The Pharisee and the Publican - Heinrich Schutz
Memorial: "Kyrie" - Rene Clausen
Baroques: "Voluntary" - Seth Bingham
Hymns: #656 Franconia, #507 Julion,
#679 Thomas Merton
The music this week is German and American with the Baroque
period being well represented. The prelude and communion anthem are by two
giants of the pre-Bach era in Germany, the postlude pays homage to E. Power
Biggs and the organ reform movement and the communion anthem is a lush and
haunting piece by a contemporary American composer.
The prelude is Samuel Scheidt’s (1587-1654) setting of
Martin Luther’s Vater unser im
Himmelreich. Samuel Scheidt was born in Halle (also the birth place of
Handel) and studied in Amsterdam with the great Sweelinck. Scheidt brought much
of what he learned of the style of the Netherlands to his appointment as
Kappellmeister to the Margrave of Brandenburg. When the Thirty Years War broke
out Scheidt was permitted to retain his employment – with no pay. In 1628 he
was appointed Music Director of three churches in Halle which he served for ten
years until his position as Kappellmeister was reinstated. This was after a bit
of personal tragedy, when the plague of 1636 hit Germany his four children all
died. This blow did not prevent him from becoming the first internationally
successful organ composer of the North German School. His setting of the
Lutheran version of the Lord’s Prayer is rather austere to today’s audience but
is filled with delicate imitation as the piece’s rhythmic intensity waxes and
wanes. The tension is also evident with a masterful use of push and pull
through consonance and dissonance. This is clearly a prayer through the pen of
someone who has known both sorrow and joy.
The communion anthem is also a prayer of sorts. Kyrie from René Clausen’s (b. 1953) Memorial is a haunting cry to God from a
battered and broken people. This 2003 commission from the American Choral
Director’s Association was written in response to the tragedy of September 11,
2003. The piece by Concordia professor, Clausen is difficult if not even
painful to listen to, especially accompanied by the video footage from that
day. This setting of the traditional mass text also contains echoes of the
English translation “Lord have mercy” and the Hebrew name for God, “Adonai.”
This setting with its lush harmonies and overlapping takes on penitence is a
powerful statement even when separated from the rest of the work. As with the
prelude, it is clear that the composer understood tragedy and wished to
incorporate that into the piece. The major sevenths that are sung on the text
“Adonai” remind me of Bernstein’s Chichester
Psalms and I can’t help but to think that Clausen had this somewhere in his
ear as he was writing the piece. Its complex thickly textured sound is a
fitting outcry of a bereft nation.
The gradual anthem is a The
Pharisee and the Publican, a setting of Luke 18 by the German composer,
Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672). This piece tells the story of a Pharisee who
loudly proclaims his “prayer” in public, extolling the fact that he is not a
sinner like other men – especially not like the publican while the publican
(tax collector) simply asks for mercy. These two individuals are portrayed as
solos, the Pharisee, a bass and the publican, a tenor. The story of these two
souls is introduced by the ladies of the choir, and all join after the duet to
tell the lesson of the story: “He that exalts himself shall be humbled and he
that humbles himself shall be exalted.” Schutz and Scheidt were contemporaries
but took rather different paths. Schutz studied with Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice
and brought the Italian style of composition back to the court of the Elector
of Saxony in Dresden where he spent the rest of his career and most of his
life. Unlike Scheidt his position was unaffected by the Thirty Years War, he
left for Venice and met Monteverdi while the war was going on and returned when
it had ended. This piece, like the previous two is about prayer, pleading because
the publican feels unworthy, a sentiment that I’m sure resonates with all of
us.
Seth Bingham (1882-1972) is a composer that is little known
to us today outside of his organ compositions and many of those are relegated
to obscurity. Bingham studied at Yale and then in Paris with Widor, d’Indy, and
Guilmant. He went on to a career as a church musician and professor teaching at
Columbia, Yale, and Union Seminary while playing at Madison Avenue Presbyterian
Church. Baroques is a five movement suite dedicated to the organist E.
Power Biggs and reflects his position in the organ reform movement. This was a movement
that departed from the decadence of the American symphonic organs and returned
to the more austere traditions of the Baroque period which is reflected in the
piece. This movement, Voluntary is in
the style of the English voluntaries of John Stanley but uses Bingham’s
harmonic language. Strong, stately sections are contrasted with lighter fugal interjections.
The piece builds to a rousing finish.
The first three pieces primarily reflect an attitude of
prayer while the finale is offered up in thankful praise, possibly for a prayer
answered, I like to think so.
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