The enduring capacity of music to articulate grief and sorrow is a testament to its profound connection with the human experience. This connection, while versatile, finds a striking embodiment in the descending bass line, a motif that has resonated through centuries of Western musical tradition (Rosand, 1979; Mathieu, 1997; Listening In, 2022). During the 15th century, as polyphonic music flourished in Europe, the concept of ‘word painting’ emerged, seeking to align musical gestures with emotional and liturgical meaning (Mathieu, 1997). While the correlation between descending pitch and sorrow is not universally applicable, depending heavily on its musical context, it is undeniable that the descending bass line, echoing the cadence of a lamenting voice, became a powerful symbol of melancholic expression (Shea, 2020). The enduring presence of the lamenting bass line, a musical motif signifying grief and melancholy, can be traced across a vast historical and stylistic spectrum. From the 15th-century works of Johannes Ockeghem (1500s), through the liturgical masterpieces of J.S. Bach (1714), and into the developing forms of early blues undertoning the struggle and suffering in black history in the Americas (Smith, 1920; Browns, 1952). Its influence extends to popular music, as evidenced in the works of The Beatles (1968) and Radiohead (1997), and continues into contemporary film scores, exemplified by soundtracks for films such as The Prisoners (Jóhannsson, 2013), the Harry Potter series (Hooper, 2009), or the Chernobyl miniseries (Guðnadóttir, 2019).
In my artistic work, I examine the phenomena of the repeating pattern of the chromatic lament bass as a musical element rooted in cultural associations and musical expressions of sorrow and pain to explore how these centuries of cultural connotation can be and is used in music and musical storytelling to convey emotions of grief, despair and sorrow in the Western tradition of the harmonic style of 18th-century European musicians (Rosand, 1979). My work seeks to showcase how the cultural association of certain musical elements through reiteration and recurring exposure to them establishes a narrative and emotional response in the listener exposed to Western traditional modes of musical pieces.
Repetition serves as a fundamental structural and expressive device in musical composition, playing a crucial role in the articulation of melodic contours, the reinforcement of rhythmic frameworks, the drawing of thematic motifs, and the establishment of harmonic coherence. In the Western tonal tradition, the culturally rooted experience of specific frequency relationships, their tension and resolution, forms the basis of musical understanding (Ockelford, 2017). The return to the tonic key at the conclusion of a piece, a practice rooted in ancient Greek musical theory and refined over two millennia, evokes a sense of resolution and familiarity precisely because of its initial establishment (Mathieu, 1997). Moreover, the significance of repetition is codified within musical notation itself, through specialized symbols that denote varied forms of sectional repetition, underscoring its centrality to the principles of music theory. (1)
(1) Music theory in this context meaning the harmonic style of 18th century European musicians. This phrase is originated from Adam Neely (2020) and Ewell (2020) who elaborate in detail how the commonly used music theory as a phrase is infused with racist and white supremacist ideologies and what is often regarded as the "universal" language of music is in fact deeply rooted in a specific cultural framework that emerged from historical practices, media influence, and aspirations to create cultural hierarchies.
Musical repetition usually doesn’t occur as an exact replication, instead, it typically involves varied or subtly altered iterations of an initial musical idea. As Belkin (2018) argues, it is through the cognitive act of comparing these variations, whether consciously or unconsciously, that listeners sustain engagement and experience a dynamic interplay between anticipation and surprise. Consequently, the strategic deployment of varied repetition, often augmented by increasingly complex musical elements, constitutes a fundamental principle of musical composition.
My musical piece explores this repetition with a continuously expanding musical complexity and applying expectations with the element of surprise based on the chromatic descending lament bass. The lament bass is a type of recurring descending bass pattern that typically spans a tetrachord from the tonic to the dominant. In its diatonic form, it uses the notes of the natural minor scale, while its chromatic version fills in additional semitones to heighten the emotional tension. Traditionally, this descending progression is employed to evoke feelings of grief, sorrow, or tragedy in a musical piece (Rosand, 1979).
Figure 1 displays the basic building structure and the chromatic lament bass that the whole piece is structured on. The composition is in the scale of A minor harmonic scale hence it starts on the note of A and because I apply the more dramatic chromatic version of the lament base it moves into G# to G to F# then to F and instead of finishing the sequence on the next note of E, I move it back to G# which because of the A minor harmonic scale it prepares a resolution back into the starting note of A therefore establishing a musically more seamless loop of the bass line.
After establishing the lament bass, I expanded the notes into a basic harmonic form, thereby foreshadowing the chord sequence, which eventually develops into the chord structure of Am, E, Em, D, F, E and will be repeating throughout the whole piece, except for the textural turning point that arrives at 01:33 in the final audio file.
In musical works characterized by the sustained repetition of a singular sequence, any deviation from that pattern becomes particularly impactful and recognisable. As observed in Barbara Strozzi's 17th-century composition (Strozzi, 1659), Lagrime Mie, the moments of departure from the recurring form provide a sense of ease, where “the music breathes here, lightens and for a moment tries to escape the strictures of its own form” (Listening In, 2022; 5:01). In my own work, I sought to emulate this principle of deviation, creating a 'breathing moment' similar to Strozzi's. This moment serves as a foreshadowing to the subsequent development of a more adventurous texture and rapid musical expansion, suggesting a deliberate inhalation before a more powerful and impactful exhalation of the music that follows. I achieve this by altering the chord sequence to Am, E, Em, D, F, C, E.
Following the 'breathing moment,' the musical texture intensifies, with the chromatic lament bass pattern migrating across different instrumental sections. This deliberate distribution serves to sustain listener engagement while grounding the evolving musical landscape in the familiar framework of repetition. Initially, the cello section assumes the bass line, followed by the violas. As the music approaches its climax, the double basses, cellos, and violas collectively mirror the harmonic progression of the lament bass. To heighten the intensity of the climax, I introduced rhythmic and harmonic diversification to the recurring lament bass pattern. Specifically, the woodwind section employs arpeggiated ostinati, whereby they articulate a repeated rhythmic figure derived from the first and second chord progressions. This technique serves to reinforce the thematic importance of repetition while simultaneously introducing a layer of rhythmic complexity. Consequently, the resulting texture generates a pronounced sense of rhythmic drive and a motoric momentum that propels the composition forward. Alongside these expansions, a central motif emerges at 2:12, first by a solo cello and then together with violins and French horns. Moreover, I used percussion elements to reinforce the rhythmic oscinati.
At the climatic point of the piece, a structural recapitulation and reiteration of the breathing moment’s harmonic structure occurs at 2:43 in the final audio file. This recapitulation, functioning as a moment of repose, facilitates the resolution of the climactic exposition. It allows the music to 'breathe' once more, establishing a tranquil atmosphere for the concluding string passages, which ultimately resolve to the tonic A minor chord.
In making this piece, I sought to not only compose a musical piece but also to create a sonic exploration of repetition, historical resonance, and emotional depth. By weaving the ancient thread of the lament bass through a contemporary musical landscape, I aimed to demonstrate how a single musical motif can carry centuries of cultural and emotional weight. The deliberate manipulation of repetition, variation, and deviation within the composition served to both engage the listener and illuminate the enduring power of musical structures to convey profound human experiences. Ultimately, this work is an attempt to bridge the past and present, revealing how the echoes of sorrow, encoded in musical forms, continue to resonate in our contemporary understanding of grief and emotional expression, thereby offering a space for contemplation and emotional connection.
References
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