Written by: Benjamin Britten
Stylistic Period: 20th Century
The piece's timbre involved a variety of instruments ranging from strings (violin, cello, viola, bass), woodwinds (flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, piccolos), brass (tubas, trumpets, french horns), as well as a full percussion. It had a simple, slow melody with a repetitive theme with variations depending on which instrument was being highlighted. The harmony is full with a variety of contrasting instruments such as when the high strings and woodwinds would contrast the low powerful blasts of the brass. Thanks to the percussion and the solid sound of the deep brass, the dynamics had sudden as well as magnificent crescendos and diminuendos with accents featuring a variety of instruments, my favorite being the violin feature of course. Overall it had a polyphonic texture, however certain sections of the song did allow for monophonic textures when certain instruments had section solos. I would have to say the piece overall had a bit of a slow tempo, however it did change to either a slow or faster tempo when certain sections were highlighted; the string feature at one point was very slow and ethereal and then the high brass feature was fast and exciting. Two characteristics that exemplify the stylistic period of the twentieth century I believe is the constant contrasting that Britten constructed in his music, not making it entirely a "romantic" piece. Also the use of a full orchestra highlighting EVERY instrument is definitely a modern 20th century technique.
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