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 17th
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
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