Sunday, March 6, 2022
PASSIO
Julian Revie, organ
Karolina Wojteczko, mezzo-soprano
PASSIO
Julian Revie, organ
Karolina Wojteczko, mezzo-soprano
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Born: March 31, 1685, Eisenach, Germany
Died: July 28, 1750, Leipzig, Germany
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat," BWV 552 ("St. Anne")
Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685-1750) long career in German-speaking central Europe culminated with his move to Leipzig in 1723. The city was, at the time, a leading regional trade center, comparable to Hamburg or Frankfurt-am-Main. Leipzig's University numbered among the leading such institutions in Europe, and the city's main church, the church of St. Thomas, with its long tradition of outstanding musicians, was a center for Lutheran church music. Leipzig's wealthy merchant population and proximity to the princely court in Saxony meant that abundant patronage was available and that there was an audience for concerts.
Bach's "job" in Leipzig actually comprised several positions. As music director of the city and cantor at the church of St. Thomas, Bach was responsible for music at Leipzig's four churches; as Kapellmeister to the Saxon court in Dresden, he provided occasional pieces and religious music; and he also directed the Collegium musicum, which gave a series of public concerts at one of the city's coffee houses.
In a collection of 27 (or 3 x 3 x 3) pieces known as Clavierübung III, Johann Sebastian Bach sought to challenge his listeners with an intellectual study that Albert Schweitzer actually called a “mass for organ.” The substantial opening and finale of this “mass” are also often performed alone, catalogued as Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552.
Schweitzer further analyzed this three-part Prelude as representing the Holy Trinity: Father (symbolized by a dotted-eighth-note and sixteenth-note rhythm), Son (a more playful and simple idea), and Holy Ghost (a sinuous sixteenth-note melody). Similarly, each of the three sections of the five-voice triple Fugue may also symbolize the parts of the Trinity, although as a whole it is popularly dubbed “St. Anne” after the name of an English hymn, most commonly known with the text “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” which the main subject of the fugue serendipitously resembles.
Built upon Christian numerology, the third book of Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685-1750) Clavierübung may have aspired to be more a Mass for organ than a collection of related smaller pieces. It opens and closes with what has since been commonly catalogued as the Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552.
The three-part Prelude follows the triple symbolism of the Holy Trinity, with the Father as a dotted rhythm; Son as a lighter, simpler idea; and Holy Ghost as the all-encompassing 16th-note melody. The five-voice triple Fugue is popularly referred to as “St. Anne,” because its subject sounds similar to an English hymn tune with that name.
When, in 1739, Bach published his Clavierübung Part III, he flanked a miscellaneous collection of liturgical settings, chorale preludes and duos with a monumental prelude at the beginning of the volume and tripartite fugue at the end. The Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV552 were not always connected to each other. Although in the same key, and indeed copied as separate works in the eighteenth century, it was only in the early nineteenth, and with the specific advocacy of Mendelssohn, that they were performed in sequence as a pair.
The prelude, one of the two largest Bach wrote for organ, is a masterly mixture of stately French and concertante Italian elements, while the fugue (treating the three subjects successively in three different meters and in three different combinations) is based on a theme in common currency whose fortuitous closeness to Croft’s hymn tune ‘St Anne’ has attracted that name (in English-speaking countries at least); Bach, if he knew the tune at all, might have come across it in Handel’s use of it in the Chandos Anthem ‘O praise the Lord with one consent’.
Volume Three of the Clavierübung is laden with references to the number three, symbolic of the Holy Trinity. Throughout this work Bach paid particular attention and tribute to Martin Luther’s Catechism. Many of the Catechism Chorale Preludes were written for manualiter (works for manual only) while others indicate organo pleno con pedale (works for organ with pedal).
The volume opens with the Praeludium, which is cast in three primary sections. The opening statement, with its massive vertical structures and dotted rhythms, will return briefly in the middle movement and also provide some of the closing material. The second section, which is gentler in nature, is stated twice and leads into a contrapuntal dialogue that displays Bach’s great penchant for fugal exposition.
The Fugue, which closes Clavierübung III, is also in three parts that are separate and distinct styles as well. It has carried a ‘nickname’ for many years of “St. Anne” due to the close proximity in melodic content to William Croft’s (1678 – 1727) hymn tune of 1708, “O God our Help in ages past”, text (1719) by Isaac Watts (1674 – 1748). The Fugue’s middle section contains a more rapidly moving subject that combines with the opening fugue theme; the third and concluding part features a jaunty, dance-like subject that also includes melodic references to the opening fugue material.
Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott
Matthäus Passion, BWV 244. No. 39
Sometime in the Middle Ages, Christian churches began observing Holy Week by retelling the story of Christ's crucifixion in music. Those beginnings were simple—Bible verses set to chant melodies—but eventually they would culminate in one of the most ambitious musical compositions of all time.
When J. S. Bach came to write his St. Matthew Passion in the 1720s, the Passion, as a musical form, had grown to allow orchestra, choirs, and non-scriptural choruses and arias. But even by the standard of the Baroque Passion, the Passion According to St. Matthew is exceptional for its musical richness and its grand scope.
Dramatically, the point of view shifts continuously, from the narrative of the Evangelist, to the actual words of Jesus and his disciples, to reflections that speak for the individual believer. In Bach's hands, the effect that the Passion gives is a single, sustained, somber meditation—appropriate for a work that was first performed as part of a church service.
The arias meditate on and react to the events of the Passion, interpret the Gospel texts, and represent the responses and thoughts of the soul. The arias are interspersed between sections of the Gospel text. They are sung by soloists with a variety of instrumental accompaniments, typical of the oratorio style. Obbligato instruments are equal partners with the voices, as was customary in late Baroque arias. In the arias Bach often uses word painting, as in "Buß und Reu," where the flutes start playing a raindrop-like staccato as the alto sings of drops of tears falling and in "Blute nur," where the line about the serpent is set with a twisting melody.
In the opening movement of Part Two, the alto soloist sings of looking anxiously for Jesus, who is missing, and for whom she fears the worst. The chorus sings words from the Song of Songs, offering to help her in her search.
The first scene of Part Two is an interrogation at the High Priest Caiaphas, where two witnesses report Jesus having spoken about destroying the temple and building it again in three days. Jesus is silent to this, but his answer to the question if he is the Son of God is considered a sacrilege calling for his death. Outside in the courtyard Peter is told three times that he belongs to Jesus and denies it three times; then the cock crows. Peter remembers this, and flees, “weeping bitterly.” This is followed by the heart- wrenching aria “Erbarme dich” (Have mercy), in which the soloist asks that these tears bring forgiveness for this faithlessness, the violin obbligato weeping along with the soloist.
Aching beauty and profound sadness coexist in this music, along with a mix of other emotions which transcend description and literal meaning. The Polish poet and novelist Adam Zagajewski has called Erbarme Dich “the center and the synthesis of western music.” The violinist Yehudi Menuhin called the aria’s lamenting solo violin obligato “the most beautiful piece of music ever written for the violin.”
Chorale Prelude – Erbarm Dich Mein, O Herre Gott, BWV 721
Bach and Kuhnau, Erbarm dich mein (BWV 721) and Il tremore degl’Israliti
The Chorale "Erbarm’ dich mein, O Herre Gott" ("Lord God Have Mercy on Me") BWV 721 occupies a unique place in the canon of Bach organ chorales. The stately melody rises from a heavy, mournful bass line in a somewhat archaic style reminiscent of Johann Kuhnau. Bach was acquainted with the affable, highly cultivated Kuhnau, a lawyer as well as an organist and composer, and eventually succeeded him at Leipzig's St. Thomas church. The piece can thus be considered as both a musical tribute to Kuhnau’s art, and a prayer for the repose of his soul.
One of the most unusual compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach, perhaps you might even call it unique, as it is literally one of a kind is the choral prelude to the choral “Erbarm dich mein, O Herre Gott”. It is unusual in Bach’s oeuvre in that it does not contain any form of counterpoint, and sets the chorale melody against an accompaniment of repeated eight note chords.
A possible model for Bach for this unusual composition was one of the Biblical Sonatas composed by his predecessor as Thomas cantor in Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau. Specifically the first biblical sonata that pictures the fight between David and Goliath. To depict the reaction of the Israelis when they first see Goliath, Kuhnau uses the melody of “Aus tiefer Noth, schrei ich zu Dir” set against a same accompaniment of quavers. Kuhnau writes above this part: “il tremore degli Israliti, alla comparsa del gigante, e la lore preghiera fatta a dio” (the tremor of the Israelis, at the appearance of the giant, and their prayer to god).
When you play through Kuhnau’s work it is intriguing to note the many similarities with BWV 721. At the same time, it does not reach the same emotional depth as BWV 721. The means are the same, yet the effect is different. It shows that Bach learned from his contemporaries and predecessors and he did not hesitate to incorporate their best ideas in his own work. At the same time, it shows the genius of Bach, that with the same means, he reaches far more intense results.
MAURICE DURUFLÉ
Born: January 11, 1902 in Louviers, Eure, France
Died: June 16, 1986 in Paris, France
PIE JESU
According to his own account, on Easter Day in 1912 at the age of ten, Maurice Duruflé’s father took him to the High Mass in Rouen, not far from their hometown of Louviers. Duruflé had been steeped in the liturgy and music of the Catholic Church since birth but was deeply moved by the beauty and simplicity of the plainsong (or “Gregorian chant”) he heard sung in the gothic cathedral. Little did he know that he would be staying in Rouen for an extended period. Having enrolled young Maurice in the choir school several days earlier, his father wished him well and returned home, leaving him in the care of the school’s choirmaster. Years later, Duruflé wrote, “I needn’t say what my reaction was. That night in the dormitory I sobbed on my bed.” Duruflé soon adapted to his new life and thrived. Looking back on the episode he said, “a great page opened in front of me.”
At Rouen he was immersed in the medieval language of the church and exposed to the modally inflected harmonies of composers such as Gabriel Faure and Paul Dukas, who would become his teacher. He continued his piano and organ studies and, beginning in 1919, traveled regularly to Paris where he studied with the great organist and composer Charles Tournemire. With Tournemiere he prepared for his entrance examination at the Paris Conservatoire which required an extended organ improvisation on plainsong melodies. In 1927 he was named assistant to Louis Vierne, organist at Notre Dame, and later became organist at the Parisian church of St-Etienne-du-Mont, a position he held until the end of his life. He became Professor of Harmony at the Paris Conservatory in 1943 and remained there until 1970.
Duruflé’s masterpiece, the Requiem, began as an unfinished organ suite based on the plainchants for the Mass for the Dead. Through the encouragement of Marcel Dupré and Durand publishers, he transformed it into his Requiem. Completed in 1947, it was dedicated to the memory of the composer’s father.
Of the Requiem, Duruflé wrote, “This Requiem is entirely composed on the Gregorian themes of the Mass for the Dead. Sometimes the musical text was completely respected, the orchestral part intervening only to support or comment on it, sometimes I was simply inspired by it or left it completely, for example in certain developments suggested by the Latin text, notably in the Domine Jesu Christe, the Sanctus, and the Libera me. As a general rule, I have above all sought to enter into the particular style of the Gregorian Themes.
Like the requiems of Brahms and Fauré, Duruflé chose to adhere closely to the central themes of the requiem mass: peace, light, hope, and rest. Consequently, he omits all but the final verses of the dramatic and terrifying sequence Dies Irae and includes only the Pie Jesu. Highly compared to Fauré’s Requiem, Duruflé’s Requiem takes a slightly altered course upon the arrival of the Pie Jesu. Duruflé seems to prefer the warmer and richer sound of the mezzo-soprano to the boy soprano, since the music takes the singer into moments of dramatic expression. In this movement, a cello soloist has a dialogue with the singer, sometimes echoing a motive but more often responding independently to the emotion of the vocal line.
MACK WILBERG
Born: 1955, Price, Utah, USA
How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place
Wilberg is a highly gifted composer, and himself a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Dr. Luke Howard notes how the Requiem relates to that of Johannes Brahms in his A German Requiem wherein ... the "new Requiem continues a long-standing tradition of works that seek to create a more generalized expression of grief, hope, and comfort, often incorporating non-liturgical texts as commentary. Brahms's Requiem is an obvious example of this practice."
The Wilberg Requiem is in seven parts, given partly in English and partly in Latin. Influenced by Vaughan Williams and Finzi, this work creates a reflective atmosphere. It is an entirely traditionally conceived piece of music with no clashing harmonic surprises, beautifully blended with orchestra and chorus, and in three sections with two soloists, a mezzo-soprano and baritone. To paraphrase what writer Luke Howard points out, requiems "have sometimes fulfilled a ... function [of] providing solace and potently expressing our deepest yearnings for peace." If, indeed, that was Wilberg's aim, he achieves it with this outstanding new work.
LOUIS VIERNE
Born: October 8, 1870, Poitiers, France
Died: June 2, 1937, Paris, France
Louis Victor Jules Vierne was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a Messe solennelle for choir and two organs. He toured Europe and the United States as a concert organist.
In 2020, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the composer and organist Louis Vierne whose life was not only marked by artistic success but also by health problems and personal misfortune. Above all, his impaired sight from birth would prove to be a heavy burden throughout his life which he countered through his active career as an organist and composer. Works for the organ predominate in his extensive oeuvre, but also his vocal works are of great appeal.
Louis Vierne was born almost blind; this perhaps heightened his sensitivity towards musical impressions. According to his own memory, he experienced his first deeply emotional encounter with the sound of the church organ at the tender age of six. He received tuition in piano and organ at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (National Institute for Young Blind People) in Paris and an operation helped to improve his sight.
He was deeply impressed by César Franck’s skills on the organ and became his pupil at the Paris Conservatoire. Unfortunately, the tuition with the fatherly friend and patron came to an abrupt end after four weeks when Franck died following a road accident. His successor Charles-Marie Widor subsequently appointed Vierne as his assistant in his post in Saint-Sulpice in Paris with the great Cavaillé-Coll organ in 1892. The organ was one of the largest of its time and proved to be a great source of inspiration for Vierne. When Widor gave up his organ class to be appointed as professor of composition in 1896, Vierne was passed over as his successor to his great chagrin. He was however fortunate to be selected by a prominent jury as the organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1900.
After a number of contented years, Vierne endured much misfortune over the following decades which took a great toll on his health: in 1906, a broken leg with complications forced him to give up playing the organ for six months and completely relearn his pedal technique. His marriage to the singer Arlette Taskin in 1899 ended in divorce in 1909. What is more, his eyesight became further impaired by glaucoma and he was forced to seek treatment in Switzerland in 1916. He endured the painful loss of his son during World War I; and his beloved organ in Notre-Dame also suffered extensive damage during the war. Vierne collected funds for its renovation on concert tours through Europe, Canada and the USA during the 1920s. Although he was much celebrated as a composer and organist on these tours on which he was accompanied by the singer Madeleine Richepin, he generally found travelling a great strain.
The final years of Vierne’s life were burdened by his decreasing eyesight, other physical infirmities and depression. During an organ recital in Notre-Dame on 2 June 1937, he suffered a stroke and died immediately. The funeral service was held only a few days later in the same location – the organ was swathed in black and remained silent.
Organ symphonies, vocal music and chamber music
Vierne‘s six organ symphonies representing the summit of this genre’s glorious French tradition are without doubt the most significant works in the composer’s output for organ. Vierne’s compositional role models – chiefly Franck and Widor – are clearly audible in these compositions which also contain hints of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Alongside beautiful melodic invention in the slow movements and the occasionally startling and bizarre ideas in the Scherzos and Intermezzos, it is primarily chromaticism which characterizes Vierne’s style. All six symphonies are in minor keys and the later compositions are characterized by a dark and gloomy atmosphere. Vierne did have plans for a seventh symphony in C major, but the work was never written.
Liturgical vocal music plays only a small role in Vierne’s oeuvre. The Messe solennelle was composed in 1899 during a comparatively positive phase of his life and can be counted among the highlights of Late Romantic organ masses. His only other works for choir are the very early composed works Tantum ergo op. 2 and Ave Maria op. 3 (1886) as well as the much later Cantique à Saint Louis de Gonzague (1926), and for solo voice the Ave verum op. 15 (1899), and Les Angélus op. 57 (1929).
Alongside organ works and church music, Vierne’s compositional output also includes numerous works of different genres. He composed the symphonic legend Praxinoé op. 22 for soloists, choir and orchestra in 1906, the symphonic poem Psyché on a text by Victor Hugo op. 33 in 1914 and a whole series of other works for orchestra and chamber music ensembles. The dedications in many of his compositions reflect the events of Vierne’s life: the Piano Quintet op. 42 (1917/18) was composed in memory of his son Jacques who died in World War I; four piano pieces entitled Solitude op. 44 were dedicated to his brother René, another victim of the war. A number of works including the five Songs on Texts by Charles Baudelaire op. 45 (1924) were dedicated to his friend and companion Madeleine Richepin. Finally, each movement of the Messe basse pour les défunts (Low Mass for the Dead) op. 62 for organ (1934) is written in memory of a deceased friend who was either blind or a helper of the blind. As Vierne had almost completely lost his remaining sight by the time of its composition, he notated the work in Braille and subsequently dictated it to Madeleine Richepin. This would be his final composition.
Les Angélus Op. 57
Louis Vierne held the most prestigious organ post in France as titular organist of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death in 1937. Extolled for his improvisatory talent as well as his compositional skill, Vierne wrote six organ symphonies, which have become staples of the concert organ repertory. Les Angelus displays Vierne’s mature compositional style in which he employs small melodic units and extreme chromaticism. The three songs are settings of devotional poetry that meditate on the religious practice of the “Angelus,” which consists of prayers at 6:00 a.m., noon, and 6:00 p.m., often accompanied by the tolling of church bells.
Carillon De Westminster, Op. 54, No. 6
Carillon de Westminster, Opus 54, No. 6, is a piece written for organ by Louis Vierne. It constitutes the sixth piece in the third suite of Vierne's four-suite set 24 pieces de fantaisie, first published in 1927. Carillon de Westminster is in the key of D major, and is in compound triple time.
In “Carillon de Westminster,” a set of variations on the familiar “Westminster Quarters” clock-chime melody gradually thickens its harmony into a grandly cacophonous ending. There is some controversy as to whether Vierne inadvertently misquotes the melody or deliberately alters it to enhance its musicality.
An Exercise in Modal Interplay: Louis Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster
Jonathan Bezdegian – February 24, 2021
Louis Vierne’s “Carillon de Westminster” from the Troisième Suite, opus 54, of his 24 Pièces de Fantaisie is a favorite of organists and audiences alike. A seemingly obvious reason for the great popularity of this piece is due to the familiar “Big Ben” or “Grandfather Clock” theme. Interestingly, according to the research of Rollin Smith, a scholar of Vierne’s life and works, Vierne encountered this theme for the first time via a clock in the office of a clock shop owner in Le Locle, Switzerland, in 1916, and then, later, while on tour in England in 1924. These thematic encounters reached compositional fruition in the summer of 1927 in Luchon, France.
The initial reception of the “Carillon de Westminster” was positive. Soon after publication, Vierne publicly performed this piece three times, the first as a sortie at the closing of the Forty Hours Devotion at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, on November 29, 1927. “Vierne’s student, Henri Doyen recalled that it was ‘one of the rare times when I saw the clergy and faithful not sortie . . . [they] waited quietly until the end, and a number of people improvised a little ovation for the maître when he came down from the tribune.’”
On December 8, 1927, Vierne performed this work in concert for the dedication of “the restored organ in the Parisian church of Saint-Nicolaus-du-Chardonnet.” The reaction of those in attendance was favorable: “The work, which unmistakably bears the master’s signature, will undoubtedly become known to the whole musical world, just like the name of the composer . . . . The famous carillon joins together with a rhythmic figure that captivates the listener with its adamant periodical recurrence.”
Lastly, Vierne played the “Carillon de Westminster” in concert on May 3, 1928, at the Trocadéro Palace. Remarks were supportive, stating that the “Carillon de Westminster is certainly destined to enjoy great popularity among all organists.” Even after these initial performances, Vierne “played it constantly, including in 1932 for the inauguration of the restored Notre-Dame organ.” Clearly, this piece had a warm welcome, and these recounts foreshadowed current feelings, particularly the remarks after the Trocadéro concert. Now that the history is established, the harmonic analysis becomes the next area of focus.
While Vierne’s harmonic language was developing by the genesis of “Carillon de Westminster” in the summer of 1927, the tonalities created are approachable. There is extensive use of the Gregorian modes: Ionian starting on D and B-flat; Aeolian starting on D and B; and Mixolydian starting on B-flat, D, F-sharp, and G. Then, the addition of the codified modes of limited transposition: Mode 3 (T1 and T3) and Mode 1 (T1) that gives this piece (and many other works) Vierne’s signature sound. While the Gregorian modes offer listeners a familiar set of harmonies throughout the “Carillon de Westminster,” the harmonies encountered are not functional in the traditional sense. Thus, using a traditional, analytic approach will not yield a positive result.
Through research and analysis, one discovers that Vierne uses common tone modulations. It is the only practical procedure for finding similarities between each mode. There is evidence of tonic and dominant functions, but they are simple and mostly found at cadential points. After studying the various modes used in “Carillon de Westminster,” one finds several common tones between them, thus allowing relatively free movement from one mode to another. This is not an unusual circumstance given Vierne’s approach to conventional composition practices (Vierne wrote about his early experiences at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in his Mémoires): “After three years of instruction we wrote correctly, to be sure, but without the flexibility and freedom that make harmony an art. Later I had to work extremely hard to acquire a ‘pen’ in the modern sense of the word, and especially to enable me to teach in a really musical way.”12 These feelings continued during his studies with Franck, Widor, and Guilmant at the Paris Conservatoire. Fruition was attained when Vierne was given the opportunity to teach Guilmant’s organ class while he was away on tour in America in 1897. Vierne was elated: “I was a little uneasy about such a responsibility but, at the same time, delighted to be able to express unrestrained my own ideas on free improvisation. We would ‘whoop it up’ with modern harmonies.”
Thus, one concludes that Vierne uses a free form of modal writing in the context of the 24 Pièces de Fantaisie. In “Carillon de Westminster” (and in many other works from this collection), Vierne uses the Gregorian modes as a foundation for his writing. The modes of limited transposition, while in their infancy, serve as harmonic enrichment and color to the various themes Vierne creates and develops throughout the composition. One encounters all of these attributes within the first pages of “Carillon de Westminster.”
Jonathan Bezdegian earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from University of Washington, Seattle, in 2018. He is a lecturer in music and director of the organ scholar program at Assumption University, Worcester, Massachusetts. He also serves as director of liturgical music at Christ the King Parish in Worcester, Massachusetts, and is dean of the Worsceter Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Born: March 31, 1685, Eisenach, Germany
Died: July 28, 1750, Leipzig, Germany
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat," BWV 552 ("St. Anne")
Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685-1750) long career in German-speaking central Europe culminated with his move to Leipzig in 1723. The city was, at the time, a leading regional trade center, comparable to Hamburg or Frankfurt-am-Main. Leipzig's University numbered among the leading such institutions in Europe, and the city's main church, the church of St. Thomas, with its long tradition of outstanding musicians, was a center for Lutheran church music. Leipzig's wealthy merchant population and proximity to the princely court in Saxony meant that abundant patronage was available and that there was an audience for concerts.
Bach's "job" in Leipzig actually comprised several positions. As music director of the city and cantor at the church of St. Thomas, Bach was responsible for music at Leipzig's four churches; as Kapellmeister to the Saxon court in Dresden, he provided occasional pieces and religious music; and he also directed the Collegium musicum, which gave a series of public concerts at one of the city's coffee houses.
In a collection of 27 (or 3 x 3 x 3) pieces known as Clavierübung III, Johann Sebastian Bach sought to challenge his listeners with an intellectual study that Albert Schweitzer actually called a “mass for organ.” The substantial opening and finale of this “mass” are also often performed alone, catalogued as Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552.
Schweitzer further analyzed this three-part Prelude as representing the Holy Trinity: Father (symbolized by a dotted-eighth-note and sixteenth-note rhythm), Son (a more playful and simple idea), and Holy Ghost (a sinuous sixteenth-note melody). Similarly, each of the three sections of the five-voice triple Fugue may also symbolize the parts of the Trinity, although as a whole it is popularly dubbed “St. Anne” after the name of an English hymn, most commonly known with the text “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” which the main subject of the fugue serendipitously resembles.
Built upon Christian numerology, the third book of Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685-1750) Clavierübung may have aspired to be more a Mass for organ than a collection of related smaller pieces. It opens and closes with what has since been commonly catalogued as the Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552.
The three-part Prelude follows the triple symbolism of the Holy Trinity, with the Father as a dotted rhythm; Son as a lighter, simpler idea; and Holy Ghost as the all-encompassing 16th-note melody. The five-voice triple Fugue is popularly referred to as “St. Anne,” because its subject sounds similar to an English hymn tune with that name.
When, in 1739, Bach published his Clavierübung Part III, he flanked a miscellaneous collection of liturgical settings, chorale preludes and duos with a monumental prelude at the beginning of the volume and tripartite fugue at the end. The Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV552 were not always connected to each other. Although in the same key, and indeed copied as separate works in the eighteenth century, it was only in the early nineteenth, and with the specific advocacy of Mendelssohn, that they were performed in sequence as a pair.
The prelude, one of the two largest Bach wrote for organ, is a masterly mixture of stately French and concertante Italian elements, while the fugue (treating the three subjects successively in three different meters and in three different combinations) is based on a theme in common currency whose fortuitous closeness to Croft’s hymn tune ‘St Anne’ has attracted that name (in English-speaking countries at least); Bach, if he knew the tune at all, might have come across it in Handel’s use of it in the Chandos Anthem ‘O praise the Lord with one consent’.
Volume Three of the Clavierübung is laden with references to the number three, symbolic of the Holy Trinity. Throughout this work Bach paid particular attention and tribute to Martin Luther’s Catechism. Many of the Catechism Chorale Preludes were written for manualiter (works for manual only) while others indicate organo pleno con pedale (works for organ with pedal).
The volume opens with the Praeludium, which is cast in three primary sections. The opening statement, with its massive vertical structures and dotted rhythms, will return briefly in the middle movement and also provide some of the closing material. The second section, which is gentler in nature, is stated twice and leads into a contrapuntal dialogue that displays Bach’s great penchant for fugal exposition.
The Fugue, which closes Clavierübung III, is also in three parts that are separate and distinct styles as well. It has carried a ‘nickname’ for many years of “St. Anne” due to the close proximity in melodic content to William Croft’s (1678 – 1727) hymn tune of 1708, “O God our Help in ages past”, text (1719) by Isaac Watts (1674 – 1748). The Fugue’s middle section contains a more rapidly moving subject that combines with the opening fugue theme; the third and concluding part features a jaunty, dance-like subject that also includes melodic references to the opening fugue material.
Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott
Matthäus Passion, BWV 244. No. 39
Sometime in the Middle Ages, Christian churches began observing Holy Week by retelling the story of Christ's crucifixion in music. Those beginnings were simple—Bible verses set to chant melodies—but eventually they would culminate in one of the most ambitious musical compositions of all time.
When J. S. Bach came to write his St. Matthew Passion in the 1720s, the Passion, as a musical form, had grown to allow orchestra, choirs, and non-scriptural choruses and arias. But even by the standard of the Baroque Passion, the Passion According to St. Matthew is exceptional for its musical richness and its grand scope.
Dramatically, the point of view shifts continuously, from the narrative of the Evangelist, to the actual words of Jesus and his disciples, to reflections that speak for the individual believer. In Bach's hands, the effect that the Passion gives is a single, sustained, somber meditation—appropriate for a work that was first performed as part of a church service.
The arias meditate on and react to the events of the Passion, interpret the Gospel texts, and represent the responses and thoughts of the soul. The arias are interspersed between sections of the Gospel text. They are sung by soloists with a variety of instrumental accompaniments, typical of the oratorio style. Obbligato instruments are equal partners with the voices, as was customary in late Baroque arias. In the arias Bach often uses word painting, as in "Buß und Reu," where the flutes start playing a raindrop-like staccato as the alto sings of drops of tears falling and in "Blute nur," where the line about the serpent is set with a twisting melody.
In the opening movement of Part Two, the alto soloist sings of looking anxiously for Jesus, who is missing, and for whom she fears the worst. The chorus sings words from the Song of Songs, offering to help her in her search.
The first scene of Part Two is an interrogation at the High Priest Caiaphas, where two witnesses report Jesus having spoken about destroying the temple and building it again in three days. Jesus is silent to this, but his answer to the question if he is the Son of God is considered a sacrilege calling for his death. Outside in the courtyard Peter is told three times that he belongs to Jesus and denies it three times; then the cock crows. Peter remembers this, and flees, “weeping bitterly.” This is followed by the heart- wrenching aria “Erbarme dich” (Have mercy), in which the soloist asks that these tears bring forgiveness for this faithlessness, the violin obbligato weeping along with the soloist.
Aching beauty and profound sadness coexist in this music, along with a mix of other emotions which transcend description and literal meaning. The Polish poet and novelist Adam Zagajewski has called Erbarme Dich “the center and the synthesis of western music.” The violinist Yehudi Menuhin called the aria’s lamenting solo violin obligato “the most beautiful piece of music ever written for the violin.”
Chorale Prelude – Erbarm Dich Mein, O Herre Gott, BWV 721
Bach and Kuhnau, Erbarm dich mein (BWV 721) and Il tremore degl’Israliti
The Chorale "Erbarm’ dich mein, O Herre Gott" ("Lord God Have Mercy on Me") BWV 721 occupies a unique place in the canon of Bach organ chorales. The stately melody rises from a heavy, mournful bass line in a somewhat archaic style reminiscent of Johann Kuhnau. Bach was acquainted with the affable, highly cultivated Kuhnau, a lawyer as well as an organist and composer, and eventually succeeded him at Leipzig's St. Thomas church. The piece can thus be considered as both a musical tribute to Kuhnau’s art, and a prayer for the repose of his soul.
One of the most unusual compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach, perhaps you might even call it unique, as it is literally one of a kind is the choral prelude to the choral “Erbarm dich mein, O Herre Gott”. It is unusual in Bach’s oeuvre in that it does not contain any form of counterpoint, and sets the chorale melody against an accompaniment of repeated eight note chords.
A possible model for Bach for this unusual composition was one of the Biblical Sonatas composed by his predecessor as Thomas cantor in Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau. Specifically the first biblical sonata that pictures the fight between David and Goliath. To depict the reaction of the Israelis when they first see Goliath, Kuhnau uses the melody of “Aus tiefer Noth, schrei ich zu Dir” set against a same accompaniment of quavers. Kuhnau writes above this part: “il tremore degli Israliti, alla comparsa del gigante, e la lore preghiera fatta a dio” (the tremor of the Israelis, at the appearance of the giant, and their prayer to god).
When you play through Kuhnau’s work it is intriguing to note the many similarities with BWV 721. At the same time, it does not reach the same emotional depth as BWV 721. The means are the same, yet the effect is different. It shows that Bach learned from his contemporaries and predecessors and he did not hesitate to incorporate their best ideas in his own work. At the same time, it shows the genius of Bach, that with the same means, he reaches far more intense results.
MAURICE DURUFLÉ
Born: January 11, 1902 in Louviers, Eure, France
Died: June 16, 1986 in Paris, France
PIE JESU
According to his own account, on Easter Day in 1912 at the age of ten, Maurice Duruflé’s father took him to the High Mass in Rouen, not far from their hometown of Louviers. Duruflé had been steeped in the liturgy and music of the Catholic Church since birth but was deeply moved by the beauty and simplicity of the plainsong (or “Gregorian chant”) he heard sung in the gothic cathedral. Little did he know that he would be staying in Rouen for an extended period. Having enrolled young Maurice in the choir school several days earlier, his father wished him well and returned home, leaving him in the care of the school’s choirmaster. Years later, Duruflé wrote, “I needn’t say what my reaction was. That night in the dormitory I sobbed on my bed.” Duruflé soon adapted to his new life and thrived. Looking back on the episode he said, “a great page opened in front of me.”
At Rouen he was immersed in the medieval language of the church and exposed to the modally inflected harmonies of composers such as Gabriel Faure and Paul Dukas, who would become his teacher. He continued his piano and organ studies and, beginning in 1919, traveled regularly to Paris where he studied with the great organist and composer Charles Tournemire. With Tournemiere he prepared for his entrance examination at the Paris Conservatoire which required an extended organ improvisation on plainsong melodies. In 1927 he was named assistant to Louis Vierne, organist at Notre Dame, and later became organist at the Parisian church of St-Etienne-du-Mont, a position he held until the end of his life. He became Professor of Harmony at the Paris Conservatory in 1943 and remained there until 1970.
Duruflé’s masterpiece, the Requiem, began as an unfinished organ suite based on the plainchants for the Mass for the Dead. Through the encouragement of Marcel Dupré and Durand publishers, he transformed it into his Requiem. Completed in 1947, it was dedicated to the memory of the composer’s father.
Of the Requiem, Duruflé wrote, “This Requiem is entirely composed on the Gregorian themes of the Mass for the Dead. Sometimes the musical text was completely respected, the orchestral part intervening only to support or comment on it, sometimes I was simply inspired by it or left it completely, for example in certain developments suggested by the Latin text, notably in the Domine Jesu Christe, the Sanctus, and the Libera me. As a general rule, I have above all sought to enter into the particular style of the Gregorian Themes.
Like the requiems of Brahms and Fauré, Duruflé chose to adhere closely to the central themes of the requiem mass: peace, light, hope, and rest. Consequently, he omits all but the final verses of the dramatic and terrifying sequence Dies Irae and includes only the Pie Jesu. Highly compared to Fauré’s Requiem, Duruflé’s Requiem takes a slightly altered course upon the arrival of the Pie Jesu. Duruflé seems to prefer the warmer and richer sound of the mezzo-soprano to the boy soprano, since the music takes the singer into moments of dramatic expression. In this movement, a cello soloist has a dialogue with the singer, sometimes echoing a motive but more often responding independently to the emotion of the vocal line.
MACK WILBERG
Born: 1955, Price, Utah, USA
How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place
Wilberg is a highly gifted composer, and himself a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Dr. Luke Howard notes how the Requiem relates to that of Johannes Brahms in his A German Requiem wherein ... the "new Requiem continues a long-standing tradition of works that seek to create a more generalized expression of grief, hope, and comfort, often incorporating non-liturgical texts as commentary. Brahms's Requiem is an obvious example of this practice."
The Wilberg Requiem is in seven parts, given partly in English and partly in Latin. Influenced by Vaughan Williams and Finzi, this work creates a reflective atmosphere. It is an entirely traditionally conceived piece of music with no clashing harmonic surprises, beautifully blended with orchestra and chorus, and in three sections with two soloists, a mezzo-soprano and baritone. To paraphrase what writer Luke Howard points out, requiems "have sometimes fulfilled a ... function [of] providing solace and potently expressing our deepest yearnings for peace." If, indeed, that was Wilberg's aim, he achieves it with this outstanding new work.
LOUIS VIERNE
Born: October 8, 1870, Poitiers, France
Died: June 2, 1937, Paris, France
Louis Victor Jules Vierne was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a Messe solennelle for choir and two organs. He toured Europe and the United States as a concert organist.
In 2020, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the composer and organist Louis Vierne whose life was not only marked by artistic success but also by health problems and personal misfortune. Above all, his impaired sight from birth would prove to be a heavy burden throughout his life which he countered through his active career as an organist and composer. Works for the organ predominate in his extensive oeuvre, but also his vocal works are of great appeal.
Louis Vierne was born almost blind; this perhaps heightened his sensitivity towards musical impressions. According to his own memory, he experienced his first deeply emotional encounter with the sound of the church organ at the tender age of six. He received tuition in piano and organ at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (National Institute for Young Blind People) in Paris and an operation helped to improve his sight.
He was deeply impressed by César Franck’s skills on the organ and became his pupil at the Paris Conservatoire. Unfortunately, the tuition with the fatherly friend and patron came to an abrupt end after four weeks when Franck died following a road accident. His successor Charles-Marie Widor subsequently appointed Vierne as his assistant in his post in Saint-Sulpice in Paris with the great Cavaillé-Coll organ in 1892. The organ was one of the largest of its time and proved to be a great source of inspiration for Vierne. When Widor gave up his organ class to be appointed as professor of composition in 1896, Vierne was passed over as his successor to his great chagrin. He was however fortunate to be selected by a prominent jury as the organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1900.
After a number of contented years, Vierne endured much misfortune over the following decades which took a great toll on his health: in 1906, a broken leg with complications forced him to give up playing the organ for six months and completely relearn his pedal technique. His marriage to the singer Arlette Taskin in 1899 ended in divorce in 1909. What is more, his eyesight became further impaired by glaucoma and he was forced to seek treatment in Switzerland in 1916. He endured the painful loss of his son during World War I; and his beloved organ in Notre-Dame also suffered extensive damage during the war. Vierne collected funds for its renovation on concert tours through Europe, Canada and the USA during the 1920s. Although he was much celebrated as a composer and organist on these tours on which he was accompanied by the singer Madeleine Richepin, he generally found travelling a great strain.
The final years of Vierne’s life were burdened by his decreasing eyesight, other physical infirmities and depression. During an organ recital in Notre-Dame on 2 June 1937, he suffered a stroke and died immediately. The funeral service was held only a few days later in the same location – the organ was swathed in black and remained silent.
Organ symphonies, vocal music and chamber music
Vierne‘s six organ symphonies representing the summit of this genre’s glorious French tradition are without doubt the most significant works in the composer’s output for organ. Vierne’s compositional role models – chiefly Franck and Widor – are clearly audible in these compositions which also contain hints of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Alongside beautiful melodic invention in the slow movements and the occasionally startling and bizarre ideas in the Scherzos and Intermezzos, it is primarily chromaticism which characterizes Vierne’s style. All six symphonies are in minor keys and the later compositions are characterized by a dark and gloomy atmosphere. Vierne did have plans for a seventh symphony in C major, but the work was never written.
Liturgical vocal music plays only a small role in Vierne’s oeuvre. The Messe solennelle was composed in 1899 during a comparatively positive phase of his life and can be counted among the highlights of Late Romantic organ masses. His only other works for choir are the very early composed works Tantum ergo op. 2 and Ave Maria op. 3 (1886) as well as the much later Cantique à Saint Louis de Gonzague (1926), and for solo voice the Ave verum op. 15 (1899), and Les Angélus op. 57 (1929).
Alongside organ works and church music, Vierne’s compositional output also includes numerous works of different genres. He composed the symphonic legend Praxinoé op. 22 for soloists, choir and orchestra in 1906, the symphonic poem Psyché on a text by Victor Hugo op. 33 in 1914 and a whole series of other works for orchestra and chamber music ensembles. The dedications in many of his compositions reflect the events of Vierne’s life: the Piano Quintet op. 42 (1917/18) was composed in memory of his son Jacques who died in World War I; four piano pieces entitled Solitude op. 44 were dedicated to his brother René, another victim of the war. A number of works including the five Songs on Texts by Charles Baudelaire op. 45 (1924) were dedicated to his friend and companion Madeleine Richepin. Finally, each movement of the Messe basse pour les défunts (Low Mass for the Dead) op. 62 for organ (1934) is written in memory of a deceased friend who was either blind or a helper of the blind. As Vierne had almost completely lost his remaining sight by the time of its composition, he notated the work in Braille and subsequently dictated it to Madeleine Richepin. This would be his final composition.
Les Angélus Op. 57
Louis Vierne held the most prestigious organ post in France as titular organist of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death in 1937. Extolled for his improvisatory talent as well as his compositional skill, Vierne wrote six organ symphonies, which have become staples of the concert organ repertory. Les Angelus displays Vierne’s mature compositional style in which he employs small melodic units and extreme chromaticism. The three songs are settings of devotional poetry that meditate on the religious practice of the “Angelus,” which consists of prayers at 6:00 a.m., noon, and 6:00 p.m., often accompanied by the tolling of church bells.
Carillon De Westminster, Op. 54, No. 6
Carillon de Westminster, Opus 54, No. 6, is a piece written for organ by Louis Vierne. It constitutes the sixth piece in the third suite of Vierne's four-suite set 24 pieces de fantaisie, first published in 1927. Carillon de Westminster is in the key of D major, and is in compound triple time.
In “Carillon de Westminster,” a set of variations on the familiar “Westminster Quarters” clock-chime melody gradually thickens its harmony into a grandly cacophonous ending. There is some controversy as to whether Vierne inadvertently misquotes the melody or deliberately alters it to enhance its musicality.
An Exercise in Modal Interplay: Louis Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster
Jonathan Bezdegian – February 24, 2021
Louis Vierne’s “Carillon de Westminster” from the Troisième Suite, opus 54, of his 24 Pièces de Fantaisie is a favorite of organists and audiences alike. A seemingly obvious reason for the great popularity of this piece is due to the familiar “Big Ben” or “Grandfather Clock” theme. Interestingly, according to the research of Rollin Smith, a scholar of Vierne’s life and works, Vierne encountered this theme for the first time via a clock in the office of a clock shop owner in Le Locle, Switzerland, in 1916, and then, later, while on tour in England in 1924. These thematic encounters reached compositional fruition in the summer of 1927 in Luchon, France.
The initial reception of the “Carillon de Westminster” was positive. Soon after publication, Vierne publicly performed this piece three times, the first as a sortie at the closing of the Forty Hours Devotion at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, on November 29, 1927. “Vierne’s student, Henri Doyen recalled that it was ‘one of the rare times when I saw the clergy and faithful not sortie . . . [they] waited quietly until the end, and a number of people improvised a little ovation for the maître when he came down from the tribune.’”
On December 8, 1927, Vierne performed this work in concert for the dedication of “the restored organ in the Parisian church of Saint-Nicolaus-du-Chardonnet.” The reaction of those in attendance was favorable: “The work, which unmistakably bears the master’s signature, will undoubtedly become known to the whole musical world, just like the name of the composer . . . . The famous carillon joins together with a rhythmic figure that captivates the listener with its adamant periodical recurrence.”
Lastly, Vierne played the “Carillon de Westminster” in concert on May 3, 1928, at the Trocadéro Palace. Remarks were supportive, stating that the “Carillon de Westminster is certainly destined to enjoy great popularity among all organists.” Even after these initial performances, Vierne “played it constantly, including in 1932 for the inauguration of the restored Notre-Dame organ.” Clearly, this piece had a warm welcome, and these recounts foreshadowed current feelings, particularly the remarks after the Trocadéro concert. Now that the history is established, the harmonic analysis becomes the next area of focus.
While Vierne’s harmonic language was developing by the genesis of “Carillon de Westminster” in the summer of 1927, the tonalities created are approachable. There is extensive use of the Gregorian modes: Ionian starting on D and B-flat; Aeolian starting on D and B; and Mixolydian starting on B-flat, D, F-sharp, and G. Then, the addition of the codified modes of limited transposition: Mode 3 (T1 and T3) and Mode 1 (T1) that gives this piece (and many other works) Vierne’s signature sound. While the Gregorian modes offer listeners a familiar set of harmonies throughout the “Carillon de Westminster,” the harmonies encountered are not functional in the traditional sense. Thus, using a traditional, analytic approach will not yield a positive result.
Through research and analysis, one discovers that Vierne uses common tone modulations. It is the only practical procedure for finding similarities between each mode. There is evidence of tonic and dominant functions, but they are simple and mostly found at cadential points. After studying the various modes used in “Carillon de Westminster,” one finds several common tones between them, thus allowing relatively free movement from one mode to another. This is not an unusual circumstance given Vierne’s approach to conventional composition practices (Vierne wrote about his early experiences at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in his Mémoires): “After three years of instruction we wrote correctly, to be sure, but without the flexibility and freedom that make harmony an art. Later I had to work extremely hard to acquire a ‘pen’ in the modern sense of the word, and especially to enable me to teach in a really musical way.”12 These feelings continued during his studies with Franck, Widor, and Guilmant at the Paris Conservatoire. Fruition was attained when Vierne was given the opportunity to teach Guilmant’s organ class while he was away on tour in America in 1897. Vierne was elated: “I was a little uneasy about such a responsibility but, at the same time, delighted to be able to express unrestrained my own ideas on free improvisation. We would ‘whoop it up’ with modern harmonies.”
Thus, one concludes that Vierne uses a free form of modal writing in the context of the 24 Pièces de Fantaisie. In “Carillon de Westminster” (and in many other works from this collection), Vierne uses the Gregorian modes as a foundation for his writing. The modes of limited transposition, while in their infancy, serve as harmonic enrichment and color to the various themes Vierne creates and develops throughout the composition. One encounters all of these attributes within the first pages of “Carillon de Westminster.”
Jonathan Bezdegian earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from University of Washington, Seattle, in 2018. He is a lecturer in music and director of the organ scholar program at Assumption University, Worcester, Massachusetts. He also serves as director of liturgical music at Christ the King Parish in Worcester, Massachusetts, and is dean of the Worsceter Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.