February 3, 2013 - Epiphany 4

Ubi Caritas - Jeanne Demessieux
Jesus Loves Me - arr. Joel Raney
My Song Shall be of the Loving-Kindness of the Lord -                                                                  Gerald Near
Liebster Jesu, Wir Sind Hier - Johann Gottfried Walther

Hymns: VF#143 Holy Manna, #577 Ubi Caritas (Murray), MHSO#126 From My Birth

One of the Lectionary readings for this week is 1 Corinthians 13 so I thought that I would explore four different composer’s treatments of love.

The prelude is a “Ricercare” (from the Italian word meaning to seek out) based on the chant Ubi Caritas by Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968). Demessieux began her piano studies with her older sister and then enrolled in the Montpellier Conservatoire at age seven and in 1933 at age twelve received her first church position. That same year she enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire where she studied organ with Marcel Dupré. She played her debut recital in 1946 and went on to have a successful but all-too-short career as a concert organist. She made numerous recordings and in 1962 was appointed titular organist at La Madeleine, a post previously held by Saint-Saens, Faure, and Dubois. In addition to her recital career and church position she was a teacher and composer. Only a small number of her compositional output has been published. After a lifetime of health problems Demessieux died in 1968 of an embolism. This setting of Ubi Caritas states the theme very simply in the pedal while the hands complicate matters further with a highly chromatic accompaniment. To me this captures the idea of “seeking out” God to find Him especially in times when the charity and love that the text speaks of are hard to find.

The simple Sunday School song Jesus Loves Me is combined with snippets of Jesus Loves the Little Children, and new material by composer and arranger Joel Raney (b. 1956). This arrangement is clearly influenced by Raney’s Southern Baptist roots. Like many of his pieces this setting has excellent choral writing and interesting accompaniment befitting of a Julliard graduate with a degree in piano performance. In addition to his work as a composer of church music he has enjoyed a successful career in musical theatre as a music director for tours and productions in Chicago and Los Angeles. As a composer he has written television and film scores. This hymn text by Anna B. Warner (1827-1915) was included in her novel Say and Seal where it is sung to a dying boy by his church school teacher. The tune by William Bradbury has long been a favorite of missionaries because of its simplicity. For many years I would play the piano in the dementia/Alzheimer’s ward of area nursing homes. I found that this song elicited some of the strongest reactions from the patients. It’s simple repetitive tune and lyrics reminds us of one of the most simple and profound truths of the Christian faith.

Gerald Near’s setting of Psalm 89 My Song Shall Be Always of the Loving-Kindness of the Lord is a simple, unadorned anthem in ABA form. The piece opens with the men and women in imitation. This continues in the B section but with the parts in harmony. The tonal language of this piece is ambiguous, similar to the prelude, again showing that truth and love are sometimes obscured but ever present. For further information on Gerald Near see the September 2, 2012 post.

Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748) was a German theorist, organist and lexicographer. Walther wrote the first comprehensive dictionary of musical terms and musicians. In addition to his fame as a musician, Walther has also become famous by proxy as the cousin of J.S. Bach. His setting of the chorale tune Liebster Jesu, Wir Sind Hier (Blessed Jesu at thy word) seemed like an appropriate closing piece for the service. Catherine Winkworth’s translation of the opening stanza reads:
Blessed Jesu, at Thy word
We are gathered all to hear Thee;
Let our hearts and souls be stirred
Now to seek and love and fear Thee;
By Thy teachings sweet and holy
Drawn from earth to love Thee slowly.

Walther’s setting begins with a verse played on the 8’ and 4’ flutes of the manuals with a lightly ornamented statement of the chorale tune. The second verse in 6/8 time played on a spritely combination of light stops. In the final variation the tune is played in the pedal on a 4’ reed stop while the hands continue the jaunty 6/8 on a slightly louder registration.

This set of pieces offers a number of varied views on love and different aspect of the love of God. Some of the pieces take in the uncertainty of love, the profundity of it and the broad expansive nature of it. As we move towards Lent and with Ash Wednesday being followed immediately by Valentine’s Day this week’s music is, for me at least, a very poignant reminder of the many aspects of love and the nature of the love of God that shapes the Christian faith.