His Body Lies, His Soul Marches (2021)

Variations on a Union Army Hymn

for Orchestra

Duration: 8 min

Instrumentation

2+picc.2(Eb)+bcl.2.2+cbsn.-4.3.3.1.-Perc(3)+Timp-Pno-Strings

Program Note

While the subtitle “Variations on a Union Army Hymn,” conveys the episodic structure of His Body Lies, His Soul Marches, the variations subvert the traditional theme-and-variations procedure, in which repetitions of a static harmonic structure support a melodic line of increasing complexity. Instead, each episode progressively fragments the theme into its constituent motives, and this fragmentation eventually allows the theme to assimilate into the language of the surrounding music. The piece begins with a collision of two types of music in stark contrast: a pointillistic texture of diffuse, low-register sounds, against a solo violin struggling to sing the “John Brown’s Body” tune. The piece ends with a climactic rush to the double bar line, and by this point, only remnants of the theme catch the listener’s ear.
“John Brown’s Body” was the product of spontaneous creativity, composed collectively by a battalion of Union soldiers in 1861. From here the song spread rapidly; it was popular with the military and civilians. Upon hearing the rousing melody, Julia Ward Howe was inspired to elevate the lyrics, reworking the unrefined text into the more poetic “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” In doing so, Howe stripped the song of its references to contemporaneous political figures, replacing them with imagery and biblical allusions. The more accessible lyrics of the “Battle Hymn” have allowed the melody of “John Brown’s Body” to be appropriated for unforeseen purposes, some non-political and some actively challenging principles John Brown held. The fragmentation and assimilation of the tune in His Body Lies, His Soul Marches follows a similar trajectory – having its detail gradually stripped away, the theme finds itself in unexpected circumstances, far removed from its original context.

Performances

Scheduled 2/2022 Larry Rachleff, conductor; Rice University Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra