March 11, 2012 - Lent 3

Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb BWV 525: "Adagio" - JS Bach

Messiah: "Their Sound is Gone Out" - GF Handel

"Ave Verum" - Edward Elgar

Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor: "Fugue" - JS Bach

Hymns: #455 Dunedin, #360 Rouen, #574 St. Petersburg

The gradual anthem for this Sunday comes for the frequently cut second part of Messiah. I have always felt that Part II contains some of the most dynamic and interesting choral writing in that oratorio. The text painting that Handel uses in Let All the Angels, The Lord Gave the Word, and Their Sound is Gone Out is simply inspired. It could also have something to do with the fact that these are some of the lesser done choruses and so I haven’t heard them sung to death every year for as long as I can remember but I digress. The text of this chorus comes from Paul’s letter to the Romans but is actually a quote from Psalm 19:4. One of the amazing things about Handel is his ability to do so much with so little. The text for this chorus is very short, and the melodic ideas are equally as short. The voice parts enter in quick succession on theme A depicting a quick dissemination of the gospel on the text “Their sound is gone out into all lands.” This is then followed by theme B on the second half of the text “and their words unto the ends of the world” which is set to a sweeping scale that peaks on the word “world” and then descends depicting the gospel going into every corner of the world. This rousing chorus is actually the third and final solution that Handel found for setting this text. Messiah was composed in 1741 and first performed in 1742. This chorus was not written until 1749. Prior to this the movement had been a tenor solo.

The communion anthem is a setting of the Ave Verum by Edward Elgar (1857-1934). He enjoyed a great deal of success during his lifetime but quickly fell out of favor after his death until a resurgence in the 1960’s. Elgar’s composition style was out of touch with his nationalistic contemporaries. He believed that it was a composer’s job to write melodies not to borrow and arrange pre-existing ones. Elgar composed for massive forces combining chorus and orchestra for many pieces. His best known pieces today are probably The Enigma Variations, and his March No. 1, known to most of us as Pomp and Circumstance. It turns out that though this piece garnered him great fortune and fame, it was what turned “serious” musicians off of his music and resulted in him retiring from public life completely in the post World War I years. Elgar’s father, William was the organist at St. George’s Church, Worcester. In the mid-1870’s Elgar became his father’s assistant and in 1885 took over as organist. This Ave Verum began as a setting of Pie Jesu for soprano and organ written for the funeral of William Allen, a family friend and was later sung at Elgar’s funeral. In 1902 the composer reworked the piece for full choir and changed the text. He described the work as “too sugary, I think, but it is nice and harmless and quite easy.”

I have decided to program the works of J.S. Bach throughout Lent partly to honor his birthday (March 21) and partly because of their devotional quality both in general and for me personally. This week’s selections are Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb BWV 525: “Adagio” and Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582: “Fugue.”

The slow movement from the trio sonata features three intertwining lines, two played on contrasting flutes and the third on an oboe stop. The piece is in 12/8 and has a graceful yet mournful feel to it, possibly due to the number of suspensions in it. Another reason for selecting this piece is that it is in the same key as the postlude but with a very different character. These pieces are quite difficult to play because it requires the performer to keep track not only of the notes and rhythms of three different lines but also of the phrasing and articulation. Each line is truly a solo melody and they must all be given equal attention.

The Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor is one of my all time favorite pieces to play and to hear. I first encountered the piece, not in its original form for organ but in the orchestral transcription by Ottorino Respighi. I was driving from one church service to the other and the piece came on the radio and I was completely overwhelmed. I got to church and sat in my car to hear the rest of it. The theme of the work is (likely) taken from two short works by the French composer Andre Raison. The fugue follows the passacaglia without break to serve as the 21^st variation on the theme. The fugue (actually a double fugue) uses the first half of the passacaglia theme as its subject. An altered version of the theme is used as the second theme. The piece builds to a strong close on a totally unexpected chord and ends with a low c in the pedal filling out a triumphant final chord.