"The Little Church Around the Corner"
One East 29th Street, New York
MUSIC NOTES:
Lent III - March 3, 2002
Composers whose works define an epoch in music history are often paired: Tallis and Byrd, Handel and Bach, Haydn and Mozart, Schubert and Schumann; yet a comparative study of the biographies, creative impulses, motivations and indeed the music of these paired composers often reveals more differences than similarities. Though neither name is as widely recognized as those above, a successful pairing might be made with Herbert Howells (1892-1983)and Healey Willan (1880-1968), even if their careers unfolded on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Howells taught at the Royal School of Music in London until very late in his life, as did Willan at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Both were firmly grounded from their youth in the traditions of Anglican church music, and both preferred to use the expanded tonal system as their compositional medium, avoiding the avant-garde experimentation which was rife during their lifetime. Both were distinguished organists and choral conductors, and composers of organ and choral music, with lively interests and remarkable compositional capabilities in other genres as well. (The organ prelude is a superb example of a Howells organ composition.) And both were possessed of the gifts of the poet: the ability through their art to express joy and sorrow, hope and serenity, and to induce others to share in these feelings as they experience this art.
In the Kyrie of Willan's Missa Brevis No. 2 in F Minor, the listener is drawn into a state of quiet submission before God, in a prayer that is as profound as it is simple, Kyrie eleison - Lord, have mercy. The prayer is uttered, unbroken and unembellished, three times, followed immediately by the more specific Christe eleison - Christ have mercy - also thrice repeated, followed again by a threefold repetition of the original Kyrie eleison, with a subtle change to a chord of F major at the end, suggesting hope and resolution, as opposed to the more ambiguous F minor chord which concluded the initial iteration. Similar techniques are used in the Agnus Dei, which resolves unexpectedly on a chord of F major at the conclusion of the phrase, grant us thy peace.
Howells' anthem Like as the Hart was written during the course of World War II. Its text, taken from the Coverdale translation of Psalm 42, verses 1 to 3, is the perfect vehicle to express the desperate longings of the soul as it faces the challenges of life in this world. Howells places this text in a highly poignant musical setting, with explicit instructions for a wide range of dynamics and varying distribution of voices. A searing intensity is reached at the mocking question, Where is now thy God? The midpoint of the anthem is marked by a firm statement of the key of E minor, with the final iteration of My tears have been my meat day and night. Using the same technique used by Willan in his Mass setting, Howells concludes his anthem on a chord of E major, lending a sense of quiet repose to the hope-filled question, When shall I come before the presence of God?
In the Kyrie of Willan's Missa Brevis No. 2 in F Minor, the listener is drawn into a state of quiet submission before God, in a prayer that is as profound as it is simple, Kyrie eleison - Lord, have mercy. The prayer is uttered, unbroken and unembellished, three times, followed immediately by the more specific Christe eleison - Christ have mercy - also thrice repeated, followed again by a threefold repetition of the original Kyrie eleison, with a subtle change to a chord of F major at the end, suggesting hope and resolution, as opposed to the more ambiguous F minor chord which concluded the initial iteration. Similar techniques are used in the Agnus Dei, which resolves unexpectedly on a chord of F major at the conclusion of the phrase, grant us thy peace.
Howells' anthem Like as the Hart was written during the course of World War II. Its text, taken from the Coverdale translation of Psalm 42, verses 1 to 3, is the perfect vehicle to express the desperate longings of the soul as it faces the challenges of life in this world. Howells places this text in a highly poignant musical setting, with explicit instructions for a wide range of dynamics and varying distribution of voices. A searing intensity is reached at the mocking question, Where is now thy God? The midpoint of the anthem is marked by a firm statement of the key of E minor, with the final iteration of My tears have been my meat day and night. Using the same technique used by Willan in his Mass setting, Howells concludes his anthem on a chord of E major, lending a sense of quiet repose to the hope-filled question, When shall I come before the presence of God?
