The song Lacrymosa was recorded by the American rock band Evanescence. The song itself was based on a small piece of a bigger song done by Mozart. Known as Lacrimosa, it is a small piece of a bigger picture called The Requiem. The original piece of work is the foundation for the Evanescence version of the song. The piece that was composed by Mozart’s is played constantly as the main melody though the whole song. Instead of the song being played in a D-minor, like the original piece, it was changed to an E-minor.

Amy Lee, the vocalist of the song, sings in a soprano tone giving the song a different musical timbre than the rest of the instruments. As the song opens, a faint amount of percussion begins. The song then leads into a slow violin introduction. Next the vocals are brought into the song. Lacrymosa is sung by Amy Lee, who sings in quite a wide range but can be classified as a mezzo-soprano. At approximately 43 seconds into the song, another set of vocals is added into the background. These vocals are a background choir that help the song achieve its dark tone.

At around 1 minute and 30 seconds into the song a guitar is added into the mix. Also included in the song was a piano. The combination of the different instruments such as the piano, guitar, drums, and violin create a polyphonic texture. The structure of this song has much contrast. The beginning of the song starts out slow and somewhat soft working itself into a crescendo. As the song moves into the second stanza of lyrics the song gets progressively louder and more powerful and then it goes into a small instrumental section.

Moving into the third stanza of lyrics the song goes back to being much softer and then back into the louder more powerful vocals and instruments. The song goes through this transition a few more times with longer instrumental sections. The background vocals stay pretty much constant throughout the whole entire song. The end of the song never works itself into a decrescendo; it stays loud and ends abruptly. The dynamics of this piece affects the emotional tone you feel from listening to it.

The contour of the melody of this piece could be considered a wave, because the phrases move from soft to loud repeatedly. Since the song itself is being played in a minor key, the tonality of the song is very dark and sorrowful. The notes aren’t as loud and high pitched that the overall sound appears to be very depressing. The cumulative harmony is a chromatic one. Some of the notes played fit on the scale, and some of the notes do not. The notes played are very consonant; they fit nicely and flow together with ease. There is no clashing of any tones to make it dissonant.

When you listen to this songs downbeats you can judge that, first of all, it is a simple meter. More specifically, it is a triple meter. Lacrymosa could also be ostinato, because the main melody is repeated throughout the work. Lacrymosa has a slightly moderate tempo. The speed of the composition isn’t too fast but it isn’t too slow either. It is a pace that fits the song perfectly. The tempo and the key that it is played in, which is an E-minor, help to assist in making the feeling you get from listening to this song very dark.