Draw Us In the Spirit's Tethers - Harold W. Friedell
Biblical Songs: By the Babylonian Waters
- Antonin Dvorak
Toccata and Fugue in d minor BWV 565: Fugue
- J.S. Bach
Hymns: #11 Morning Hymn, #704 Hereford,
#535 Paderborn
This week’s music is varied but does all hold together. Two
of the pieces are based on the psalm and other two are centered around the
music program at St. Bartholomew’s in New York City.
The prelude is a setting of the Lutheran chorale tune An Wasserflüssen Babylon by Johann
Pachelbel (1653-1706). Pachelbel, best known for his “Canon in D” made his
career as a composer, organist, and teacher who developed the South German
style of organ playing and made the chorale prelude into the type of piece that
we know today. Pachelbel spent his relatively short life as a church musician
and composer writing numerous cantatas, solo organ works and orchestral pieces.
As is characteristic of much of Pachelbel’s writing, the theme or chorale tune
was presented in its original form and then varied in a contrapuntal style. The
piece is not terribly adventurous but shows Pachelbel’s expert contrapuntal
writing style and understanding of organ music that was written at the time.
The communion anthem is also based on the psalm for the day.
Antonin Dvorak’s (1841-1941) Op. 99 Biblical Songs were written in 1894, just
as the composer found out about the death of the conductor Hans von Bulow.
Dvorak turned to the Psalms for comfort and wrote a collection of ten songs on
psalm texts, the seventh of which is presented today. The whole set was written
in only 21 days. This piece features a late but rather stark mezzo-soprano solo
over a bouncy accompaniment. Today it will be presented in Czech, since we will
have already sung the Psalm in English.
The gradual anthem is Harold W. Friedell’s(1905-1958)
classic “Draw Us In the Sprit’s Tethers. Friedell began his career at Calvary
Church NYC in 1928 and in 1931 left that job for a position at St. John’s in
New Jersey. He returned to Calvary in 1931 and in 1945 began teaching at Union
Theological Seminary as well. In 1946 he took over for his teacher David McK.
Williams at St. Bartholomew’s. He strove to increase the credibility of the
music program that had been set up by Williams but fallen into disrepair
because of his sudden “dismissal.” Draw
Us In the Spirit’s Tethers is a hymn anthem that was written during
Friedell’s time at Calvary as an orison
(prayer). This simple piece opens with the ladies of the choir singing the hymn
tune in unison followed by an a cappella verse and finally an accompanied verse
with the organ providing colorful chords underneath a strong restatement of the
hymn tune.
The postlude has little to do with anything but is in fact
connected (in my own mind at least.) One of the former music directors at St. Bartholomew’s
was the great conductor Leopold Stowkowski(1882-1977). From 1905-1908 he served
as the organist and choirmaster at the church which Friedell would later serve
at. Stowkowski went on to become one of the most well-known conductors in the
world. His life long association with the Cincinnati Orchestra and later the
Philadelphia Orchestra made him one of the most prominent American composers of
his day. Among his contributions to orchestral music were his arrangements of
the organ works of J. S. Bach (1685-1750.) One such arrangement was featured in
the 1939 Walt Disney film Fantasia. His arrangement of the Toccata and Fugue in d minor BWV 565 has
made it one of the most recognizable pieces of organ literature in the canon. The word “toccata” (from the Italian toccare,
to touch) is a piece written to try out a new organ. This composition is
perhaps the best known organ composition ever written by one of the greatest
organ composers. The improvisatory style of the toccata with its dramatic
flourishes gives way to a stricter fugue that then erupts into another free
toccata bringing the piece to a strong finish. Most importantly, it’s just a
lot of fun to play.
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