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.