Music for Holy Cross

The Feast of the Holy Cross bears a special meaning for me; not only does it share a name with my alma mater, but it reminds me that we are six months past the celebration of the Passion on our liturgical calendar. On this day, we remember the Cross as a symbol of suffering and sacrifice, yet also as a beacon of redemption in our Christian faith.

Today’s organ prelude is a Toccata containing chromatic “dissonances and suspension,” played by our organ scholar, Connor Page. Kerll was a south-German composer who took great influence from the Italian free idiom of the seventeenth century, an improvised and often fantastic style that used musical device to move the emotions of the listener. A piece titled durezze e ligature is usually played very slow, as a multi-voice teture contains subtle changes in harmony and counterpoint that shift the entire chordal structure gradually yet poignantly. The slow, suspended dissonances and resolutions of this style were often used in pieces played during communion (elevation toccatas) to depict Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross.

The medieval hymn Vexilla Regis is most often associated with this feast day and is often reprised on Passion Sunday. Anton Bruckner’s setting is not unlike a toccata cromatica in that it averts establishing a clear key centre in the first few phrases, with chromatic motions that lead us to unexpected yet beautiful harmonic horizons. Throughout this push and pull, we sense an inter peace explained the text’s promise of salvation, the final phrase descending peacefully to the low range of each voice part, relating a sense of peace rather than combative victory.

–Abraham Ross

Solemn Mass takes place at St. James’ Anglican Church, Vancouver at 10:30 am every Sunday.