Coronation Anthem No. 2: "Let Justice and Judgment"
- G. F. Handel
I to the Hills Lift Up Mine Eyes - Jean Berger
Hymns: #372 Leoni, #586 Pleading Savior, #797 It's Me
This week’s music comes from the pens of three German composers.
Two of the pieces are seldom heard gems of the Baroque period and the third is
a lovely choral psalm setting. These three pieces come together to give the
service a gentle and almost melancholy attitude of prayer.
The gradual anthem is the middle portion of G.F. Handel’s
(1685-1759) Coronation Anthem Let Thy
Hand Be Strengthened. The second (or third depending on the numbering
system you use) anthem of four was written for the coronation of King George II
in 1727. One of the final acts of King George I was to declare Handel, who was
of German birth, a British citizen. The anthem, in three parts, takes its text
from Psalm 89 and was set for the 1685 coronation of James II by John Blow. This
section speaks of justice and judgment surrounding the King and mercy going
before him. The somewhat antiquated (even in Handel’s day) feel of this lilting
anthem complements the triumphal opening and the closing “Alleluia.” The performance
of this was a huge musical event that included 47 singers and 160 musicians.
The prelude is a setting of Auf meinen lieben Gott by Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) which is a
dance suite for manuals only, probably intended to be used at home on harpsichord
or chamber organ rather than in the context of a worship service. The chorale
is set in the dance forms of the day, single and double allemande, sarabande,
courante and gigue. Buxtehude draws on both the Italian and French style of
writing for these intimate pieces. The text translates as “In my beloved God I
trust in anxiety and trouble” a fitting text to complement Handel’s Let Justice and Judgment and,
coincidentally the two pieces are in the same meter and key. Another interesting
tidbit that, I must confess was in the back of mind is that Handel applied met
Buxtehude toward the end of his life and was offered the position of organist
at the Marienkirche in Lubeck but turned it down because one of the stipulations
was that he would have to marry Buxtehude’s oldest daughter who was, apparently
not much of a catch. This setting allows the organist to show off some of the
quieter combinations of the organ. It helps to create an atmosphere of prayer
in the quiet time before the service starts.
The communion anthem was written by Jean Berger (1909-2002)
a German born composer that immigrated to France during the Nazi occupation of
Germany and in 1948 to the US as he began his career in academia. This modal
setting of Psalm 121 begins with a chant like melody that starts with the
sopranos and adds the altos on a beautiful descending line before moving to a homophonic
section filled with unsettled seventh chords that never seem to resolve. Berger’s
setting uses the text from the Bay Psalm
Book rather than the Book of Common
Prayer which gives the piece a slightly more old-fashioned feel to the
text. Again, this piece is a very calm, very intimate feeling setting of a much
beloved psalm of comfort that reminds us of where we should turn for help, a
sentiment that likely rang true with the Jewish Berger in occupied Germany.
The music this week is all very calm, very melancholy. It
captures the nature of the penitent heart and draws on the attributes of God
for comfort. It uses a harmonic language that reminds us of the human suffering
from which these emotions are sometimes born but not great tragedies, more day
to day sadness. These are pieces for a day when things are just not what you
hoped for, not where you wanted to be. They act as words of encouragement.
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