Ten Biblical Songs Op. 99: "I Will Sing New Songs"
- Antonin Dvorak
Symphony No. 9 in e minor Op. 95: "Largo"
- Antonin Dvorak
St. Denio - Gerald Near
Hymns: #423 St. Denio, #213 Middlebury,
#291 Wir Pflugen, #782 Abbott's Leigh
The music for this week was chosen for one of two reasons
either it is based on a hymn for the day (which were chosen to fit the
Lectionary texts for the day) or it represents a new beginning which is what
this first Sunday in September has always symbolized for me. The prelude and
postlude are a bit mismatched but I think that it offers an interesting way of
tying the service together. The prelude is based on the closing hymn and the
postlude is based on the opening hymn. I have placed the pieces according to
their character rather than proximity to the hymns that they are based on but I
think that it works to unite the themes of the service.
The prelude serves to foreshadow the piece to come which is
a hymn about going out into the world “Gracious
Spirit, give your servants” by Carl P. Daw Jr. (b. 1944). This hymn to the
Holy Trinity was written for the Consecration of the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith,
Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Connecticut. The hymn, however starts with
an invocation of the Holy Spirit and the last verse is a doxology. This is
justification enough for me to stretch the tune to use it for the prelude. This
setting of Abbott’s Leigh was written
by Carl D.N. Klein (b. 1963), a church musician that received his training from
Mansfield University and later the Eastman School of Music. This Prelude and Chorale (of which I am
playing the prelude) is a simple and ethereal setting that uses only 8’ stops.
There is a syncopated repeating motive in the pedal with suspensions that move
downward stepwise without ever really resolving in the left hand. Above all of
this is the hymn tune played on a solo flute. The piece works well as a quiet
invitation to worship before the more declamatory Introit.
The Introit is from the pen of Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904). Dvorak
was a church organist, composer, conductor and teacher. The music of Dvorak
reflects his Czech heritage but also encompasses the musical influences of the
countries he visited and worked in. Both the Introit and the Communion music
were written while Dvorak was living in New York City (1892-1895). He was
brought to the US by Madame Jeannette Meyers Thurber, founder of the National
Conservatory of Music, to be the school’s director. His tenure at the school
was short lived due to complications over his salary, increased recognition in
Europe, and incredible homesickness. In 1895 he returned to his professorship
at the Prague Conservatory. His years in the United States, however, were some
of his most productive. It was during this time that he wrote the Biblical Songs, his Cello Concerto in b minor, a string quartet and quintet and his Symphony No. 9.
The 10 Biblical Songs,
Op. 99 were probably written in response to the death of Tchaikovsky and von Bullow, both close friends of
the composer. Although Dvorak spent much of his early career playing and
composing for the church, he was uncomfortable writing on religious subjects.
He chose the texts for these pieces from the Psalms and set them in a way that
highlights the imagery of the poems. The composer reworked the first five for
orchestra, the second set was orchestrated after Dvorak’s death. I Will Sing New Songs seems like an
appropriate piece to hear on the last Sunday before choir resumes. It serves as
an opening psalm from the choir and for the congregation as we prepare as a
church to dive back into the year as the summer winds to a close. In the song
the soloist and organ alternate with the solo line changing character and
dynamics to fit the mood of the text. The organ interludes remain unyielding,
coming in with the same joy and (tempered) excitement at the end of the piece
that it had at the beginning.
Since we were already on a Dvorak kick I simply could not
resist programming the much loved Largo,
from Symphony No. 9 in e minor “From the
New World”, Op. 95. This symphony, which was to be his last, was
commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and premiered December 16, 1893 to
rave reviews. There are various stories and opinions about the “New World”
connections with this piece. Some people believe that Dvorak was setting
melodies he had heard in the US, others believed that he was drawing on the
influences of Native American and African American music, still others think
that he just made it all up and that it sounds more Czech than American. I am
not even going to attempt to posit an opinion on this. I just think that the
English Horn solo in the second movement of the piece is among the most
beautiful melodies ever written – mainly due to its simplicity. An organ transcription
of this piece can hardly do justice to the original orchestration but there is
a so much color that can be found in the various stops of the organ that, if
viewed as a piece of organ music, even the most devout purist can appreciate
the music that is played even while lamenting the medium that is used. The
transcription is reasonably faithful to the original orchestral version but
does edit out a portion of the c# minor part of the movement. The back and
forth between the reed solo and the full foundation stops of the organ make for
a satisfying reading of one of the most beautiful pieces of the symphonic
literature.
The postlude is a setting of the opening hymn, St. Denio by Gerald Near (b. 1942), a
highly regarded church composer. He studied with the great Leo Sowerby and with
Leslie Bassett. His contributions to the organ literature and to choral music
are of the highest quality. He is a recipient of the McKnight Foundation Fellowship and has had pieces commissioned by the American Guild of Organists. He is currently the Director of Aureole Editions. This setting of St. Denio starts and ends with full organ. In between the three parts dance along in a jaunty 6/8 meter that builds as it goes and ends with thick chords played on full organ over a double pedal line.
No comments:
Post a Comment