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.