A threnody is a song of lament. I began composing this music on February 15, 2018, the day after the horrific slaughter of students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It is meant to be a prayer of lamentation for the many men, women, and children who have been massacred by assault weapons in the United States. The little to no response from the manufacturers of those weapons or the NRA other than to arm more people with the same weapons make these groups complicit in the murders of these innocent people.
Three images were prominent in my mind as I composed this music. The first image is that of the many feet walking in cemeteries, over these many years of gun violence, to bring their dead loved ones to be buried. The countless children from the wee ones to college students, girlfriends and boyfriends, fiancés, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers indiscriminately slaughtered at school, universities, movie theaters, shopping malls, places of businesses, even Fort Hood.
The second image is that of the relentless chaos of the shooting. People scattering everywhere to escape the hail of bullets, bodies slaughtered left and right by the gunfire. The look of disbelief and horror on the faces of the dead, the dying, and the wounded as they lie where they have been slaughtered.
The third image is that of the victims’ loved ones visiting the graves of those they lost. The utter senselessness of their deaths. The cutting off of their lives before they could even begin to live.
The fourth image is that of the heavenly peace of the victims, held in the loving arms of the God who created them.
These images created the form of this music, namely: ABAC.
The A melody is comprised of an ostinato (a repeated harmonic or rhythmic pattern) made up of minor and diminished chords. The pattern is introduced as a melody in the higher range of the piano and continues in the lower range underneath variations of that initial melody. It is meant to sound like a funeral dirge, the steady beat the tromp of feet on the grassy surface of a cemetery. The tempo marking Lento con piangente translated means “slowly with falling tears.
The B melody is comprised of an extremely fast melodic and rhythmic pattern, strongly punctuated by accents and staccato. It is as relentless as the chaos experienced by those killed by the spray of bullets from assault weapons. There are only a few moments in the piece, where the ostinato pattern eases up only to return with great fury. As this section of the music comes to a close the funeral dirge in strong chords is reintroduced over the ostinato pattern gradually lessening in intensity and volume. The tempo of the B melody is Agitato, literally, “agitated”.
The A ostinatto pattern then is recapitulated at a faster tempo, as the family members return to the gravesite of their slaughtered loved ones to mourn.
This seques into the final part of the piece, the C melody. The expressive marking at this point being Con Grande Riverenza, “With Great Reverence”. The diminished and minor chords disappear, replaced with a hymn-like melody in the key of F major. The hymn tune begins simply as single notes, then in two part harmony, repeated in a Chorale arrangement of the hymn tune, followed by the melody in the lower range, supported by broken chords in the upper range, the melody returning in full chords in the upper range while arpeggiated chords are played in the lower range, climaxing with the melody in block chords in both hands, to end quietly as the piece began, only this time in peace.
I suggest you read this commentary prior to your first listening. It will help you to understand the music better. This music is rather long at 10 minutes in length.
Bob Wagner OFS
Psalm Offering 3, Opus 9 (c) 2018, Deacon Bob Wagner OFS. All rights reserved.
