From: The Battle Cry / A Tragedy
Category: Choral Music
Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Duration: 2.5 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate
Text / Source: Poem by Thomas Hardy

The Battle is a dramatic SATB movement with piano, portraying the horror and momentum of war. A long piano introduction establishes the atmosphere before the music moves into a martial first theme, suggesting the sound and motion of soldiers marching into battle.

The form unfolds as introduction, A-B-A′-C-A″-D, followed by a coda based on the opening material. The intended dramatic arc moves from marching into battle, through the terror of conflict, and finally to marching away from the battlefield.

This movement calls for rhythmic discipline, clear choral articulation, and a strong dramatic partnership between chorus and piano. The piano introduction and coda are essential to the movement’s atmosphere and should frame the choral writing with a sense of grim inevitability.