February 2, 2014 - Epiphany 4

Simple Gifts - Virgil Fox
My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord - Moses Hogan
St. Paul: "For So Hath the Lord" - Felix Mendelssohn
Voluntary - William Selby

Hymns: #574 St. Petersburg, #593 Dickinson College,
              #554 Simple Gifts

The music this week is mostly American, drawing on the folk traditions of our country for the music. The one piece that is not is a duet from Mendelssohn’s oratorio St. Paul.  The music along with the closing hymn Simple Gifts captures the essence of American folk songs and the idea of taking a simple folk melody and arranging it for choir or organ.

The prelude is Virgil Fox’s arrangement of Simple Gifts. This piece was commissioned by Keyboard Magazine for the 80^th birthday of Aaron Copland.  Virgil Fox (1912-1980) was kind of the Liberace of the organ world.  He was trained at the Peabody Institute and along with E. Power Biggs was one of the most famous concert organist in the world. His flashy costumes and playing style stood in stark contrast to the more scholarly, reserved playing of Biggs. This arrangement is a bit on the schmaltzy side but exploits some of the sweeter sounds of the organ including the strings and flute celestes.  The arrangement is a bit distant from the simple Shaker melody but captures the beauty of the tune and the lush registrations available on the American Classic organ.

The postlude is another American piece but this one is from much earlier than Fox’s arrangement.  William Selby(1738-1798) was born in England and came to the US in 1774 and served at King’s Chapel.  The Revolution forced him to take a position as a storekeeper but he returned to his liturgical duties once the war ended added to his responsibilities by becoming a teacher. He also gave one of the first Sacred music concerts in Boston. The piece opens with a bold introduction and then moves to a lighter fugue that becomes increasingly faster before drawing to a close. This piece uses no pedal. American organs were similar to English organs of the day (see last week’s article) in that they had no independent pedal division until later in their development.

The gradual anthem is Moses Hogan’s (1957-2003) setting of My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord.  Moses Hogan was known for his arrangements of spirituals. He was educated at Oberlin, Julliard, and Louisiana State University. As is typical of many of Hogan’s arrangements the piece is repetitive but uses large multi-note chords that require a fairly large ensemble. After the opening declamatory introduction the work moves into  the meat of the piece after this with an energetic refrain driven by an accented bass line. The bridge is a set of calls and responses with the men of the choir supplying the call while the women sing the line back. The arrangement build and builds to a climax that drives the piece to its conclusion.

For So Hath the Lord from Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) oratorio St. Paul  occurs after Paul and Barnabas announce that they are leaving and leads up to the sacrifice at Lystra. The tenor and bass sing of the command that the Lord has given the instructions to go and be a light to the Gentiles. The tenor and bass seem to chase each other through this duet proclaiming that they must bring the message of salvation unto the whole earth. It is a gentle but majestic telling of this story that utilizies creative orchestrations that also chase one another. The piece closes with lovely suspensions as the tenor and bass give and take as the end the piece.

January 26, 2014 - Epiphany 3

Ich will dich lieben, meine Starke - Christian Fink
Messiah: "His Yoke is Easy" - G.F. Handel
O Love of Whom is Truth and Light - Finn Videro
Concerto in g minor Op. 4 No.1: "Andante" - G.F. Handel

Hymns: #126 Dundee, #763 Raquel, #661 Georgetown

The music for this week is German with English influence. Two of the pieces are by the German born George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), one by Finn Viderö (1906-1987) but that uses a text by Johann Scheffler (1624-1677), and the fourth piece by German organist and composer Christian Fink (1831-1911).

The connection between the organ concertos of Handel and his oratorios is a strong one. These pieces grew out of a need for an instrumental prelude or interlude between parts of the large scale biblical operas. Handel would often sit down at the organ and improvise much more intricate pieces than the ones that are written down today. This fourth movement (Andante) is taken from the Op. 4 No. 1 in g minor is thought to have received its first performance as part of the oratorio Alexander’s Feast which tells the story of Alexander the Great and a feast following his victory over Darius III the King of Persia. Timotheus the court musician plays music which controls the mood of the party. The second half becomes a hymn to St. Cecilia who comes down to add her harmonies on the organ and proves to be superior to Timotheus but the two then play together.

His Yoke is Easy and His Burthen is Light closes the first part of Handel’s Messiah.  It completes the portion on the birth of Christ. This, along with And He Shall Purify and For Unto Us make up the three love duet choruses in part one. The music is taken from the earlier work "Quel fior che alla'ride" HWV 192 “The Flower that Smiles in the Morning.” In the duet that this follows the soprano instructs the listener to “take his yoke upon you and learn of him” to which the chorus responds with this bold statement that “His yoke is easy and his Burthen is light.” This is one of the most difficult choruses in part one because it requires the singers to sing light and fast as well as high. The dynamics create an effect that is similar to the con ripieno/ senza ripieno orchestrations of Handel in which he would alternate between full orchestra (con ripieno) and a small group (senza ripieno).

The communion anthem is Finn Videro’s O Love of Whom is Truth and Light. The text was written by 17^th century poet Johann Scheffler who changed his name to Angelus Silesius after the mystic John ab Angelis and Silesius for his country of Silesia. Scheffler was a physician and a Lutheran when he wrote most of the hymn texts. Later in life after many disagreements with the clergy he converted to the Catholic Church. This simple arrangement sets the fourth verse of Scheffler’s O Love, who formedst me to wear. The parts cascade in at the opening and sing a chorale like melody credited only as “a melody of 1539.” The piece ends with a restatement of the final line growing softer as it approaches the conclusion.

The prelude Ich will dich lieben, meine Stärke is a text that was composed by Scheffler as well. This setting is a trio by the German organist, Christian Fink. Fink studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and was very successful as an organist and composer. In 1860 he moved to Esslingen to teach music at the seminary. This chorale places the melody in the left hand while the right hand and pedal pass a figure back and forth to each other dancing around the tenor melody

January 19, 2014 - Epiphany 2

Esquisses Byzantine:"Campanile" - Henri Mulet
Elijah:"Hear ye, Israel" - Felix Mendelssohn
The Lamb - John Tavener
Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in G Major - Felix Mendelssohn

Hymns: #7 Ratisbon, #757 Mary Alexandra, #533 Lyon

The music this week tells stories from a variety of perspective. An angel with a message from the Lord, a little child singing of the birth of another little child, and a bell tower overlooking the countryside. These stories offer perspective on the lessons of the day and show not only different points of view but contrasting musical styles as well.

Part two of Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) opens with the soprano aria, Hear ye, Israel! In the first part of this monumental oratorio Elijah has foretold the coming of a draught, healed a widow’s son, and slain all of the false prophets of Baal. This aria begins with a message of warning and then one of comfort with back and forth trumpeting between the soprano and the orchestra. Mendelssohn places a great deal of pressure on the soprano who must sing this. Not only is it the movement that opens the second half but she only has five measures of recitative to completely change character. The aria moves immediately into a gigantic chorus, Be Not Afraid which employs the full resources of orchestra, choir, and organ.

Speaking of Mendelssohn and organ, one of the skills Mendelssohn was known for during his life was his organ playing, and his ability to improvise. He is often credited with renewing interest in the writing of J.S. Bach and was the first significant composer of organ music in Germany since Bach. His Three Preludes and Fugues were dedicated to Mozart’s student, Thomas Attwood, the organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. English organs at that time were very different from their German counterparts having either no pedalboard or a “pulldown pedal” which merely doubled the lowest notes of the manuals. The popularity of Mendelssohn’s music in England led builders to begin adding independent pedal divisions to their instruments to allow for the performance of pieces like today’s postlude, the fugue from Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in G Major.

Henri Mulet (1878-1967) was a French organist and composer and cellist. He studied the organ with Guilmant and Widor and served at several different churches before settling down at St Philippe du Roule in Paris. He was a professor at the Ecole Niedermeyer and at the Schola Cantorum. Mulet was quite eccentric, had few friends, and wrote little music that has survived. He burned many of his own manuscripts in 1937 and left Paris for Draguignan in Provence. He spent the last thiry years of his life in seclusion. Esquisses Byzantines (Byzantine Sketches) is a collection of ten character pieces inspired by elements of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Paris. Campanile, (Bell Tower) has an inscription which translates: “All white, it overlooks the vastness of the countryside.”

John Tavener’s(1944-2013) music also deals with vastness. Known for his avant-garde piece, The Whale he has undergone many spiritual changes in his nearly 70 years. Tavener grew up in the Presbyterian tradition but left it in favor of Catholic Mysticism and then turned to the Eastern Orthodox Church. All of this was reflected in his music. His life was plagued with health problems. He suffered a stroke in 1979 and was later diagnosed with Marfan syndrome. He had a heart attack in 2007 and another in 2008 that left him physically and emotionally destroyed. He died in his home on November 12, 2013. His setting of William Blake’s The Lamb from Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience. The simple anthem is centered around four notes and runs the gamut from extreme dissonance to lush deep harmonies that could easily be associated with the Orthodox ties that Tavener formed during his life. Tavener states that the piece came to him fully developed and he was inspired by his three year-old nephew Simon.

January 12, 2014 - Epiphany 1

Berceuse - Louis Vierne
Gloria: "Qui sedes" - Francis Poulenc
Hodie: "The Blessed Son of God"
                                                   - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Hymns: #35 Mighty Savior, #120 Solemnis Haec Festivus # 444 Thornbury
 

The music this week is taken from the late Romantic period. Two of the pieces are from France and the third England. The harmonic language of these pieces is lush and beautiful flowing from powerful blocks of sound to soft chromatic lines.

Louis Vierne (1870-1937) was a blind organist, composer and teacher in Paris. Vierne was educated at the National Institute for Blind Youths in Paris where he received organ instruction from Cesar Franck. He later entered the Paris Conservatoire where he continued his studies with Charles-Marie Widor. In 1900 Vierne was named interim organist at Notre Dame and was appointed to the position after winning a competition for the job. In addition to his duties at Notre Dame, Vierne toured as a concert organist in the United States playing many important venues including the mammoth Wanamaker organ in Philadelphia. This trip was physically taxing and to make matters worse he went through a bitter divorce, suffered the loss of his son and brother in World War I and the loss of his mother. On June 2, 1937 as Vierne was beginning an improvisation at a recital at Notre Dame the leaned forward on the bench and his foot struck the low “e” pedal. He had suffered a heart attack or stroke. He died on the bench of the organ that had been so influential throughout his lifetime. Berceuse is taken from his Op. 31, 24 Pièces en style libre, a collection of pieces that are suitable for organ or harmonium. The pieces in this collection are layed out like Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier moving, in order, through the major and minor keys. This piece, dedicated to Vierne’s daughter is a gentle lullaby that seems appropriate in this early part of the Epiphany season.

The Poulenc Gloria was dedicated to the memory of Sergei and Nathalie Koussevitzky, the former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and his wife. Koussevitzky was responsible for commissioning many works including Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Ravel's arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition. The text Qui sedes ad dexteram patris is the final movement of this work. The text is translated as You sit at the right hand of the Father. This movement features a soprano solo, premiered by Adele Addison (b. 1925) who is best known as the voice of Bess in the movie version of Porgy and Bess. The piece opens with an exuberant statement from the altos and tenors interrupted by huge crashing chords that will continue to punctuate the piece. After the free opening section the orchestra (organ in our performances) bursts through with rhythmic drive pushing ahead with a running bass line. This is interrupted by the soprano soloist singing an “Amen”. The choir enters this time with a slow chromatic line accompanied by lush harmonies in the strings. This new idea continues to the end with echoes of the opening motive returning at the close of the piece.

The communion anthem is taken from Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) cantata Hodie. This work was composed for the Three Choirs Festival of 1954 and premiered under the baton of the composer on September 8 at Worcester Cathedral. The work is scored for soprano, tenor, and baritone soloist with mixed choir, boys choir, orchestra and organ. The Blessed Son of God is the sixth movement from this work and is labeled “Choral.” It is a translation of a choral by Martin Luther included in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.  This a cappella setting uses language that harmonically fits in with Vaughan William’s vernacular.

These pieces each express different aspects of modern compositional  style and rich harmonic langue. In addition to this, the prelude and communion anthem paint a vivid picture of the yng Crist as he grows strong and begins his ministry

January 5, 2014 - Christmas 2

Weihnachten Op. 145, No. 3 - Max Reger
The Holly and the Ivy - Benjamin Britten
Coventry Carol - Patrick Walders
Antioch - Emma Lou Diemer

Hymns: #102 Irby, #98 Puer Nobis, #100 Antioch

All of the pieces for this week are based on traditional Christmas carols. The carols that these are based on are of English and German origin and capture the many different emotions of Christmas. These pieces run the gamut from the sadness of Patrick Walders’s setting of The Coventry Carol to the hope of Max Reger’s Weihnachten; from the joy of Emma Lou Diemer’s setting of Antioch to the frolicking strains and, at times, dark message of Benjamin Britten’s setting of The Holly and the Ivy. This year has given the opportunity for an extra Sunday of Christmas music and we are taking full advantage of it.

2013 was the 100^th birthday of Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and it seemed appropriate to slip one last piece in this centennial celebration. The Holly and the Ivy is a traditional English carol based on the “Sans Day Carol” which was transcribed from a villager in St. Day in Gwennap, Cornwall. The text was first published by Cecil Sharp. The text likely harkens back to the days of “The Contest of Ivy and Holly” which were singing competitions between women (ivy) and men (holly) in which one gender, women for example would exalt the properties of ivy and be little the holly. The two would then resolve their conflict under the mistletoe (the third most important tree in the British wood). Holly was sacred to the Druids and long associated with the Winter Solstice while the Romans associated it with Saturn which they associated with Christmas. This setting by Benjamin Britten has a refrain which is repeated between each verse and the final time a descant is added. The verses pass the melody between soloists accompanied by various sections of the choir. The text makes allusions to Christ’s eminent crucifixion.

Coventry Carol is a 16^th century carol that was the second of three hymns in The Pageant of the Shearman and Tailors performed each year in Coventry. This play is a setting of Matthew 2 and this hymn deals with the story of Herod ordering the death of all the young male children. In the play it is a lullaby sung by three mothers to their children. The melody dates from 1591 and the first record of the text is by Robert Croo in 1534 but the plays had been going on since the 14^th century.  The piece was preserved in a prompt book which was published in 1817 by Thomas Sharp. In 1940 the hymn gained notice when it was featured in a BBC broadcast from the ruins of Coventry Cathedral after the bombing of Coventry. This arrangement by Buffalo native, Patrick Walders, opens with a short aleatoric section. Each of the three verses is voiced differently. The first for four part women, the second four part men and the last mixed choir with descant. The aleatoric section returns and the piece ends just as it began.

Max Reger’s (1873-1916) Weihnachten, Op. 145 No. 3 was originally called Weihnachten,1914. The date was eventually dropped by the publishers but  gives extra meaning to the piece which was written at the beginning of World War I. Reger’s thick compositional style is used here to showcase strife followed by hope. The title of the piece means “Christmas” and that is what it shows. The first section features a solo over dense accompaniment which leads into a dissonant and building B section which clearly evokes images of the strife that the world was going through. This ends and the German chorale tune Vom Himmel Hoch (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come) is heard with strains of Stille Nacht in the left hand as the piece draws to a quiet and hope filled close.

The final hymn for the service is Antioch – Joy to the World. This well-loved hymn of Christmas started life as poem by the English hymn-writer Isaac Watts (1674-1748) about the second coming based on the text of Psalm 98. The American hymnist, Lowell Mason (1792-1872) set the text to a tune which he cited as being “after Handel.” Scholars today are doubtful that there is any Handel in the tune at all point out that the opening strain (a scale) resembles the opening of the Messiah choruses Glory to God and Lift Up Your Heads. The line “and heaven and nature sing” has similarities to the orchestral accompaniment of Comfort Ye.  This setting by the teacher, composer and performer, Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927) is filled with rhythmic turmoil and great rhythmic drive. Diemer was trained at Yale and Eastman in composition followed  by a Fulbright in Belguim.  After several positions in Kansas City she moved to the University of California at Santa Barbara where she was integral in starting as electronic/Computer music program. Diemer remains active as a recitalist and composer.

December 22, 2013 - Advent 4

Partita on "How Brightly Shines the Morning Star"
                                                                     - Gerhard Krapf
Ave Maria - Franz Biebl
Ceremony of Carols: "There is No Rose"                 
                                                                  - Benjamin Britten

Hymns: #56 Veni Emmanuel, #60 Conditor Alme Siderum
              #497 Wie Schon Leuchtet

This week’s music is a set of ancient texts set by modern composers.  The prelude and postlude are settings of the last hymn, How Brightly Shines the Morning Star in a setting by Gerhard Krapf. The gradual anthem is Franz Biebl’s setting of Ave Maria and the communion anthem is taken from s Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. It is the anonymous 15^th century text, There is No Rose. 

Gerhard Krapf (1924-2008) was born in Germany and spent most of his professional life in the US and Canada. During World War II he was drafted by the German army and wounded four times before being captured by the Russian army after the end of the war. He was imprisoned for three years and this is when he began his composing. He taught at the University of Iowa and the University of Alberta. His compositional output is primarily music for organ and choir. This setting is filled with intricate rhythms that never quite go where you think they will. The two settings that I have chosen both place the chorale tune in the pedal. The prelude is a “tricinium” a trio with the melody in the pedal on a solo reed accompanied by flute stops in the manuals. The postlude is the final variation of theset played on a large plenum (full ensemble sound) with the chorale tune played in the pedal on a large reed stop. The rhythm moves back and forth from simple to compound changing from measure to measure without obscuring the chorale tune.

There is No Rose is taken from Benjamin Britten’s(1913-1976) Ceremony of Carols.  I thought it fitting to close out the year (and actually to open the year but more on that later) in Britten’s centennial year. This peace features (in our SATB setting) the women in three parts.  The work was written in 1942 while Britten was a t sea and studying the harp for a concerto that he was commissioned to write. This anonymous 15^th century text includes Latin refrains at the end of each verse (really the only thing that the men sing.) The piece ends with the Latin refrains arranged in stretto like fashion, ending with the choir imploring that the listener “let us follow.” A perfect command as we approach Christmas Eve.

The gradual anthem is Franz Biebl’s(1906-2001) setting of Ave Maria. It is actually a setting of Angelus domini combined with the traditional text of Ave Maria. The program notes often included with this piece read:

"Herr Biebl told me that when he was organist/choirmaster and teacher in the Fürstenfeldbruck parish near Munich he had in his church choir a fireman. It was common for companies, factories, police and fire departments, etc. to sponsor an employees' choir, which often would participate in choral competitions and festivals with other similar choirs. This fireman asked Biebl to please compose something for his fireman's choir for such an occasion. The result was the Ave Maria (double male choir version).

"The piece gained practically no attention in Germany for many years. However, when Biebl was the head of choral programs for the Bayerischen Rundfunk (Bavarian Radio) he made a habit of inviting American choirs to come to Munich and sing on the radio and with other German choirs. One of these choirs [Wikipedia ed. - the Cornell University Glee Club, see above] was introduced to his Ave Maria and brought it back to the US, where it became increasingly popular. When Chanticleer recorded it, it became a hit, not only in the US but in Germany too, which now considered the piece must be special as it was such a hit in America! Biebl did arrangements for other voicings, and the seven-part mixed choir arrangement is now probably the most popular.

"The text is unique in its conjoining of two sources. The first source is the thrice-daily devotional exercise called the Angelus in the Catholic Church. It is cued by the of the "Angelus" bell, sometimes referred to as the "Peace Bell." It consists of a thrice-repeated "Hail Mary," each with an introductory versicle based on the Gospel, followed by a concluding versicle and prayer.

There is little left to say after this but I will point out that this piece was the subject of a Supreme Court case in which a school sued over the right to perform this as an instrumental piece. The school stated that the piece should not be allowed because of the religious nature of the piece. The Supreme Court opted not to hear the case but sided with the school with the exception of justice Alito who ruled it was so obscure that it was hardly relevant.  Regardless, it’s a beautiful piece.