Chorale Prelude on "Stuttgart" - Lee Hastings Bristol Jr.
Messiah: "And He Shall Purify" - G.F. Handel
Requiem: "Lacrymosa" - W.A. Mozart
Concerto in g minor: "Allegro" - G. F. Handel
Hymns: #414 Stuttgart, #413 Rendez a Dieu,
#404 Old 124th
The music this week is primarily British, with the exception
of the Lacrymosa from the Mozart Requiem which is one last “leftover” of
our performance last week. This week also marks the beginning of the choir’s
next project, Part I of Messiah.
And He Shall Purify
ends what Leonard Van Camp calls “Scene Two: The Purifying Messiah is
Prophesied.” The chorus is preceded by the bass recitative, Thus Saith the Lord and the alto aria But Who May Abide which tells us that
he will be “like a refiner’s fire” and that is how “he shall purify.” The text
for this movement is taken from Malachi 3 which, in a rather frightening way
describes the process by which the people of God will be redeemed from the
wicked lives they are leading. It is hard to imagine that this movement is
actually a repurposed love duet for two sopranos from an Italian opera but
Handel originally composed this for the text “Life is a flower; it comes with
the morning and dies with the spring of a single day. The chorus sails along
alternating between light and bouncy melismatic lines and big chordal sections.
This chorus, for me, has always offered a continued picture of the flames of
the “refiner’s fire” purifying the “sons of Levi” (priests) and provides a
fitting close to this scene and a “fiery” transition in to the much calmer and
infinitely more pleasant scene to come.
The postlude is also by G.F. Handel (1685-1759) but the
arrangement is from the organist William T. Best. It is the final movement of
Handel’s Opus 4 No. 3 Concerto in g minor. These concerti are the most
authentically Handel of the fifteen that he wrote. Their primary function was
as part of an oratorio performance. The six concerti in this group were
published in 1738. This concerto was probably written to be played as part of
Handel’s Esther with the composer
playing the solo keyboard part. The arrangement that I am playing today is for
organ only and was arranged by the English organ virtuoso William T.
Best(1826-1897). Best was a church organist, composer, and recitalist who was
highly respected for his technical prowess and his knowledge and understanding
of the literature. This arrangement is very different from the original, with
its added pedal cadenza that would have hardly been possible on the limited
pedal boards of an English organ. The same fire that is heard in the Messiah chorus can be found here in the
winding pedal line of this dramatic finale.
The prelude is a setting of the opening hymn by Lee Hastings
Bristol Jr. (1923-1979). Bristol was educated at Hamilton College and Trinity
College of Music in London. He worked in public relations for the
Bristol-Meyers Company and served as president of Westminster Choir College. In
addition to his life as a musician, composer, and business man he was also a
lay preacher in the Episcopal Church.
This Chorale Prelude on “Stuttgart”
is a beautiful and contemplative piece that has a great deal of forward
motion in the line without ever feeling like it is rushing. The hymn tune is
attributed to Christian F. Witt because of its appearance in Psalmodia Sacra
(1715), a collection compiled and edited by Witt which contained many tunes
written by him. This lilting setting in 6/8 occasionally sends the listener
searching for the tune as it is passed around alternating with a freely
composed ritornello. It is a chance to explore some of the different “pastorale”
sounds of the instrument.
The communion anthem is, as previously stated, a remnant of
last Sunday’s performance. The Lacrymosa
from W.A. Mozart’s (1756-1791) Requiem in
d minor K626 is perhaps one of the most beautiful melodies in the Western
canon. The Lacrimosa is the penultimate
portion of the Dies Irae text, and in
this setting combines the final two sections. Mozart brilliantly set the text
for this “day of weeping” with a beautiful line that soars up and over to die
away quietly. This movement is often shrouded in mystery and myth, not only is
it a beautiful piece but Mozart died having completed only the first nine bars
and sketches for the rest. In the 1960’s sketches for an “Amen” fugue to be
placed at the end of the Sequence were found. Some scholars said that this was
for another unfinished mass but recent scholarship suggests that it is likely
that this fugue was meant to go at the end of this movement so that each major
section of the work ended in a fugue.
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