[Barberous]

Maybe somebody could help me with this...

- What is the Sweeney chord, or Bernard Herrmann chord, that Sondheim mentions on occasion? I don't know much about music, so I won't understand if you say "G seventh" or something, but if you say "starting from the lowest note, it's E, G, B flat" I'll be able to pick it out.

- I've youtubed 'Dies Irae' and there are several music pieces under the same name. Which one does Sondheim reference, and does anybody happen to know a youtube clip or similar that has it, and which specific section of it that he references?

[dolbinau]

Where is this "Sweeney Chord" made reference to? Am I missing something obvious?

I don't know if this is relevant (I have the feeling this is not so) but I have the piano/vocal score so if there is a particular chord you want me to extract I will do so..

[what_the_heck013]

I'm not sure about the chord. The bit of the Dies Irae used by Sondheim is (no joke) like the first 3 seconds of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlr90NLDp-0

This should provide some food for thought for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozg_OrLmLU4

[Barberous]

Thankyou, that was really interesting. I looked up this stuff on Google, and found a little information in this sample of the book 'Sondheim's Broadway Musicals' by Stephen Banfield:

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=dLf1_FutpusC&pg=PA305&lpg=PA305&dq=%22sweeney+chord%22&source=web&ots=JTxT6N9RlM&sig=yXylmpUnFWh_0fiv7n2saVP4LoM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPP1,M1

Though I don't understand music enough to know what he's saying half the time TBH. Pages 297-300 talk about the Dies Irae, and pages 305-307 mention the Sweeney chord. Which, by the way, is meant to be a chord that Sondheim kept using because it was very typical of the Bernard Herrmann horror type music he was trying to write.

[what_the_heck013]

Yeah, that book is an excellent read, but you need an intermediate knowledge of music theory. I describe Sweeney as Sondheim's Hamlet. There are so many remarkable things in the score, and each time you hear it, you notice something new.

[dolbinau]

The "Sweeney Chord" appears to be notated in Ex. 9.8a

D natural, E flat, F flat (E natural), and B Flat played in the base but an octave lower.

That book also looks great, I will start reading it .

[Barberous]

^ Cheers!

[kaelidancer]

The "Dies Irae" in question indeed comes from the chant linked above.

You should also look up Berlioz' "Symphonie Fantastique," as the Dies Irae theme appears here as well, specifically in the piece "Dream of a Witches' Sabbath". You may have heard it before, if you've seen the Kubrick film "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson. It plays under the opening credits, as they're driving to the hotel.

Of course, Berlioz took the melody from the medieval chant... but I thought it worth mentioning, since it was the first place I made the "Lift your razor..."/Dies Irae connection.

[Joshua]

I think it's pretty amazing the way good ol' Sondy worked in that Dies Irae theme. I noticed it in the baseline of Epiphany, but never realized that it was also in the "Swing your razor high, Sweeney." part as well until I read Sondheim by Gottfried. Well...until I read the Sweeney section. I'm not quite done with it yet...