Rachmaninov's Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3

I've discovered that Rachmaninov must have really liked "Dies Irae."  I've found it in three of his works now.  Back in May, I found it in his Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, although I never looked it up in the notation.  Last night, I found it in his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43.  And then I found it in his Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3 (it took me awhile to find it in the notation though).  In the second movement (Prélude in C sharp), it's in the 7th to 9th measures:

(notation found here)

He plays around with it more here than in the other two instances I've found, but it's still recognizable.

I'm sort of painfully out of my depth here, but it seems like he's taken "Dies Irae" and sort of inverted the notes and - after shortening the note values from the original - expanded his new note values in order to come up with the rhythmic motif that (with the exception of the Agitato section) he uses almost throughout the movement.

Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

I listened to a lot of Rachmaninov to-day, including his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43.  I noticed that he includes "Dies Irae" in Variation X and Variation XXIV.

(notation found here)

If my counting is correct, this is measure 26 of Variation X.  This phrase also appears an octave higher two measures earlier, but this one was easier to take a screen clipping of.

In Variation XXIV, it appears at measure 39, again, if my counting is correct.  (I had to take two screen clippings to show the whole phrase.)  Here, he also slows it down in note values and changes the E to an Eb.

Jacques Brel's "La Mort"

To-day I listened to a collection of Jacques Brel's music titled One, Two, Three, Four.  My two years of high school French notwithstanding, I don't understand much of the lyrics, only a few words here and there and maybe a phrase every now and then.  But I did notice that "La Mort" starts off with a musical quotation of "Dies Irae," which is appropriate, as "La Mort" means "the death" and "Dies Irae" is about Judgement Day.

George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess

Yester-day, I listened to George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess performed by the Bethlehem Orchestra.  I noticed a few things.

In "Clara, Clara, Don't You Be Down-Hearted," I noticed some structural parallelism in the lyrics:  "Clara, Clara, don't you be down-hearted" parallels with "Clara, Clara, don't you be sad and lonesome."  A lot of the Psalms are written this way (with two lines saying almost the same thing but with synonyms), and since there are quite a few religious references in the opera (especially "Oh, doctor Jesus," which not only has religious references but is chanted more than sung, recalling a liturgy and therefore strengthening those connections), I would guess that that parallelism is a conscious echo of that style of writing.

I also noticed some interesting trumpet parts in "Narration (Scene: crap game and murder)."  After the narrator says, "She [Bess] doesn't want to be left alone with the body of Robins when the police arrive," one of the trumpets has a passage that sounds like a police siren.

A few seconds after the trumpet/police siren, there are the first four notes of "Dies Irae."  I think I'm becoming something of a boy-who-cried-wolf with the "Dies Irae," but it does fit the scene.  Furthermore, the narrator's line after those four notes is, "She's desperate," which seems to reflect the mood in the "Dies Irae" too.  Additionally, there's the religious connection with "Dies Irae" and some of the other elements of the opera.

Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

I just listened to Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas for the first time.  I noticed that the repeated bass part in "Ah! Belinda, I am prest with torment" is a variation of the first musical phrase of "Dies Irae."

(notation found here)

This quotation makes sense, as "Dies Irae" is about Judgement Day and the end of the world.  To some degree, it matches the emotional tone in "Ah! Belinda, I am prest with torment."

Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, No. 3

Along with making my way through my digital collection of music, I've been listening to the 22 LPs in Funk & Wagnalls' Family Library of Great Music.  To-day was the record of Rachmaninoff, which includes the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, and Symphonic Dances Op. 45, No. 2 & 3.

I noticed that at the very end of the No. 3 Symphonic Dance, Rachmaninoff quotes "Dies Irae" in his brass part.

It's sort of funny that I'm realizing this now, as listening to these records last year is what introduced me to the "Dies Irae" - it's also quoted in Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique, which is the 22nd LP in this collection.  Actually, I recognized it as part of Argent's "The Coming of Kohoutek," and enough looking led me to the "Dies Irae."

Camille Saint-Saën's Christmas Oratorio

Yester-day, I listened to almost all of the music I have by Camille Saint-Saëns, including his Christmas Oratorio.  I’ve listened to this only a few times, no more than five, but listening to it yester-day, I found something interesting.

In the second movement - Recit et chœur - I recognized the melody from the chant “The Glory of the Father.”  Roughly, measures 3 to 8 in this part (found here):

Originally, I had assumed that Saint-Saëns was quoting an older chant [It’s not uncharacteristic for Saint-Saëns to quote other melodies in his works.  He includes “Dies Irae” in “Danse Macabre” (I found it once, but I confess I can’t seem to find it again), and he later quotes from his own “Danse Macabre” in the “Fossils” section of Carnival of the Animals.], but I looked up some things and now I think it’s the opposite way around - that the chant is quoting Saint-Saëns.

"The Glory of the Father" was written by Egil Hovland, who was born in 1924.  Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio was written in 1858.  It would truly be a feat to quote from a chant that would not be written for at least sixty years.

But the melodies are so similar that I find it hard to believe that this is just a coincidence.  The corresponding texts to each of these melodies are “Et in terra pax” (and on earth peace) in Saint-Saëns’ oratorio and “In Him was life” in Hovland’s chant.  I don’t know if Hovland intended connections to be drawn between these two texts by using a very similar, if not the same, melody.  But then again, I don’t even know if he intentionally used Saint-Saëns’ melody.