God is gone up – Gerald Finzi (1901 – 1956)

Gerald Finzi was one of Britain’s most distinguished vocal and choral composers of the twentieth century. Ralph Vaughan Williams acted as a mentor during Finzi’s early career and helped him to obtain a teaching position at the Royal Academy of Music from 1930 – 33. In 1951, Finzi discovered that he was suffering from a type of leukemia that gave him less than ten years to live. This did not deter his creative efforts; later that same year he wrote a set of three choral pieces, of which this is the second.

Originally written for SATB chorus, string orchestra and organ, this piece premiered on St. Cecilia’s Day (November 22) in 1951 with organ accompaniment and has become a staple of the choral repertoire in that version. Edward Taylor (1646 – 1729), a British-American Puritan poet, based his original text on Psalm 24:7, Psalm 47:5-6 and Philippians 2:9. The St. James’ Choir last sang this piece on Ascension Day in 2017.

“God is gone up with a triumphant shout:
The Lord with sounding trumpets’ melodies:
Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praises out,
Unto our King sing praise seraphic-wise!
Lift up your heads, ye lasting doors, they sing,
And let the King of Glory enter in.

Methinks I see Heaven’s sparkling courtiers fly
In flakes of glory down, him to attend,
And hear heart-cramping notes of melody
Surround his chariot as it did ascend:
Mixing their music, making ev’ry string
More to enravish, as they this tune sing.

God is gone up…”

The head that once was crowned with thorns – text: Thomas Kelly (1769 – 1854) / music: Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1673 – 1707)

Click: https://youtu.be/r-oTehABJK8

Based on Hebrews 2:9, this hymn by Thomas Kelly was published in 1820. The renowned hymnologist Erik Routley considered it “the greatest English hymn.” The Irishman Kelly, a man of great learning and considerable means, was the son of a judge and destined for a career in law. Instead, he became a noted preacher who was nonetheless prohibited by his bishop from preaching because of his “methodistical activities”. The tune sung here, ST MAGNUS, is the one most frequently associated with this hymn. It was written by Jeremiah Clarke, the composer of the famous “Trumpet Voluntary”. This tune was first published in 1707 as the setting for a metrical version of Psalm 117. It is named for the church of St. Magnus the Martyr, near the old London Bridge. It is sung in this recording by the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, under the direction of the late Sir David Willcocks. Although no attribution is given for the descant on the last verse, there’s a very good chance Willcocks himself wrote it.

“The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now:
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty victor’s brow.

The highest place that heaven affords
Is his, is his by right,
The King of kings and Lord of lords,
And heaven’s eternal light;

The joy of all who dwell above,
The joy of all below,
To whom he manifests his love,
And grants his name to know.

To them the cross, with all its shame.
With all its grace is given:
Their name an everlasting name,
Their joy the joy of heaven.

They suffer with their Lord below,
They reign with him above,
Their profit and their joy to know
The mystery of his love.

The cross he bore is life and health,
Though shame and death to him;
His people’s hope, his people’s wealth,
Their everlasting theme.”

Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn (BWV 630) – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)

Click: https://youtu.be/W64eD4o-STY

The hymn Heut’ triumphiret Gottes Sohn (Today God’s Son triumphs) appeared first in a Moravian hymnal published in 1591, where it was attributed to Kaspar Stolzhagen, a Lutheran pastor. Bach uses the melody in this piece for organ from his set ofchorale-preludes known as the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book), his unfinished collection of 46 organ chorales, originally intended as a chorale cycle of 164 pieces to cover the liturgical year.While for the most part this hymn for Eastertide exults in Christ’s triumph over death, this organ setting is often played at Ascension. The pedal subject, as Albert Schweitzer pointed out, is almost ferocious in its representation of the risen Christ spurning his foes, as though he were treading a wine press.

Gerald Harder

Messe cum jubilo (Opus 11): Kyrie – Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

https://youtu.be/BucmJGj9a7Y

As I have noted here previously, Maurice Duruflé was an introspective and highly self-critical musician. As a result, he only published fourteen works in his lifetime. As a boy, Duruflé was a chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School, and the choral plainsong tradition at Rouen became a strong and lasting influence. He completed the Messe cum Jubilo for baritone chorus, solo baritone, orchestra and organ in 1966. The work gets its name from the plainsong Mass upon which it is based, Mass IX “Cum Jubilo”, a setting traditionally used for feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Duruflé scored three versions of the “Cum Jubilo”: the original version for full orchestra (1966), a version with organ solo accompaniment (1967), and a reduced orchestral version (1971).

Duruflé uses two ways of enhancing the Gregorian text, either entrusting it to the baritone choir, while the orchestra (organ) is limited to the enrichment of a modal background, or the orchestra (organ) is prominent with the plainchant, the voices developing the material on the basis of the chant. In this way the work becomes somewhat of a dialogue between choir and organ. It happens to be the favourite Mass setting of PJ Janson, our Assistant Organist, who plays its accompaniment so beautifully. The tenors and basses of the St. James’ Choir would have sung this work at Mass last Sunday, May 10, as a means of honouring Our Lady in this special month.

Kyrie eleison.

Christe eleison.

Kyrie eleison.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

If ye love me – Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

https://youtu.be/y0NPE1573WU

The life of Thomas Tallis is a mirror of the musical effects of the Reformation in England. He served in the Chapel Royal for some forty 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 Edward VI (1547-1553) it was mandated that services be sung in English, and that choral music be brief and succinct – “to each syllable a plain and distinct note.” If Ye Love Me is the 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 repeated.

Much loved by choirs, this motet is a setting of the first three verses of today’s Gospel reading from John 14. Our choir would have sung it this Sunday as the communion motet. The text here is taken from William Tyndale’s translation of the Bible, which was in common use in the Church of England during the English Reformation, a passage in which Jesus tells his disciples of his impending death and ascension, but at the same time reassures them – and us! – with the promise of the Holy Spirit.

If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter,
that he may ‘bide with you forever;
E’en the Sp’rit of truth.

Gerald Harder

Music for Ascension Sunday, May 24, 2020

Music for the Sixth Sunday of Easter — May 17, 2020

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