"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.
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