With a Voice of Singing -r Martin Shaw
Five Mystical Songs:"The Call"- Ralph Vaughan Williams
Christ is Made the Sure Foundation - David Cherwien
Hymns: #518 Westminster Abbey, #51 Decatur Place,
#455 Dunedin
This week’s music is English church music through and
through. The traditional Anglican hymn tunes that pervade the prelude, postlude
and even the communion anthem are pillars of church hymnody. This music
captures the joy and beauty of Eastertide as well as the grand soaring lines of
the English choral tradition.
The prelude is a setting of the Henry Thomas Smart
(1813-1879) hymn “Lancashire.” Smart, an
English composer and organist at many prominent English churches wrote this
tune which is often combined with the text “Lead on, O King External.” This setting of “Lancashire,” entitled “Peace
Be Unto You,” is taken from George Frederick McKay’s (1899-1970) “Suite of
Easter Hymns: Sayings of Jesus.” McKay was born in Harrington, Washington and
later moved to Spokane. He was attracted to American folk music including jazz,
blues, and Native American themes. McKay was the first graduate of composition
from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and was known for his support of young
composers. These included his famous students John Cage and William Bolcom.
This simple setting of Luke 24:36 is a simple melody and accompaniment setting
of Smart’s tune played on a solo flute.
Martin Shaw (1875-1958) was born in London and made a career
as a composer, conductor, and a theatre producer. The son of church music
composer and organist, James Shaw and the brother of composer Geoffrey Shaw, it
comes as no surprise that Martin Shaw went into music and theatre, his brother
Julius was an actor. Shaw studied with Stanford at the Royal College of Music
and founded the Purcell Operatic Society. Shaw toured Europe as a conductor for
the dancer Isadora Duncan and Cofounded the League of Arts and the Royal School
of Church Music. In addition to his work as a composer and conductor he served
as the editor of “The English Carol Book” with Percy Dearmer and “Songs of
Praise” and “The Oxford Book of Carols” with Ralph Vaughan Williams. With a Voice of Singing is perhaps Shaw’s
best known piece, a long-time standard of the school and church canon, that is
a triumphal statement of praise. The simple call, primarily unison writing and
exact imitation in the fugatos makes this place accessible to choirs at every
level but the solid melodic line make it appealing to choirs of all abilities.
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ (1872-1958) Five Mystical Songs were written between 1906 and 1911 and
premiered at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester in 1911 with the composer
conducting. These pieces are settings of George Herbert’s (1593-1633) poems.
Herbert was a Welsh-born poet, orator and Anglican priest. Herbert wrote in
English, Greek and Latin and all of his English poems were collected in “The
Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations” in 1633. Vaughan Williams, an
atheist, set this poem for baritone soloist and orchestra but the piece has
since become a part of modern hymnody being included in The Hymnal 1982.
David Cherwien serves as the Director of Music at the Mt.
Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was educated at Elmhurst
College and Augsburg College. In addition to his studies in the US he went to
the Berlin Church Music School. His teachers included Paul Manz, Ernst Pepping,
and Alice Parker. Westminster Abbey
is named for the post that composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695) occupied. Purcell
was appointed organist at Westminster Abbey in 1679 upon the retirement of his
teacher, John Blow. Purcell died at the height of his career of unknown causes,
possibly tuberculosis and is buried adjacent to the organ in Westminster Abbey.
Cherwien’s setting alternates between the full organ and the secondary manual.
One can almost hear the large Bombarde division of the Harrison and Harrison
organ in the Abbey playing this majestic setting.
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