April 29, 2012 - Easter 4

Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us - arr. Diane Bish

When Some Kind Shepherd From His Fold

                                                                - arr. Alice Parker

Requiem: "The Lord Is My Shepherd" - John Leavitt

Pastorale and Toccata: "Pastorale" - David Conte

Hymns: #191 Lux Eoi, #645 St. Columba,

             #478 Monk's Gate

This week is “Shepherd Sunday.” That is the inspiration for the morning, it also worked out that all of the music was written and arranged by American composers. Two of the pieces are arrangements of familiar hymn tunes and the other two are newly composed tunes; one with a very familiar text.

The prelude is a quiet meditation on the hymn tune BRADBURY which is closely wedded to the text Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us. The tune takes its name from its composer, William B. Bradbury(1816-1868); a composer, and teacher. Bradbury was a member of Lowell Mason’s singing class and in 1836 Dr. Mason sent him to Maine to teach three large singing schools of his own. After a year and a half he returned to Boston to marry. He then went to New York City where he served as choir director and organist at Baptist Tabernacle. He started a singing class while at the church which led to the thousand-voice Juvenile Music Festival. In 1847 Bradbury journeyed to London and Leipzig where he studied the way that music was taught in the public and private schools of Europe. He returned to New York City in 1849 and devoted the rest of his life to teaching, conducting, and editing music books. This tune, like many of his hymn tunes, is characterized by a simple natural melody which is easy to sing and easy to remember. The arrangement by “The First Lady of the Organ,” Diane Bish (b. 1941) is simple and beautiful. It features a solo oboe alternating with solo flute. These two instruments are frequently called on to evoke images of shepherds sitting on a hillside playing a bagpipe or set of shepherd’s pipes while they watch their sheep. Diane Bish continues to be one of the most visible concert organists in the world. Her television series, The Joy of Music began broadcasting in the early 1980’s and continues to air new episodes.

The gradual anthem is an arrangement of the hymn tune, MOUNTAIN, an early American hymn tune. It is paired with the text When Some Kind Shepherd From His Fold by John Needham and published in the 1768 collection “Hymns Devotional and Moral on Various Subjects.” This arrangement, by noted composer and conductor Alice Parker, owes much of its inspiration to the Sacred Harp tradition. This early American folk music calls for full voiced, non legato singing with a steady and often lively pulse throughout.  The meter of the anthem fluctuates to accommodate the text, but the strong pulse never waivers. Alice Parker is a name known throughout the choral community for excellence in conducting and for her unique approach to interpreting music. She has arranged countless hymn tunes, folk songs, and spirituals both on her own and with her teacher, Robert Shaw. Parker’s arrangement takes the seemingly straight-forward hymn and adds little twists and turns that, though unexpected, are very much characteristic of the Sacred Harp style.

What would “Shepherd Sunday” be without a choral setting of the beloved 23^rd psalm? This setting is taken from a Requiem by the American composer, John Leavitt. Leavitt’s education and career have been primarily centered in Kansas. He is a highly sought after clinician and conductor and has received commissions for new choral works from numerous organizations. In the preface to his Requiem he writes that the work is “inspired by Brahms’ German Requiem” and that like that work, this is a work that draws on the psalms and other spiritual texts rather than the traditional Mass for the Dead to comfort the living rather than pray for those that have died. The piece opens with a beautiful arching melody in the accompaniment before the unison entry of the ladies. There is quite a lot of trading back and forth between the men and women’s voices as well as several “orchestral” interludes. Indeed, this is a piece with beautiful orchestral accompaniment, which I have done my best to reproduce at the organ through various forms of “registrational trickery.” The piece builds to a climax as the choir sings about “dwelling in the house of the Lord evermore” before the final “Amen” which underscores or is underscored by (depending on your perspective) the arching flute melody which opened the work.

The Pastorale from David Conte’s (b.1955) Pastorale and Toccata is a real tour de force of the organ’s color palette. The piece was commissioned in 1991by Eastman Professor David Higgs. David Conte has taught composition and directed the Conservatory Chorus at San Fransisco Conservatory since 1985. He is one of the last students of the famed French composer and teacher, Nadia Boulanger. The Pastorale evokes a quiet image at the beginning that despite its polytonality (being in more than one key at a time) is still very calm. In fact, once you get used to the piece’s expanded tonality and asymmetric rhythms it seems very gentle and playful. This piece is all about evoking images. The listener is invited to paint his/her own picture as various flutes at different pitches play sweeping gestures. The opening and closing chords of the swell strings played while the organist “thumbs down” the melody (Essentially the organist is playing on two keyboards at the same time with the same hand.) add a touch of mystery to the piece. The middle section with its dance like pedal line evokes images of frolicking sheep or grass and leaves dancing in the wind. The Pastorale, for me, never evokes the same image twice. Whenever I play it on a new instrument the different color palette paints a new and varied picture.

April 22, 2012 - Easter 3

I Believe This Is Jesus - Undine Smith Moore

O Paschal Lamp of Radiant Light - Sam Batt Owens

Chant de Paix - Jean Langlais

Carillon - Louis Vierne

Hymns: #212 Richmond, #193 Puer Nobis,

             #213 Middlebury 

The gradual anthem this week was composed by Undine Smith Moore, known to some as “the Dean of Black Women Composers.”  She spent the majority of her career (from 1927-1972) teaching piano, organ, and music theory at Virginia State College. She was known for her contributions to choral music including a 16-part oratorio called Scenes from the Life of a Martyr based on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. The work was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Her arrangement of the spiritual I Believe This is Jesus is dedicated to the Virginia Union University Choir of Richmond, VA. It begins with an explosive five note motive that is passed around the choir. It then moves on to feature the men in unison with the women commenting with “Oh come and see”. This B section continues the rhythmic drive and moves to a reorchestrated version of the beginning theme with melody for solo tenor against the affirmative “yes” of the rest of the choir. The piece stops after a huge build on a unison statement of the opening theme that brings the piece to its final statement to “come and see.”

The communion anthem, O Pascal Lamp of Radiant Light was written by Sam Batt Owens, a former professor of music at Birmingham Southern College, Vanderbilt University, and Fisk University. During his lifetime he composed over 250 pieces and served in prominent positions in the church music field. This piece has a gentle fluidity to it that I personally find very endearing. It also makes it difficult to sing. The singers must be very sensitive to the ebb and flow of dynamics in this piece, which are fueled by the text. The dynamics at some points are even more important (perhaps) than the notes. The final 10 measures of  “alleluia” draw the piece to a triumphal but contemplative close that leaves the listener fulfilled and at rest despite the shifting tonalities that preceded it.

The prelude and postlude both come from the French Romantic School and were both composed by blind organists. There are days when I have a hard time playing the organ and I have reasonably good vision. I can’t imagine playing the organ without sight. Even more than that I can’t imagine making a living as a blind concert organist that had to constantly adjust to new and different organs. If that weren’t enough for them, they also included large-scale improvisations in most if not all of their concerts. Wow. That is all I can say.

The prelude comes from Jean Langlais’ (1907-1991) Neuf Pieces it is the Chant de Paix or Song of Peace. These pieces were written in response to World War II. This piece was dedicated to Mademoiselle Claire Boussac, and sharply contrasts some of the less peaceful movements in the collection. The piece is a dialogue between two four-foot flutes, one in the right hand and the other in the pedal. The left hand supports this conversation on the string stops by playing dissonant but interesting chords throughout.

The postlude is Louis Vierne’s Carillon from his 24 Pieces in Free Style. These pieces were written to be played on either organ or harmonium and contain registrations for both. The piece is dedicated to Rene Vierne, Louis’ brother who was killed in combat. The inspiration comes from the carillon at la chapelle du Chateau de Longpont. It begins and ends on full organ with the pedal playing the carillon part. The middle section alternates between the swell and the great with the hands switching each measure at some points. The piece then builds to a climactic finish.

April 15, 2012 - Easter 2

Give Almes of Thy Goods - Christopher Tye

Messiah: "But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul In Hell" 

                                                                        - G.F. Handel

O Filii et Filiae - Jean-Francois Dandrieu

Offertory on "O Filii" - Alexandre Guilmant

 

Hymns: #210 Ellacombe, #206 O Filii et Filiae,

             #209 St. Botolph

The Music for this Sunday draws on two different National traditions. The anthems are very British and the organ music is very French. The gradual anthem this week comes from the pen of Dr. Christopher Tye (c.1505 - c. 1572), a British organist and composer. Tye's compositions were written for the Reformed church. Tye is perhaps one of the most important and widely known composers of the mid-sixteenth century because of his writings for the Reformed Church and his connections to the reign of Edward  VI. He earned a degree in music from Cambridge in 1536 and in 1543 was appointed choirmaster of the Cathedral at Ely. In 1545 he received a doctorate in music from Cambridge and in 1548 Oxford awarded him the same degree. The text for the anthem Give Almes of Thy Goods comes from the fourth chapter of the book of Tobit. This book is often connected with the Jewish wisdom literature. The fourth chapter contains Tobit's instructions to his son Tobias regarding the value of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The text of the anthem states that if we do not turn away from the poor then God will not turn His face away from us. The choir enters one part at a time starting with the basses and building from low to high before the men and women break into an antiphonal call and response. The full choir joins together on the last statement of "and turn never thy face from any poor man" before breaking off for two identical imitative statements of the next line of text, "and then the face of the Lord shall not be turned away from thee."

 

The communion anthem is taken (again) from Handel's Messiah. With a work that encompasses the entire life of Christ from birth through ascension it is hard not to continue to draw on it for inspiration. It just seems to always have the right piece for the day. This week I have programmed the tenor solo But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul In Hell. In Leonard Van Camp's book, A Practical Guide for Performing, Teaching, and Singing Handel's Messiah, he describes this aria as the piece that begins Part 2 Scene 3: Christ's Resurrection and Ascension separating it even from the recitative before it, He Was Cut Off From the Land of the Living. This aria serves as a turning point in the work. The text is taken from Psalm 16:10 where it acts as a prophecy but Charles Jennens, Handel's librettist for Messiah took some liberties with the text to change it from an Old Testament prophesy to a prophesy that had been fulfilled. The aria has the tenor soloist dialoguing with the violins of the orchestra (played on a light 8' principal and 4' flute) over a bouncy continuo line. The rising scales in both the tenor solo and the violin line can be seen as examples of text painting which Handel's writing is full of. These rising scales could easily be seen as symbolic of Christ's ascension.

 

The two French organ pieces are very similar even though the were written roughly 150-200 years apart. They are both settings of the offertory hymn of the day, O Filii et Filiae.  The prelude is a set of variations by Jean-Francois Dandrieu (c.1682 - 1738). Dandrieu was a child prodigy born into a family of musicians and artists. He gave his first public performances at age 5. He was widely known for his harpsichord and organ compositions. His mastery of counterpoint separated him from his contemporaries and was more typical of the German Baroque style, though his compositions were characteristically French. In 1705 Dandrieu was installed as organist at St. Merry Church in Paris, a position he held until his death. In 1721 he was installed as one of the organists at the royal chapel and he later added the post of organist at St. Barthelemy. It is likely that he delegated some of the work of these posts to his sister, also a talented keyboard player. This piece is a set of variations in the French Classical style which features the ornamented melody placed either in the left hand or the right hand against florid counterpoint tin the other hand. Different from the German Baroque music of the same time period is the minimal use of the pedal in this music. The pedal divisions of these organs were very small  often having only one or two stops even on the large three and four manual instruments. In addition to the limited stop choices for the pedal, the pedal boards were not designed to play the fast intricate pedal lines of the German Baroque school. They were capable only of playing sustained pitches or slow moving melodies (mostly played in whole notes.) Another characteristic of this music is the relationship between registration (the sounds an organist chooses) and the character in which the piece is played. The sounds that are selected relate directly to the tempo, articulation and mood that the organist must play in.

 

The postlude is another set of variations on O Filii et Filiae, this time by the French Romantic organist Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911). This set of variations opens and closes with imitative sections played on the full organ with quick moving pedal passages (quite a departure from the Dandrieu) but it is in the middle section of the piece that the charm of the composition is really brought out. Guilmant, much like his counterpart Dandrieu almost 200 years earlier draws on the sounds of the organ to dictate the mood of the piece. Guilmant draws on the symphonic resources of the Cavielle-Coll organ for his inspiration. After the triumphal opening the organist creates as diminuendo by taking off the most powerful stops and then the hymn tune is played as a simple chorale on the Vox humana (literally - human voice) stop of the organ. The piece begins to build with the chorale moving to the stately 8' foundation stops (flutes and principals) of the Great (the main division of any organ). The chant melody is then placed in the pedal with light flutes dancing above before returning again to the Great foundations. The next variation is a playful duet between the 8' stops (with oboe) of the Swell (a somewhat quiet and colorful division of the organ that is enclosed behind shutters that can be opened or closed via a foot pedal to create a "swell" in the sound) and the Flutes and Strings of the Choir (a secondary division of the organ louder than the Swell but softer than the Great). The organist returns to the Great and begins adding stops to create a crescendo that leads to a return of the opening material and a triumphal "alleluia" climax on Full organ. It is interesting to note that in addition to his work as a recitalist, composer and professor of organ at the Paris Conservatoire that Guilmant also made significant contributions as musicologist. One of his contributions was as compiler and editor of ten volumes of the compositions of French composers before 1750. It is very likely that he was familiar with the works of Dandrieu and his contemporaries and may have even played the piece that I am playing for the prelude.

April 8, 2012 - Easter

Hallelujah (from the Mount of Olives)
                                                     - Ludwig van Beethoven
Alleluia - Randall Thompson
Toccata in F Major BWV 540 - J.S. Bach
Symphony No. 5 in F Op. 42 No. 1: "Toccata"
                                                          - Charles-Marie Widor
Hymns: #207 Easter Hymn, #174 Salzburg, #199 St. Kevin

The gradual anthem for Easter Sunday is a piece that I have done many times. Beethoven’s Hallelujah is taken from the “oratorio” Christus am Ölberge (Christ on the Mount of Olives) Op. 85. The work was commissioned by the Theater an der Wien to be performed during Lent. At this time in history opera was forbidden during Lent so instead people turned to the non-staged biblical drama of oratorio. The work was premiered in 1803 though it was not published until 1811 (accounting for its high opus number). Despite being composed by Beethoven the piece has not enjoyed the popularity that most of his music has received. There are a number of reasons for this, the foremost being that the libretto is really not very good. Even Beethoven admitted to the problems of the libretto written by the poet Franz Xaver Huber. The work tells the story of Christ (sung by a tenor soloist) in the garden and offers a more humanistic view of the struggle that Christ faced. There are also solo parts for soprano (a Seraph) and bass (Peter). The chorus that we are singing is the only part of the work that still enjoys much popularity today. The chorus is a real “tour de force” for the accompanist with running triplets scattered throughout and an introduction that is sure to grab the attention of all.

The communion anthem is a classic piece of American choral literature, Randall Thompson’s Alleluia. I wanted to showcase the way that two very different composers have shown their idea of praise. The Beethoven was originally in German and nowhere does it actually contain the word “Hallelujah,” but the English text is so often performed that I still think the contrast is valid. The piece was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky, an avid proponent of new music, for the opening of the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood. Thompson did not feel inspired to write a festive piece with the turmoil and uncertainty of Hitler’s reign in Germany and the nation on the edge of World War II; he instead chose to write a more contemplative setting. This piece starts very simply and grows into a confident but not boisterous like the Beethoven statement of praise before returning to the calm quiet mood of the opening and the hushed finality of the “amen.” To me there is something very sure and steady about the three-note motive that is woven throughout the piece. Much of the work is very quiet but seems to have a great deal of conviction. To me there is this image of quiet confidence evoked by the piece. Alleluia is still sung at the opening of festival at Tanglewood by the entire student body every year.

The striking contrast of these two statements of praise shows the way that music and text are interwoven and must serve one another to create a mood and an idea. Choral music is not, as so many have said all about the text. It is also about how the text is set.

For the prelude and postlude on Easter I have decided to program two toccatas, both of them in F major. Throughout Lent I have been drawing on the music of J.S. Bach for preludes and postludes. I thought that it would be a fitting bridge between Lent and Easter to play one last J.S. Bach organ work. I did this to unify the seasons but also as a means of being fair to J.S. Bach. For Lent I played quiet chorale preludes and dark fugues. The Bach Toccata in F Major BWV 540 is a pure burst of exuberance. Written in the “Italian style,” one can hear the influence of Vivaldi’s instrumental writing in the light and bouncy manual figuration. The canonical treatment of the theme is similar to the Vivaldi concerto in d minor for two violins, which Bach transcribed for organ  (BWV 596 which I played the Finale of a few weeks ago).  The piece begins with swirling manual figures played in canon over a pedal point that then breaks into a 26 measure pedal solo. This is then repeated in C. After all of the flashiness of the opening has subsided we get to the joyful dance of the rest of the piece with its rising pedal arpeggios and its circle of fourth modulations. This piece has it all, flashy pedal cadenzas, daring harmonic shifts and unexpected chord inversions. I find that it also has a dance-like lightness about it that exquisitely conveys the joy of Easter morning.

The postlude, though somewhat predictable for Easter fits perfectly with the Bach F Major, and that is the Toccata from Symphony No. 5 Op. 42 No. 1 of Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937). Second to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in d minor, the Widor Toccata is probably one of the best known and loved organ compositions. Charles Marie Widor composed ten “organ symphonies” during his life. These multi-movement works exploited the color palettes of the organs of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, the organ builder who transformed the organ world in France during the second half of the nineteenth century. The piece is the quintessential French toccata. The piece starts with full organ. The manuals play a spinning figure in the right hand punctuated by accented chords in the left hand before the theme is introduced in the pedal. The piece diminishes as the reeds are removed and the organist moves to a softer manual before the “Grand Crescendo” with the reeds added back gradually and the reentry of the pedal theme. The piece builds to a frenzied conclusion with octave leaps in the pedal while the right hand continues its perpetual sixteenth notes. The left hand moves above the right hand to continue the accented chords. The piece comes to a screeching halt on a high f in the manuals followed by big full chords in the hands and feet to draw to a triumphal close.

April 7, 2012 - Easter Vigil

Messiah: "Rejoice Greatly" - G. F. Handel

Hymns: #180 Unser Herrscher, #187 Straf Mich Nicht, #192 Vruechten

Of the nine (by my count) readings from the Old Testament listed for the Vigil service in the Book of Common Prayer one of the readings is taken from Zephaniah 3. The text of this reading commands us to “Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel…the King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. This jubilant verse gives us a perfect opportunity to enjoy Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion, the rollicking soprano aria from Handel’s Messiah. The text for this aria comes from the book of Zechariah but is largely the same text as that found in Zephaniah. The version that we will be hearing is known as “Version II.” The difference between this second version to be composed and the more familiar setting that we hear every Christmas is that this version is in 12/8. It has a bit more of a gentle lilt than the sometimes frantic sixteenth notes of the 4/4 version. The nice thing about this version is that it just flows along by itself. Our soloist may disagree but it hardly seems like work and helps to add the lightness that this piece requires.

April 6, 2012 - Good Friday

Stabat Mater: "Vidit suum dulcem natum" - F.J. Haydn


Hymns: #172 Were You There, #163 Kedron

For Good Friday there is only one piece of music aside from the two hymns, the solo “Vidit suum dulcem natum”  from the Stabat Mater of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). In 1766 Haydn was promoted to the position of Capellmeister and in 1767  set to work on the composition of the Stabat Mater. It was not common at this time for church music to be printed; it was instead disseminated in handwritten manuscript form. Because of this there have been many problems finding an authoritative edition of the work. The piece was regarded as Haydn’s best sacred composition and has been compared to the Stabat Mater of Pergolesi in quality and popularity. The solo Vidit suum dulcem natum for tenor soloist is a translated For the sins of His own nation, saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent. The tenor and orchestra trade the expressive melody filled with suspensions and appoggiatura back and forth throughout. On the “moriendo desolatum” dying desolate you can hear the sorrow in the vocal lines echoed in the accompaniment. The last line the soloist sings “dum emisit spiritum” till his spirit he sent forth. Is sung unaccompanied with the orchestra returning to play the ritornello one final time.

April 5, 2012 - Maundy Thursday

b minor Mass BWV 232: "Qui Tollis" - J.S. Bach

                                         arranged by Michael Helman

O Christ, the Healer, We Have Come - Fred Pratt Green, 

                                                             Richard W. Gieseke

Hymn of the Last Supper - John Brownlie, Philip Young

Hymns: #649 Dickinson College, #315 Song 1,

             #329 Pange Lingua

The prelude (the only organ piece to be played in either of these services) is an arrangement of the chorus Qui Tollis from Bach’s monumental Mass in b minor BWV 232. The Qui Tollis is the sixth of nine movements from the Gloria of the mass. The movement for four part chorus (though much of the work is for SSATB choir) is a reworking of the first half of the opening of Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei (Behold and see, if there be any sorrow) BWV 46. The piece has been arranged here by Michael Helman and is a dialogue between two flutes with the pedal filling out the harmonies. The registration I have chosen is reflective of Bach’s orchestral scoring of the movement for two flutes and strings. The instrumental writing is surprising light in contrast to the much darker choral writing. The arranger, Michael Helman, is the Director of Music at Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral, Florida, and is the Handbell Editor for The Lorenz Corporation. He has over 125 handbell, organ and choir compositions to his credit.

I chose O Christ, the Healer, We Have Come as the gradual anthem because instead of doing a foot washing at the Maundy Thursday service we are having a time of laying on of hands and anointing with oil. The text by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) has been included in many hymnals since it was penned in 1969 and has been paired with numerous different hymn tunes. Green spent his life as a Methodist minister in England where he penned more than 300 hymn texts. Green believed that the church had a responsibility to involve itself in social concerns, a stance that is evident in much of his poetry. This setting by Richard W. Gieseke (b. 1952) of four of the five verses (the third verse is omitted in this setting) begins with the choir in unison. The second verse is for the ladies of the choir. The third reintroduces the men; and the final verse has the three voice parts woven together with imitation between the altos and the men while the sopranos float along on the melody.

The communion anthem, Hymn of the Last Supper, is a setting of the text “Let thy blood in mercy poured,” translated from the original Greek by the renowned translator John Brownlie, a Scottish clergyman and translator of hundreds of hymn texts. The choral setting is by Philip Young, Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Henderson, NC from 1959-2004 a position in which his wife assisted him until her death in 1998. Young has received a number of honors and upon his retirement he was named composer in residence. This simple setting of three verses with refrain features colorful harmonies that convey the beautiful peaceful images of a “gracious Lord” with “boundless love” as well as the more pained images of the “thorn crowned brow.”