Issue 22 - Autumn

Autumn is, by far, my favorite season... that unforgettable sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet, the smell of pumpkin seeds crisping in the oven, the glow of candles from within hollowed pumpkins... I'm lucky that I now have a daughter to drag along on pumpkin and apple picking expeditions! This Sunday, September 23rd, marks the Autumn equinox - a great weekend to premiere my transcription for organ of Antonio Vivaldi's programmatic "Autumn" from The Four Seasons.

While program music seems to be something that originated in the Romantic Era, in truth, it only blossomed then. Composers put forth music that was programmatic in nature in the earliest of times - I've played many Renaissance pieces on harpsichord that are such. Of the Baroque period, The Four Seasons stands out as the most well-known and most obviously programmatic piece composed.

What exactly is program music?

"The underlying theory of program music, as described by the man who coined the term, the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt (1811–1886), is that the composer must allow the program to determine the actual form of the piece. The introduction and unfolding of the various musical elements, in other words, must reflect the unfolding of the story or the progression of images." (Miles Hoffman, The NPR Classical Music Companion)

The "program" for Autumn is found in the sonnet that Vivaldi wrote to accompany the concerto and is listed below. Each paragraph paints the image for a movement from the concerto. The text-painting is vivid and if the performer weren't exactly sure of how each word is portrayed in the composition, Vivaldi actually put matching letters in the sonnet and score to show where the text is being played out through the music. In several other instances, he actually writes words in the score to accentuate the program, such as "guns and dogs barking" or "the fleeing beast".

AUTUMN by Antonio Vivaldi

Celebrates the peasant, with songs and dances,
The pleasure of a bountiful harvest.
And fired by Bacchus' liquor,
Many end their revelry in sleep.

Everyone is made to forget their cares to sing and dance
By the air which is tempered with pleasure
And by the season that invites so many,
Out of their sweetest slumber to fine enjoyment.

The hunters emerge at the new dawn,
And with horns and dogs and guns depart upon their hunting
The beast flees and they follow its trail;
Terrified and tired of the great noise
Of guns and dogs, the beast, wounded, threatens
Languidly to flee, but harried, dies.

The first movement will be played as prelude music (about 4 minutes long if you want to make it in to listen in time), the second movement will be played during communion and the third movement will be played as the postlude. Enjoy!

For information about the genesis of the transcription for organ, click here.
(Image: Autumn at Wildcat Mountain State Park, WI.)

Issue 21 - Toward an understanding of Buxtehude

Dieterich Buxtehude's Fuga in C is one of those little gems in the organist's repertoire. It is often referred to as a Gigue Fugue because of its compound meter of 12/8 and contrapuntal nature (contrapuntal literally means note-against-note so that one or more voices are working independently rather in moving together in harmony). This short fugue is so merry and playful; it shines in the midst Buxtehude's other organ repertoire, the ornamented and serious chorale-preludes and the grand and severe praeludia.

Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707) is probably one of the greatest German Baroque composers to precede Johann Sebastian Bach. Born in Denmark, Buxtehude grew up in Helsingør and studied organ with his father, who was organist at St. Olai, still one of the largest churches in Denmark. While the first 10 working years of his life were spent at churches in Denmark, Buxtehude moved in 1668 to Germany to claim the organist post at St. Mary's in Lübeck, the most prestigious appointment in the country.

[Bookends] will focus on different things each time I play a work of Buxtehude's, for there is much to say about him. However, an interesting supposition is made about Buxtehude's life from the very work that the Cathedral Choir is singing this Sunday at 8:45, Buxtehude's opening concerto from the cantata Everything You Do. This is the one of his most dearly loved cantatas of today and of Buxtehude's time, for it is present in all three of the collections of manuscripts of his vocal music, thus showing its popularity.

Kerala J. Snyder, author of Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck writes of reasons for its popularity during Buxtehude's time and shows what insight into his life the cantata can offer:

"Alles was ihr tut (Everything You Do) offers no visions of heaven, no intimacy with Jesus, no distressed souls. In a straightforward musical style, almost completely homophonic in texture, it addresses itself to the concerns of the ordinary citizens in the workaday world... Buxtehude, himself, seems to have taken his place comfortably in Lübeck's society. On the one hand he ranked as the most respected musician in the city and had frequent dealings with its political and financial leaders. On the other, he was a member of the fourth class of this society, and the obsequious phrases in his letters and dedications indicate that he knew his place. The words from the chorale that he set [in a later movement of Everything You Do] may have articulated his own feelings as well:

"So I stretch out my hand, and undertake with joy the work
To which God has destined me in my vocation and class.

"The few words that others wrote about him during his lifetime and shortly afterwards add little to the picture of Buxtehude that is seen in [these] documentary sources. Much as we would like know further details concerning Buxtehude's life, they would be worth little if we did not have his music. And we do have his music..." The words of Kerala Snyder fascinate me... for all we have is the work of historians to pull together compositions, writings and related documents to create a picture of the master whose works we perform.

Click here for previous issues about Buxtehude.
(Image: Dieterich Buxtehude)

Issue 20 - Well-known and well-loved!

Can you hum any of Edward Elgar's music? Let me answer for you... yes! Whether or not you realize it, we can all probably hum the music that is played at commencement and graduation ceremonies all over the world, Pomp and Circumstance. It's probably the most often played composition of Elgar's. However, the Enigma Variations are a close second for this English composer of Romantic works. Comprised of 14 variations on a theme, they were originally composed for orchestra. Elgar accompanies each variation with a set of initials and therein lies the mystery or "enigma" as to whom the variation is dedicated and depicts.

The 9th variation is the prelude music for this Sunday. Titled "Nimrod", it refers to Elgar's best friend. Some people would describe this piece as the portrait of English Romantic music. It is noble and generous in character ~ understandable why it is loved by so many. I am specifically excited about playing this on Rally Sunday because our opening hymn, "O God Beyond All Praising", is another English Romantic iconic composition taken from Jupiter from Gustav Holst's The Planets. It's an honor to play these two pieces so close to each other at the start of our worship!

In regards to Rally Sunday: if Larry Christensen is going to be splashing around in the dunk tank this Sunday, then I guess I need to play something equally as splashy for the postlude! The Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J. S. Bach is the most famous work for pipe organ. Whenever I meet someone in an airport and they ask what I do, their eyes brighten as I inevitably get their rendition of the opening trill of the Toccata.

This is one of those pieces that, trust me... you know it and can hum it (or at least the beginning of it). I have, over the years, shied away from playing this piece in church for various reasons... Is it too showy? Is it played too often? Has this piece become exhausted through it's abundant use in popular culture to where people can only hear Phantom of the Opera or Fantasia when listening to it? As of today, my answer to all these questions is... no! This piece is so well known because it is a great piece... and people like to listen to great music. So, why not start the Fall with a splash by playing Bach's most enduring organ work: The Toccata and Fugue in D Minor! (There's more to say about the history and composition of this piece - but I'll save writing about that for another year when I play it again!)

(Image: Oldest known manuscript of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, J. Rinck)