Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) will be the organ music focus this Sunday morning as part of the Advent Baroque composer series. The four Advent works of the Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") will be offered. Composed mostly in Bach's Weimar period from 1708-1717, the collection contains 46 works representing the major feast days of the liturgical year, a small number completed of the 146 planned works. Bach describes the purpose of this collection in his foreword: "In which a beginning organist receives given instruction as to performing a chorale in a multitude of ways while achieving mastery in the study of the pedal, since in the chorales contained herein the pedal is treated entirely obbligato. In honour [sic] of our Lord alone. That my fellow man his skill may hone." The Orgelbüchlein was a pedagogical guide, study in compositional techniques and a religious statement. The four Advent works, BWV 599-602, are Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Come now Saviour of heathens), Gottes Sohn ist kommen (The Son of God is come), Herr Christ, der einge Gottes-Sohn (Lord Christ, the only Son of God), and Lob sei dem allmächtigen Gott (Praise be to God Almighty).
At the 11:00 a.m. service, the Chancel Choir will sing composer Robert Hobby's setting of the Charles Wesley Advent hymn, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. The text is set to the tune JEFFERSON from the 1835 early American shape note and song book, Southern Harmony. Amy Welsh will conduct. At 6:00 p.m. the annual Longest Night service will include harpist Alaina Bongers, flutist Rebecca Quillen, the Plymouth Ringers, and our newest ensemble, the Chamber Choir. Advent selections include an arrangement of the 16th century plainsong chant Divinum Mysterium by Alaina Bongers and the Anglican choral classic A Spotless Rose by Herbert Howells.
0 Comments
For each Sunday in the remainder of Advent, the seasonal chorale-based output of a Baroque composer will be focused upon from the organ.
This week, it will be German composer Georg Böhm (1661-1733). He is known as the father of the chorale partita, a composition which offers a succession of creative variations on a chorale tune. Excerpts from Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele (Rejoice greatly, O my soul) will be heard at the morning prelude and postlude and during the 9:00 a.m. service communion. The chorale melody is known to us as the Advent hymn Comfort, Comfort O My People, a tune compiled in the 16th century Genevan Psalter. The Chancel Choir will offer Felix Mendelssohn's How Lovely are the Messengers from the 1836 oratorio St. Paul. A paraphrase of Romans 10.15 & 18, the chorus praises the harbingers of peace on earth and the coming new kingdom of God on earth. At 6:00 p.m., Bobby, cantor Blair Carpenter, and bassist Peter Strening will lead us in song as we continue our Advent journey. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, instructor, and priest whose influence on composers was widespread even in his day. At this Sunday's morning services, we will hear his Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins, Op. 3, No. 11 with violinists Harmony Tucker and Katrina Nelson. The work is one of twelve concertos published in 1711 originally entitled L'estro armonico (the harmonic inspiration). The D minor concerto was highly revered by contemporary J.S. Bach and transcribed for organ as Organ Concerto in D Minor, BWV 596. Bach transcribed several other Vivaldi works as well. At the 11:00 a.m. service, I will play a transcription of the final movement of Vivaldi's Winter from The Four Seasons as we anticipate the cold days ahead.
At 6:00 p.m. Bobby and vocalist Hannah Walters will offer a contemplative jazz-inflected musical experience on this First Sunday of Advent. Hannah is organist and Administrator of Music and Education at Peace With Christ Lutheran Church here in Fort Collins. This Sunday morning, you will hear three settings of the classic hymn Now Thank We All Our God from three very different perspectives. The Prelude is a brief fanfare rendition of the 17th century tune by composer Charles Callahan, complete with jazz harmonies. During communion at 9:00 a.m., a chorale prelude by a contemporary of J.S. Bach, Georg Friedrich Kauffmann, will be offered and composed only a few decades after the original tune's creation. And finally at the Postlude, a tour de force arrangement by late Romantic/early 20th century German composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert.
The Chancel Choir will sing Mozart's sublime Laudate Dominum, the fifth movement from Vesperae solennes de confessore ("Solemn Vespers for a Confessor") of 1780 at 11:00 a.m. The soloist is soprano Blair Carpenter, who will also join Bobby Brannock as cantor for the 6:00 p.m. service. Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) will be the focus of the instrumental music this Sunday morning. His compositional style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them." The first two movements from Dvořák's Violin Sonatina, Opus 100 will be offered by violinist Harmony Tucker. The work was primarily composed in New York City in 1893, the last chamber work composed during his trip abroad. The Sonatina was catered to the ears of youth. He wrote, "It is intended for youths (dedicated to my two children), but even grown-ups, adults, should be able to converse with it..." Movement one, Allegro risoluto, exhibits a clear classical form with additional inspiration derived from Indian music and African-American spirituals, a characteristic of his chamber works. The second movement, Larghetto, was composed quickly from notes written on his shirt sleeve while in Minneapolis. This slow movement hearkens back to a longing for Dvořák's homeland. The composer was also an organist and did write a few works for the instrument. The Fughetta in D Major will conclude our morning services.
At 11:00, the Chancel Choir will offer an excerpt from Handel's timeless oratorio Messiah in But Thanks Be to God. At 6:00, Bobby and cantor Blair Carpenter, bassist Peter Strening, flutist Doti Strening, and guitarist Alan Skowron will lead you in song and worship. The imaginative and often quirky organ works of Daniel Pinkham will be represented this Sunday morning. He studied composition with such notables as Arthur Honegger, Samuel Barber and Nadia Boulanger. From the late 1950's until his death in 2006, Pinkham taught at the New England Conservatory of Music and was organist for King's Chapel in Boston His music tends to be formal in design but with a distinct harmonic language that can be dissonant yet remain tethered to tonality. A partIta on the hymn tune SLANE opens the services. SLANE was originally an old Irish folk tune and was set to the text "Be Thou My Vision" in 1927, as found in our hymnals. The Partita on SLANE is a set of six short variations on the tune with the melody displaced in the texture and also used as the basis for a gigue and aria. The work is from Pinkham's collection Music for a Quiet Sunday, commissioned in 1998 and debuted by concert organist James David Christie on the modest Stoneham organ. The final piece of the collection, Festive March, modeled after a French sortie, will close our services. At 11:00 a.m. the Chancel Choir offers Mark Hayes' In the Morning, Joy, an anthem expressing the hope and optimism of a new day. At the 6:00 p.m. service, Bobby will be joined by cantor Blair Carpenter, bassist Peter Strening, and resident ukulele guru Stuart Yoshida to lead you in worship and song. Elegy, a beautiful work by composer and organist Brenda Portman will begin our morning Totenfest and All Saints Sunday observances. Brenda was a colleague of mine at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and currently an Adjunct Organ Instructor at Xavier University and Resident Organist at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church of Cincinnati. An elegy in musical terms is a somber or ethereal work similar to the literary meaning, a lament for those that have passed on. A toccata on the hymn tune THINE by James Biery serves as the postlude. Thine the Amen Thine the Praise was composed by Carl Schalk and written by Lutheran pastor Herbert Brokering. This words from the last verse is especially poignant this Sunday, "Thine the glory in the night No more dying only light...Thine the splendor Thine the brightness only Thee only Thee." The Chancel Choir will offer Celtic Song of Farewell, arranged by Steve Schaubel from a choral setting by Jeffrey Honoré, at the 11:00 service. The text is based on In Paradisum (Latin for 'Into Paradise'), the antiphon traditionally sung by the choir during a Requiem Mass as the body is taken from the church. The tune is set to the ancient Irish melody Londonderry Air, commonly known as "Danny Boy".
At 6:00, we will present a special Evening Prayer service inspired by the Anglican Evensong tradition. The original service is compiled from the traditional offices of Vespers and Compline with rubrics already enshrined in The Book of Common Prayer of 1549. Evensong is a service of sung prayer which, offered daily, the entire psalter could be read in a month's time and the entire bible in a year. In gathering together this Sunday evening, we join our voices in prayer to thank God for the day that has passed and ask for safekeeping through the night as we also remember those that have passed on. Evensong is also known for its embrace of quality music-making and the tradition of composers creating repertoire specifically for this liturgy. The two New Testament canticles Magnificat (Song of Mary, Luke 1.46-55) and Nunc dimitttis (Song of Simeon, Luke 2.29-32) have traditionally been sung at these evening services. The Chancel Choir will offer Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G Major by renowned Anglican composer Charles Villiers Stanford as well as present an Anglican Chant of Psalm 146. The anthem during communion will be Lux aeterna from Maurice Duruflé's Requiem (1948). The movement is intended to be sung during communion in a traditional Requiem Mass and states these words of comfort, "May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord, with thy saints for evermore." Organist Hannah Walters, Administrator of Music and Education at Peace With Christ Lutheran Church in Fort Collins, will accompany the choir. Arrive early for a time of reflection and meditation as I offer Widor's Choral from his tenth organ symphony, the Symphonie romane. Choral, as is the entire symphony, is based on the Gregorian Chant Haec Dies (translated as 'This Day'), an antiphon prescribed for the Easter Day Gradual and based on Psalm 118 (This is the day the Lord has made). Organist Hannah Walters will lead us joyfully into the night with Dietrich Buxtehude's Prelude, Fugue, and Chaconne. The music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) will be celebrated at all three services this Consecration Sunday and 501st year since the Reformation. Bach is not only one of the greatest composers who has ever lived but was a devout man of faith whose music exudes spirituality and his dedication to expressing the Divine. The oft-penned signature of Bach's works with the phrase Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone) made his compositional intentions even more clear.
There will be an extended prelude of approximately ten to fifteen minutes before each service representing Bach's output in chamber, vocal, and organ music. The morning program will begin with the organ chorale prelude Wir glauben all' an einen Gott, BWV 680 (We all believe in one God) from the Clavier-Übung III published in 1739. The opening fugue subject is based on the first line of the 1524 Martin Luther hymn, a paraphrase of the Nicene Creed. The intricate fugal writing for manuals is interspersed with a bold ascending and descending pedal line often interpreted as representing faith in God. This similar approach is taken in later Credo movements as well, such as in Bach's Mass in B Minor (1749). An excerpt from Johannes-Passion, the aria Ich folge dir gleichfalls (I follow you likewise with happy steps) will be offered by soprano Blair Carpenter, cellist Lisa Eakins, flutist Aaron McGrew and myself on continuo. Lastly, cellist Lisa Eakins and I will play the Adagio and Allegro moderato movements (I and IV respectively) from Sonata No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1027. The work is one of three sonata settings originally scored for viola de gamba and harpsichord dating to the late 1730's or early 1740's during Bach's tenure at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. At the 11:00 a.m. service, the Chancel Choir will sing two excerpts from Cantata No. 147 Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and mouth and deed and life) of 1723 employing the familiar chorale tune often translated as Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. I will be joined by cellist Lisa Eakins in the basso continuo accompaniment. And for the Postlude, I will offer Bach's Prelude in A Minor, BWV 543 (a virtuosic and slightly 'sinister' piece...very apropos for the days before Halloween!). The Prelude is an early work, composed around the time of his tenure as court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar from 1708–1717. It bears the mark of stylus phantasticus, the North German organ composition style characterized by a free, rhapsodic, and dramatic approach, owing a great deal of inspiration to Bach's mentor, Dietrich Buxtehude. The Bach celebration continues at 6:00 p.m. with soprano Blair Carpenter, harpist Alaina Borgers, guitarist Alan Skowron, and flutist Rebecca Quillen joining. During the Prelude, a setting of Arioso for harp and flute, based on the well-known opening Sinfonia of Bach's 1729 cantata, will be presented as well as excerpts from Suite in C Minor. BWV 997, originally composed for lute and harpsichord. Selections for organ and chamber music will be reprised from the morning services as well. The morning services begin with Cantabile from the 1883 Three Pieces collection by César Franck. The musical term cantabile is Italian for 'singable' and refers to the lyrical oboe melody heard throughout the work. The hymn tune Union Seminary was composed by Harold Friedell in 1957 and is the basis for his choral anthem, Draw Us in the Spirit's Tether. A setting by prolific Lutheran composer Paul Manz will be heard during the early morning service communion time. A joyful rendering of Belgian composer Flor Peeters' Festal Voluntary closes the services.
At 11:00, the Chancel Choir offers a setting of the early American folk hymn How Firm A Foundation by Dan Forrest. The anonymous tune PROTECTION first appeared in Joseph Funk's A Compilation of Genuine Church Music in 1832 and later in Southern Harmony and Sacred Harp. The text was also written somewhat anonymously having been attributed to in John Rippon's A Selection of Hymns (1787) as simply by "K—". At 6:00, Bobby is joined by cantor Blair Carpenter, bassist Peter Strening, and flute player Doti Strening for an inspired service of worship and song. Organ works by 20th century French composer Jean Langlais will be presented this Sunday autumn morning. Blind from the age of two, Langlais still managed to acquire great acclaim as an organ and choral composer, improviser, and concert artist. He was appointed to the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde, Paris in 1945, a post he kept for over forty years whose predecessors included César Franck and Charles Tournemire. In the same year, his collection of Nine Pieces was published, including several miniatures, "songs," depicting specific affects such as sorrow and quiet joy. This Sunday, we will hear the plaintive and otherworldly Song of Peace and the mystical yet triumphant Song of Joy. For the 9:00 a.m. communion time, a selection from Langlais' 24 Pieces (1934-36), Prélude modal. The music of Jean Langlais is characterized by his love of Gregorian Chant and complex striking harmonies with shifting modalities, as will be heard in the previous selection. The Chancel Choir will offer another "song" as well, A Song of Community by John Ferguson. Conducted by Amy Welsh, the work is a five-verse hymn anthem (tune of Wareham), accompanied by organ and The Plymouth Ringers, which will culminate with the choir and you, the congregation, singing the final verse together. Additionally, the Youth Bells will offer Arnold Sherman's Jubilee! led by Director Kathee Houser.
At 6:00 p.m., Bobby is joined by the now familiar talents of Blair Carpenter (cantor), Alan Skowron (guitar), and Peter Strening (bass) for another excursion into this early evening alternative worship experience. |
Details
|