The War Requiem by Benjamin Britten in the Light of Intertextual Links

The theme of war and peace is one of humankind’s eternal problems and one of the most relevant topics in art at all times. On the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War (1941—1945), the author’s research interest is focused on one of the rare works in terms of its power of influence, which tears the mask off the apologetics of war, uncompromisingly and honestly telling about the human price for the military madness. That is B. Britten’s “War Requiem”.The presented experience of art historical analysis is intended to explicate the intertextual connections of the work with a number of texts (verbal and mainly musical) inscribed in a wide socio-historical and artistic context of both the past and contemporary works of the English musician. This way of reading the opus allows to trace the role of dialogue with the European and national tradition in the birth of B. Britten’s text, which is original, innovative in style, highly outstanding in its artistic and civil-ethical merits. With the identification of intertextual inclusions — literary, ideological-shaped, story, genre, musical-lexical, intonational, and those at the level of musical thematism (from the works of Mozart, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich) — a number of new opportunities appear: to strengthen the emotional experiences of the recipient; to deepen the understanding of the meaning of both individual sections of the requiem and its general concept; to expand the content field of interpretations of the musical score; to ensure that cultural traditions are inexhaustible for relevant art creativity; and finally, to specify our ideas about Britten’s expressed humanist and anti-militarian aspirations, which were dictated not so much by the external reasons (the relevance of the topic during the Cold War, the Requiem’s being ordered for the opening of the cathedral in Coventry), but by his deep sufferings for the fate of the world and humanity. In general, according to the author, the analysis practically confirms the idea that semiosis — the process of interpreting signs and generating meanings in art (including music) — is unlimited, and can cease only with the termination of the existence of the culture itself.

"To achieve perfect clarity of expression, that is my aim“

A characteristic attribute of the semantics which underly Benjamin Britten's oeuvre is the deliberate recourse to musical semantems of Renaissance and Baroque. In the "War Requiem", melodic texture is subject to constructive principles inspired by (1) Alban Berg's technique to handle symmetrical interval cycles as it can be found in Berg's opera "Lulu", and (2) the contrapuntal rules of western european modality and solmization controlling ambitus and diastematics of melodic progressions. The a cappella "Requiescant in pace" concluding the work is shown to be a locrian organum strucuture, probably representing Britten's hope for the pacifying power of humanistic tradition.

Crucified by the War Machine

Nussbaum studies Britten's War Requiem for its insight into the possibility of reconciliation after armed conflict, focusing on images of the body, both beautiful and vulnerable.

Reconciliation in the Cathedral: Isaac's Religion in “Owen-Mass”

Статья представляет собой исследование религиозной символики и интерпретацию духовного смысла «Военного реквиема» Бриттена. Воспользовавшись Реквиемом Верди как моделью жанра, композитор отдал ключевую роль в драматургии сочинения эпизодам, созданным на основе военных стихов Оуэна; в результате произведение воспринимается подобно циклу песен в обрамлении частей заупокойной мессы. Военная реальность предстает у Бриттена амбивалентно. Совершая надругательство над древней верой и разбивая чаяния современных людей, война дает шанс возрождению религиозных чувств и символов. Опыт веры, порожденный войной, переживается остро, но при всей своей подлинности зыбок и эфемерен. Церковная традиция хранит веру прочно, однако эта вера в значительной мере утрачивает чистоту и непосредственность, которыми она обладает в момент своего возникновения. Бриттен целенаправленно выстраивает диалог между двумя пластами человеческого опыта (церковным и военным), находит те точки, в которых между ними можно установить контакт. Но это не отменяет их глубокого противоречия. Вера, рождаемая войной, представляет собой в произведении Бриттена «отредактированный» вариант традиционной христианской религии: в ее центре находится не триумфальная победа Христа над злом, а пассивная, добровольно отказавшаяся защищать себя перед лицом зла жертва - не Бог Сын, а «Исаак». Смысл этой жертвы - не в преображении мира, а в защите гуманности человека от присущего ему же стремления к агрессивному самоутверждению. The study of religious symbolism and the interpretation of the spiritual meaning of “War Requiem” by Britten have presentation in this article. Using Verdi's Requiem as a model of the genre, the composer gave a key role in the drama to the episodes based on the war poems by Wilfred Owen; as a result, the work is perceived as a song cycle framed by parts of the funeral mass. The military reality appears ambivalent. While committing a blasphemy against the ancient belief and shattering the aspirations of modern people, the war offers a chance to revive religious feelings and symbols. This experience of war-born faith is felt keenly, but for all its authenticity, it is shaky and ephemeral. The church tradition keeps faith firmly, but this faith largely loses the original purity and immediacy. Britten purposefully builds a dialogue between the two layers of human experience (church and military), finds those points where contact can be established between them. But this does not change their profound antagonism. In Britten's work, faith born of war is an “edited” version of the traditional Christian religion: in its center is not the triumphant victory of Christ over evil, but a passive sacrifice that voluntarily refused to defend itself in the face of evil-not God the Son, but “Isaac.” The meaning of this sacrifice is not in transforming the world, but in protecting the humanity of a person from his inherent desire for aggressive self-assertion.

Benjamin Britten – War Requiem

The chapter begins with testimonies about the aesthetic impact of the War Requiem at the time of its premiere followed by a survey of war-themed musical compositions that preceded Britten’s work and Britten’s reflection of his pacifism in musical works such as the Sinfonia da Requiem op. 20. Discussion is then focused on the commission from Coventry Cathedral that led to the War Requiem; Britten’s choice of nine poems by the war-poet Wilfred Owen, which Britten interspersed with traditional texts from the Roman Requiem Mass; and the choice of three specific soloists to represent three countries involved in World War II. The music of Britten’s work is discussed in terms of musical and structural symbolism, particularly in Britten’s choice of the tritone interval to express tension. Performance practice concerns address the staging of the work into three distinct strata, the vocal characteristics of the original three soloists, and the intended acoustical environment of Britten’s conception.

Choral Monuments

This book provides extensive and in-depth material about eleven epoch-making choral masterworks that span the history of Western culture from the Renaissance to the modern era. Included are Missa Pange lingua (Josquin Desprez); Missa Papae Marcelli (G. P. da Palestrina); B Minor Mass (J. S. Bach); Messiah (G. F. Handel); The Creation (Joseph Haydn); Symphony no. 9 (Ludwig van Beethoven); St. Paul (Felix Mendelssohn); Ein deutsches Requiem (Johannes Brahms); Messa da Requiem (Giuseppe Verdi); Mass (Igor Stravinsky); and War Requiem (Benjamin Britten). The works are presented in separate chapters, with each chapter divided into three basic sections—history, analysis, and performance practice. Discussions of history include biographical information about composers related to the work at hand, historical perspectives, and text sources. Analyses are focused on formal and musical structures, salient compositional techniques, and elements of music particular to the work being discussed, including parody and motivic organization. The discussion of performance practices includes primary source quotations about a wide range of topics, from performing forces, tempo, and phrasing of each work to specific issues such as tactus, text underlay, musica ficta, metric accentuation, rhythmic alteration, recitative, fermatas, and ornamentation. Musical examples and primary source quotes illuminate the material.