March 2, 2014 - Last Sunday of Epiphany

Lo, a Voice to Heaven Sounding - Dmitri Botniansky
O Nata Lux - Morten Lauridsen

The two anthems for this Sunday are both treasures of the a cappella choral literature. One is taken from the Eastern Orthodox liturgy and the other the Roman Catholic tradition. Neither bears much resemblance to the liturgical traditions of the text. The Bortniansky is a beautiful, lush Romantic motet while the Lauridsen with its seconds and suspensions throughout evokes a modern mystical image.

The gradual anthem is Dmitri Bortniansky’s (1751-1825) Cherubic Hymn, Lo a Voice to Heaven Sounding. Bortniansky began his career as a chorister with the Imperial Chapel Choir under the direction of the Italian conductor ­­­­­­­­­­Baldassare Galuppi (1706-1785), who took the young Bortniansky back with him to Italy to be educated in the Italian style of choral composition. In 1779 he returned to Russia to lead the St. Petersburg Court Cappella. His compositions combined the liturgy of the Orthodox Church with the polyphonic and polychoral styles of the Venetian composers that he studied with in Italy. In 1796 he was named Director of the Imperial Chapel choir, and was the first director not to be imported. The choir was known for its versatility and for the symphonic quality that they brought to a cappella motets. In addition to this, his choir premiered Beethoven’s monumental Missa Solemnis. This simple hymn in three verses which then concludes with a grand doxology is part of the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church. In 1882 Tchaikovsky edited Bortniansky’s  liturgical works including this motet.  

The communion anthem, O Nata Lux, comes from Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna for chorus and orchestra or organ. This five movement work is based on the idea of light and its different incarnations. O Nata Lux is the central movement and features the choir a cappella. The text for this piece is by the well-known composer "anonymous" and is the office hymn at Lauds of the Feast of the Transfiguration. Here is a translation of the text taken from cpdl.org. The lush rich harmonies help to create a mood of awe while the final chord which the altos never resolve leaves the listener with a sense of expectation that is not yet fulfilled. In fact, the last line that the choir sings is actually the first line of text: "O Light born of Light, Jesus, redeemer of the world." This piece lends itself to the liturgy of the day because of the text but also to the season of Lent that we will enter into on Wednesday. The music is ethereal and beautiful but also unsettled, leaving us with an unfinished feeling. This setting also invokes the sense of mystery and wonder that the disciples must have felt on the mountain that day. A lovely piece to help us transition from the end of Epiphany to the beginning of Lent.

O Light born of Light,
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
with loving-kindness deign to receive
supplicant praise and prayer.

Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh
for the sake of the lost,
grant us to be members
of thy blessed body.

February 16, 2014 - Epiphany 6

Requiem: "Blessed are they" - Johannes Brahms
Bless the Lord - Mikhail Ipolitoff-Ivanoff
Variaitions on a Theme of Haydn - Johannes Brahms

Hymns: #697 Song 67, #304 Loand of Rest, #674 Detroit

The music this week is mostly Brahms. It is broad and expansive, highly chromatic and flexible.

The gradual anthem is the opening movement of Brahms’s (1833-1897) German Requiem Op. 45. The Brahms Requiem is a piece that was at the time groundbreaking, and looking at the literature which has been written since, trend-setting. This work draws on the text of the Lutheran Bible rather than the Latin Mass for the Dead and is written to comfort the living rather than to pray for those who have died. Indeed, this piece has paved the way for Requiems by composers like Britten, Hindemith, Rutter, Chilcott, and Leavitt that have combined the Latin texts with other Biblical texts or poetry. The German Requiem was premiered at Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday 1868 and was an enormous success which marked a turning point in Brahms’s career. Brahms added the fifth movement in memory of his mother and the piece received its first complete performance in 1869. As with his first symphony, Brahms was very deliberate about the composition of the Requiem. The piece makes use of thematic material that he composed as early as 1854. The piece opens slowly but deliberately with a steady throbbing pulse. The organ and choir go back and forth between the choir’s sustained chords and the organs lyrical line the choir tells us that “they that mourn will be comforted.” The next section starts in a new key and leads us to a more animated theme that bounces through the voice parts and the accompaniment. Brahms moves us back to the original key and the accompaniment from the beginning and takes us again through the same modulation followed by a coda that leads to an almost celestial conclusion with accompaniment meant to imitate the harps of the orchestral version.

The communion anthem is by Russian composer and conductor Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935). He started his career as a choir boy and then began his formal education at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He studied composition with the renowned composer Risky-Korsakov and then took a position in Tbilisi, Georgia. In 1905 he was appointed director of the Moscow Conservatory, a position he held until 1924 when he returned to Tbilisi to organize a music conservatory there. Bless the Lord is taken from Op. 37 Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom which is the most celebrated liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church. This simple piece takes its text from Psalm 103 and very simply outlines the attributes of God and why we should praise Him.

The prelude and postlude are taken from an organ transcription of a piece by Brahms that is an arrangement of a theme by Haydn. The Brahms Variations on a Theme of Haydn take the “St. Anthony Chorale” from Haydn’s Divertimento in Bb, H2/46. Some scholars believe that this piece may have actually been written by Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831). Regardless of its origin, Brahms believed them to be by Haydn and named his piece accordingly. This transcription uses the theme, third variation, fourth variation, and seventh variation. These are the lighter more sprightly variations as opposed to some of the fast and dark ones of the set. I first learned these pieces through the version for two pianos which was probably composed before the orchestral version. We studied them in my graduate theory class. The challenge of playing both this and the Requiem movement is trying to translate Brahms’s lush orchestrations to the organ. This organ does not easily lend itself to this music so some creative registration and open minded listening may be required to hear these pieces in the way that they are presented.

February 9, 2014 - Epiphany 5

Sonatina for Baritone - Warner Hutchison
Elijah: "And then shall your light break forth"
                                                               - Felix Mendelssohn
If Ye Love Me - Thomas Tallis

Hymns: #601 St. Michael, #341 Omni Dei, #779 Dunedin

This week’s music fits together in a kind of if/then relationship. The first anthem extols God’s name and his greatness while the second is his message to his people. Stylistically the two pieces are quite different. Both are contrapuntal but with varying styles of polyphony. From a mood stand point they couldn’t be more different although both pieces are uplifting they have very different messages.

The same Hutchison is a composer, hornist, and teacher having served several universities including Houghton College here is New York. His more than 160 works have been premiered at the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center as well as other prestigious venues around the world. could be said for the prelude and postlude, Warner Hutchison’s  (b. 1930) Sonatina for Baritone. The second movement reflects moments of uncertainty and searching while the third movement, filled with repetition is resolute in its joyful nature. This dichotomy is further explored in the choir anthems for today.

The final chorus in Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) monumental oratorio Elijah brings the piece to a powerful close. And then shall your light break forth follows the quartet O Come Every One that Thirsteth. This all takes place after Elijah has ascended to heaven on a fiery chariot and his mantle has been passed to the prophet Elisha. Mendelssohn seems to be telling us that if we come to him (God) that our “light will break forth,” “our health shall speedily spring forth,” and “the glory of the Lord will reward us.” The choir then breaks out into a giant fugue of praise about the excellence of the name of the Lord.  This culminates in a huge “Amen” at the end of the piece.  This moves well into the communion anthem by Tallis.

If Ye Love Me reminds us of God's promise to us to bring us comfort through His Spirit in our time of need and throughout our life. I think that Thomas Tallis's (1505-1585) setting is interesting because the first phrase "If ye love me keep my commandments" is only heard at the beginning of the piece. It is more about reinforcing the idea that we shall be comforted and that God's Spirit will "bide with you forever." This is in some way a follow up to the Mendelssohn because we end praising His name and these are His instructions to us, but instructions that again end with a reward, a promise.  There are times when I feel that Elijah could have benefited from a message like this, and in fact got them from the various angelic figures in the story. The statement made by this piece is no less powerful than the large accompanied fugal writing of the gradual anthem but it manages to make its statement with soft, unaccented vocal lines that gently rise and fall in a very unassuming way toward the hollow open fifth that ends the piece.

 

February 2, 2014 - Epiphany 4

Simple Gifts - Virgil Fox
My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord - Moses Hogan
St. Paul: "For So Hath the Lord" - Felix Mendelssohn
Voluntary - William Selby

Hymns: #574 St. Petersburg, #593 Dickinson College,
              #554 Simple Gifts

The music this week is mostly American, drawing on the folk traditions of our country for the music. The one piece that is not is a duet from Mendelssohn’s oratorio St. Paul.  The music along with the closing hymn Simple Gifts captures the essence of American folk songs and the idea of taking a simple folk melody and arranging it for choir or organ.

The prelude is Virgil Fox’s arrangement of Simple Gifts. This piece was commissioned by Keyboard Magazine for the 80^th birthday of Aaron Copland.  Virgil Fox (1912-1980) was kind of the Liberace of the organ world.  He was trained at the Peabody Institute and along with E. Power Biggs was one of the most famous concert organist in the world. His flashy costumes and playing style stood in stark contrast to the more scholarly, reserved playing of Biggs. This arrangement is a bit on the schmaltzy side but exploits some of the sweeter sounds of the organ including the strings and flute celestes.  The arrangement is a bit distant from the simple Shaker melody but captures the beauty of the tune and the lush registrations available on the American Classic organ.

The postlude is another American piece but this one is from much earlier than Fox’s arrangement.  William Selby(1738-1798) was born in England and came to the US in 1774 and served at King’s Chapel.  The Revolution forced him to take a position as a storekeeper but he returned to his liturgical duties once the war ended added to his responsibilities by becoming a teacher. He also gave one of the first Sacred music concerts in Boston. The piece opens with a bold introduction and then moves to a lighter fugue that becomes increasingly faster before drawing to a close. This piece uses no pedal. American organs were similar to English organs of the day (see last week’s article) in that they had no independent pedal division until later in their development.

The gradual anthem is Moses Hogan’s (1957-2003) setting of My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord.  Moses Hogan was known for his arrangements of spirituals. He was educated at Oberlin, Julliard, and Louisiana State University. As is typical of many of Hogan’s arrangements the piece is repetitive but uses large multi-note chords that require a fairly large ensemble. After the opening declamatory introduction the work moves into  the meat of the piece after this with an energetic refrain driven by an accented bass line. The bridge is a set of calls and responses with the men of the choir supplying the call while the women sing the line back. The arrangement build and builds to a climax that drives the piece to its conclusion.

For So Hath the Lord from Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) oratorio St. Paul  occurs after Paul and Barnabas announce that they are leaving and leads up to the sacrifice at Lystra. The tenor and bass sing of the command that the Lord has given the instructions to go and be a light to the Gentiles. The tenor and bass seem to chase each other through this duet proclaiming that they must bring the message of salvation unto the whole earth. It is a gentle but majestic telling of this story that utilizies creative orchestrations that also chase one another. The piece closes with lovely suspensions as the tenor and bass give and take as the end the piece.

January 26, 2014 - Epiphany 3

Ich will dich lieben, meine Starke - Christian Fink
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 17^th 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

January 19, 2014 - Epiphany 2

Esquisses Byzantine:"Campanile" - Henri Mulet
Elijah:"Hear ye, Israel" - Felix Mendelssohn
The Lamb - John Tavener
Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in G Major - Felix Mendelssohn

Hymns: #7 Ratisbon, #757 Mary Alexandra, #533 Lyon

The music this week tells stories from a variety of perspective. An angel with a message from the Lord, a little child singing of the birth of another little child, and a bell tower overlooking the countryside. These stories offer perspective on the lessons of the day and show not only different points of view but contrasting musical styles as well.

Part two of Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) opens with the soprano aria, Hear ye, Israel! In the first part of this monumental oratorio Elijah has foretold the coming of a draught, healed a widow’s son, and slain all of the false prophets of Baal. This aria begins with a message of warning and then one of comfort with back and forth trumpeting between the soprano and the orchestra. Mendelssohn places a great deal of pressure on the soprano who must sing this. Not only is it the movement that opens the second half but she only has five measures of recitative to completely change character. The aria moves immediately into a gigantic chorus, Be Not Afraid which employs the full resources of orchestra, choir, and organ.

Speaking of Mendelssohn and organ, one of the skills Mendelssohn was known for during his life was his organ playing, and his ability to improvise. He is often credited with renewing interest in the writing of J.S. Bach and was the first significant composer of organ music in Germany since Bach. His Three Preludes and Fugues were dedicated to Mozart’s student, Thomas Attwood, the organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. English organs at that time were very different from their German counterparts having either no pedalboard or a “pulldown pedal” which merely doubled the lowest notes of the manuals. The popularity of Mendelssohn’s music in England led builders to begin adding independent pedal divisions to their instruments to allow for the performance of pieces like today’s postlude, the fugue from Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in G Major.

Henri Mulet (1878-1967) was a French organist and composer and cellist. He studied the organ with Guilmant and Widor and served at several different churches before settling down at St Philippe du Roule in Paris. He was a professor at the Ecole Niedermeyer and at the Schola Cantorum. Mulet was quite eccentric, had few friends, and wrote little music that has survived. He burned many of his own manuscripts in 1937 and left Paris for Draguignan in Provence. He spent the last thiry years of his life in seclusion. Esquisses Byzantines (Byzantine Sketches) is a collection of ten character pieces inspired by elements of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Paris. Campanile, (Bell Tower) has an inscription which translates: “All white, it overlooks the vastness of the countryside.”

John Tavener’s(1944-2013) music also deals with vastness. Known for his avant-garde piece, The Whale he has undergone many spiritual changes in his nearly 70 years. Tavener grew up in the Presbyterian tradition but left it in favor of Catholic Mysticism and then turned to the Eastern Orthodox Church. All of this was reflected in his music. His life was plagued with health problems. He suffered a stroke in 1979 and was later diagnosed with Marfan syndrome. He had a heart attack in 2007 and another in 2008 that left him physically and emotionally destroyed. He died in his home on November 12, 2013. His setting of William Blake’s The Lamb from Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience. The simple anthem is centered around four notes and runs the gamut from extreme dissonance to lush deep harmonies that could easily be associated with the Orthodox ties that Tavener formed during his life. Tavener states that the piece came to him fully developed and he was inspired by his three year-old nephew Simon.

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