"The Little Church Around the Corner"
One East 29th Street, New York
MUSIC NOTES:
Pentecost - May 19, 2002
Throughout the ages, the hymn has had a strong popular appeal. Indeed the early Christian church often took a dim view of hymns, seeing them as vehicles for the sure and swift dissemination of unorthodox or heretical ideas. As late as the 15th century, Martin Luther, himself a hymn-writer, was aware of the power of hymns when he composed Ein feste Berg (A Mighty Fortress is our God), later known as the Battle Hymn of the Reformation. In the 19th century, a Roman Catholic hymn-writer counter-attacked with the march-like hymn Long Live the Pope.
The theology of the Holy Spirit has also had a popular appeal of its own across the centuries, so it is not surprising that hymns have long been part of the festival of Pentecost. Far from containing polemic, the splendid texts of the great Pentecost hymns (and sequences, which are a kind of hymn) such as Veni Creator Spiritus and Veni Sancte Spiritus were penned by such classical Christian scholars as Rabanus Maurus (776-856), Archbishop Stephen Langston (13th cent.) and Bishop John Cosin (1594-1672), one of the Caroline Divines whose members also included the poet George Herbert. The Gregorian Chant melodies of the early Pentecost hymns were adapted to the harmonized hymns that are widely sung in churches today, giving the festival of Pentecost an unusually strong and ancient hymnodic tradition. An extension of that tradition to the organ repertoire is heard in the prelude and postlude to today's service, a set of variations on the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus as composed by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986).
A wonderful example of the continuing power and beauty of the Pentecost hymn is found in Down Ampney by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). Many would consider this tune, named after the Gloucestershire village where he was born, as the most beautiful of all Vaughan Williams' hymn tunes. The text is the work of Bianco of Siena (d.1434), who belonged to a fraternity of preachers active in the cities of Italy and southern France in the late Middle Ages. Translated from the Italian by R.F. Littledale (1838-90), its poetical lyricism is amplified by Vaughan Williams' highly expressive melody.
Today's anthem, Veni Sancte Spiritus (K.47) is a setting of the second versicle of an antiphon in the Whitsunday Liturgy. It was composed as an exercise by Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) when he was 12 years old, under the tutelage of his father Leopold. It is a youthful work, with lively exchanges between solo and full choir and an exuberant Alleluia. The service setting is by Philip Stopford (b.1977), one of England's brilliant young organist-composers, written when he was a student at Keble College, Oxford. The music is highly angular in its melodic contours, and strong dissonances are used to propel the music forward. The Sanctus alternates between a static melodic line with much harmonic tension and passages that call to mind a peal of tower bells.
With the long and rich musical tradition of Pentecost Sunday, and with its overall theme of the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit, it is fitting that today's feast day is chosen as our annual recognition day for the choir.
The theology of the Holy Spirit has also had a popular appeal of its own across the centuries, so it is not surprising that hymns have long been part of the festival of Pentecost. Far from containing polemic, the splendid texts of the great Pentecost hymns (and sequences, which are a kind of hymn) such as Veni Creator Spiritus and Veni Sancte Spiritus were penned by such classical Christian scholars as Rabanus Maurus (776-856), Archbishop Stephen Langston (13th cent.) and Bishop John Cosin (1594-1672), one of the Caroline Divines whose members also included the poet George Herbert. The Gregorian Chant melodies of the early Pentecost hymns were adapted to the harmonized hymns that are widely sung in churches today, giving the festival of Pentecost an unusually strong and ancient hymnodic tradition. An extension of that tradition to the organ repertoire is heard in the prelude and postlude to today's service, a set of variations on the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus as composed by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986).
A wonderful example of the continuing power and beauty of the Pentecost hymn is found in Down Ampney by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). Many would consider this tune, named after the Gloucestershire village where he was born, as the most beautiful of all Vaughan Williams' hymn tunes. The text is the work of Bianco of Siena (d.1434), who belonged to a fraternity of preachers active in the cities of Italy and southern France in the late Middle Ages. Translated from the Italian by R.F. Littledale (1838-90), its poetical lyricism is amplified by Vaughan Williams' highly expressive melody.
Today's anthem, Veni Sancte Spiritus (K.47) is a setting of the second versicle of an antiphon in the Whitsunday Liturgy. It was composed as an exercise by Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) when he was 12 years old, under the tutelage of his father Leopold. It is a youthful work, with lively exchanges between solo and full choir and an exuberant Alleluia. The service setting is by Philip Stopford (b.1977), one of England's brilliant young organist-composers, written when he was a student at Keble College, Oxford. The music is highly angular in its melodic contours, and strong dissonances are used to propel the music forward. The Sanctus alternates between a static melodic line with much harmonic tension and passages that call to mind a peal of tower bells.
With the long and rich musical tradition of Pentecost Sunday, and with its overall theme of the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit, it is fitting that today's feast day is chosen as our annual recognition day for the choir.
