Millions of people died during the Second World War. Frank Martin, however, focused on the fate and death of one individual in Der Cornet, which he composed in 1942–1943, based on a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. His ballad-like music for alto and chamber orchestra is almost a monodrama (the piece has been staged several times) in which the soloist plays the role of narrator, observer and empathiser: a stirring challenge for any singer. The music responds immensely sensitively to each occurrence and each event in the tale, full of tension, impending doom and drama.