Listen to the extract of 'Quiet' from Matilda the Musical and describe three ways that Minchin creates dramatic contrast within this song..

Minchin uses dynamics and tempo to create contrast in this song. The piece begins with a crescendo building through the whole of the first section to reflect the lyrics, 'my heart is pounding, my eyes are burning' . The crescendo is also complimented by an accelerando creating a sense of building tension and anxiety in the character. Once the climax is reached there is a sudden drop to a piano dynamic and much slower tempo which continues throughout the rest of the piece. The lyric at the start of the new section is 'Quiet' and this is literally created by the quiet dynamics.Minchin also uses a change in texture to further emphasise the change in mood from one of tension to calm here. In the first section the texture is thick and full with percussion, strings and piano forming the accompaniment. However, after the climax, solo piano forms a sparse accompaniment and this allows for silence between the vocal phrases and again creates literal, musical representations of 'quiet'.