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.

December 15, 2013 - Advent 3

"Say to them that are frightened" - Godfrey Schroth
Springs in the Desert - Arthur B. Jennings
Messiah: "O Thou That Tellest" - G.F. Handel
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus - Gilbert M. Martin

The music this week takes us closer to the arrival of the birth of Christ further delving into the prophesy of Isaiah with Arthur B. Jennings’s anthem Springs in the Desert, and Handel’s alto aria O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion. The prelude is based on Charles Wesley’s text Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus which (partially) takes its text from Isaiah, and the prelude is a setting of Isaiah 35 for the third Sunday of Advent. Each of these pieces draws on the rich imagery of the Old Testament text for its inspiration and paints a solid picture with its imagery.

The gradual anthem, Springs in the Desert which was written by Arthur B. Jennings, an American organist and professor at the University of Minnesota started out as a silent movie accompanist. He is best known for this setting of Isaiah 35. This anthem is very sectional. It opens with a tenor solo speaking words of encouragement to the listener. This is followed by a flowing section sung by the sopranos and altos of the choir describing a land that is being revived. The organ bursts forth with fiery chords undergirding a tuba (a high powered reed stop, not the bass brass instrument) solo. After this episode the choir bursts in singing of the way of holiness that is there. This is followed by a short imitative section that leads us through two key changes as we move toward the cascading repetition of the word “joy.” The piece slowly fades as the text “and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” almost as though sorrow and sighing are nothing more than a memory.

The prelude is Godfrey Schroth’s (b. 1927) take on the same text that the tenor soloist sings in the Jennings anthem. “Say to those who are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is our God, He comes to save us.” The piece is in a lilting triple meter which makes it feel almost like a pastorale. The rhythm, however is a bit more intricate than that with a great deal of two against three playing back and forth between the melody and the inner voices. The middle section gets quicker and louder to illustrate the command “Be strong, fear not” before returning to the gentle feel of the opening.

The communion anthem, in preparation for our Messiah sing-along next Sunday is O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion, the lilting alto aria that leads into a powerful chorus, the only combination like this in the entire work. This aria takes its text from Isaiah 40:9, just a few chapters after the previous two pieces. It is God sending comfort to his people and in the oratorio follows the recitative announcing the birth of Christ. This dramatic piece was originally performed by Mrs. Cibber, a celebrated singer and actress who gave an emotional performance filled with drama that led directly to an exciting chorus declaring the good news. Leonard Van Camp points out that the accompaniment is shaped like the mountains the soloist sings about with the unison violin line bouncing back and forth between valleys and peaks.

The postlude is an extension of the final hymn, Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus. This setting by Gilbert M. Martin (b. 1941) enticed me because this is one of several hymns in the Hymnal 1982 that I grew up with. However, when we sang this in the Methodist church the tune was Hyfrydol rather than Stuttgart. This arrangement combines the two tunes and uses them both. I recently had the experience of playing a carol sing at the Baptist church that I served prior to my time at St. David’s and Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus was the first hymn and I found myself questioning which tune it was to the point of second guessing myself halfway through the introduction. This arrangement insures that I get the right tune because I get to use both. This piece also has ties to Isaiah. The third and fourth verses draw from chapter 61 for their thematic material.

December 8, 2013 - Advent 2

Impromptu Pastorale Op. 27 - Dudley Buck
Every Valley - Joseph M. Martin
He Shall Come Down Like Rain - Dudley Buck
Magnificat - Johann Pachelbel

Hymns: #76 Winchester New, #67 Psalm 42,
              #597 Jerusalem

The music this week is primarily American with a touch of the German Baroque thrown in at the tail end. The Pachelbel fugue hardly seems out of place alongside the gradual anthem written by Joseph Martin which, though written only thirteen years ago is written in the style of a baroque chorus. The prelude and communion anthem are written by the American born and German trained Dudley Buck. The Impromptu Pastorale could easily have been influenced by the Pastorale of J.S. Bach. The communion anthem is very much Victorian American but Buck sticks a fugue in two thirds of the way through it which shows his knowledge of counterpoint.

Dudley Buck (1839-1909) was an American organist and composer who trained at the Leipzig Conservatory and later studied in Paris. Upon returning to the United States he took a job in Hartford. However, he was not satisfied and moved to Chicago in 1869. He lost everything in the Chicago fire of 1871 and moved to Boston, accepting a post at the New England Conservatory. In 1875 he moved to New York City where he spent the remainder of his career at Holy Trinity Church. Buck was the first American organ recitalist and spent part of his career touring playing orchestral transcriptions and bringing the music of Bach and Mendelssohn to American audiences. He also wrote the first American organ sonata. This Impromptu Pastorale Op. 27 is typical of Buck’s lighter character pieces. The melody is lyrical though a bit sentimental and is passed around throughout the orchestral stops on the organ starting with the oboe and moving to flute and clarinet. The anthem He Shall Come Down Like Rain begins with a quartet followed by a soprano solo before the full choir enters. Buck then writes a short fugue before moving to thick chords at a faster tempo and finally an Amen. His choral music was quite popular during his lifetime. Some of this was due to his proximity to the Handel and Haydn Society which premiered some of his large scale works. His secular cantatas on Manifest Destiny were very successful in the United States.

Joseph Martin (b. 1953) is an American composer that started his career as a concert pianist and has since become the head of the Sacred music department at Shawnee Press. Every Valley is taken from his cantata The Winter Rose which tells the story of the Birth of Christ with the metaphor of Christ as the Rose of Sharon. This is a fun imitation of Baroque style complete with a short imitative section. This is a fresh take on the classic text from Isaiah and offers a nice alternative to the Messiah aria.

Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) wrote a series of fugues on the Magnificat. Contrary to what popular culture would have us believe, he wrote more than just the Canon in D. This series of pieces features fugues for keyboard, not specifically organ, but keyboard. These were composed during his final years while he was at Nuremberg. This fugue is a peppy, light way to move forward toward Christmas.

December 1, 2013 - Advent 1

Es ist ein Ros entsprunger - Johannes Brahms
Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying - F. Melius Christiansen
There Shall a Star of Jacob Come Forth
                                                               - Felix Mendelssohn
Messiah: "Overture" - G.F. Handel

Hymns: #59 Merton, #724 Besancon Carol, #57 Helmsley

The prelude is Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) setting of the chorale tune Es ist ein Ros entsprungen Op.122 No.8. This tune was first published in Alte Catholische Geisliche Kirchengasäng in 1599. The tune’s composer is unknown, the carol we have come to know as Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming was arranged by Michael Praetorius. The chorale preludes by Brahms were written in 1896 and published posthumously in 1902. The last piece in this collection is based on O Welt, ich muss dich lassen" ("O World, I Now Must Leave Thee") which some people believe to be Brahms making peace with the end of his life. This gentle setting alternates between manuals using the soft 8’ and 4’ stops of the organ and no pedals to paint a gentle picture of the blooming rose as the lines wind gently up and back down to where they began.

The postlude is the overture to Handel’s (1685-1759) Messiah. This piece is often performed at Christmas despite being written for a secular performance during Lent. The first section of the work deals with the prophesy and birth of Christ. Many of Handel’s oratorios begin with overtures. This one begins in the French overture style with angular dotted figures with the second half being a fugue. The dark mood of this overture captures the image of a world without hope, a world awaiting a savior and sets the tone for the dark prophesies of the cleansing that the world must undergo.

Wake, Awake for Night is Flying is a setting of the chorale tune Wachet Auf by the sixteenth century composer Philipp Nicolai. This setting is by the former director of the St. Olaf Choir, F. Melius Christiansen (1871-1955). Christiansen was born in Norway and moved to the United States in 1888. He studied at Augsburg College and in 1901 was recruited to work with the St. Olaf Choir making them one of the foremost a cappella choirs in the country. This arrangement uses texture and tone painting to illustrate the text of Nicolai’s Advent poem.

Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) There Shall a Star of Jacob Come Forth also makes use of a chorale by Nicolai, Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern, called “The Queen of Chorale tunes” (Wachet Auf being the King). This chorus is taken from the unfinished oratorio Christus Op. 97 which is an oratorio, like Messiah based on the life of Christ. The anthem opens with a simple rising figure that then moves to a very dramatic middle section telling that this “star” shall destroy princes and cities. The work ends with a lush setting of the Nicolai chorale.

November 24, 2013 - Christ the King Sunday

Trumpet Tune - Flor Peeters
I Was Glad - Charles Hubert H. Parry
Requiem: "In Paradisum" - Gabriel Faure
Elegie - Louis Vierne

Hymns: #494 Diadmeta, #382 General Seminary,
              #598 Mis Freuden zart

This week’s music transitions from the majesty and glory of Christ the King toward the more solemn attitude of Advent and a world awaiting a Savior – which makes it a world without a Savior. The music this week is all European, a Belgian trumpet tune, an English coronation anthem and a French communion anthem and postlude. Perhaps a better uniting factor for the music this week is that each piece captures a very definite mood. They are, in essence, character pieces.

Charles Hubert H. Parry’s (1848-1918) setting of Psalm 122 is the gradual anthem this week. I Was Glad was written for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and was revised in 1911 for the coronation of King George V. The setting by Parry is different from those preceding it by Boyce and Purcell in Parry’s use of strategically placed performing groups. The opening was sung by the Abbey choir with a 430 voice “General choir” joining at “Jerusalem is builded.” “O pray for the peace of Jerusalem” is sung by a smaller semi-chorus and the “vivet”s are sung by the King’s Scholars and the king and queen pass under the rood screen. The final triumphant statement of “plenteousness” is aptly sung by the combined forces.  Though Parry is remembered for this anthem and Jerusalem another contribution is the one he made as a teacher. Vaughan Williams, Howells, and Holst are among the students that Parry taught while at the Royal College of Music. This anthem captures all of the joy and hope that comes with a new monarch – Godly or earthly. I think that it is a fitting close to the church year as we begin the new liturgical calendar.

On that same note, I thought it fitting to open the service with a festive trumpet tune. This one is by the Belgian composer, Flor Peeters(1903-1986). Peeters is primarily known for his church music and organ compositions.  Trumpet tunes are a standard part of the organ literature. They usually involve a call and response of some sort between a solo trumpet stop on the organ and the full organ sound. This piece does just that. There is a trumpet solo with accompaniment that alternates with contrasting themes played on the other keyboards. The piece is bright and festive but also has a bit of crunch to the harmonies with quick modulations The piece is joyful and declamatory, everything you need before singing Crown Him With Many Crowns.

In Paradisum is the final movement of Gabriel Faure’s (1845-1924) Requiem Op. 48. Faure states that he began work on the Requiem “for the pleasure of it” but he had lost both his parents in the two years before he began work on the piece. This Requiem, unlike the Mozart from a few weeks ago is about peace. The work is not a full liturgical mass and this movement takes its text from the Burial Service. Its text is:

“May angels lead you into paradise; upon your arrival, may the martyrs receive you and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May the ranks of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once a poor man, may you have eternal rest.”

And is also included in Durufle’s setting of the Requiem. It is traditionally sung in procession from the final blessing of the corpse from the church to the graveyard where the burial takes place. This movement makes extensive use of the harp (for us a solo flute stop) to create a picture of the ranks of angels that the text references. This piece is about hope and rest.

The Elegie by Louis Vierne (1870-1937) is taken from his collection of 24 pieces in Free Style written fro organ or harmonium. The piece is dedicated to Georges Krieger (1885-1914) a colleague of Vierne’s who died at a very young age. The piece is typical of Vierne’s writing. It is very chromatic and quite expressive. I thought that this piece paired well with the hope of the Faure and served as an excellent transitionary piece to the more somber season of Advent.