May 18, 2014 - Easter 5

Peace Be Unto You - George F. McKay
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.

 

May 11, 2014 - Easter 4

Kilgore Suite: Prelude on "Jewels" - Charles Callahan
The King of Love My Shepherd Is - Edward Bairstow
Messiah: "How Beautiful are the Feet" - G.F. Handel
How Firm a Foundation - Carolyn Hamlin

Hymns: #213 Middlebury, #664 Resignation,
              #304 Land of Rest

This week the music is (with one exception) based on folk melodies. Edward Bairstow’s setting of the Irish tune, “St. Columba,” Charles Callahan’s setting of William Cushing’s hymn tune “Jewels” and Carolyn Hamlin’s setting of “Foundation” along with the hymns “Resignation,” “Middlebury” and “Land of Rest” create a bouncy and joyous service for Good Shepherd Sunday and Mother’s Day.

Charles Callahan(b.1951) is an American organist and composer. A graduate of the Curtis institute and Catholic University, Dr. Callahan has garnered many prominent commissions during his career including works for Harvard University and music for papal visits. In 1999 he was awarded the Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. Prelude on “Jewels” is taken from Callahan’s Kilgore Suite, a set of four American folk songs commissioned by the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore Texas in honor of Jimmie Culp’s twenty-fifth year as organist. The piece opens with soft chords in the manuals that are simple but full of color. An oboe solo introduces Cushing’s simple hymn tune. The chords return with strings added to create a lush full texture with a solo played on the great principal. The soft calm of the beginning returns as a solo flute line draws the piece to a close. The text of this hymn is fitting for the lessons this week, the second verse talks of Jesus gathering in the jewels (his people) as bright gems for his crown; much like a shepherd with gather his sheep.

The gradual anthem is Edward C. Bairstow’s (1874-1946) setting of the Irish folk melody, St. Columba with Sir Henry W. Baker’s poetic translation of the 23^rd psalm. The anthem is broken up into six distinct verses, each corresponding to one of the verses of the psalm. The first is sung in four part harmony with almost no accompaniment. The sopranos and tenors sing the second verse in canon with the sopranos “leading” the tenors. The third verse features the basses in unison above an angular, staccato accompaniment figure. Verse four is similar to the first verse. The choir sings in four parts mostly unaccompanied trading versets with the organ.  The sopranos sing a countermelody for the fifth verse while the organ plays the hymn tune. Perhaps this is to illustrate the idea of “going astray.” The final verse begins in a broad unison and splits into parts as it progresses before the very soft conclusion is reached.

The communion anthem, the only piece that is not based on a folk tune, is taken from Handel’s Messiah. This text from Romans 10 uses an image from Isaiah 52 to illustrate the central point of Christ’s command to go unto all the world and to preach the Gospel. Leonard Van Camp places this aria and the choruses that bookend it into “Scene Four of Part II: Spreading the Gospel.”  The chorus The Lord Gave the Word is set with the “company of the preachers” flying in all directions to preach the gospel. The aria follows and then is confirmed with the chorus Their Sound is Gone Out. This text was reset by Handel in three different versions, the first for solo soprano, the more extensive alto setting which you will hear today and a duet and chorus setting which he ultimately rejected. The lilting pastorale setting is reminiscent of He Shall Feed His Flock in part one and reflects quietly on the matters sung about so exuberantly in the previous chorus.

Carolyn Hamlin has spent much of her career as the organist at First Baptist Church in Easley, South Carolina. Her hymn arrangements exploit the many colorful sounds available on the organ and always set the hymns with the text in mind. This setting of the traditional Southern Harmony hymn tune is a solid but rousing illustration of the firm foundation of faith that is the result of the Handel aria’s messengers. The arrangement opens with large colorful chords and accented (as much as the organ is capable of accents) bass notes. The second verse begins on a slightly softer sound and builds placing the left hand sixteenth notes in the pedal as the piece builds to a climax played on full organ.

Celebration of the Arts

Elijah Op. 70 - Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) wrote “Elijah” Op. 70 in 1845-46 for the Birmingham Choral Festival. It was a concept that he had been considering since 1837 after the success of his first oratorio “St. Paul.” The work is a highly dramatic telling of several events in the life and ministry of Elijah. The nation had been in turmoil after King Ahab and his wife Jezebel introduced the pagan gods of Phoenicia into Israel.  Jezebel’s prophets erected a temple to Baal and established this as the religion of the land. Because of this, God sent a draught upon the land.

In the first big vignette Elijah revives the son of the Widow of Zarepheth who died of starvation because of the terrible agricultural climate caused by the draught. This is answered by the chorus singing “Blessed are the men who fear him, they ever walk in the ways of peace.” The next scene is between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. They have a contest to determine who is God by setting up altars and calling on their respective gods to set fire to them. Elijah begins mocking the prophets of Baal seeing that they should call louder, perhaps he’s sleeping.  The God of Israel lights His altar and Elijah slays the prophets of Baal. A youth then sings that the sky is darkening and the rain comes to the land.

Part two opens with a soprano aria telling the people to heed the word of God. Jezebel enters and we hear the conflict of this act. Jezebel is calling for Elijah to be killed for what he did to her prophets.  Elijah then goes into hiding in a cave. God sends angels to minister to him and to remind him that God watches over those who serve him. God comes to Elijah and takes him to heaven in a fiery chariot.

This work is one of the most performed oratorios in the canon. The orchestral writing is highly evocative of the dramatic scenes that Mendelssohn depicts.  The work was originally written in German but was translated very meticulously into English. The work features a large orchestra, chorus, a quartet of soloists that also function as part of a double quartet and a ladies trio. This dynamic piece is different from some oratorios in that the soloists truly take on the roles of Elijah, Obadiah, Jezebel, and Ahab. The chorus serves as the mob of Israelites, the prophets of Baal, and a chorus of angels. The drama carries through to the final Amen and a huge release as Elijah’s story truly closes.

April 27, 2014 - Easter 2

Sonata III: "Awake, My Treasure" - Paul Hindemith
Elijah: "Be Not Afraid" - Felix Mendelssohn
Messiah: "But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul In Hell"
                                                                          - G.F. Handel
Chaconne in C - Dietrich Buxtehude

Hymns: #192 Vreuchten, #193 Puer nobis,                       
              #209 St. Botolph

This week is a bit of a German extravaganza as we prepare to sing Mendelssohn’s epic oratorio, Elijah. We will present a preview of this, using the chorus “Be Not Afraid” as our gradual anthem. We are also traveling backwards through time chronologically with our composers starting the morning with Hindemith then moving through Mendelssohn and Handel before ending with Buxtehude.

The prelude is the second movement of Paul Hindemith’s (1895-1963) Organ Sonata III. The third of his three sonatas for organ was written in 1940 after he had fled Nazi Germany and emigrated to the US moving first to Buffalo, NY and then to New Haven, CT to teach at Yale. Unlike the first two sonatas, the third is based on German folksongs with each movement bearing a line of text as its title. “Awake, my treasure,” the second movement  is a song taken from the 15^th century Locham Book. Hindemith sets this in his way with winding lines that are, at times angular and still somehow gentle.  The song that this is best on is a song of two lovers that meet and must part at the breaking dawn. I however, in reading the title immediately associated it with the resurrection. It seems for me (if in title only) a fitting open to the second Sunday of Easter.

Traveling back in time almost 100 years from Hindemith’s sonata we come to Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) oratorio, Elijah. This biblical drama tells the story of God’s prophet Elijah and his mission to get the Israelites to renounce the false gods of their rulers and to turn to the one true God.  Part two of the oratorio opens with the soprano aria “Hear Ye, Israel” (see the post from 1/19/14 for more on this aria) and then the choir explodes with the further affirmation that God, thy help is near. This chorus takes its text from Isaiah and the Psalms, beginning with large thick chords and full orchestra before changing to a faster tempo, a minor key, and a fugue that reminds the hearer that although things are bad in the surrounding world, God’s people need not be afraid.

Mendelssohn’s oratorio was greatly influenced by the large choral works that preceded it by many different composers but one of the most notable composers of oratorio is obviously Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), and probably his most well-known piece, Messiah is where the tenor aria “But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul in Hell” is taken from.  Messiah is an oratorio on the life of Christ and takes us from the Old Testament prophecies of his birth to his incarnation. Part two, where this aria is found, opens with the prophecy of his death and moves then to his resurrection.  This text from Psalm 16 is set as a light tenor aria (although in other editions it has been assigned to a soprano). This piece reminds us that even though Christ was put to death, his soul was not allowed to languish in hell. It is further reinforcement of the promise of “Be Not Afraid.”

The postlude takes us back a bit further still in the history of German music to Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707). One of his best-known organ works, The Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne is  a joyful piece with three very distinct sections. The third (my postlude) is the chaconne. A chaconne is a set of variations over a repeated harmonic progression. There is often but not always a repeated bass line, but that is not required. These short variations grow in rhythmic intensity allowing the piece to build. The fact that the piece is in C and is built around the lowest note the organ can produce (low “c “in the pedal)adds gravitas and grandeur to this celebratory piece of North German Organ Music.

This tour of the history of German music (sort of) will be continued next week as we present Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah with choir(s) and orchestra. This is an event not to be missed.

April 20,2014 - Easter

Prelude in C BWV 531 - J.S. Bach
If Ye Then Be Risen With Christ - C.V. Stanford
The Day Draws On With Golden Light - Edward Bairstow
Carillon-Sortie - Henri Mulet

Hymns: #207 Easter Hymn, #191 Lux eoi, #199 St. Kevin

As in previous years the Easter service will open with the music of J.S. Bach (1685-1750) which has been a constant throughout the season of Lent.  This piece embraces the joyful and celebratory nature of Bach’s writing. This early Prelude in C, BWV 531 resembles the music of Buxtehude and Bohm more than the more complex writing of Bach. The piece opens with an extended pedal solo which gives way to arpeggios and scales that are little more than broad sweeping gestures that lead from one harmony to another.  The freedom of this piece captures the improvisatory nature of Bach’s organ writing. Pieces like this were seldom conceived as literature to be presented in a church or concert setting and more as an example of an improvisation that the organist would perform. In fact, pieces like this were often designed to be played while the orchestra was tuning for a performance. The prolonged harmonies allow the players to tune to the organ while it is holding a static pitch.

The postlude is the Carillon-Sortie by Henri Mulet (1878-1967). Mulet was a rather eccentric composer who is all but forgotten. Of his 88 years of life he only composed for 15 and spent the last thirty years of his life in seclusion. It is difficult to imagine that such a reclusive man would have crafted such an overtly joyful piece.  Like many French carillons, the piece has a repeated figure on top of a broad and stately melody line. This piece builds rhythmically going from sixteenth notes as the accompanying figure to 32^nd notes. The piece captures all of the joy of Easter.

The choir anthems are both by English Romantic composers. The gradual anthem was written in 1883 by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). Stanford was born in Ireland to a Protestant lawyer. He was educated at Queen’s College Cambridge. In 1874 he traveled to Germany and then France but he still returned to England to conduct various projects. Staonford went on to teach music at Cambridge and composition at the Royal College of Music. Stanford wrote for every major idiom and counted such greats as Bridge, Holst, and Vaughan Williams. His writing has the influence of his German training and his Celtic upbringing synthesized into a well crafted and very singable piece. If Ye Then Be Risen with Christ takes the tune “Salisbury” as part of its thematic material. The piece opens with a lovely rising line that is passed through the choir. The sopranos then introduce the next section of the piece which is then taken up by the rest of the choir. The A section returns which is followed by a section of “Hallelujah”s  which takes us to the end of the piece.

The communion anthem is English organist Edward Bairstown (1874-1946). The Day Draws on With Golden Light . This hymn with has a text by Ambrose of Milan (340-397). The piece is a rather simple anthem in unison or two parts featuring the men of the choir and the women of the choir alternating between melody and harmony. The organs colorful accompaniment leads the choir through a lilting melody in ¾. The piece builds to the middle before tapering back to the quietness in which the piece began.

April 13, 2014 - Palm Sunday

The Passion According to Saint Matthew
                                                               -Howard Boatwright

Howard Boatwright’s setting of “The Passion according to St. Matthew” follows  the form and character of a great many passion settings; the best known of which is probably the monumental setting by J.S. Bach.  Other composers including Telemann, Handel, Schutz, and Pärt have drawn on the dramatic readings from the Gospel for settings of this story as well.

Howard Boatwright composed this passion setting in 1962 for the choir of St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, New Haven, Connecticut. This church has a longstanding tradition of high quality music and counts Charles Ives among its past organists. A conversation with retired tenor soloist, Jim Shults, who studied the piece with Howard revealed that the hymn tune PETRA was included because it was Helen’s favorite. Shults also shared that while coaching with Howard for the role of the Evangelist that Howard told him he had written the role for the Yale professor and renowned Bach tenor, Blake Stern who would sing both the Boatwright and the Bach St. John Passion in New Haven.

The work is structured like the Bach setting with the Evangelist (a solo tenor) taking us through the events of the day with the text of Matthew 27:1-54 as the source material. Other characters including Pilate, Pilate’s Wife, Jesus, and Judas help to share their part of the narrative. The choir and congregation participate in the drama by taking responsibility for many of the day’s events singing hymns drawn from The 1940 Hymnal and set by Boatwright.  The piece is a dramatic and emotional setting of this familiar text exploiting Boatwright’s understanding of the passion form and of dissonance to capitalize on the turbulent nature of the text.

April 6, 2014 - Lent 5

Aus tiefer not schrei ich zu dir - Georg Bohm
Cantata No. 38: Wenn meine Trubsal als mit Ketten
                                                                              - J.S. Bach
Verily, Verily I Say Unto You - Thomas Tallis

Hymns: #665 Michael, #508 Nova Vita,
              #715 When Jesus Wept

The music this week is old. Very old. This is the one week in Lent that I am not playing Bach for the prelude or postlude, but instead we are singing a movement from cantata No. 38. Fear not though, I found a lovely chorale prelude by Georg Bohm (1661-1733) on Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir to play. Bohm was an organist and composer that is largely credited with developing the chorale partita, a piece which consists of a set of variations on a chorale tune for a solo keyboard instrument. In 1700 J.S. Bach traveled to Luneburg where Bohm served at the Johanniskirche and it is widely believed that Bach studied with Bohm between 1700 and 1702. This piece based on a chorale tune first published in the Teutch Kirchenampt is much cheerier than the Martin Luther tune of the same name. The first of two partitas is for manuals only and is a simple contrapuntal four part setting. The second places the chorale in the left hand fragmented against a swirling figuration in the right hand.

Cantata No. 38 is based on the familiar Martin Luther tune, Aus tiefer Not, or Out of the Depths.  This cantata for the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity has for its fifth movement a trio for soprano, alto and bass. The text is:

When my troubles like chains
link one misfortune to another,
then my Savior will rescue me,
so that it all suddenly falls from me.
How soon the morning of comfort appears
after this night of anguish and worry!

Which I think works very well as a glimpse of things to come in the next two weeks. The nice part about this verse is that despite the minor key and the mention of things that are bed, there is a great deal of hope which is something that we can’t do without during these last few days of Lent.

The communion anthem is Thomas Tallis’s (1505-1585) setting of John 6:53-56. In this modal piece Tallis plays around with tonal ambiguity leading us back and forth between minor and modal in this, mostly homophonic motet. Tallis’s use of text painting is evident in the second section when the voices alternate singing that “I [GOD] will raise him up at the last day. It is an honest and rather stark setting of the basics of the Eucharist. Something that I find is very important to think on during these few weeks as we search our hearts to make them fitting for his Kingdom. This is a good example of the beauty of how we worship.