Descripción
Written in 1940, this work is a setting of a lament for one of the fallen in the Spanish Civil War by Stephen Spender. The scoring for male chorus with percussion and brass accompaniment gives the piece an appropriate wartime feeling. Percussion sounds precede the entrance of the chorus, and a constant marching rhythm underscores the first stanza. The second is both more static and intense. In the third, the marching rhythm returns but is overcome by the intense lament of the voices.