September 29, 2013 - Proper 21

Meditation on 'Kingsfold' - Roberta Bitgood
God Is My Strong Salvation - Sue and Lionel Wood
Requiem: Prayer of St. Francis - John Leavitt
Concerto in C: "Allegro" - J.G. Walther

Hymns: #423 St. Denio, #709 Dundee,
              #625 Darwall's 148th

This week’s music is very typical American church music – Oh except for the German concerto movement for a postlude. Yes, other than that very American. Oh, and the English folk tunes that the prelude and gradual anthem are based on, and the Latin text of the solo quartet in the communion anthem and the text is a prayer by an Italian. Other than that – American.

The prelude this week is Roberta Bitgood’s (1908-2007) Meditation on ‘Kingsfold’. Roberta Bitgood was an organist and composer who was a pioneer in her field. She began her study of music with the violin at age five and by her teens was playing in churches throughout Connecticut. She attended the Connecticut College for Women majoring in Mathematics and music. She studied with William C. Carl at the Guilmant Organ School and went on to get a Master’s in Education from Columbia and a doctorate in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary. She was a trailblazer in her field which was at the time largely male dominated and in 1975 became the first woman president of the American Guild of Organists. This piece was written in 1975 to honor the Rev. Walter Funk at the installation of the new Redman Organ at First Presbyterian Church of Lafayette, LA. Interestingly enough, this piece is not well suited to that particular organ, lacking the types of stops called. The tune is a traditional English folk tune thought to date back to the Middle Ages. I must confess, I picked this piece accidentally thinking that “Kingsfold” was the tune that the gradual anthem was based on. Sadly, they are similar but not the same. It is still a good piece – we’ll call it a happy accident.

God Is My Strong Salvation is a setting of James Montgomery’s (1771-1854) setting of Psalm 27. The arrangement is simple – very much like singing a hymn. The setting is by Sue and Lionel Wood. I know NOTHING about these people aside from the fact that they are/were connected to the Salvation Army. The setting is very straight forward – much like the psalm text. It is a simple affirmation of God as the protector. I think that you will very quickly see how I could mistake this tune for “Kingsfold” with its minor key with a strong pulse; the two have much in common.

The Prayer of St. Francis is taken from the Requiem by John Leavitt (b. 1956). 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. This prayer (also from Psalm 27) serves as the “Credo” of the Requiem. The solo quartet prays for peace while the choir asks to be the instrument of peace. The requests combine and remind me of the text of the song by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller Let There Be Peace on Earth. This one says: “Give us peace and let me be the ‘instrument’ that brings it”

The postlude is something completely different. An arrangement by Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748) of a concerto by Joseph Meck (1690-1758). These concertos were often for violin or oboe and were arranged for organ as some of the first orchestral transcriptions. This allowed Walther to share the compositional style of Meck with the listeners in Germany that would not have known the style. This bouncy melody seemed a fitting close to this service and gives the variety that I think is necessary for this Sunday. I think that the sparkling and lively solo line will brighten the rather staunch selections that precede it in the service. This selection also capitalizes on the Holtkamp stops on this organ rather than relying on the digital sounds of the Rodgers addition.