December 21, 2014 - Advent 4

Magnificat - Heinrich Scheidemann

Magnificat - John Rutter

Ave Maria - Robert Parsons

Magnificat - Scott M. Hyslop

Hymns: #56 Veni, Veni Emmanuel, 

              #265 Gabriel's Message, #66 Stuttgart

The music this week is all based on Mary. With the exception of the communion anthem they pieces are settings of Canticle 15 which is taken from Luke 1:46-55. Throughout history composers have taken inspiration from the “Magnificat.” It is one of the most frequently set liturgical texts and continues to inspire today. This hymn is one of the eight most ancient hymns and perhaps one of the oldest Marian hymns. It typically finds a place in evening liturgies.

The prelude is a setting of the Magnificat by Heinrich Scheidemann (1595-1663) an important predecessor of Dietrich Buxtehude and a student of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Scheidemann developed a composition style that brought the variation techniques of Sweelinck to the massive North German organs that would come to shape the music of Buxtehude and later Bach. He served as organist of the Catharinenkirche in Hamburg until his death during a plague outbreak. The piece is composed to alternate with sung verses, a practice more commonly used in the French Romantic period.

The postlude is also a set of variations on the Magnificat by Scott M. Hyslop (b. 1961). Hyslop has studied with Marilyn Mason and Alice Parker. In 2007 Dr. Hyslop wrote a biography on the American composer Paul Manz. He continues an active career as a church musician and composer.  This piece shows off many of the interesting small ensemble sounds available on the organ as well as various techniques that organists have at their disposal to shake up service playing. The piece alternates sung verses with instrumental verses. The organ verses follow traditional forms including chorale, canon, pastorale, moto perpetua, scherzo, and toccata.

John Rutter (b. 1945) is perhaps one of the biggest names in church music now. He was educated at Clare College and taught there from 1975-1979. He left this post to devote more time to composition. He formed the Cambridge Singers, a professional choir which he still conducts. Many critics have mixed feelings regarding Rutter’s compositions finding it sentimental and superficial. His large works and carols have become standard repertoire. Many of his compositions make up the “greatest hits” of modern choral music. The Magnificat was written in 1990 and received its first performance at Carnegie Hall on May 26, 1990 under the direction of the composer. The piece is heavily influenced by the celebrations of Marian feasts in Hispanic culture. In addition to the traditional text of the canticle Rutter added the English poem Of a Rose and the prayer Sancta Maria. This piece has a great deal of rhythmic interest in it with many hemiolas and meter changes. The melody is very Rutter. It’s very catchy but also very repetitive. The piece certainly captures the joy and pent up energy of the coming celebration of Christmas.

The communion anthem is Robert Parson’s (1535-1570-2?) Ave Maria. Little is written or known about this 16^th century master and much of the music that has survived is incomplete. This may be because after his untimely death his music stopped being performed. Parsons “fell” into the swollen Trent River. The suspicions surrounding this was so upsetting to his colleagues that they stopped performing his compositions. He was succeeded by William Byrd.