactic point, violins and woodwinds play the melody. They are either 8th notes at a fairly quick tempo or 16ths andante. They run up a diatonic scale (major or minor I couldn’t tell you) for 8 notes, slurred, with a big crescendo, then modulate up a half step, then run down the scale with a decrescendo, modulate up a half step again and go up the scale again, etc. This happens several times. These might be the notes:
This may be far off, but is it possibly the overture to Mozart’s Don Giovanni? The part in question that reminds of me of what you’re talking about begins at 1:12.
Thanks once again, choie. As it turns out, I’ve owned the score for this for many years, but I’ve never really studied it. It’s on page 2, measure 23, 1st violins and flute. It starts in D minor with a major 6th and 7th, then flats them on the way back down. Then it modulates up.
I’m guessing that Mozart was pretty good at writing some tunes. Not as good as the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star guy, but we can hold some hope.
You’re very welcome, tdn! You described the section very well, and as it happens I wrote a detailed analysis of the Don Giovanni overture for a term paper back in college. So it wasn’t difficult to call up the piece in my head once I hummed your excellent notation aloud.
Plus, I freakin’ adore Amadeus, so there’s that too.
(And LOL about Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Well played.)
