Page "War Requiem" Paragraph 38

The interval of a tritone between C and F ♯ is a recurring motif, the occurrence of which unifies the entire work.

The interval is used both in contexts that emphasise the harmonic distance between C and F ♯ and those that resolve them harmonically, mirroring the theme of conflict and reconciliation present throughout the work.

The Requiem aeternam, Dies irae, and Libera me movements end in a brief choral phrase, consisting mainly of slow half notes, that resolves the tritone's discord to an F major chord, while at the end of the Agnus Dei the tenor ( in his only transition from the Owen poems to the Requiem liturgy, on the key words, Dona nobis pacem – Give us peace ) outlines a perfect fifth from C to G before moving down to F ♯ to resolve the chorus's final chord.

At the end of the Dies irae, the tenor sings ( from Owen's " Futility ") " O what, what made fatuous sunbeams toil, to break earth's sleep at all?

" The notes of " at all " form the tritone and lead into the choir's formal resolution.

In the final Owen setting, " Strange Meeting ", one of the most prominent expressions of the tritone is sung by the Tenor, addressing an opposing soldier with the words " Strange friend ".

This poem is accompanied by sporadic detached chords from two violins and a viola, which include the tritone as part of a dominant 7th chord.

At the end of the poem, the final string chord resolves to the tonic, bringing the work to its final, reconciliatory In paradisum.

On a more practical level, Britten facilitated musical execution of the tritone in the closing bars by having the F # sung in one voice, but the C in another.