War Requiem - Britten - 2. Dies Irae Flashcards
What theme begins the movement and what effect does this have?
The first theme is played in the Trombone and features an ascending lombardic rhythm which weakens the rhythm.
Describe the texture of the 2nd movement until figure 17.
It’s monophonic. This creates a feeling of emptiness.
Describe the 2nd theme that enters in the 2nd bar of the movement.
A monotone fanfaric idea, consisting mainly of triplet quavers. The triplet rhythm dictates its speed, by comparison to the final two quavers.
Describe the 3rd theme at its first entrance.
It enters in a solo horn.
Which theme is inverted 8 bars in?
The 2nd theme (the triplet quaver one).
How does the 4th theme carry the piece into figure 17?
It creates a 3/4 hemiola as the melody descends through both Trombones and a Tuba. The melody is then taken and manipulated into 7/4 time and is used in the choir when they enter.
What harmonic device is used at figure 17 when some of the woodwind parts enter?
A D pedal.
Describe the melody and texture of the choir when they first enter in figure 17.
The descending crotchet melody overlaps canonically in the tenor and bass parts. It also includes dynamic swells which are dovetailed. The melody in the choir gets quieter as it gets lower, to create a feeling of depth.
What happens to each of the orchestral themes when they return in figure 18?
Theme 1 (scotch snap theme) enters canonically between the Trombones. 2 pairs of trumpets canonically play the inversion of Theme 2. The four horns then play an extensively harmonised and extended version of figure 3.The trumpets then combine themes 1 and 2 into one melody, before finally, the 3/4 hemiola in harmonised by the Trombones and Tuna playing in homophony.
How is the choir different when it reenters in figure 19?
The choir now features two soprano parts, an alto and a tenor. They sing the same 7/4 rhythm but contrary motion is created between the sopranos and the tenors.
Describe the brass when they play the instrumental section at figure 20?
They begin with a harmonised version of theme 1 before blasting out an accented, fortissimo, fully harmonised theme 2. Theme 3 is then given the same treatment a few bars later before the hemiola theme leads into figure 21 and there is a double chorus and full woodwind.
Describe figure 21.
It features full strings and woodwind as well as an 8 part chorus. All of these play in powerful homophony with a fortissimo dynamic with the performance direction ‘heavy’. A now 4 part, forte choir crescendo back up to fortissimo as the melody rises on ‘Coget omens ante thronum’.
What happens to the texture at figure 23?
A hetrophonic texture is created when the Woodwind play an augmentation of the choirs melody on top of the them singing it normally.
Discuss the use of themes when the music starts to slow at figure 24.
The orchestration is now reduced to the chamber orchestra which play an augmentation of the opening lombardic theme. This is followed by the Flute which plays an extension of theme 2, the triplet quaver theme. The augmented theme then reappears and a baritone solo enters canonically with the same melody.
Describe what the strings and baritone solo do leading in to figure 25?
The strings hammer out the rhythm associated with theme 3, with a monotone chord. The baritone soloist sings over this to create the feeling of a recitative. Doing this, he arpeggiates a diminished 7th on the word ‘sorrowful’
