Church Notes

Lutheran chorales (many of which have their origins in Roman Catholic plainchant) form a large part of the modern Protestant hymn repertoire. In our Pilgrim Hymnal over seventy hymns have melodies that were known and used by Bach and his contemporaries. Many remain as familiar to the congregations today as they were in the sixteenth century. Setting of the melodies were used in all forms of church music both vocal and instrumental.

The plainchant hymn Veni, redemptor gentium was written in the fourth century BC by St. Ambrose of Milan, to be used during Advent. It was one of the many Latin texts translated by Martin Luther in 1524 for inclusion in his Etlich cristlich Lider Lobgesang und Psalm, the first Lutheran hymnal. The melody for the hymn is adapted from the plainchant to fit the German translation Nun komm der Heiden Heiland. The most famous settings of the text are probably the two cantatas by J.S. Bach, written for use on the first Sunday in Advent, though over 50 composers have set the melody in one form or another.

As an introit, I have assembled three versions of the first verse in Latin chant, German chorale, and English to show the evolution of the hymn over a period of nearly two thousand years. The anthem is an elegant setting of the same text -- but to a different German melody -- by Praetorius (who is most famous to modern audiences for setting the Christmas carol Lo how a rose e'er blooming), and the choral response will be an English translation of the final chorale from Bach's Cantata 62.

The organ prelude this morning is an ornate setting by Pachelbel in the form of a chorale partita, which is a set of variations. The communion music will be two fairly straightforward settings; one by Scheidt with the melody played on the organ pedals, the other by Vetter in the form of a short fugue. The offertory and postlude are two very different setting by Bach, the first a fugue played on organ, and the second a highly decorated yet solemn setting arranged for the piano by the virtuoso Romantic pianist Ferruccio Busoni.

Notes for Christmas Eve

Organ Preludes:

J.S. Bach: Pastorale BWV 590 (all services)

I. Alla Siciliana

II. Allemande

III. Aria

IV. Alla Gigue

J.S. Bach: In dulci jubilo BWV 729 (5:00pm, 7:00pm)

Carol Sing: Once in royal David's City; The first Nowell; While shepherds watched their flocks by night (5:00pm, 7:00pm)

Anthems:

Gustav Holst: Christmas Day (5:00pm)

Good King Wenceslas (arr. R. Jacques) (7:00pm)

Offertory:

Alexandre Guilmant: Offertoire II sur deux Noëls (Chantons, je vous prie, Noël hautement; Le Messie vient de naître)* (5:00pm, 7:00pm)

Adolphe Adam: O Holy Night (Cantique de Noël) (11:00pm)

Communion: Jean-François Dandrieu: Noëls (11:00pm)

I. Le Roy des Cieux vient de Naître

II. A minuit fut fait un Reveil

*"Sing loudly, I pray you, 'Noel'," and "The Messiah comes to be born."

It can be said without reservation that J.S. Bach was the greatest composer of organ music in the Baroque era, and quite possibly of all time. This evening's preludes give a view of two styles that may be a bit less familiar, but are still exquisite in their detail and overall impression.

The Pastorale is in the form of a four movement organ sonata. The first is a Siciliana, a dance in 12/8 time imitating shepherd's music. Bach used a similar piece in his Christmas Oratorio, and Handel placed a Pastoral Symphony before the words "there were shepherds abiding in the fields" in the Messiah. The second movement is delicate and stately Allemande (a German dance), possibly depicting the march of the Magi, and the third is a serpentine aria for a reed stop over simple chords in the bass. This movement has an almost Eastern feel to it, again representative of the three Magi. The fourth and final movement is a Gigue in the form of a fugue, a typical closing for any baroque sonata.

In dulci jubilo is better known to us as Good Christian Men Rejoice and it is featured in both forms during the 5:00pm service. Bach gives it an ornate setting as he might have improvised it at the organ. In fact, the New Bach Edition gives it in a kind of shorthand (probably how Bach notated it for himself) as well as being written out in modern notation.

Holst weaves together this melody along with two other English carols -- God rest ye merry gentlemen, The first Nowell, -- and an old French carol from Burgundy, in what he calls a "choral fantasy on old carols." It alternates between carols and textures, sometimes layering them on top of one another. Good Christian Men Rejoice returns over bells in the organ and calms into an alto solo promising salvation.

The anthem at the 7:00pm service is an arrangement of the English carol Good King Wenceslas by the organist Reginald Jacques for use at King's College, Cambridge in England. It is a unique version in that the accompaniment depicts the text vividly, ending with a cheerful descant for the sopranos.

In a similar way as Holst does with the English carols, Guilmant takes two French Noëls and weaves them together into an organ offertory. Guilmant was organist at La Trinité in Paris from 1871 to 1901, a position that was later held by the great French organist and composer Olivier Messiaen.

Though most of his 39 operas are now forgotten and his ballets are performed only occasionally, Adolphe Adam's O Holy Night (Cantique de Noël) has been popular since it was written in 1847. It is one of the most recorded of all carols and has been interpreted by everyone from opera singers (Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti, Renée Fleming, Maria Callas), jazz singers (Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James), choruses (The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Vienna Boys Choir), Broadway singers (Kristin Chenoweth, Sarah Brightman), crooners (Bing Crosby, Perry Como), popular singers (Whitney Houston, Kelly Clarkson, Josh Groban), pop groups (The Supremes, 'N Sync), country singers (Vince Gill, LeAnn Rimes, Martina McBride), to instrumental groups as far-ranging as the Empire Brass, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller. It was played on the violin on Christmas Eve 1906 by the Canadian inventor Reginald Fessenden in the first ever AM radio broadcast.

Jean-François Dandrieu first played for Louis XIV when he was five years old and held several important positions as an organist in Paris, including being one of the organists at the Chapel Royal. In the French tradition, he took folk Christmas pieces and set them for the organ. These two simple pieces are about Christmas night and anticipating the birth of Jesus Christ. The title of the first Le Roy des Cieux vient de Naître translates to "The King of Heaven comes to be born" and the second, A minuit fut fait un Reveil, is "At midnight, there will be an awakening."

Music Notes for February 10th

Prelude: Simple Gifts (Traditional Shaker, arr. Aaron Copland)

Introit: Soon Ah Will be Done (Spiritual, arr. William Dawson)

Anthem: Billie Holiday & Arthur Herzog: God Bless' the Child

Offertory: My Lord, What a Mornin' (Spiritual, arr. Harry T. Burleigh)

Response: Thomas A. Dorsey: God Be With You

Postlude: Antonín Dvorák: Largo from Symphony from The New World

This Sunday we examine the American Spiritual and some music inspired by it. The prelude is Aaron Copland's arrangement of the "Shaker Melody" Simple Gifts which he also used in his ballet Appalachian Spring.

The introit and offertory are traditional southern spirituals. Soon Ah Will be Done was arranged by William Dawson, one of the most important figures in the introduction of African-American music to the general population. The offertory, My Lord, What a Mornin' was most likely brought before the public or the first time by Harry T. Burleigh in his over 100 arrangements that still form the backbone of the spiritual choral repertoire.

Burleigh met Antonín Dvorák when he came to America and did a lot of the part copying for his New World symphony. It has been debated whether or not the famous English horn solo in the Largo was taken from an actual spiritual or if he Dvorák wrote his own melody in the style of those he had heard in America. Either way, the tune has been taken and used for a spiritual-style hymn called Goin' Home in the early part of the 20th century, which remains a favorite. As the postlude, I will play an organ transcription of the Largo.

Billie Holiday, one of the greatest forces in jazz singing, wrote the song God Bless' the Child with Arthur Herzog, jr., a composer little known but for his collaboration with her. This selection will be today's anthem. Holiday claims that the title comes from an argument with her mother over money, and the opening line "them that's got shall get, them that's not shall lose" is probably a paraphrase of Luke 19:26, from the Parable of the Ten Pounds: "I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." It is a gospel piece, but also very much in her own signature blues style.

Thomas A. Dorsey bears no relationship to the great swing bandleader Tommy Dorsey, though there are many false urban legends that the latter wrote the hymn Precious Lord instead of the former. Dorsey was known as "Georgia Tom" in his blues career but became a church music director after his wife died in childbirth in 1932. His hymn God Be With You is a popular benediction.

The Organ of The Congregational Church of Harvard, UCC

The organ was originally built in 1863 by George Stevens, and was renovated by the Andover Organ Company in 1965 as their opus R 69. Andover Organ has renovated many organs including the Walcker at Methuen Memorial Music Hall, the Hook & Hastings organs at First Parish in Lexington and at Goddard Chapel at Tufts University, as well as having built organs for the chapel at Philips Academy in Andover, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and as far away as San Bernadino, California.

The instrument is a fully mechanical tracker organ with 15 ranks of pipes on two manuals (56 keys each) and pedalboard (27 notes). The swell is enclosed and operates with an expression pedal. Its disposition is as follows:

Great:

16' Bourdon (from second C)

8' Hohlflöte

8' Open Diapason

4' Principal

4' Flute

2 2/3' Twelfth

2' Fifteenth

1 3/5' Tierce (from second C)

Swell to Great coupler

Swell (Enclosed):

8' Dulciana

8' Open Diapason

8' Stopped Diapason

8' Hautboy

4' Principal

2' Flageolet

Tremulant

Pedal:

16' Double Open Diapason

Swell to Pedal coupler

Great to Pedal coupler