February 24, 2013 - Lent 2

Prelude - Louis Vierne
Requiem: "The Lord is My Light" - John Leavitt
Benedictus - Vincenzo Righini
Benedictus - Max Reger

Hymns: #571 Charlestown, #147 Bourbon, 
              LEVAS #89 My Jesus I Love Thee,

The music this week continues in the vein of the Romantic period although the choral pieces were not composed during the years between 1820 and 1910. The music does however bear some of the markings of this period with its lush harmonies, constantly shifting and extreme dynamics and its more adventurous harmonies.

The two choral anthems this week sit firmly on either side of the Romantic era. The gradual anthem is taken from John Leavitt’s (b. 1956) Requiem. Rather than follow the traditional text of the Latin Mass for the Dead, Leavitt has composed a mass entirely in English which draws its text from psalms and hymns of the church. The piece is organized around the structure of the Ordinary of the Mass of Divine Service with this morning’s anthem, The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation and the movement which precedes it serving as the “Credo” portion of the mass. This setting of Psalm 27 opens with a proclamation sung by the bass soloist “I will sing and make music to the Lord” which is then echoed by all the men of the choir. The choir then declares in unison their one request: “to dwell in the house of the Lord, gaze upon His beauty, and seek him in his temple.” Like most of the writing in this work, the piece is very sectional. The new section opens with an oboe solo played above a lush but ambiguous circle of fourths progression that leads us back to where we began. The sopranos and altos begin this section with the text of the title. The full choir then bandies back and forth the question “Whom shall I fear?” The full choir sings of the protection and power of God followed by a reprise of the ladies melody, this time with the men singing in the background. One final new section enters as the work draws toward a close with the men singing a prayer for God to hear and be merciful. The women’s voices float above this in ethereal three part harmony. The opening theme returns to bring the piece to a close with a simple statement of what we will do and why.

The communion anthem is a lovely setting of the Benedictus by a little known composer of the Classical period. Vincenzo Righini (1756-1812). Righini started his musical career as a singer and later became a singing teacher. He filled in as court composer for Antonio Salieri (a figure known mostly through F. Murray Abraham’s portrayal in the film Amadeus). In 1793 he was appointed Kapellmeister to the Prussian Court. His compositional output is small and mostly unknown today being over shadowed by the giants of the time, Haydn and Mozart. This piece, like most music from the time period is very straight forward. There are a few harmonic shifts that are a bit unexpected by for the most part all is within the realm of what one might presume to find in a piece written during this time period. The thing that I never stopped to think about is the translation of this oft sung text. It is a “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” This seems so simple, it is something that we sing every week as part of the Sanctus but I never stopped to think about what it means. It is a proclamation taken from Matthew 21:9, the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry. This gentle setting captures a more peaceful image despite a turbulent middle section.

The postlude is also a Benedictus, this one by the German composer Max Reger (1873-1916). This movement is also taken from the Op. 59 Twelve Pieces. This is one of the composer’s most popular works and called by Bruno Weigl “one of the most beautiful and inward works of the composer.” The piece is in ABA form with the opening theme modified slightly to make up the motif for the B section. In the A section the melody begins in the right hand, is imitated in the left, which also plays an accompanimental role, and then enters in the pedal. The B section takes the opening descending diminished fourth and makes it an ascending perfect fourth. The voices enter in turn just as they did in the A section but they begin to crescendo into huge chromatic clusters that barrel forward to the closing A section which is a slightly modified version of the opening.

In 1890 Reger followed his teacher Riemann to Wiesbaden. Reger taught piano, organ and composition from 1890-1896 in 1896 he served a one year term in the infantry. Upon falling ill in 1898 he returned to his family in Weiden until moving to Munich in 1901. This was a period of great creativity for Reger and it was during this time that the Op. 59 Twelve Pieces was written. It was in Munich that he began to receive recognition as a concert artist and composer.

The prelude is the fifth piece in a collection of Twenty Four Pieces in Free Style by the blind French organist Louis Vierne (1870-1937). This Prélude has many similarities to the Requiem of John Leavitt in terms of the harmonic language. Both pieces are very clearly in a key but spend much of their time moving around and away from it. Prélude has is a lilting but gentle piece in 9/8 and is dedicated to Nadia Boulanger one of his students that went on to a career as an organist and composer. This collection of pieces is written to be played on either the organ or the harmonium, a type of reed organ that was popular in homes and small churches during the late 19^th and early 20^th century.

These pieces all share elements of theme and harmonic language but still manage to cover a variety of traditions geographically and chronologically. It is so interesting to think about the way that music changes throughout history but much of it stays the same. The two settings of the Benedictus couldn’t be more different harmonically but are both in ABA form with a turbulent middle section. The Vierne and Leavitt were written nearly 100 years apart but they bear incredible similarities harmonically.

February 17, 2013 - Lent 1

Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten - Max Reger
Turn Back O Man - Gustav Holst
Lord, My God, Hear Now My Pleading
                                                               - Felix Mendelssohn
Postlude in C - Henry Smart

Hymns: #150 Aus der Tiefe Rufe Ich, #143 Erhalt Uns Herr, #529 McKee

The music for this first Sunday in Lent sets the tone for the season. This year I am programming music from the Romantic period for the season of Lent. I thought it might be interesting to see the contrast between the music last year which was primarily a cappella and rather stark and the lush rich harmonies of Mendelssohn and Reger.

The prelude is Max Reger’s (1873-1916) setting of Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten (He Who Lets Only Beloved God Rule),a tune composed by Georg Neumark (1621-1681). This hymn of consolation was penned in 1641 while Neumark was serving as a tutor for the family of Stephan Henning. The text was inspired by Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” Reger’s Chorale Preludes Op. 67 were published in 1902. This simple setting features the chorale tune in the soprano voice of a five part chorale. Reger’s music was both progressive and traditional at the same time. His pieces feature some of the most sophisticated contrapuntal writing since the music of J.S. Bach but with a forward looking harmonic language that bears similarities to Wagner and Liszt and verges on atonal. The piece has winding serpentine like lines which contain a canon between the soprano and pedal.

Reger was born the son of a village school teacher in Brand, Bavaria. In 1874 the family moved to Weiden. Reger began his music studies with his father, an amateur musician who taught him piano and organ before sending his son to study with Adalbert Lindner. In 1888 after attending the Bayreuth Festival he decided to forego a career in teaching for one in music. He enrolled in the Sonderhausen Conservatory where he studied with Hugo Riemann. (More to come…)

The communion anthem is by another German Romantic musician. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) who died 26 years before Reger was born also felt the influence of the music of J.S. Bach and is often credited with reviving interest in his music. The anthem Lass, o Herr, mich Hülfe finden Op. 96 No. 1 (Lord, My God, Hear Now My Pleading in the English version by Lloyd Pfautsch) is the first of three hymns for alto solo, chorus and orchestra. This piece in ABA form is very typical of Mendelssohn’s choral writing. The piece opens with the alto soloist singing the first theme which is then repeated by the choir in simple homophonic fashion. The soloist returns to sing the B section which is a slightly more agitated melody in minor which leads to a short choral fugato before it returns to the entry of the soloist on the A theme. This time the choir does not wait for a full statement of the theme but instead enters halfway through. Not to be outdone the soloist comes back in and leads the piece to its gentle conclusion with the text “nevermore my sins to see” the choir enters on the final statement of the repeated word “nevermore.”

Just as Mendelssohn did we will now cross over to England for the other two pieces. The gradual anthem is Gustav Holst’s (1874-1934) setting of the Clifford Bax (1886-1962) text Turn Back O Man. Bax was a playwright, poet, essayist and journalist. Bax was a close friend of Holst and an astrologer that is credited with introducing Holst to this discipline and possibly inspiring Holst’s most famous composition the Op. 32 Planets. This setting of the hymn tune Old 124^th from the Genevan Psalter is the second of Three Festival Choruses Op. 36a (1916). The first piece in the set is Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, and the third piece is another text by Bax called A Festival Chime. This setting of Turn Back O Man clearly shows similarities to Holst’s military band writing with its march-like mood. The piece begins with a descending bass line and the choir singing the hymn as a simple four part chorale. The men start the second verse and are then joined by the altos and the sopranos in a choral fugue that , like the Mendelssohn seems to lead us far away from the home key only to find us unexpectedly back there this time on a full voiced unison statement of the final verse of the hymn that leads to a triumphal finish with a unison statement of unity – “Earth shall be fair, and all her folk be one.”

The postlude was written by a composer who lived during all three of the previous composer’s lifetimes. Henry Smart (1813-1879) was born in London, worked in London, and died in London. Smart came by his career in music quite honestly. He was the nephew of a prominent conductor and the son of a music publisher. After rejecting a career in law Smart took several church posts and in 1864 was appointed to the post of organist at St. Pancras Church where he stayed until his death. Smart composed operas, oratorios, part songs and organ works. He is best known for his hymn tune Regent Square which is commonly paired with the text Angels From the Realms of Glory. Smart’s Postlude in C is exactly what the title suggests. It is a stately march like piece (similar in character to the Holst) with a recurring theme which is very triumphal in nature interspersed with bits of imitative writing on a secondary manual. The piece makes for a stately but not overbearing close to the First Sunday in Lent.

 

February 13, 2012 - Ash Wednesday

Hide Not Thou Thy Face - Richard Farrant
Help Us, O Lord - Aaron Copland
Twelve Pieces: "Melodia" - Max Reger

Hymns: #144 Cornhill, #149 Old 124th

For the season of Lent I have decided to turn to the lush, rich tones of the Romantic period. Last year was a bit more austere; a lot of Renaissance music and mostly a cappella but this year I thought we could experience the extreme sadness and prayer-filled thoughtfulness through strongly emotional writing. Last year I turned to the music of J.S. Bach for inspiration. It’s intricate and clean counterpoint helped to focus my thoughts and served as devotional material for me personally. This year I have turned to another German composer of complicated counterpoint but of a very different variety. The music of Max Reger (1873-1916).

There is no prelude for the Ash Wednesday service but the postlude is taken from Reger’s Twelve Pieces Op. 59. This set of twelve character pieces, some of which were inspired by the Catholic Mass, was written during a particularly productive period in Weiden in 1901. Among this set is the oft performed Toccata in d minor and the Benedictus. For the postlude I am playing the Melodia. This piece is just that, a simple but chromatic melody in ABA form played over a twisting, turning accompaniment that at times over shadows the melody. In fact, most of my practice time has been spent learning the accompaniment. As with most of Reger’s writing the dynamics are in constant flux building and diminishing in big slow arc from beginning to end. I will give a full discussion of the composer’s life over the next several weeks.

Although Romantic music is the theme of the day, for the gradual anthem I have looked back to the writings of the Tudor composer Richard Farrant (d. 1581). Farrant was an organist, choirmaster, and he produced plays. In 1564 he was appointed to St. George’s Chapel. Despite his relatively small compositional output he occupies a place in the history of Tudor music primarily because of his anthems, Call to Remembrance and the anthem for the day Hide not thou thy face. In addition to this he started the Blackfriars theatre in a monastery that he converted into a theatre. This simple anthem is a setting of Psalm 27 in which the choir pleads for deliverance form sin, a fitting theme for this first Lenten service.

The communion anthem was written by the American composer, Aaron Copland (1900-1990) but you would probably not identify it as such. This first of his Four Motets was written under the tutelage of the French composer Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979). Copland described his time with her as “the most important musical event of his life.” He also states that these pieces show the influence that Moussorgsky had on his writing. These pieces were written in 1921 but were not published until 1979 with some apprehension from Copland, “The style is not really mine.” The anthem Help Us, O Lord is a haunting piece which opens with the altos humming a descending modal line. The sopranos enter in measure three with a plea from help which is echoed in the tenor and bass voices in measure 6. The harmonic unrest of the piece adds to the desperation of the speaker who is being forced to learn patience.

February 10, 2013 - Transfiguration

Prelude on "Quicumque Christum Quaeritis"
                                                                   - Lester H. Groom
Transfiguration - Craig Phillips
Heilig - Felix Mendelssohn

Hymns: #665 Michael, #137 Wareham, LEVAS #130

This Sunday the music bridges the gap between the Gospel music that was featured during Epiphany to the music of the Romantic period that will color the Lenten season. The spirituals this week are congregational hymns rather than the music of the choir. The music this week depicts the Transfiguration through the use of unsettled harmonies, ambiguous tonality and sudden moments of clarity.

The prelude is a setting of Quicumque Christum Quaeritis, the final poem of the “Cathemerinon” of Prudentius (348-ca.410). This setting by Lester H. Groom (1929-2000) pairs the chant melody with a flowing accompaniment of 16^th notes in the alto and tenor voice while the pedal plays a descending chromatic line in whole notes starting on “g” and walking down to the “E flat” where the piece cadences at the end. Groom was born in Chicago and educated at Wheaton College and Northwestern University. He went on to teach harpsichord and organ at Seattle Pacific University where he stayed until his retirement in 1992. While serving at SPU he was the organist of First Presbyterian Church of Seattle. His love of art was not limited only to music. He was also a gifted photographer and enjoyed watercolors.

In selecting a gradual anthem it seemed like a logical choice to pick Craig Phillips’s Transfiguration. This 2004 setting draws from the accounts of the Transfiguration from the gospels of Mark and Luke but also the writings of the 13^th century mystic Mechtild of Magdeburg (1207-1294). Mechtild lived as a Beguine and claimed to have her first Holy Spirit inspired vision at age twelve. Her confessor convinced her to write down her visions which she did in seven volumes, the last finished just before her death. In these visions Mechtild outlined a vision of the structure of hell, purgatory and heaven which are likely to have influenced Dante’s The Divine Comedy. It is believed by some scholars that the character Matilda from The Purgatorio may by Mechtild. The anthem by Craig Phillips (b. 1961), a highly sought after composer and organist and recipient of the 2012 AGO distinguished composer award captures the mystery and awe of this event. The piece opens with an organ introduction that sets the tone for the rest of the piece. The choir enters singing of images about the vastness and expansiveness of the vision. This is expanded as more flowery prose is added describing the attributes of God. The organ begins to build and the choir enters in unison with all of the forces of nature singing God’s praise at the proclamation “This is my beloved Son.” The piece concludes with some of the last “Alleluias” that will be heard before Easter and a forceful organ coda to end the work.

The communion anthem is Heilig by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). This piece was composed in 1846 to be part of a larger work which was never completed. The piece for double choir employs contrapuntal imitation as well as passages of call and response. The opening builds from a single part singing “Holy” to the full forces of both choirs proclaiming God’s holiness. The text is basically the text of the Sanctus in German. This piece was to be part of his “German Liturgy,” a project which never came to fruition. To me there is a great sense of mystery about the chords that open the piece and lead to its concluding section. They feel unsettled which they are but it isn’t until more parts are added that I feel I truly know where the piece is going. Heilig, for me manages to walk a delicate balance between assurance and uncertainty, a theme which Mendelssohn later explored in his oratorio Elijah.

 

February 3, 2013 - Epiphany 4

Ubi Caritas - Jeanne Demessieux
Jesus Loves Me - arr. Joel Raney
My Song Shall be of the Loving-Kindness of the Lord -                                                                  Gerald Near
Liebster Jesu, Wir Sind Hier - Johann Gottfried Walther

Hymns: VF#143 Holy Manna, #577 Ubi Caritas (Murray), MHSO#126 From My Birth

One of the Lectionary readings for this week is 1 Corinthians 13 so I thought that I would explore four different composer’s treatments of love.

The prelude is a “Ricercare” (from the Italian word meaning to seek out) based on the chant Ubi Caritas by Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968). Demessieux began her piano studies with her older sister and then enrolled in the Montpellier Conservatoire at age seven and in 1933 at age twelve received her first church position. That same year she enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire where she studied organ with Marcel Dupré. She played her debut recital in 1946 and went on to have a successful but all-too-short career as a concert organist. She made numerous recordings and in 1962 was appointed titular organist at La Madeleine, a post previously held by Saint-Saens, Faure, and Dubois. In addition to her recital career and church position she was a teacher and composer. Only a small number of her compositional output has been published. After a lifetime of health problems Demessieux died in 1968 of an embolism. This setting of Ubi Caritas states the theme very simply in the pedal while the hands complicate matters further with a highly chromatic accompaniment. To me this captures the idea of “seeking out” God to find Him especially in times when the charity and love that the text speaks of are hard to find.

The simple Sunday School song Jesus Loves Me is combined with snippets of Jesus Loves the Little Children, and new material by composer and arranger Joel Raney (b. 1956). This arrangement is clearly influenced by Raney’s Southern Baptist roots. Like many of his pieces this setting has excellent choral writing and interesting accompaniment befitting of a Julliard graduate with a degree in piano performance. In addition to his work as a composer of church music he has enjoyed a successful career in musical theatre as a music director for tours and productions in Chicago and Los Angeles. As a composer he has written television and film scores. This hymn text by Anna B. Warner (1827-1915) was included in her novel Say and Seal where it is sung to a dying boy by his church school teacher. The tune by William Bradbury has long been a favorite of missionaries because of its simplicity. For many years I would play the piano in the dementia/Alzheimer’s ward of area nursing homes. I found that this song elicited some of the strongest reactions from the patients. It’s simple repetitive tune and lyrics reminds us of one of the most simple and profound truths of the Christian faith.

Gerald Near’s setting of Psalm 89 My Song Shall Be Always of the Loving-Kindness of the Lord is a simple, unadorned anthem in ABA form. The piece opens with the men and women in imitation. This continues in the B section but with the parts in harmony. The tonal language of this piece is ambiguous, similar to the prelude, again showing that truth and love are sometimes obscured but ever present. For further information on Gerald Near see the September 2, 2012 post.

Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748) was a German theorist, organist and lexicographer. Walther wrote the first comprehensive dictionary of musical terms and musicians. In addition to his fame as a musician, Walther has also become famous by proxy as the cousin of J.S. Bach. His setting of the chorale tune Liebster Jesu, Wir Sind Hier (Blessed Jesu at thy word) seemed like an appropriate closing piece for the service. Catherine Winkworth’s translation of the opening stanza reads:
Blessed Jesu, at Thy word
We are gathered all to hear Thee;
Let our hearts and souls be stirred
Now to seek and love and fear Thee;
By Thy teachings sweet and holy
Drawn from earth to love Thee slowly.

Walther’s setting begins with a verse played on the 8’ and 4’ flutes of the manuals with a lightly ornamented statement of the chorale tune. The second verse in 6/8 time played on a spritely combination of light stops. In the final variation the tune is played in the pedal on a 4’ reed stop while the hands continue the jaunty 6/8 on a slightly louder registration.

This set of pieces offers a number of varied views on love and different aspect of the love of God. Some of the pieces take in the uncertainty of love, the profundity of it and the broad expansive nature of it. As we move towards Lent and with Ash Wednesday being followed immediately by Valentine’s Day this week’s music is, for me at least, a very poignant reminder of the many aspects of love and the nature of the love of God that shapes the Christian faith.