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Program notes - A Mighty Fortress |
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The title of this concert, “A Mighty Fortress,” certainly raises to mind the great German chorale “Ein Feste Burg.” Because the chorale does not actually appear in any of the four main works on this program I might possibly be criticized for raising false expectations, so I have added an audience-participation rendition of the hymn, which is found in the hymnal in your pew (#688). My intention, however, was to engender thoughts of music that was inspired by mighty edifices – spiritual fortresses, as it were – such as cathedrals and churches with battlements and crenellations, metaphors for God’s protection. The pipe organ often strengthens this impression, to me – a mighty instrument barely kept under wraps by stone walls and wooden cases, alternately growling or thundering – close to what my imagination of God’s voice is. Hence, the three settings of Psalm 90, “Lord, thou hast been our refuge,” sprang to mind, each calling for organ, and Charles Ives adding bells to his setting. Ives does not specify what kind of bells, so I showed the score to the director of the orchestra at Metro State College, Brandon Matthews, for his opinion. His analysis was that the parts could be played by two persons on two sets of orchestral chimes and a gong, and it is this configuration that you are hearing this evening, played by two of Metro State’s finest percussion students. The bells are to imitate distant church bells, and, typical for Ives, they bear no harmonic or rhythmic relation to one another, thus providing for the kind of random, aleatoric effect he so much enjoyed. The Bairstow and Vaughan Williams are more typical “big” church works, with pealing organ and high-soaring choir, and sure to please. The second half of the concert consists of a single work by Herbert Howells (1892-1983), his Missa Aedis Christi. When commissioned to write a liturgical work by an English cathedral, Howells enjoyed drawing his inspiration from the architecture of these various locations, tailoring the work to the atmosphere and acoustics of each space. His Missa Aedis Christi, written for Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, is one of his least-performed liturgical works, although now that I am familiar with it, I cannot understand why. Perhaps inspired by the sheer ancientness of this cathedral and its plethora of Medieval monuments (it is England’s smallest cathedral, and one of its oldest, and doubles as Christ Church College’s chapel), Howells employs a strong dose of Lydian-mode harmonies here, harking back to an earlier time and sound. Although possible to be performed strictly as an
a cappella Mass, Howells added an optional organ part to the Credo and
Gloria. Whether this was because he felt these movements lacked “punch,” or because of criticisms from others, or even because they were considered too difficult to perform without an accompaniment, I do not know. But as I considered performing them with or without the organ part, I quickly determined that the organ parts added a great deal to these two movements’ overall effect, and hence decided to include them. We perform the mass movements in the order that they appear in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer – hence, the
Gloria, which normally comes second, is last. While the Gloria has been restored to its historical place in the modern Anglican liturgy, one must admit that putting the
Gloria at the end is a very effective way to end a concert! Timothy J.
Krueger © 2011 Timothy J. Krueger |