The War Requiem by Benjamin Britten in the Light of Intertextual Links

Abstract

The theme of war and peace is one of humankind’s eternal problems and one of the most relevant topics in art at all times. On the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War (1941—1945), the author’s research interest is focused on one of the rare works in terms of its power of influence, which tears the mask off the apologetics of war, uncompromisingly and honestly telling about the human price for the military madness. That is B. Britten’s “War Requiem”.The presented experience of art historical analysis is intended to explicate the intertextual connections of the work with a number of texts (verbal and mainly musical) inscribed in a wide socio-historical and artistic context of both the past and contemporary works of the English musician. This way of reading the opus allows to trace the role of dialogue with the European and national tradition in the birth of B. Britten’s text, which is original, innovative in style, highly outstanding in its artistic and civil-ethical merits. With the identification of intertextual inclusions — literary, ideological-shaped, story, genre, musical-lexical, intonational, and those at the level of musical thematism (from the works of Mozart, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich) — a number of new opportunities appear: to strengthen the emotional experiences of the recipient; to deepen the understanding of the meaning of both individual sections of the requiem and its general concept; to expand the content field of interpretations of the musical score; to ensure that cultural traditions are inexhaustible for relevant art creativity; and finally, to specify our ideas about Britten’s expressed humanist and anti-militarian aspirations, which were dictated not so much by the external reasons (the relevance of the topic during the Cold War, the Requiem’s being ordered for the opening of the cathedral in Coventry), but by his deep sufferings for the fate of the world and humanity. In general, according to the author, the analysis practically confirms the idea that semiosis — the process of interpreting signs and generating meanings in art (including music) — is unlimited, and can cease only with the termination of the existence of the culture itself.