Frank Martin's "Agnus Dei"

One of the pieces I'm currently studying for a concert in February is the Agnus Dei from Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir. Martin was a composer I had never come across until last year when I heard his oratorio "In Terra Pax" in a concert during the Kirchentag in Munich. He seems to be relatively unknown in Britain, despite being very popular on the continent. Perhaps his best known work is his Mass for Double Choir, a wonderful but very tricky piece. The Agnus Dei is the easiest movement to pull off and deserves to be considered alongside some of the most of the most powerful choral music written.



The second choir provide a rhythmically simple harmonic accompaniment while the first choir sing a melody reminiscent of improvised chant. What really makes this magical though is the use of harmony. At the start we hear an open fifth (like the opening of Beethoven 9) which leaves the tonality ambiguous. When the first choir enter it sounds like the music is simply in the minor but then on "mundi" this is suddenly thrown into being modal and adds an extra air of mystery. The harmonies owe a lot to the influence of jazz with their added notes but you can also hear Martin shifting the tonal centre all the time, increasing the tension. The other magical moment starts at 2:52 on the video with a B always somewhere at the bottom of the harmony while over the top dissonant jazzy chords build up the tension before the climax at 3:50. He then uses suspensions to release the tension, rather than allowing the atmosphere to dissipate instantaneously. Then finally the whole choir come together for "Dona nobis pacem" (Grant us thy peace) with the final chord not being perhaps the obvious choice but leaving a much more satisfying conclusion. A wonderfully atmospheric work and I hope you enjoy it and explore some more of Frank Martin's music.