Expanded Perceptions of Identity in Benjamin Britten's Nocturne, Op. 60 Page: 41
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music creates an ironic picture of England's role in the deaths of so many young men. The
shift from Song Five to Song Six takes place with a transition in the strings from an unsteady
rhythm to a steady march. However, this is no lighthearted march; the tempo is slow, and the
strings play very softly with pizzicato throughout. A D-minor chord over an E in the bass is
voiced low, and this chord does not change for ten measures. For the entire song, the strings
continue to play a pure major or minor triad over a conflicting bass. Having investigated the
significance of pure triads and dissonance in Britten's music, we can interpret this feature as
supporting the metaphor in the poem: an illusion of peace, built on a foundation of conflict
and violence.
The english horn and the voice are also compelling in their interactions. For most of
the song, the english horn only plays when the tenor has a rest or a long note. But when the
voice sings, "The shades keep down which well might roam her hall. Quiet their blood lies
in her crimson rooms," the english horn plays roaming, wandering arpeggios. During the
next line, "And she is not afraid of their footfall," both the english horn and the tenor have
repeated, alternating B flats. Because the english horn provides such a distinct image of the
roaming and the footfalls of the ghosts, it becomes clear that the english horn indeed
represents the dead soldiers.
This song is quiet and subtle, and despite what Whitesell says, the latent images of
sexual desire in Owen's poem are not directly brought to the surface in Britten's song.
Sensuality and anger are minimized while irony is revealed. All of the passion and intensity
of Song Five is gone, and instead an eerie calmness is present. Song Six appears more
intellectual and less emotional, because unless the words are really thought about, the
musical affect alone might lead one to believe that the ghosts really are kind to let the woman41
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Perkins, Anna Grace. Expanded Perceptions of Identity in Benjamin Britten's Nocturne, Op. 60, thesis, May 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc6064/m1/46/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .