The Power of Three in Dan Forrest’s <i>Requiem for the Living</i>

Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living is a recent composition that is quickly gaining attention in the choral world. The work exhibits unique aspects of Forrest’s compositional voice in his Requiem, including his textual changes from an original Requiem, formal designs and overall organization, melodic and rhythmic motivic development, and harmonic transformations. Through comprehensive analysis and discussion, this thesis will argue that the primary threenote motive in the Requiem serves as the cornerstone for analytical departure. The number three is the main component of the formal, motivic, and harmonic structure of the Requiem for the Living. The framework for discussion extracts the importance of the number three in the primary motive and draws connections to other aspects of the work that utilize three as an organizing mechanism. Schenkerian analysis and Neo-Riemannian Theory will assist in understanding the melodic and harmonic relationships.