January 1, 2012 - Christmas 1

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly - arr. Carolyn Hamlin

In the Bleak Midwinter - Gustav Holst, Christina Rossetti

Cantique de Noel - Adolphe Adam

Masters in this Hall - Marin Marias and William Morris

Hymns: #102 Irby, #82 Divinum Mysterium, #100 Antioch

This week I am again relying on familiar tunes to boost our Chrismastide worship experience. The prelude is a setting ofInfant Holy, Infant Lowly by Carolyn Hamlin. Ms. Hamlin is the organist at First Baptist Church in Easley, South Carolina. She recently celebrated 50 years of ministry at her church. Carolyn Hamlin is a representative for the Allen organ company. Her organ arrangements rely on colorful registrations to illustrate the hymn texts. This arrangement utilizes some of the colorful flute and reed stops as well as the celestes (these stops are tuned slightly sharp to create a soft undulating sound the creates a shimmering effect.) 

The anthems this week are being sung by Tyler and Jim. Again we are using familiar music. In the bleak Midwinter is again by our friend Gustav Holst (see last weeks entry for info) and the text is by the poet Christina Rossetti and the communion anthem is by Adolphe Adam the French music critic and composer. The piece is the familiar O Holy Night. 

I selected my postlude because it combines the French and English influences seen in the two duets so I have chosen Masters in this Hall. The tune comes from the French composer Marin Marais and the text William Morris. I haven't yet found an arrangement that I like for this so I may just make something up but the text and tune lend themselves to colorful registrations and dance like light sounds. 

December 24, 2011 - Christmas Eve

Antonio Vivaldi - Gloria

Gustav Holst - Christmas Eve

Pavel Tschesnekoff - Salvation is Created

This week my goal was to have fun. I wanted to do pieces that for me feel like Christmas. This is my first year in a church that truly observes and understands the meaning and purpose behind Advent so for me there is a real sense of arrival as we prepared the music for Christmas Eve. 

The Vivaldi Gloria RV 589 is one of two surviving settings of the Gloria by Vivaldi a third is thought to have been written but has been lost. This piece is an exuberant and accessible (both very important qualities at Christmas) setting of the Gloria.  The energy for this piece comes primarily from the highly motivic accompaniment with its leaping octaves and tremolos.  This piece was likely composed for the choir of the Ospedale della Pietà a convent, orphanage, and music school where Vivaldi was employed. This Baroque gem is filled with bursts of energy and for me is a fitting setting for Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day by Gustav Holst is a piece that I first encountered about 5 years ago when looking for a Christmas Eve anthem. I found this piece but tucked it away for the right group. I was pleasantly surprised to find it in the library at St. David’s. Also, I was told by Mr. Hannett that the choir has a bit of a Holst connection from their trip to England which made me even more pleased with my choice. The piece features four familiar carols that are strong together utilizing soloists and passages for the full choir with colorful accompaniment from the organ (I even get to use the Zimbelstern if that’s not Christmas I don’t know what is.)

For the communion anthem we turn to the Russian school and the music of Pavel Tschsnekoff the great choirmaster and conductor. His anthem Salvation Is Created was introduced to me as a piece for concert band. I more recently encountered it (oddly enough at the same church I found the Holst at) in its original form for choir. Tschesnekoff taught at the Moscow Conservatory wrote for the Russian Orthodox Church but when Communism was established in Russia the church closed its doors and in order to save his family he never wrote another piece of sacred music. It is unlikely that he ever heard this piece performed. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall this piece has become the unofficial anthem of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The organ music for Christmas Eve is a smattering of settings of (mostly) familiar carols by some well and some lesser-known composers. The pieces are designed to invite us into the Christmas season and to help prepare us for the worship experience. 

December 18, 2011 - Advent 4

Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland BWV 660 - JS Bach
Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland - Hugo Distler
Magnificat - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Hymns: #56 Veni Emmanuel, #265 Gabriel's Message, #54 Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland

This week the organ music is picked based on the final hymn Savior of the Nations Come. The text of which is:

Savior of the nations, come,

Virgin's Son, make here your home!

Marvel now, O heav'n and earth,

That the Lord chose such a birth.

This is the perfect hymn for the last Sunday in advent because as we get closer to the celebration of Christ's birth this hymn becomes a prayer for us. To me it is a fitting invitation at the opening of the service and a powerful final statement to close the final service of Advent.

The prelude is a setting by JS Bach. It is the second of three settings from his 18 Leipzig chorales. In this setting the left hand and pedal dialogue as though they were two gambas (forerunner of the cello) the right hand plays an ornamented version of the chorale tune above this. This piece sounds quite simple but in reality is a bit difficult to play. Bach has no sympathy for the performer and writes a pedal line that is just as energetic and full of jumps as the left hand line. The reed solo simply dances above the counterpoint, seemingly unaware of what's going on.

The postlude is the third movement from Hugo Distler's partita on the same chorale melody. Distler was born in 1908 in Nuremberg where he was raised by his grandparents. In 1927 he was enrolled in the Leipzig Conservatory but due to financial problems was forced to withdraw in 1930. That same year he took the position of organist at the St. Jacobikirche which he held until 1937. He then moved on to academia and took a position at the Wurtembergische Hochschule fur Musik  where he developed his skills as composer and choral conductor. By the early 1940's Distler's life had become very difficult. Suffering from an unbearable workload and increasing pressure t join the Third Reich he committed suicide on All Saint's Day in 1942. The piece is in 4 movements, an opening and closing Toccata that are identical, a second movement that is a set of chorale variations and the third movement (the one that I am playing) which is a chaconne. A chaconne is  a set of variations performed over a repeated harmonic progression. In the case of this piece the repeated progression is that of the first phrase of the chorale tune. Distler was very specific about registrations and the instructions he gave were specific to the organ of the St. Jacobkirche. The piece builds and grows becoming both louder and more rhythmic closing with a big restatement of the chorale tune.

The information that I want to share with you regarding the Magnificat is primarily from the Foreword of the Walton edition written by Virginia Stroh and Buryl Red. Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the history of this piece is that we are not altogether sure that it was Pergolesi that wrote it. Nothing is known of the date of composition or the first performance. Some musicologists believe that the work was actually written by Pergolesi's teacher Durante. 

The work is based on Tone 1f for the Magnificat which has been used by other composers including Monteverdi. The first line we hear in the sopranos sets the celebratory and, more importantly perhaps, anticipatory tone of the work. This theme is passed around the choir throughout the movement and returns in the sixth movement with a similar presentation on the text sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper. The second and fourth movements each feature duets. The second is a soprano solo followed by a mezzo soprano solo that is then answered by the full choir. The fourth features a solo tenor and bass dialoguing about how God has helped His servant. There are two other choral movements, three and five, both in a minor key. The third starts with the theme in the altos and this theme is passed around the with sweeping contrapuntal lines in between. The fifth starts with a biting figure in the sopranos that is restated by the full choir before modulating and becoming the stately Gloria Patri. The work concludes with a full, but never heavy final Amen.

December 11, 2011 - Advent 3

This is the Record of John - Orlando Gibbons
O Nata Lux - Morten Lauridsen
Valet will ich der geben - Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Emma Lou Diemer


Hymns- #74 Valet will ich dir geben, #782 Abbot's Leigh, #444 Thornbury

This week has us mixing the ancient and modern in our music which is something that we do in church all the time. Much of the beauty of our liturgy comes from the way that it has stood the test of time. We can see ourselves joining the Church of history and of the future and all worshipping in the same fashion.

The anthem This is the Record of John by Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) is an example of the way that the music of the past is still relevant to us today. The text for this anthem comes directly from scripture. Gibbons was among the first composers that wrote strictly in the Protestant tradition. His predecessors wrote for the Catholic church and had to "relearn" the way that they composed sacred music. This anthem is an example of a verse anthem in which a soloist (in this instance, a tenor) alternates with the full choir. The tenor solo reminds me of a balladeer, or minstrel figure whose words are then echoed by the choir. This type of anthem is unique to the Anglican choral tradition and this is one of the best known examples.

The communion anthem, O Nata Lux, comes from Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna for chorus and orchestra or organ. This five movement work is based on the idea of light and its different incarnations. O Nata Lux is the central movement and features the choir a cappella. The text for this piece is by the well known composer "anonymous" and is the office hymn at Lauds of the Feast of the Transfiguration. Here is a translation of the text taken from cpdl.org. It is easy to see how it applies to the season of Advent equally well. The lush rich harmonies help to create a mood of awe while the final chord which the altos never resolve leaves the listener with a sense of expectation that is not yet fulfilled. In fact, the last line that the choir sings is actually the first line of text: "O Light born of Light, Jesus, redeemer of the world"

O Light born of Light,
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
with loving-kindness deign to receive
supplicant praise and prayer.

Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh
for the sake of the lost,
grant us to be members
of thy blessed body.

The organ music this week is by two composers that are quite different. The first, Sigfrid Karg-Elert died at a young age and had only a moderately successful career as teacher and composer during his lifetime and a disastrous career as a performer. The second, Emma Lou Diemer continues to enjoy a long life and has found a great deal of success as composer, performer and teacher. The link between the two this week is the tune of our opening hymn. VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN. This hymn was first published in 1614 and is written by the cantor and pastor Melchior Teschner. Of the 23 texts associated with this tune that I could find probably the most common one that we would associate with it is the Palm Sunday hymn All Glory, Laud and Honor. We are singing the hymn Blessed be the King whose Coming is in the Name of God on Sunday to VALET WILL so the organ settings fit nicely.

The setting by the German born, French and Swedish influenced Karg-Elert comes from his Op. 65 66 Chorale Improvisations (1909). These are his first original pieces for the organ. His organ works prior to this were transcriptions of pieces that he wrote for the harmonium (a type of expressive reed organ). The setting by Karg-Elert is gentle and soothing. The hymn tune can be heard in the pedal with the exception of a two measure passage played by a solo flute.

The setting by Emma Lou Diemer highlights the playful side as well as the powerful spirit of the chorale tune. Large chords on a full registration alternate with sparkling passages filled with rhythmic energy played on quiet combinations that make use of some of the higher pitched stops of the organ.

The two interpretations could not be more different. Karg-Elert's setting is filled with flowing counterpoint and lush harmony on the softest stops of the organ while Diemer's romps around the instrument exploiting its different ensemble colors. It's very interesting to me the way that these two composers have taken this ancient tune and made it their own, and that the results were so strikingly different.

Advent 2 - December 4, 2011

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus - Richard Webster (Text by Charles Wesley)
Comfort, Comfort - arr. John Ferguson


Hymns: #76 Winchester New, #67 Psalm 42, #65 Bereden Vag for Herran

The setting of Come Thou Long Expected Jesus that we are singing this week is quite a challenge despite its deceptive simplicity. It is, for the majority of it, a two part anthem with men in unison and women in unison. The complexity comes both from the meter (7/8) and the harmonies. This arrangement comes to us at the recommendation of our Rector. Richard Webster is someone that she knows and has worked with. Mr. Webster has had quite an impressive career. He served as 

Organist and Choirmaster of the Parish Church of Saint Luke in Evanston, Illinois from 1974 to 2003 and is now the director of music at Trinity Church in Boston. The text of the piece is well known to us all and comes from the pen of the prolific hymn writer Charles Wesley. A major contribution of the Wesley brothers is the way in which they have made God more personal. Charles wrote of a God that "release us from fear" and "reign in us forever." This personal message is brought out in this anthem. We have a melody that dances a long without rush or hurry. This makes me consider the title of the text. Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. There is no rush, no hurry, he is expected and we know he will come at the appointed time. I would encourage you as you listen to this anthem to view the text that we all have heard every year in a new light. 

The communion anthem is also one of the hymns that we will sing. The arrangement is by John Ferguson, professor of organ and church music at St. Olaf college. The text and tune are very old. The tune comes to us from the Geneva Psalter edited by Louis Bourgeois, a French composer and theorist best known for compiling Calvinist hymn tunes. The text is a poetic translation by Catherine Winkworth of Johann G. Olearius' text based on Isaiah 40. Olearius is another well known compiler and author. He wrote a Bible commentary and compiled several important German hymnals. His text was translated by Catherine Winkworth, who is responsible for bringing all of the Lutheran chorale texts from Germany into the English speaking world. The text of this hymn is quite familiar, but again, I find that the tune and the setting dance along. 

Last weeks offerings showed some of the bleak, stark imagery of Advent while the music this week is filled with joyous expectation. Next week we will capture some of the mystery and wonder of the season. And then on to Advent 4 with Pergolesi and the joyous Song of Mary. 

Advent 1 - November 27th, 2011

"Wachet Auf" - J.S. Bach
The Paper Reeds By The Brooks - Randall Thompson
The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns - John Ness Beck
Noel - Louis-Claude Daquin


Hymns: #59 Merton, #66 Stuttgart, #61 Wachet Auf


The prelude this week is a Baroque classic. It is J.S. Bach's setting of "Wachet Auf" from Cantata No. 140. was written for the 27th Sunday after Trinity and first performed on November 25, 1731. This organ setting is a transcription of the 4th movement of the cantata. Bach took six chorales settings from the cantatas and transcribed them for the organ. They were published by Johann Georg Schubler in 1746. The familiar chorale tune is played in the left hand, usually by a reed stop with free counterpoint above and below it. The hymn's text is written by the German theologian Phillip Nicolai but the tune is likely borrowed from Hans Sachs, a follower of Luther and a "meistersinger" (much like a troubadour) that is credited with writing over 4,000 songs and 2,000 fables. This setting by Bach is one of the few settings of this chorale for organ.

For the postlude, I stayed with the same general time period but changed countries. This "Noel" was written by Louis-Claude Daquin(1694-1772), a French organist and composer. Daquin took his first organist position at age 12. He held several prominent positions before being named as one of the four organists at Notre Dame in 1755. He held this position along with a position at St. Paul until his death. This Noel is based on an old Spanish melody called "The Three Kings." It is a theme and three variations (called doubles) for manuals (hands) only. The light sparkling dialogue between hands alternating with chords on the full organ is a playful jumping off point for the Advent season. The reason that I chose this piece is that its lightness and playfulness provides a stark contrast to some of the heavier music that is being sung in the service.

The Bach, Daquin, and Beck pieces all have a sense of playful expectation. The setting of "The King Shall Come" pairs the familiar Advent text translated by John Brownlie with the Sacred Harp tune "Morning Song." The text first appeared in the 1907 book Hymns of the Russian Church and is a translation of an old Greek text. The setting of it that we are singing is by the composer and arranger John Ness Beck(1930-1987). John Ness Beck made his career as an arranger, composer, and clinician. In 1972 he joined with John Tatgenhorst to form Beckenhorst Press, a publishing company that focused on publishing high quality, accessible church music. Just before his death Beck established the John Ness Beck Foundation to recognize outstanding acheivements in traditional church music. This foundation was started in memory of Joseph Clokey and Randall Thompson.

The Paper Reeds By the Brooks is the fifth movement of Randall Thompson's The Peaceable Kingdom which was commissioned by the League of Composers for the Harvard Glee Club and and Radcliffe Choral Society. The work was inspired by the painting by Edward Hicks of the same name (here is a link to the painting www2.gol.com/users/quakers/Hicks_Peaceable_Kingdom.htm )  Thompson was so inspired the painting that he sat down and read all 66 books of Isaiah and wrote down the passages that stuck out to him. The Paper Reeds occurs at the point in the cantata where the mood shifts from one of violent images to images of hope. This chorus was described to me as a moment of pure and utter desolation. Complete nothingness. It is almost evocative of what is left after a nuclear winter, there is nothing, not even a scene of destruction but a scene of pure nothingness. Thompson evokes this image in his writing as well. The piece opens with everyone singing quite low and very softly (pp) there are no dynamics indicated until the last measure on the first phrase where the piece begins to turn from a cold stark emotionless chorus to one of profound grief and loss. The piece ends with the basses on a low e and open fifths in the rest of the choir - again bringing about that sense of nothingness.

Christ the King - November 20th, 2011

Mvmt. 1 of The Pastoral Symphony - Handel
Lift Up Your Heads - Handel
He Shall Feed His Flock (Solo) - Handel
 -Sop. Anne Shelley
Marcha Alla Handel - Alexandre Guilmant


Hymns: #544 Duke Street, #382 General Seminary, #73 St. Stephen


This week is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent begins and so our music reflects this idea of Christ as the Shepherd King and we also hear the pomp and circumstance of the coming of the king. The music is all taken from or influenced by Handel's Messiah. This piece is one of the best known and loved pieces of the Classical canon. Whether you love Messiah or are sick of it, it is hard to argue that it is a well crafted piece of music that at its core is a comprehensive setting of various Biblical texts that make it useful throughout the Liturgical Year.

The prelude is movement 13, The Pastoral Symphony which Handel called Pifa  probably referring to the Italian piffaro a double reed instrument of shepherds. I thought it appropriate to open the service with this short simple piece that evokes an image of shepherds on the hillside. This piece occurs in the oratorio at the transition into the Christmas story but with the idea of Christ as the Shepherd King in our minds, I think that it is a good introduction to the service and the transition to the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. 


The Communion Anthem continues the idea of Shepherd King with He Shall Feed His Flock. This text is taken from the Old Testament book of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew. This piece is often sung as a duet with the Old Testament text sung by an alto soloist and then the Gospel by the soprano. The first half is instructional. "He shall feed his flock" the second half is an invitation, "Come unto Him, take His yoke upon you and He will give you rest." We can hear the similarities in the music between the prelude and the communion anthem. Both are in compound meter and have a calm lilting feeling - almost like a rocking sensation to them.

The gradual anthem is Lift Up Your Heads, also from Messiah. The text for this piece is taken from the Psalms. The gates of the city are instructed to Lift up their heads to make way for the King of Glory, the Lord of Hosts. In the opening section of the chorus you can hear a dialogue between the high and low voices the first group (Sop. I/II and Alto I) instructs the gates to Lift up their heads to which the second group (Alto II, Tenor and Bass) responds "Who is this King of Glory" the two dialogue until the seem to come to the agreement that "He is the King of Glory, the Lord of Hosts." A small piece of trivia that I learned while researching this piece: This is the source for the hymn tune ANTIOCH which we usually sing as "Joy to the World" see if you can hear it passed around the choir in the opening phrase. 


The postlude is the only piece that I chose this week not from Messiah. It is by the French organist and composer Alexandre Guilmant. The piece is called March alla Handel and it is quite clear from the outset what the piece is based on. You guessed it, the piece is based on Lift Up Your Heads. Guilmant's composition starts out as a simple march but does not stay that way. It then becomes a fugue that begins to grow as it becomes increasingly complex. The finale is a big restatement of the march played on full organ with octaves in the pedal and is certainly fit to send us on our way on this Christ the King Sunday.

Proper 28 - November 13th, 2011

Sonata 1 - Paul Hindemith 
Lift Thine Eyes - F. Mendelssohn 
Out of Your Sleep - R. R. Bennett 
Allegretto - Horatio Parker


Hymns: #551 Festal Song, #721 Ton-Y-Botel, #617 Song 1


This weeks music is a little disjoint. The anthem is a setting of the psalm for the day taken from Felix Mendelssohn's work Elijah. This piece in itself is unique in that Mendelssohn is one of few composers that chose to continue writing oratorios. Elijah bears a strong resemblance to the oratorios of Handel and Haydn taking a huge amount of Biblical text and turning it into a sacred drama. "Lift Thine Eyes" comes at a pivotal point in Elijah's experience. He is being pursued and his life is in jeopardy. He has just sung "It is Enough" and basically stated that he is giving up and wants God to take his life. "Lift Thine Eyes" is sung by the women of the choir. It is sometimes performed by a trio of "angels." The text of the recitative before it is "See, now he sleepeth beneath a juniper tree in the wilderness! and there the angels of the Lord encamp around all them that fear Him." The angels then direct Elijah to Lift his eyes to the hills. That's where your help will come from.

Out of Your Sleep is a setting of a poem from a 15th century manuscript (the Seldin Manuscript). It seems that the reason that this text is so odd to us is because much of it is mistranslated. Here is a rough correction of the text:

Out of your sleep arise and wake,
For God mankind has taken
A maid without equal
Of all women, she beareth the best

And through a maid fair and wise,
Now man is made of excellence
Now angels bow to man's service
And at this time all this befell.

Now man is brighter than the sun
Now man in heaven on high shall won
Blessed be God this game is begun
And his Mother the Empress of Light**

Whoever was thrall now is he free;
That ever was small now great is she
Now shall God judge both thee and me
Unto his bliss if we do well

Now man he may to heaven go
now heaven and earth to him they bow
He that was foe now is our friend
It cannot be, that which I tell you.

Now blessed brother grant us grace
At doomsday to see Thy face
And in thy court to have a place
That we may there sing thee nowell.

** The word hell is a mistranslation of hel the Middle English word for light. An archaic name for Mary is the Empress of Light.

The organ music for the day was picked with the Boatwright anthem in mind. The anthem by Howard Boatwright is dated 1962 New Haven, CT. The pieces I picked are by notable Yale composers. Paul Hindemith fled Nazi occupied Germany for of all places Buffalo and then left it for Connecticut where the snow was less black (his words not mine). One of the notable things about Hindemith is that he composed for all instruments including 3 sonatas for the organ. The prelude is a slow trio from the first sonata and is just a beautiful dialogue between the two hands with a supportive and at times melodic pedal line. The postlude is a playful piece by Horatio Parker. Parker was elected to the position of Theory professor in 1894. He later became the dean of the school of music. He was instrumental in establishing the Music Library. The piece is a playful romp that is light and quick. It is interesting because although the piece is in minor it never feels dark. It is just a quick light end to the service.

All Saints - November 6th, 2011

Requiem Aeternam - Louis Vierne
**Gloria - Francis Poulenc
Introit and Kyrie - Maurice Durufle
Agnus Dei - Maurice Durufle
Variations Sur Sine Nomine - Denis Bedard


Hymns: #287 Sine Nomine, #293 Grand Isle, #625 Darwall's 148th


This weeks music all comes from the late(r) French Romantic period. Vierne, Poulenc and Durufle all come from the Paris Conservatoire and share many of the same influences. One of the biggest influences on the writing of Vierne and Durufle is the music of the Catholic Church. Durufle's Requiem was written in memory of his father. It started as a commission from his publisher for a set of organ pieces based on the Gregorian chants for the Requiem mass but as a result of his personal loss evolved into a mass in memory of his father. Durufle was extremely critical of his own writing and despite a long career has left behind only 13 published works. The prelude is from Louis Vierne's Pieces de Fantasie Suite 1. Requiem Aeternam was written in memory of his brother Edouard. Durufle served as Vierne's assistant at Notre Dame before taking the position of titular organist at Saint Etienne-du-Mort. The Poulenc Gloria was is dedicated to the memory of Sergei and Nathalie Koussevitzky, the former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and his wife. Koussevitzky was responsible for commissioning many works including Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Ravel's arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition. The postlude is a set of variations on Sine Nomine by the Canadian composer Denis Bedard. Bedard has composed a great deal of church music. Many of his pieces are based on hymn tunes and are accessible and audience friendly (including this one). 

Proper 26 - October 30th, 2011

Adoro Devote - Healey Willan
Blessed are the Pure of Heart - W. Voullaire
Gracious Spirit Dwell With Me - K. Lee Scott
"Preambulum" in A Minor - Buxtehude


Hymns: #610 Blaenhafren, #314 Adoro Devote, #586 Pleading Savior


The prelude and Communion anthem for this week are both based on the offertory hymn for Sunday Adoro Devote, Humbly I Adore Thee. The prelude is by the Canadian composer Healey Willan. His setting is very simple. The chant melody is played on a solo stop in the left hand with accompaniment in the right hand that outlines the chant melody in shorter note values. The communion anthem features the same tune but sets the text Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me. The tune is again presented unadorned. It is interesting to me that in both of the settings for Sunday the composers/arrangers chose to present the tune almost completely unaltered. The harmonies are varied but the tune remains the same. That is the nice thing about a really good tune. You don't have to change it to do interesting things with it. 


The gradual anthem comes from a Moravian composer. There is very little information available on him so I would direct you to the info in the front cover of the octavo. The editor points out the similarities to the writings of Brahms which I think can be easily heard. I think that for me the thing which stands out is the stark contrast between the more timid, imitative writing of "Blessed are the pure in heart" to the strong statement " they shall see the Father" (the emphasis is mine). For Voullaire it does not seem to be a question. This is a promise and God keeps his promises. 


The postlude is just fun. Many of us are familiar with the story of Bach walking hundreds of miles to hear Buxtehude play. This "Preambulum" is part of the stylus phantasticus tradition. In this kind of writing the composer alternates free sections with more structured fugal sections and shows of the different choruses, or ensembles available on the organ. This piece opens with a free section followed by a 4 voice fugue then a freer fugue in triple meter and closes with a free toccata like passage. Listen for the long pedal points at the beginning. In the Baroque period the orchestra would tune during the first section of these preludes to the organ pedals while the organist was improvising. This piece is meant to be free and fun, to sound like the organist is making it up...because he might be.

Proper 25 - October 23rd, 2011

Meditation - Charles-Marie Widor
I Will Love Thee, O Lord - Vassily Kalinnikoff
Lord I Trust Thee - G.F. Handel
Toccata on St. Anne - Frederick Swann


Hymns: #517 Brother James' Air, #605 Sharpthorne, #680 St. Anne


The music this week is about trusting God. 


The prelude, I must confess has little to do with anything else but is a nice quiet Meditation to start the service and I think that it leads nicely in to the first hymn. From there the music seems to build throughout the service ending with the powerful "O God Our Help in Ages Past" perhaps the ultimate hymn of trust.


The Gradual Anthem is a motet by a lesser known contemporary of Tschiakovsky and Rachmaninoff. Vassily Kalinnikoff had a promising career ahead of him as a composer and music director but his life was plagued by ill health and he died of consumption at the age of 35. Is it any wonder that he turned to the scriptures and wrote this piece about God "my rock and my fortress,my Saviour, my God and my strength in Whom I will trust." 


The Communion Anthem continues this idea of trust. The text talks of us relying on God's grace so that when we die we will be joined to Him. This movement taken from Handel's setting of the Passion story is, for me almost reminiscent of the 23rd Psalm and the idea of God as a Shepherd that loves and cares for His sheep.

The postlude this week serves as a continuation of the final hymn, St. Anne and ends the service with a festive toccata. The word toccata comes from the Italian word to touch and is a genre relegated to keyboard instruments primarily the organ although there are toccatas for the piano (Prokoffiev wrote one as did JS Bach). This toccata places the hymn tune in the pedal amid swirling chords in the hands and then breaks up the tune across the 3 manuals of the organ. It's a lot of fun to play. 

Proper 24 - October 16th, 2011

Ricercar - Palestrina
Cantate Domino - Giuseppi Ottavio Pitoni
O Bread of Life from Heaven - David Ashley White
Canzona - Froberger


The basic thread this week that holds our music together is that it all comes from the Italian Renaissance/Baroque period. This was a time that found the music of the Church at a pivotal crossroads. It forced composers to examine the relationship between text and music and to realize that the music must serve as an appropriate vehicle for conveying the text. 


The prelude this week is by Palestrina the "Savior of polyphony" he is often credited with keeping the Council of Trent from banning polyphonic music in the church through the composition of his Pope Marcellus Mass the prelude this week is a fugue which is very similar to his fugal vocal writing. 


The anthem comes from an equally important Italian composer of vocal music writing over 3500 sacred compositions. This energetic setting of Psalm 149 packs all of the excitement of the text into just 46 measures. (So short that we are singing it twice.) 


The postlude is a Canzona, or song, by Froberger, a German composer that combined the French and Italian schools of keyboard composition. 


The Communion anthem is based on a 17th century hymn text that was translated in the 19th century from a Latin hymn of the Catholic church. This is not a period in music history that I am very familiar with but as I said it was VERY important to the history of the Church.

Proper 23 - October 9th, 2011

Zion's Walls - Aaron Copland
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need - Virgil Thompson
O For A Closer Walk With God - Leon Verrees (Postlude)

A little into programming this week. The prelude, postlude, both Choir anthems and service music are all American folk tunes or pieces composed by American composers.

Zion's Walls is a traditional Shaker tune that was arranged by Aaron Copeland (perhaps the quintessential American composer.) Copeland wrote two sets of these folk songs for solo voice and piano. They were reworked for soloist and orchestra and then arranged for choir and piano or orchestra and have become standards of the choral and solo repertoire. The piece is essentially a call to worship. An invitation to the people of God to "join us in singing the praises of Zion."

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need and the prelude Beside Still Waters are both settings of the 23rd Psalm. Each illustrate the text in a way that shows the comforting aspects of the text. The Thomson setting mentions our "Walk through the shades of death" but focuses on the comfort that the Shepherd brings. Both of these compositions feature American folk tunes as the basis for the arrangements.

The postlude this week (I apologize in advance it is on the long side) is an improvisation of the hymn O For a Closer Walk With God by Leon Verrees. Verrees was the professor of organ and cello at SU in the 1930s and 1940s before Arthur Poister came to Syracuse. I had the privilege of studying with one of Verrees's students. She was my first organ teacher and introduced me to this piece. It is one of my favorites to play. The text of the hymn is scattered throughout the score:
"O for a closer walk with God a calm and heavenly frame; a light to shine upon the road that leaves me to the Lamb."

It wasn't until I stopped to think about the long weekend that I realized that all of this American music has been programmed on and around Columbus Day weekend. Quite a happy coincidence.

Proper 22 - October 2nd, 2011

The Heavens Are Telling
If Ye Love Me


The Heavens are Telling is a wonderful expression of how all of creation gives praise to God and points to his handiwork. The trio sings that "In all the lands resounds the word. Never unperceived, ever understood." What a great reminder especially as we head into fall with the leaves starting to turn that God created the beauty (even the rain and snow) that we enjoy and for that we should give him praise.
  
If Ye Love Me reminds us of God's promise to us to bring us comfort through His Spirit in our time of need and throughtout our life. I think that Tallis's setting is interesting because the first phrase "If ye love me keep my commandments" is only heard at the beginning of the piece. It is more about reinforcing the idea that we shall be comforted and that God's Spirit will "bide with you forever" (Something that we are constantly reminded of by the beauty of the world around us as we learned in The Heavens are Telling)

{Ha! There is a connection! I just love it when a plan comes together!}