Music for Sunday, July 28, 2024
PRELUDE: French Suite in E flat, BWV 815 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Written between 1722-25, the E flat suite is number four of six. The name was popularized by Bach’s biographer Forkel, who wrote in his 1802 biography, “One usually calls them French Suites because they are written in the French manner.” This claim, however, is inaccurate: like Bach’s other suites, they follow a largely Italian convention.
METRICAL PSALM: 14 – Dixit Insipiens
[For an explanation of metrical psalms, see below: Music for Sunday, July 21, 2024.]
Today’s psalm text comes from The Whole Booke of Psalmes Collected into Englishe Metre (1584) of Sternhold and Hopkins.Thomas Sternhold published his first, short collection of nineteen Certayn Psalmes between mid-1547 and early 1549. In December of 1549, his posthumous Al such psalmes of Dauid as Thomas Sternehold … didde in his life time draw into English Metre was printed, containing thirty-seven psalms by Sternhold and, in a separate section at the end, seven psalms by John Hopkins. This collection was taken to the Continent with Protestant exiles during the reign of Mary Tudor, and editors in Geneva both revised the original texts and gradually added more over several editions. In 1562, the publisher John Day brought together most of the psalm versions from the Genevan editions and many new psalms by John Hopkins, Thomas Norton, and John Markant to make up The Whole Booke of Psalmes, Collected into English Meter. In addition to metrical versions of all 150 psalms, the volume included versified versions of the Apostles’ Creed, the Magnificat, and other biblical passages or Christian texts, as well as several non-scriptural versified prayers and a long section of prose prayers largely drawn from the English Forme of Prayers used in Geneva. To see the original book, click HERE.
The tune for today’s psalm is the most common psalm meter known, the OLD HUNDREDTH (1551). OLD 100th takes its name from its eponymous psalm, although originally was first associated with the Psalm 134 in the second edition of the Genevan Psalter (1551) for which Louis Bourgeois (c.1510-c.1560) was both editor and composer of the tune.
OFFERTORY: Lead Me, Lord – Samuel S. Wesley (1810-1876)
Once upon a time, Charles Wesley (of Methodist hymnody fame) had a son, Samuel Wesley, who informed his mother that it was his philosophical conviction that his marriage to his wife Charlotte Louise Martin had been constituted by intercourse, precluding any civil or religious ceremony. After a scandalous delay he married Charlotte in 1793, and they had three children. This marriage broke up with Charlotte’s discovery of Samuel’s affair with the teenage domestic servant Sarah Suter. Samuel and Sarah never married but had four children together, among them Samuel Sebastian, who was organist at Hereford, Exeter, Winchester, and Gloucester Cathedrals. Wesley, with the help of Henry “Father” Willis, can be credited wit hthe invetion of the concave and radiating organ pedalboard, which is the international standard adopted for organs today. Lead Me, Lord is one of his most enduring anthems.
COMMUNION HYMN: Completed, Lord, the Holy Musteries – SONG 4
In the Liturgy of St. Basil, this is the post-communion prayer used at the cleansing of the sacred vessels and can be dated as probably not later than the sixth century. The tune is Orlando Gibbons’s tune for song number 4 in George Wither’s Hymnes an Songs of the Church (1623), for which the text was the Song of Hannah from 1 Samuel 2:1-10, in which Hannah gives thanks for the birth of her son, Samuel.
Music for Sunday, July 21, 2024
METRICAL PSALM: 51 – Miserere
Psalm 51 is a penitential psalm generally associated with Lent. It is a response to events in II Samuel 11-12, and it was composed by David as a confession to God after he sinned with Bathsheba. Often thought of as a “how-to guide” to confession, and was purportedly recited by both Lady Jane Grey and Thomas More at their executions.
The psalm plays not only an important role in liturgy, but in history generally. Parallels between Psalm 51 and the Ancient Egyptian ritual text Opening of the Mouth Ceremony have been pointed out by scholar Benjamin Urrutia.These include: sacrifices (verses 16, 17, 19), mentions of ritual washing with special herbs (verses 2, 7), restoration of broken bones (verse 8), “O Lord, open my lips” (verse 15). MORE
At common law, the Miserere was used for centuries as a judicial test of reading ability. This practice began as a means by which a defendant could claim to be a clergyman, and thus subject only to ecclesiastical courts and not subject to the power of civil courts. This was called pleading the benefit of clergy. The Biblical passage traditionally used for the literacy test was the first verse of Psalm 51. Thus, an illiterate person who had memorized this psalm could also claim the benefit of clergy, and Psalm 51 became known as the “neck verse” because knowing it could save one’s neck by transferring one’s case from a secular court, where hanging was a likely sentence, to an ecclesiastical court, where both the methods of trial and the sentences given were more lenient.
In medicine it has been suggested that verse 7 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean” is an early example of the medical use of penecillin.
The metrical setting of this psalm is selected from
PRELUDE: Les Tendres Plaintes and l’Egyptienne – Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Les Tendres Plaintes is the first piece from Suite in D major, which with l’Egyptienne is found in the Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin, 1706 of Jean-Philippe Rameau, a leading opera and harpsichord composer of 18th century France. Rameau in fact made a transcription of Les Tendres Plaintes to use it in his opera, Zoroastre. In addition to composition of orchestral and opera works, Rameau inherited an organist post from his father at the Cathedrale de Saint Benigne in Dijon.
PSALM: METRICAL PSALMODY
A metrical psalter is a book containing a verse translation of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung in worship as hymns. Some metrical psalters include melodies or harmonizations. The composition of metrical psalters was a large enterprise of the Reformation. During the pre-reformation, it was not customary for lay members of a church’s congregation to communally sing hymns. Service singing was done by clergy; communal singing of Gregorian chant was the function of monastics or of lay “clerks” in a cathedral or collegiate church.
The first complete English metrical psalter and the first to include musical notation was The Psalter of Dauid newely translated into Englysh metre in such sort that it maye the more decently, and wyth more delyte of the mynde, be reade and songe of al men. Printed in 1549, it was the work of Robert Crowley. Crowley’s psalter is a rare example of two-color printing (red and black on the first four leaves) in this era, which makes it visually resemble medieval manuscript psalters. Christopher Tye and Francis Seager later included musical notation in their psalters, and the Sternhold and Hopkins psalter eventually incorporated a basic tune with the Anglo-Genevan edition of 1556, which we will encounter next Sunday.
Image: OLD HUNDRETH from the Sterhold and Hopkins psalter.
Today’s psalm is taken from the A New Metrical Psalter (1986) and will be sung to the tune WAREHAM. It was composed by William Knapp, parish clerk of Poole, Dorset in 1738. Produced during the period of English country churches that employed a west gallery choir and band, this tune, this tune found its way into American hymnals as ALL SAINTS via William Tans’ur [sp.], who printed it without acknowledgement.
POSTLUDE: Toccata in D minor, BWV 538 – J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
This toccata is also known as the “Dorian” because it is written with no key signature, which would leave one to believe that it is in the Dorian mode. It was written during Bach’s Weimar period, 1708-17, when he composed most of his organ works.
Music for Sunday, July 14, 2024
PRELUDE: Toccata in E minor, BWV 914 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Bach’s set of seven toccatas for keyboard (1707-11) date from just prior and during his first years of his post in Weimar. During these formative years he experimented with a wide variety of compositional models. Overall, these early toccatas lack the profound expression and technical master of Bach’s later music and are thus some of the least performed of his works. All too often, they come off as improvisatory and mere virtuosic pieces for keyboard. Nevertheless, they show the steady growth of one of music’s greatest geniuses.
The Toccata in E minor is one of Bach’s least known works for keyboard. Most likely composed in either 1707 or 1708, it nevertheless portrays Bach’s developing compositional style. The brief opening section of the toccata bears an inconspicuous resemblance to Bach’s later organ works, particularly with the octave leap that occurs repeatedly in the left hand, and the ending fugue in three voices is actually identical to that of an anonymous fugue in a previously dated Italian manuscript. Today, Bach’s version would without a doubt be condemned as plagiarism. However, during the Baroque, the re-composition of another composers work was not uncommon and, in fact, considered a form of flattery. – Joseph DuBose.
POSTLUDE: Voluntary in D minor – Samuel Long (1725?-1764)
In addition to music for organ and harpsichord, Long composed a number of glees. He was appointed organist of St. Peter-le-Poer, Broad Street, London, in 1745. The records of this church (which escaped the Great Fire of 1666) went as far back as 1181. Being considerably out of repair at the end of the 18th century, the church was rebuilt and an organ by Samuel Green installed in 1792, the year of the consecration. Sadly, the church is no longer in existence.
Music for Sunday, July 7, 2024
OFFERTORY: “The Road Home” – PROSPECT – adapted by Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)
Stephen Paulus’ anthem is based upon the tune PROSPECT from the Southern Harmony (1835). The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion is a shape-note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker. The use of different shapes for different pitches according to solfege syllables was a way of teaching singing to people who didn’t read music. The book is notable for having originated or popularized several hymn tunes found in modern hymnals, though the Southern Harmony itself has not changed since 1854. Below is a copy of the page where PROSPECT is found. It is notable that it is attributed to a composer named “Graham,” though it is not known who that person is.
SANCTUS: based upon LAND OF REST – Arranged by Marcia Pruner
LAND OF REST is an American folk tune with roots in the ballads of northern England and Scotland. It was known throughout the Appalachians; a shape-note version of the tune was published in The Sacred Harp (1844) – the other major source of shape-note music like Southern Harmony mentioned above – and titled NEW PROSPECT as the setting for “O land of rest! for thee I sigh.” The tune was published again with that same text in J. R. Graves’s Little Seraph (Memphis, 1873). The name LAND OF REST derives from the tune’s association with that text.
The tune was known to Annabel M. Buchanan (1888-1983), whose grandmother sang it to her as a child. She harmonized the tune and published it in her Folk Hymns of America (1938). Marcia Pruner’s use of the tune for the Sanctus first appeared in 1980 in Congregational Music for Eucharist, published by the Standing Commission on Church Music.
POSTLUDE: Variations and Toccata on a National Air – Norman Coke-Jephcott (1893-1962)
Coke-Jephcott, originally from England, became the organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1932-53). His arrangement of the tune AMERICA is apt, since it is a national hymn in the United States and the National Anthem of the United Kingdom sung as “God Save the King/Queen.” this tune also serves as the royal anthem of each of the crown dependencies, and the national anthem of New Zealand and Leichtenstein (Oben am jungen Rhein),” and the royal anthem of Norway, “Kongesangen.”
You can hear a recording of Norman Coke-Jephcott performing his arrangement of the tune on the organ of St. John the Divine here: https://www.pipedreams.org/episode/2010/11/29/gothic-glory
Music for Sunday, June 30, 2024
OFFERTORY: “Psalm 130” – Paul Manz (1919-2009)
The importance of Paul Manz to choral music in America can not be overstated.His most famous choral work is the Advent motet “E’en So Lord Jesus, Quickly Come”, which has been performed at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge, though its broadcast by the neighboring Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, in its Advent Carol Service precipitated its popularity. The esteem and respect with which Manz is regarded can be seen in the many honors he received. He was twice named one of the “Ten Most Influential Lutherans,” served as National Councilor of the American Guild of Organists, and is listed as one of the “101 Most Notable Organists of the 20th Century.” He was the recipient of many honorary doctorates and awards.
In 1976 to return to full-time parish service at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis as Cantor. During his time there Paul developed the Hymn Festival for which he eventually became known throughout the world. Having heard his first hymn festival in 1945, Paul recast the format, adding the unique approach of bringing a number of hymns together under a theme with appropriate readings interspersed. He also brought back the ancient practice of alternation during the singing of hymns. He started doing this at weekly services at Mt. Olive, eventually exposing a wider audience to it through hymn festivals.
The Cantor in the Lutheran tradition is the steward of congregational singing, and was responsible for directing the Kantorei. Like in the Anglican Church, the Cantor was the primary organist, and often composer. Bach is of course the most prominent example of a cantor from that tradition.
HYMN ST. DENIO: “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
The tune “St. Denio” was originally a Welsh ballad tune, which became a hymn (under the name “Palestrina”) in Caniadau y Cyssegr (“Hymns of the Sanctuary”, 1839) edited by John Roberts (or Welsh Ieuan Gwyllt) (1822–1877). The tune name refers to St. Denis, patron saint of France.
The text was written by the Free Church of Scotland minister Walter Chalmers Smith. The verses have been tinkered with over time, and the original text is no longer presented in hymnals. Two of the original verses as they appeared in Hymns of Christ and the Christian Life, 1867 appear below:
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.
All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendour of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, Almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.
HYMN AZMON “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”
Charles Wesley wrote over six thousand hymns, and this one was written by him in 1739 to celebrate the first anniversary of his conversion. The original poem consisted of 18 stanzas, though most hymnals only use stanzas 7 through 12. The title comes from Peter Boehler, who was a Moravian and said to Wesley, “Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise God with them all.”
The tune AZMON was adapted by Lowell Mason from a melody composed by Carl G. Glaser in 1828. In the U.S., the 1839 arrangement of the hymn tune by Lowell is commonly sung, while the British often use the tune RICHMOND. Mason released a duple-meter version for the first time but later changed it to triple meter. Interestingly, Mason picked up an obscure and unfamiliar name for AZMON, which is the name of a city south of Canaan, and appears in Numbers 34:4. AZMON is still not well-known as the name of a biblical city, but is very popular as the tune name of “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.”
Music for Sunday, June 23, 2024
OFFERTORY: “If Ye Love Me” – Thomas Tallis (1505-85)
The life of Thomas Tallis is a mirror of the musical effects of the Anglican Reformation in England. He served in the Chapel Royal for some 40 years, composing under four monarchs with widely differing religious practices. Tallis was among the first to set English words to music for the rites of the Church of England, although most of his vocal music was written in Latin. A composer of great contrapuntal skill, his works show intense expressivity and are cast in a bewildering variety of styles.
During the reign of King Edward VI (1547-1553) it was mandated that the services be sung in English, and that the choral music be brief and succinct’ to each syllable a plain and distinct note.’ If Ye Love Me is a classic example of these new English anthems: mainly homophonic, but with brief moments of imitation. Like many early Anglican anthems, it is cast in ABB form, the second section being repeated. [Ryan Turner, Emmanuel Music]
GLORIA: “All Glory Be to God on High”
The music to this new Gloria is ALLEIN GOTT IN DER HOH, an adaptation by Nikolaus Decius of a tenth-century plainsong Gloria for the Easter season. Intended by Lutheran reformers to be the German version of the Gloria of the mass, this Low German versification of the Gloria fist appeared in Sluter’s Gesang Buch (Rostock, 1525), with three verses written by Decius and a fourth added most likely by Sluter.
The original form of the chant can be seen in the top line of the image below, followed by the metered representation with German text:
PRELUDE/POSTLUDE: Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 547 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Throughout his life Bach developed the organ prelude and fugue, perfecting the form in Leipzig at the end of his career. A case in point is the joyful Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 547, nicknamed “9/8” for its engaging dance meter. The entire musical fabric of the prelude is presented in the first eight measures with an ascending scale theme in the manual juxtaposed against a descending pedal theme. The themes are taken through various keys, often in quick succession, and then a sustained pedal note and several detached chords announce the final statement of melodic ideas that close the prelude. The subject of the five-voice fugue is but only one measure and appears no less than 46 times. Atypically, Bach withholds the pedal until the end of the fugue when it splendidly enters with the subject in augmentation. The detached chords of the prelude return and the fugue ends with a pedal point on Bach’s beloved low C. [Dr. Kenneth Udy, University of Utah]