Benjamin Britten's Nocturne from the Srenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings

Serenade Op. 31 for Tenor, French Horn and String Orchestra by Benjamin Britten 1943

2. Nocturne (poetry by Tennyson) Musical Structure:

Verse 1:      The splendour falls on castle walls…

Cadenza:    Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying…

Verse 2:      O hark, O hear, how thin and clear…

Cadenza:    Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying…

Verse 3:      O love, they die in yon rich sky…

Cadenza:    Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying…

Main thematic material:

[pic 1]

Notice how the Tenor’s verse melody (Ex. 1 above) consists of three strong elements:

1. Big upward leap at the beginning
2. The frequency of the interval of a 3rd
3. Balancing leap downwards at the end of the phrase

Note also the short note long note rhythmic motif in Examples 1, 2, 3 and 5. Note how the pitch building block of the 3rd interval is present in all 5 examples.

The horn’s bugling triplet cadenza actually comes from the end of the verse in the Tenor voice where he sings “the wild cataract leaps in glory”.

Britten achieves contrast in the second verse through a wide range of means:

The key changes to a “clear” C major (no sharps or flats), the bass end celli and double basses drop out for this verse, the dynamic drops “thin, faint”, the French horn is muted “thin and clear”.

In verse 3 the celli and double basses re-enter and now loosely imitate and “echo” the Tenor voice’s verse melody – as is appropriate for the text.

Note the wise range of textural effects in this movement: String trills and tremolos (under the Horn cadenzas), pizzicato (plucked) punctuating chords, muted strings and muted horn, a wide dynamic range and wide range of the voice and Horn parts, variety of Texture from full (everybody) to reduced “thin” texture.