Followers of the Lamb - Philip R. Dietterich
Flocks in Pastures Green Abiding - J.S. Bach
The Lord Bless You and Keep You - Peter C. Lutkin
Hymns: #686 Nettleton, #761 Holy Manna, #8 Bunessan
It is always a bit of a challenge to select the music for
this first service. In a lot of ways it’s the beginning of the season while at
the same time it really isn’t. On top of that there is the constraint of being
outside and needing to sing a cappella. This is less daunting to me now but
still scary because we have not sung together consistently for three months. I
also wanted pieces that would lend themselves to being sung outside. Nothing
too heavy or serious. I settled on four pieces that I think work well together
but are contrasting enough to be interesting.
Da Pacem, Domine
is a simple six measure round by Melchior Franck (1579-1639). Da pacem, Domine in diebus nostris, is
the opening line of a votive antiphon and means Give peace, O Lord, in our time. This simple but effective piece
was written by a prolific composer that is often forgotten today. Franck met
Hans Leo Hassler while in Nuremberg and learned from him the composition style
of Lassus and the Gabrielis. Franck excelled at counterpoint and wrote more
than 600 works including protestant chorale motets and early examples of fugues.
Unlike some of his contemporaries Franck was able to make a living as a full
time musician in spite of the 30 Years War which brought typhus to the region
and decimated many towns. It’s easy to see why he would write in invocation of
peace when there was this much turmoil going on. Franck was not unaffected by
this, he lost his wife and two of his children to the outbreak. This prayer
serves as a reminder that there is and always will be strife but we can pray
for relief. Peace in OUR time.
In 1774 the Shakers, a dissenting sect of the Quaker
religion, followed their leader, Mother Ann Lee to the United States settling
in 1776 in Nikayuna near Albany, NY. The term “Shaker” refers to their unique
style of worship which included rhythmic swaying and dancing as they felt led.
The Shakers developed their own system of musical notation and received songs
while in a trance like state. Instruments were not sanctioned for use until
1870. This rhythmic tune arranged by Philip R. Dietterich (b. 1931) was written
down in 1847. It captures much of the style of Shaker worship. The first thing
that struck me is that the men address the men and the women the women, this is
a society that lived in gender specific dormitories and led a life of celibacy,
it seems fitting. The singers encourage their brethren to dance and the piece
builds to an explosive frenzy which is also typical of Shaker worship.
I must admit, this next piece is a bit of a stretch to do
the way that we are doing it. Flocks in
Pastures Green Abiding is an arrangement by Stanley Roper of Schafe können sicher weiden from J.S.
Bach’s Cantata No. 208. The piece loses a little without the familiar recorder
obbligato alternating with the choir. The piece in its original form was
written for soprano, continuo and two recorders as part of the the secular
cantata “All that I love is the merry hunt” which Bach presented to Duke
Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels as a part of his birthday celebration. In the
original aria the singer tells us that sheep may graze safely under the care of
a good ruler, in that case, the Duke. In our setting the Good Shepherd is
watching over his sheep.
The final piece was written by Peter C. Lutkin (1858-1931).
It is his setting of Numbers 6:24-26 The
Lord Bless You and Keep You. This old chestnut of the choral literature
occupies a nostalgic place in the life of many church and university choirs
including Westminster Choir College. Lutkin studied organ with Clarence Eddy
and then went on to study at the Royal Academy of the Arts in Berlin. When he
returned to the US he served on the faculty at Northwestern and the American
Conservatory of Music. He was a founding member of the American Guild of
Organists. His sevenfold Amen which concludes this simple benediction is a
fitting close to this first Sunday of choir for the year. It rises and falls in
just ten measures from a quiet beginning to a full declaration and fades back
into nothing.
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