Sugar & Spice - December 2024

Servanthood of Song - October 2024

    We are thrilled to feature Dr. Stan McDaniel’s recent publication about the history of American church music in our opening concert of the 2024–2025 “Sing On!” season. Stan is a scholar and true authority on American church music. As such, the program notes for our opening concert were prepared by him. We are thrilled to recognize Dr. McDaniel’s expertise, and proud to prominently feature him in our opening concert—Servanthood of Song. 

Sing On!

Joshua Chism, PhD

Artistic Director

 

Program Notes (Stan McDaniel)

        I am both honored and filled with anticipation as Chorale Coeur d’Alene enters the final weeks of preparation for their “Servanthood of Song” concerts.  The concerts, a matinee and evening performances on October 12, will be themed around my book—Servanthood of Song: Music, Ministry, and the Church in the United States. In the book, it was my goal to show how societal and theological trends from the colonial period to the present have helped to shape the church’s music. More importantly, with statistics showing a troubling decline across the board in worship attendance and the population becoming ever more diverse, it is critical to understand the history that brought us to this juncture and the lessons it offers for moving forward.

        It is my contention that most music of consequence has “a story.” Stop to think about it!  Christians and non-Christians may agree on little else, but most enjoy singing Christmas carols.  Why? Because they know the story of the nativity and the heartwarming associations the carols generate of Christmases past are reason enough to love them. Again, most music worth singing has a story. When I sing “The Star Spangled Banner,” I find myself visualizing the siege of Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor. The point is that the power of music is often greatly enhanced by knowing its story. Many of the pieces you will hear on October 12, 2024 are rooted in American church and social history. Some pieces reflect the times in which they were written while others give us a foretaste of things to come! There’s so much these notes and words can teach us.

        The concert opens with Jubilate Deo by the Scottish composer, Paul Mealor (b. 1975), whose music was featured at the 2023 coronation of King Charles III and whose setting of Ubi Caritas was heard at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. It is a pane to the joy of singing and a brilliant opening for a concert of choral music.

        And now we begin a trip through American sacred music history. From the 18th century, the Chorale will sing When Jesus Wept by William Billings–first as a four-voice canon as Billings originally wrote it and then in a marvelous, atmospheric adaptation by American composer, Michael S. Bryson, born in 1975. Billings is generally considered to be the most prominent choral composer of the post-revolutionary era in America and the leading light of what has been called “the First New England School” which also included Daniel Read, Samuel Holyoke, Oliver Holden, and many others. For this concert, William Billings represents the era of the American “singing school.” It’s no surprise that he set this work as a canon. Canons, or rounds, were an ideal way to introduce part singing to groups of amateur singers, and so they were used frequently in the curriculums. Moreover, singing master/composers found that the imitative entries of the canons could be extended out into so-called “fuging tunes” and anthems.  These could be used as demonstration pieces highlighting the newly acquired reading skills of the classes at the end of each term.

        As the common practice European approach to music reading advocated by reformers like Thomas Hastings and Lowell Mason took root in New England, the singing schools with their self-taught Yankee singing masters gradually fell out of vogue to be replaced by a so-called “Better Music Movement.” The hymns and songs of Hastings and Mason had a “harmonic smoothness” to them—gone were the “fuging tunes” so popular in New England singing schools.  Where colonial singing masters had developed ingenious “shaped notes” to simplify the teaching of music reading, Mason and Hastings embraced the teaching methods of the Swiss pedagogue, Johann Pestalozzi. Nearer My God to Thee was one of Lowell Mason’s most famous hymns. 

        Much of the music following Billings is drawn from revivalism in the first half of the 19th century. It is music imbued with the courage, sinewy strength, and unshakeable faith of the pioneers who sang it. To put it in context, the period following the American Revolution was one of territorial expansion. With the population growing and available farmland in the Northeast becoming scarce, thousands began moving west and south to settle what was then wilderness in Kentucky and Tennessee. Imagine, if you will, moving your family and all your possessions to a place inhospitable in the extreme. What all of these pioneers shared was the deadening isolation, the fear of attack, the ravages of nature—inevitable corollaries to frontier life. Clearly there were universal needs as well—to find fellowship and community with far-flung neighbors, to find purpose in the midst of doubts and fears, to recognize and deal with the improprieties so typical of unruly life on the frontier, and (most important) to find hope and affirmation. It was a time ripe for revival and a virtual movement was birthed with a historic gathering near Lexington, Kentucky, in August 1801. How Firm a Foundation, Saints Bound for Heaven, Death Shall Not Destroy My Comfort, We’ll Shout and Give Him Glory, and perhaps most beloved of all, Come Thou Fount are all songs rooted in the camp meeting tradition.

        Following intermission, the Chorale opens with Spirit, Moving Over Chaos by David Ashley White. The haunting melody recalls plainchant and the effort among Roman Catholics to bring a new dignity and authenticity to Catholic worship—first with the 1906 Motu Proprio which endeavored to restore chant and the liturgy in Latin and in the 1960s with Vatican II which brought a new focus on worship in the vernacular and contemporary musical stylings. That being said, the text of the White piece in a sense is a summation of the message of Servanthood of Song. As I write in the book, “The history of American church music must be viewed as a marvelous, multihued quilt.” Despite its fascinating complexity, the work of the Holy Spirit moving through that history is evident.

        Spirit, moving over chaos, bringing light where there was none,    
        Be to us a light revealing where the work is to be done.

                            —Patricia B. Clark, 1997    
 

        It has been said that some of the greatest art is born out of tragedy. Think of Beethoven or Vincent van Gogh, or Billy Holiday’s rendition of “Strange Fruit,” a cry of despair over the lynchings of the Jim Crow era. Sacred music offers many examples as well—Martin Rinckart wrote the hymn Now Thank We All Our God in the midst of the Thirty Years War which decimated his congregation. Closer to home is Harry M. Fosdick’s, God of Grace and God of Glory. He wrote it for the first service at Riverside Church in New York City on October 5, 1930, just one year after the stock market crash which ushered in the Great Depression. It’s rousing call for commitment and courage is not unlike Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s clarion call.

“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” 

        Today’s program includes two classic examples of sacred music born out of tragedy. The famous text of It is Well with My Soul was written by the Chicago businessman, Horatio G. Spafford in 1873 in response to the loss of his four daughters in the sinking of an ocean liner. It is one of the great statements in a time of adversity. Sadly, the plaintive music of the hymn is also tied to tragedy. Just one month after the composer Phillip P. Bliss wrote the immortal tune he named “Ville du Havre,” he and his wife, Lucy, while returning to Chicago from Christmas holiday would die in the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster. 

        Thomas A. Dorsey’s immortal Precious Lord, Take My Hand was also rooted in profound adversity. During the 1920s, Dorsey was at the peak of his career as a jazz pianist and composer, writing tunes for King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and being the principal accompanist for the great jazz singer, Gertrude “Ma” Rainy. In the summer of 1932, Dorsey had traveled from Chicago to St. Louis to attend a revival and promote his music. While there, he received an ominous telegram with the news that his wife had died in childbirth. Days later the baby would die also. Dorsey was devastated. Retreating to his music room, he found himself drawn to the old hymn Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone. By slowing it down and stretching a note here and there, a new song emerged, Dorsey’s greatest and most remembered—Precious Lord, Take My Hand. The loss of his wife and child and that song settled once and for all for Dorsey the conflict that had raged in him between his success as a pop artist and expressing his faith through music. He gave up his career as a jazz artist, and the “Father of Gospel Blues” was born.                                                                                                

        Our concert concludes with two powerful works from the African American tradition: a Patrick Quigley arrangement of the spiritual Steal Away and Richard Smallwood’s masterpiece, Total Praise. The “sorrow songs” of the slaves were virtually unknown to white America at the beginning of the Civil War. However, 136 slave songs were published in a historic collection, thanks to the work of northern missionaries on the South Carolina and Georgia sea islands who dedicated efforts to recording and transcribing these songs. Many of the spirituals known and loved today first appeared in print in Slave Songs: among them Roll, Jordan Roll, Michael, Row the Boat Ashore, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen, Jacob’s Ladder, Rock-a My Soul, and The Old Ship of Zion.  

        The haunting spiritual Steal Away was not included in Slave Songs of the United States.  References to the song first appear in 1862 when the Reverend Alexander Reid, a minister on the Choctaw Indian Reservation in Oklahoma, heard it being sung by a slave, Wallis Willis. Reid was enamored with the tune and a few years later sent it to George White at Fisk University where it became a signature song of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, with courage and determination, perhaps did more than any other ensemble to bring the artistry and inspiration inherent in the African American spiritual to the nation and the world.  

    Chorale Coeur d’Alene closes their concert with Richard Smallwood’s Total Praise, and it is indeed fitting that they do so. This magnificent piece comes out of the African American gospel choir tradition, a tradition almost single-handedly started in 1930s Chicago by Thomas A. Dorsey. Moreover, it comes to us as a jubilant expression of faith and confidence which arose like other music on this program out of spiritually challenging times. Let Smallwood tell the story in his own words: 

“In October 1995, my mother was ill, my godbrother was terminally ill, and I was a caregiver, going from the hospital to my house, taking care of everything. Caregiving is a very difficult thing to do. It’s time consuming, and if you don’t watch out, you’ll end up in the hospital, too. I also began to feel that I wasn’t doing enough for my loved ones. I felt helpless and inadequate in what I was doing…. I don’t remember specifically trying to write a song that day in October. I just sat down at the piano in my living room and started playing, and Total Praise just started coming out. I remember distinctly recognizing that it was a praise song, in terms of a theme, but I was trying to pull it back the other way and go into a pity party kind of song: ‘Lord, I will lift mine eyes to the hills, I know you’re my help, so I need you to hold me, to dry my tears’—that kind of thing. But the more I pulled it that way, the more it pulled the other way, in terms of praise…. When I finished, God spoke to my spirit and began to explain that He deserves praise in whatever season we find ourselves in. What I call ‘mountaintop praise,’ when everything is going well and you have so much to praise God for, is easy. But the opposite of that is what I call ‘valley praise,’ when you are in a dark situation and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But yet we praise God anyhow, because we understand that this too shall pass, and even though it’s a dark situation, God is with us through it. Writing that song, for me, was a teaching moment from God.”

Praise God with the old. Praise Him with the new. But above all, praise Him with heart, mind, and spirit.

 

 

Life & Liberty - April 2024

Program Notes
 

TUNE OUR LOFTIEST SONG

Commissioned by Chorale Coeur d’Alene in celebration

Of our 2023-2024 season, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Dr. Joshua Chism, Artistic Director

Chorale Coeur d’Alene is pleased to present in our Spring 2024 concert the premier of a newly commissioned work specifically for Chorale Coeur d’Alene, Tune Our Loftiest Song.  

This beautiful piece is arranged with new music by Patti Drennan, incorporating the much-loved Old Hundredth tune by Louis Bourgeois (1510–1561), which was on the Chorale’s first concert program in 2001. Words are taken from Robert A West (1808–1865) and Issac Watts (1674–1748) with new expression by Patti Drennan.

The Chorale seeks to continue the intent begun in 2001 of bringing great choral music to life, pursuing excellence in the tradition of performing sacred and secular works, involving young people in choral participation, and contributing to vibrant community life. It seemed to us appropriate to pursue this commissioned work to honor these ongoing values. The Chorale community provided funds for the writing of Tune Our Loftiest Song. It is available for other choirs to purchase from J.W. Pepper. 

Patti Drennan is frequently sought to compose meaningful commissioned works for choral groups; we are delighted to present to you her beautiful work for our Chorale. Drennan earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree at Oklahoma State University and a Masters of Music Education degree at the University of Oklahoma. She taught Choral Music for twenty-eight years in Norman (OK) Public Schools, the first twenty years at West Mid-High School, where she was voted “Teacher of the Year,” and eight years at Norman High School. In 2004, she was awarded the coveted “Director of Distinction Award” given by OCDA.

An active composer and arranger, Patti has over 700 choral octavos, piano, and piano/vocal books published with ten major publishers. She has served as a clinician for school and church workshops in 22 states and 3 times in Canada. She has been guest director at numerous "Composer Weekends" and has adjudicated choral contests in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas.

Patti retired in 2004 in order to compose and serve as a clinician and reading session presenter for her publishers. She served for ten years as Music and Worship Arts Director at First Baptist Church, Norman. Patti regularly sings with the OKC “Ambassador’s Concert Choir” and enjoys spending time recording and performing with her daughter and son-in-law in numerous symphonic performances.

-Pat Matson, Chorale Coeur d’Alene Board Chair

MELODIOUS ACCORD

This “Concert of Praise” is entirely based upon hymn tunes and texts found in the first five editions of a shape-note hymnal entitled Genuine Church Music, published in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The first edition appeared in 1832, and the fifth edition, twenty years later. The editor was Joseph Funk, a Mennonite farmer, schoolmaster, and musician.

Many of these hymnals were published in the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century. They borrowed extensively from one another. Songs of William Billings came from New England through the coastal cities, and then to the mountain counties, where Appalachian folksongs and spirituals completed the exchange. Few composers are given credit for their work. Many lovely tunes are completely anonymous, but the texts are often well-known. Isaac Watts is particularly well-represented.

Shape notes were a device to aid in teaching music reading. In the earliest books, four shape notes (a triangle, a square, a circle, and a diamond) were used to correspond to the syllables fa, sol, la, and mi. Later the system expanded to seven shapes-and-syllables, and there are still hymnals and gospel songs published in these editions. Joseph Funk was one of many itinerant song leaders who traveled many miles leading singing schools in villages on the frontier selling his books as he went and collecting new tunes for the next edition. Hymn singing was a principal social activity for these hard-working, religious people, and it is easy to see why when we hear the variety and beauty of these songs.

We hear formal, classic music in the opening chorus, Zion, the familiar Come, Ye Disconsolate, and the charming duet, Spring. There are joyful rhythmic dances in Be Joyful in God and Zion’s Light. Folk tunes are heard, and soaring modal melodies, as well as a cheerful gospel hymn, The Parting Hymn, which came from Wales. There are two magnificent congregational hymns: Tamworth (“Guide me, O thou great Jehovah”) and Union (“God moves in a mysterious way”), which deserve to be reinstated with honor in our contemporary hymnals.

This cantata is divided into four movements: Welcome, Old Testament, New Testament, and Farewells (The Promised Land), with the hymn tune Union as a fitting conclusion. May its performance remind us of the riches of our newly-discovered heritage of folk hymns, and serve to unite us with Melodious Accord in His praise.

-Alice Parker

Carols & Candles - December 2023

Program Notes

Paul Mealor (b. 1975) is a Welsh composer with international fame. He has been Professor of Music at the University of Aberdeen since 2003 and his output spans opera, symphony, concerto, and chamber music genres. Mealor is a major force in the choral music world and much of his popular acclaim can be traced to the performance of his setting of Ubi caritas et amor at the wedding of HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011. He is skilled at communicating across languages, contexts, genres, and audiences. He became the first composer to top both the classical and popular music charts at the same time. Receiving its first performance in the Carnegie Hall in New York, Mealor’s setting of Jubilate Deo was commissioned by Distinguished Concerts International New York. The words of Psalm 100 are combined with original text by Grahame Davies (b. 1964). It is the setting of Davies’ words which make for a striking addition to a popular text; provoking reflection amidst the boisterous setting of the psalmist David. Program notes by Richard Longman. 

 

‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime is a Canadian Christmas hymn written around 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary. Brébeuf wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron/Wendat people. The melody is based on a traditional French folk song, “Une Jeune Pucelle” (A Young Maid). The well-known English lyrics were written in 1926 by Jesse Edgar Middleton. Carlton Young notes that the “poem extends beyond the original French and tells the story of Jesus’ birth into Huron everyday life and its retelling in their folk symbols, such as ‘rabbit skin’ for ‘swaddling clothes’ and ‘gifts of fox and beaver pelt’ for the Magi’s present.” The translation maintains the Algonquian name for God—Gitchi Manitou. The poem was set to a traditional French tune (“Une Jeune Pucelle”) and first appeared in print on December 22, 1926 where it was romanticized as a “charming little Christmas song... [in which] the devoted missionary has adapted the story of the infant Christ to the minds of the Indian children.” The carol has been called an “interpretation...not a translation, written to provide English-speaking Canadians with an opportunity to sing the first Christmas carol ever heard in the Province of Ontario.” This arrangement is by John Helgen (b. 1957). Program notes by C. Michael Hawn. 

 

John Rutter (b. 1945) is celebrated as both a choral conductor and as a composer of choral works, from small anthems to settings of the Gloria, Magnificat, and Requiem. Rutter states that “Christmas music has always occupied a special place in my affections, ever since I sang in my first Christmas Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols as a nervous ten-year-old boy soprano. For me, and I suspect for most of the other members of the Highgate Junior School Choir, it was the high point of our singing year, diligently rehearsed and eagerly anticipated for weeks beforehand. Later, my voice changed, and I turned from singing to composition, but I never forgot those early Highgate carol services.” His Angels’ Carol, composed in the 1980s, is in three stanzas with refrain and tells the story of the arrival of the baby Jesus. 

 

Beautiful Star is the third movement from Larsen’s Ringeltänze—a choral cycle of six pieces. Libby Larsen (b. 1950) is one of America’s most performed living composers. She has created a catalogue of over 500 works spanning virtually every genre from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestral works and over 15 operas. Grammy award-winning and widely recorded, including over 50 CDs of her work, she is constantly sought after for commissions and premieres by major artists, ensembles, and orchestras around the world, and has established a permanent place for her works in the concert repertory. “Ah la crèche!” was the cry of the peasants and townspeople in 16th-century France as they prepared to celebrate Christmas. Feasts and merriment surrounded Christmas Day then as now. The young people celebrated with dancing. At first, popular tunes were piped for the dances. Over the years, the words to the popular tunes were replaced with more sacred words which told the story of Christmas, creating new carols with old folk tunes. At the Christmas feasts, the new carols were used for ring dancing. Carols II through VI were composed for the Grand Rapids Area Community Chorus of northern Minnesota in 1983. In 1984, acting upon the suggestion of Philip Brunelle, the original accompaniment of piano was changed to string orchestra, keeping the handbells as in the original. The first carol, completing the set, was composed in 1985. The composer made translations of the French texts, with the exception of the phrase “le petit nouveau né.” According to Larson, that phrase, loosely translated as “the newborn,” seemed too musical with which to tamper. Notes from www.libbylarsen.com.   

 

In 2013, Disney teamed-up with Eric Whitacre to produce Glow, written especially for World of Color–Winter Dreams show. The performance premiered at Disney California Adventure® Park, Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim, California. Over 1450 singers, representing all 50 states, submitted recordings, most of which were chosen, to be part of the World of Color Honor Choir, inspired by the Whitacre’s Virtual Choir. These singers from the US and its territories aged 18 and older, joined by a love of music and technology, delighted park guests throughout the 2013–2014 holiday season.

 

This setting of Ecce Novum, by contemporary composer Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978), was commissioned by the Dunwoody (Georgia) United Methodist Church Chancel Choir in 2014. The text is from Piae Cantiones (Latin for devout songs), a collection of late medieval carols for Christmas and other seasons, published in Finland in 1582. Gjeilo credits cinematic music with having the greatest influence on his compositions, noting that most of his favorite living composers are film composers working in Hollywood today. Gjeilo defines his style as “broadly classical,” which incorporates and combines other musical genres, such as folk, pop, and jazz. Born in Norway, Gjeilo came to the United States for undergraduate and graduate studies at the Juilliard School of Music, receiving his master’s degree in composition from Juilliard in 2006. Now a resident of New York City, Gjeilo is one of the most frequently performed composers in the choral world.

 

A gentle instrumental introduction sets the stage for Dan Forrest’s arrangement of this classic carol—Silent Night. His stunning take on this timeless carol begins with the smallest and simplest of musical ideas to embody the text “Silent Night… all is calm.” This arrangement takes the listener from quiet intensity, gradually building into an overwhelming statement of the profoundest of truths: “Christ, the Savior, is born.” Dan Forrest (b. 1978) has been described as having “an undoubted gift for writing beautiful music…that is truly magical” (NY Concert Review), with works hailed as “magnificent, very cleverly constructed sound sculpture” (Classical Voice), and “superb writing…full of spine-tingling moments” (Salt Lake Tribune).

 

John Rutter’s arrangement of this popular Christmas-themed African-American spiritual is lively and joyful with a “hillbilly musical flavor,” a hint of bluegrass fiddle, and a helping of banjo strumming figures in the piano part. Go Tell It on the Mountain was compiled by John Wesley Work, Jr. and dates back to at least 1865. It has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers.

 

Do You Hear What I Hear? is a song written in October 1962, with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne Baker. The pair, married at the time, wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney had been invited by a record producer to write a Christmas song, but he was hesitant due to the commercialism of the Christmas holiday. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists. Regney was inspired to write the lyrics “Said the night wind to the little lamb, ‘Do you see what I see?’” and “Pray for peace, people everywhere” after watching babies being pushed in strollers on the sidewalks of New York City. Shayne stated in an interview years later that neither could personally perform the entire song at the time they wrote it because of the emotions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. “Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of nuclear war at the time.” The song was originally recorded by the Harry Simeone Chorale, a group which had also popularized The Little Drummer Boy. It went on to sell more than a quarter-million copies during the 1962 Christmas holiday season. Program notes from Wikipedia. 

 

Katherine K. Davis wrote the Little Drummer Boy in 1941. The Little Drummer Boy is the story of a poor boy who couldn’t afford a gift for the newborn Christ child, so he played his drum at the manger with Mary’s approval. The baby smiled, delighted with the boy’s skillful playing. The story resembles a 12^th century legend that Anatole France retold as Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (Our Lady’s Juggler). The French legend said that a juggler performed in front of a statue of Mary and the statue either smiled at him or threw him a rose. In 1902, Jules Massenet adapted the story into an opera. In 1958, Henry Onorati introduced his friend Harry Simeone to the Carol of the Drum. Harry Simeone was a conductor and arranger from Newark who had worked on several Bing Crosby movies and worked as conductor for a television show called The Firestone Hour from 1952–1959. Harry Simeone re-arranged the song and re-titled it The Little Drummer Boy. He recorded it with the Harry Simeone Chorale on the album Sing We Now of Christmas. 

 

Away in a Manger is a Christmas carol first published in the late 19^thcentury and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of the most popular carols. A 1996 Gallup Poll ranked it joint second. The two most common musical settings are by William J. Kirkpatrick (1895) and James R. Murray (1887). Mack Wilberg’s arrangement presented here utilizes the Kirkpatrick tune. The earliest known publication, The Myrtle, in 1884 ascribed the lyrics to German Protestant reformer Martin Luther, explicitly referencing in 1883 Luther’s 400th birthday. For many years this attribution continued to be made. However, this attribution appears to be false: the hymn is found nowhere among Luther’s works. It has been suggested that the words were written specifically for Luther's 400th anniversary and then credited to the reformer as a marketing gimmick.

 

Still, Still, Still is an Austrian Christmas carol and lullaby. The melody is a folk tune from the state of Salzburg. The tune appeared for the first time in 1865 in a folksong collection of Maria Vinzenz Süß (1802–1868), founder of the Salzburg Museum. The words, which run to six verses in German, describe the peace of the infant Jesus and his mother as the baby is sung to sleep. They have changed slightly over the years through aural transmission, but the modern Standard German version remains attributed to Georg Götsch (1895–1956). There are various English translations. Norman Luboff’s (1917–1987) arrangement is considered a standard in the choral repertoire. 

 

Composed by Rick Powell and Sylvia Powell and arranged by Fred Bock, Peace, Peace has sold well over a million copies. This may be the most popular partner song to Silent Night ever—joining choir and audience. In our version presented here, we will join together in song while lighting individual candles. 

Love, My Very Own - October 2023

Program Notes

Gloria in D–RV 589 (Antonio Vivaldi)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, and educator. Vivaldi ranks amongst the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He pioneered many developments in orchestration, violin technique, and programmatic music. Vivaldi began studying for the priesthood at the age of 15 and was ordained at 25. He was known as the “Red Priest” due to his red hair.

In September 1703, the 24-year-old Vivaldi became the violin teacher (and later music director) at an orphanage called the Ospedale della Pietà (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice. There were four similar institutions in Venice; their purpose was to give shelter and education to children who were abandoned or orphaned, or whose families could not support them. The boys learned a trade and had to leave when they reached the age of fifteen. The girls received a musical education, and the most talented among them stayed and became members of the Ospedale's renowned orchestra and choir. Over the next thirty years he composed most of his major works while working at the Ospedale. 

Antonio Vivaldi wrote at least three Gloria compositions. Two of which have survived—RV 588 and RV 589, both composed around 1715. The Gloria in D–RV 589 is the better-known setting of the Gloria, simply known as the Vivaldi "Gloria" because of its outstanding popularity. This work was composed at the same time during Vivaldi's employment at the Pietà and would have been premiered by the girls at the Ospedale della Pietà. 

My Very Own (Susan LaBarr)

With this work, we make our “declaration of love.” With genuine intent and simple affirmation, My Very Own serves as the “title track” for our concert. A setting of several scriptural passages about love, My Very Own was written for the wedding of Brian and Allison Murray, two Texas-based choir directors. The work is highly melodic and straightforward in its construction—mirroring the heartfelt and humble (yet intensely passionate) nature of our love. 

Susan LaBarr is a composer and choral editor living and working in Springfield, Missouri. In 2015 and 2016, Susan completed commissions for Seraphic Fire, the National ACDA Women's Choir Consortium, and for the Texas Choral Director's Association's Director's Chorus. Central to Susan's musical vocabulary is the knowledge she gained from studying with Alice Parker at her home in Hawley, Massachusetts, where she attended the Composer's Workshop and Melody Studies Workshop in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Susan attended Missouri State University in Springfield, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in music and a Master of Music in music theory. Susan, her husband Cameron, and their son Elliott reside in Springfield, Missouri, where Cameron is the Director of Choral Studies at Missouri State University and Susan works as Editor of Walton Music.

 

I Remember (Sarah Quartel)

I Remember sets a text reflecting on the wonder of the natural world and the people who shape our lives. The stirring melody calls to mind the folksong tradition, and is underpinned by a gently flowing piano accompaniment. The middle section brings a contrast of tonality, with the altos accompanying the sopranos’ melodic line, before the beguiling melody of the opening returns to bring the setting to a poignant close. I Remember is a deep call to the importance of Philia (friendly love) and to those in our lives who have come alongside us in friendship.  

Canadian composer and educator Sarah Quartel is known for her fresh and exciting approach to choral music. Deeply inspired by the life-changing relationships that can occur while making choral music, Sarah writes in a way that connects singer to singer, ensemble to conductor, and performer to audience. Her works are performed by choirs across the world, and she has been commissioned by groups including the American Choral Directors Association, the National Children's Chorus of the United States of America, and New Dublin Voices. Since 2018 she has been exclusively published by Oxford University Press, and she continues to work as a clinician and conductor at music education and choral events at home and abroad.

 

My Baby Sings Soprano (Jacob Averitt)

The Greek form of love Ludus refers to playful, noncommittal love. Meaning “play” or game” in Latin, Ludus love is certainly expressed in My Baby Sings Soprano. In this work, there is a significant amount of flirting. However, throughout the piece we see that the love blossoms well beyond the casual—“I surely married my true love.” It also appears that in this love story, the couple have retained their playful nature throughout the years. 

In addition to composing and arranging choral music, Jake Averitt is a middle school choir director in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. He graduated magna cum laude from Sam Houston State University, where he studied composition with Dr. Dave Englert and Dr. Brian Herrington while completing a Bachelor of Music Education with an emphasis in voice. Jake has a piano background starting at a young age, and accompanies choirs throughout the greater Houston area. He is a very active church musician currently serving as the organist/accompanist at his church in Magnolia, TX, along with other musical capacities. In addition to performing as a keyboardist, Jake is a member of Houston Men’s Choir and continues to perform in a variety of choral ensembles.

 

The Gift of Love–Hal H. Hopson

This work is based on O WALY WALY, a traditional English melody associated with the song “O Waly, Waly, gin love be bony.” The tune is also well known in the Appalachian region of the United States, commonly sung to The Water is Wide. Hal H. Hopson adapted and arranged O WALY WALY for this anthem in 1972 for his setting of 1 Corinthians 13. His hymn tune version became known as GIFT OF LOVE. This version of the tune can be sung in canon after one measure, especially on the refrain stanzas (2 and 4), ideally by the choir or by a small part of the congregation or audience somewhat in the manner of a descant. These overlapping voices are so crucial to the piece that the tune has a difficult time when not sung in canon. 

In this work, self-love (Philautia) is the focus. While a love of the self is considered a negative virtue, self-regard is indeed important. In The Gift of Love, themes of self-care ring true. If we do not take care for ourselves, we are unable to care for and love others. It is said that you cannot pour from an empty cup. This sentiment is expressed in the text, if I “have not love, my words are vain.” 

 

Sing Gently (Eric Whitacre)

Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre, is among today’s most popular musicians. His works are programmed worldwide, and his virtual choirs have united singers from more than 145 countries over the last decade. Born in 1970, Eric is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and served two terms as Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. His compositions have been widely recorded and performed the world over. As an expression of universal Agape love, Whitacre’s own words best describe this work. 

“In March 2020, as the COVID-19 crisis begin to unfold around the world, it became clear that this moment in history was going to be remembered as one of great suffering for many people as well as a time of growing division and dissent. It seemed that as the global community began to isolate physically from one another, the same kind of isolation was happening on a social level, that the very fabric of society was tearing at the seams. In that spirit, I wrote the music and words to Sing Gently with the hope that it might give some small measure of comfort for those who need it, and that it might suggest a way of living with one another that is compassionate, gentle, and kind. Sing Gently received its premiere online on July 19, 2020, performed by the 17,572 singers a Virtual Choir 6.”

 

O Love (Elaine Hagenberg)

Elaine Hagenberg’s music “soars with eloquence and ingenuity” (ACDA Choral Journal). Her award-winning compositions are performed worldwide and frequently featured at American Choral Directors' Association conferences, All-State festivals, Carnegie Hall, and other distinguished international concert halls from Australia to South America and throughout Europe. In addition to composing full-time, Elaine actively engages in bringing her music to life as the guest artist and featured clinician for professional conferences and festivals both in the U.S. and abroad as a composer, conductor, and accompanist of her work.

O Love was inspired by the words of Scottish minister, George Matheson in 1882. When he was blinded at the age of nineteen, his fiancée called off their engagement and his sister cared for him as he endured new challenges. Years later, on the eve of his sister’s wedding, he faced the painful reminder of his own heartache and loss as he penned the words to this hymn. Given a fresh melody, this setting for SATB choir (and optional cello) uses hopeful ascending lines representing renewed faith. Though lingering dissonances remind us of past heartache, the beautiful promise remains: “morn shall tearless be.” 

 

Barun Barune (Iranian Folk/Arr. Amy Stephen and Amir Haghighi)

Barun Barune is just one of a vast repertoire of Iranian folk songs. Iran is a large country with a diverse ethnic population where Farsi, also known as Persian, is the official language. The song is sung by a youth—a poor farm worker in love with a young woman, who also works in the rice fields. The young man is anxious that his beloved might be given away to someone else in marriage, and he tells God that he would rather die than see her taken away. In this work, we may be brought back to our own first experience of love (and perhaps our first experience with heartbreak as well). 

Amy Stephen is a choral composer, arranger, and director from Vancouver, BC. A multi-instrumentalist, Amy is also a busy performer and studio musician. Amir Haghighi, a professional vocalist and composer in the Persian traditional style, was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He came to live in Canada in 1983. Amir and Amy are married and live in Burnaby, BC, Canada, with their son. The whole family often collaborates in musical performances.

Total Praise (Richard Smallwood)

Gospel singer Richard Smallwood has eight Grammy nominations and within the gospel music industry has won four Dove Awards and 10 Stellars. Three of his 14 albums hit No. 1 in Billboard magazine’s gospel category. He has sung for presidents Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton. His songs have been recorded by non-gospel artists such as Destiny’s Child, and his music helped Whitney Houston deliver one of the biggest-selling gospel albums in history for the 1996 film “The Preacher’s Wife.”

Smallwood credits his personal pain for helping him to write some of the very songs that inspire people around the globe. “Songs of pain last…. They make a difference. My prayer has always been, ‘Give me songs that last.’ I want my songs to last after I’m gone.” Total Praise is one of his most popular works. Released in 1996, he composed this piece when his mother had begun struggling with dementia and a family friend was dying of cancer. In both instances, Smallwood served as caregiver. In such difficult times, enduring love (Pragma) sustained him. 

Smallwood says that “the song came in a dream. I felt left by God. I was trying to write a pity-party song, but God pulled me to do a praise song. God said, ‘I want your praise no matter what the situation you are in, good or bad.’ It’s about trusting Him.” 

Who We Are - May 2023

Program Notes

Praise His Holy Name by Keith Hampton

Praise His Holy Name is one of Keith Hampton’s most popular gospel arrangements. Originally scored for mixed voice ensemble for the 30th anniversary of the Voices of Melody, the beginning section of the piece is a homophonic declamation in three parts. The middle section recalls the lyrics of Amazing Grace in highly rhythmic figures. The final section is intensified by the addition of layering the vocal textures and repeating the text multiple times. This work features complex rhythmic figures, stacked harmonies, and a powerful piano part. 

 

The Gift of Love by Hal H. Hopson

This work is based on O WALY WALY, a traditional English melody associated with the song “O Waly, Waly, gin love be bony.” The tune is also well known in the Appalachian region of the United States, commonly sung to “The Water is Wide.”

Hal H. Hopson adapted and arranged O WALY WALY for this anthem in 1972 for his setting of 1 Corinthians 13. His hymn tune version became known as GIFT OF LOVE. This version of the tune can be sung in canon after one measure, especially on the refrain stanzas (2 and 4), ideally by the choir or by a small part of the congregation or audience somewhat in the manner of a descant. These overlapping voices are so crucial to the piece that the tune has a difficult time when not sung in canon. 

 

Keep Your Lamps Arr. Andre Thomas

First emerging in 1928 by the African American blues singer and guitarist Blind Willie Johnson, this short spiritual has become a beloved staple of the gospel repertoire. The text alludes to the biblical parable of the ten wise and foolish virgins who await the arrival of Jesus in the guise of a bridegroom. The faithful are admonished to “keep your lamps trimmed and burning” in preparation for the day of judgment because “the time is drawing nigh.” The vocal writing is mostly homophonic. In contrast, the middle verse (“Children, don’t get weary”) is characterized by overlapping phrases and a smoother, less syncopated style.

The arranger notes that “in Matthew 25:1–13, Jesus tells the story of the wise and foolish virgins, who had been told that the bridegroom would be coming soon. They trimmed and lit their lamps and went to the appointed place, but the bridegroom did not arrive at the appointed time. The foolish virgins had brought enough oil for only one night, and as they returned to get more oil, the bridegroom came while they were away. This song was sung by slaves working the fields, imparting its lesson from Jesus, and perhaps also as a coded message. If an opportunity for escape was approaching, slaves might have sung Keep Your Lamps with particular urgency, communicating with each other under the watchful eyes of the overseers. Be ready!”

For This Joy by Susan LaBarr

Written in memory of choral singers and clarinetist George Olin, this work is a modern arrangement of the LOBE DEN HERREN hymn tune. This tune is most commonly associated with the text “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.” This tune was first seen in 1665 printed in the Stralsund Gesangbuch. The composer is unknown. With a meter of 14.14.11.8, this tune is generally considered to have an irregular meter, hence its close association with only a small number of hymn texts. This new ecumenical text was written for this arrangement by Charles Anthony Silvestri. The text focuses on the richness of life and creation and the joy that is found in all aspects of life. The musical arrangement is simple yet effective. The consistent eighth note alternating pattern between the treble and bass clef in the piano provide a consistent yet unassuming rhythmic drive. The texture and dynamic range of the choral writing slowly develops, moving from a soft humble unison melody to a thicker fuller homophonic declaration of the final verse. 

 

A Child’s Hymn by Joshua Chism

        This piece was originally composed in 2010 during my first year of teaching in the Missouri public school system. I was asked to write a short and accessible piece for SAB voices for a conference honor choir—and thrilled to do so! As a young teacher in their first year, I was in a significant transition point in my life. I was learning how to serve my students, meet their educational and musical needs, and balance adulthood for the first time. During this time, I often felt overwhelmed, unequipped, and even “in over my head.” (Ask any teacher what their first year was like—they will tell you!) In many ways during that time in my life, I felt like a child—inexperienced, fresh, and learning. In response to this, I chose to set A Child’s Hymn, a poem by Charles Dickens. In this text there is a palpable sense of innocence and honesty, a gentle pleading for guidance and redemption. As a young adult during a challenging time of life, this was my plea, and composing this piece was an avenue to find healing and comfort. 

        Currently (Spring 2023), I am in a similar life position—one filled with transition and many new challenges. I am in my first year as a collegiate professor, freshly moved to a new part of the country, and have a young family. During this time, I have found myself drawing parallels to my first year of teaching in this new environment. The lines of this text continue to resonate in my heart— “Hear my prayer, O heavenly Father…. Guide and guard me with Thy blessing….” 

 

All That Have Life and Breath Praise Ye the Lord! By Rene Clausen

With a text based on excerpts from Psalms 96 and 22, this piece was originally written for the A Cappella Choir at Wichita State University. René Clausen is a well-known American conductor and composer who is known to incorporate tone clusters in his compositions to create a distinctly twentieth-century color to the sound—a prominent feature of this work. Also evident are elements of aleatoric music with overlapping and free melodic fragments in the soprano voice. Note the use of the hymn tune LOBE DEN HERREN (more commonly known as the tune to “Praise to the Lord”). Modal mixture (alternation between major and minor) is also evident before the powerful final cadence. 

 

Amen Siakudumisa By S.C. Molefe/Arr. C. LaBarr

Stephen Molefe was born of Sotho descent in the Transkei area of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A choirmaster at the local catholic church, he was not only a skilled musician but also fluent in a variety of South African languages including Sotho, Xhosa, Zulu, Tswana, Afrikaans, and English. In 1977 Fr. Dargie met Molefe at a composition workshop and transcribed several of his works into staff notation. They include a wide variety of musical styles. Since most African languages are tonal, the melodic shape of the works emerge directly from speaking the text—aiding in Dargie’s efforts to capture Molefe’s works into notation. The 1977 workshop netted 53 new songs—14 of which were composed by Molefe. The original version of our current piece was “Sive-sithi Amen, siyakudumisa” (“Hear us we say, Amen, we praise you”). Designed to be sung as the “Amen” at the conclusion of the Great Thanksgiving, it was an “instant hit,” with the whole parish singing it at Holy Week services. Amen Siakudumisa is often included in Western hymnal collections alongside famous South African freedom songs like Siyahamba. 

 

All Things New by Elaine Hagenberg

Known for her exquisite lyricism and soaring melodies, Elaine Hagenberg delivers an exceptional original setting of Frances Havergal’s text that provides a much-needed message of hope. Havergal (1836–1879) was an English religious poet and hymnwriter. She is most well known for her Take My Life and Let it Be text. She also wrote hymn tunes, religious tracts, and works for children. Her hymns praised the love of God. In this work, Hagenberg balances a shimmering accompaniment and accessible vocal lines for maximum text clarity and emotional impact.  

 

Of the Father’s Love Begotten Arr. Paul Wohlgemuth

        This well-known hymn tune, DIVINUM MYSTERIUM, is a plainsong or chant associated with texts dating as far back as the 12^th–15^th centuries. This tune is sometimes given a more dance-like triple meter (as in Theodoricis Petri’s Piae Cantiones on 1552) while other hymnals keep the original unmetered form of the chant (as presented in this arrangement).

        Paul W. Wohlgemuth was born in Oklahoma and graduated from Tabor College in Hillsboro, KS. He received the MS from Kansas State Teachers College (Emporia State University) after which he returned to teach at Tabor College for three years. Wohlgemuth taught for seven years at Biola College and earned his doctorate from the University of Southern California in 1956. He returned to Tabor College as head of the music department in 1960. During his 16 years at Tabor, the College Choir, under Wohlgemuth’s direction, performed for several state conventions, at the World’s Fair, the U.S. Capitol, and in Romania. This arrangement was written during his time at Tabor College. In 1976, Wohlgemuth became coordinator of church music at Oral Roberts University. 

 

Total Praise By Smallwood/Arr. Rao

Gospel singer Richard Smallwood has eight Grammy nominations and within the gospel music industry has won four Dove Awards and 10 Stellars. Three of his 14 albums hit No. 1 in Billboard magazine’s gospel category. He has sung for presidents Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton. His songs have been recorded by non-gospel artists such as Destiny’s Child, and his music helped Whitney Houston deliver one of the biggest-selling gospel albums in history for the 1996 film “The Preacher’s Wife.”

Smallwood credits his personal pain for helping him to write some of the very songs that inspire people around the globe. “Songs of pain last…. They make a difference. My prayer has always been, ‘Give me songs that last.’ I want my songs to last after I’m gone.” Total Praise is one of his most popular works. Released in 1996, he composed this piece when his mother had begun struggling with dementia and a family friend was dying of cancer. In both instances, Smallwood served as caregiver. “The song came in a dream,” Smallwood says. “I felt left by God. I was trying to write a pity-party song, but God pulled me to do a praise song. God said, ‘I want your praise no matter what the situation you are in, good or bad.’ It’s about trusting Him.”

 

“Pie Jesu” from Requiem by John Rutter

John Rutter is a composer of primarily choral works, including Christmas carols, anthems, and extended works such as the Gloria, the Requiem, and the Magnificat. Rutter’s style is influenced by 20th century English and French choral compositions as well as American songwriting. His compositions are most popular in the United States and the UK, with the London Evening Standard writing, “For the infectiousness of his melodic invention and consummate craftsmanship, Rutter has few peers.”

The Requiem was first performed in its entirety on October 13, 1985 at the United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, conducted by the composer. It was written “in memoriam L. F. R.” and dedicated to Rutter’s late father. In his own words:

“The Requiem was written in 1985 and dedicated to the memory of my father, who had died the previous year. In writing it, I was influenced and inspired by the example of Faure. I doubt whether any specific musical resemblances can be traced, but I am sure that Faure’s Requiem crystallized my thoughts about the kind of Requiem I wanted to write: intimate rather than grandiose, contemplative and lyric rather than dramatic, and ultimately moving towards light rather than darkness….”

As with the Requiems of both Fauré and Duruflé, the Pie Jesu features a soprano soloist, though in this case with the addition of a subdued choral commentary. With this compositional choice, Rutter pays homage to the masterworks so influential to the choral art. 

 

Every Valley by John Ness Beck

John Ness Beck was born on November 11, 1930 in Warren, Ohio. After graduating from Warren High School in 1948, he enrolled at The Ohio State University. In 1952 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. After working for a year in student union activities at the State College of Washington, he spent two years in the U.S. Army. During this time, he became increasingly involved in arranging for various musical groups. After his discharge from military service, he returned to Ohio State and completed a Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts degrees in music composition.

Beck was a faculty member of The Ohio State University School of Music for seven years—teaching harmony and theory. He left the university to become owner and manager of the University Music House, a retail sheet music store in Columbus. In this capacity, he was able to observe the business side of the music industry, gaining insight into the complexities of music publishing and merchandising. As his compositions found their way into print and popularity, he joined forces in 1972 with John Tatgenhorst in the creation of Beckenhorst Press. His reputation as a composer and his experience as a choral director soon led to an increasing demand for appearances as guest conductor and lecturer at various musical clinics and festivals throughout the country. Beck has left a wonderful legacy of music to be enjoyed by all.

He Never Failed Me Yet by Robert Ray

This well-known work, in the choral gospel style, was composed by Robert Ray, the founder of the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus. Passing in late 2022, Dr. Ray will be remembered as a skilled pianist, teacher, director, and composer. He mentored many young composers and leaves a legacy as a “serious, but kind-hearted musician.” His students remembered him as “thorough and respectful, maintaining high standards for musicality.” This piece is frequently performed and “packs a serious punch” of emotion. Note the use of homophonic choral writing for maximum textual clarity accented by vocal solo. In this musical style it is encouraged, and even expected, that featured vocal leaders/soloists incorporate elements of improvisation into their performance. 

CRITICAL MASS - April 2023

Welcome from the Artistic Director

 

“Critical Mass.” Our concert program centers around this term—one normally associated with the study of physics. As I began to conceptualize our season, and my first concert cycle as Artistic Director, it was vital to craft a concert program that embodied BOTH a value of high-quality, high-impact choral artistry (the music itself) and also the context in which we are able to create this music (our chorale and our community). “Critical Mass” proved to be the perfect vehicle for this philosophical endeavor—embodied in two parallel strands. 

First—the music itself. For centuries, composers have set religious texts to music in innumerable ways for use in worship. Over time, certain choral genres have emerged; the mass is one such genre. In this concert, we feature four highly contrasting settings of the traditional mass text, each one “critical,” powerful, and transformative in its own right. The first mass setting, from the classical era, was written by noted composer Joseph Haydn. His settings of the mass, and his musical output in general, have been critically influential to the evolution and development of western and European musical traditions. The second mass featured on this program, the Mariachi Mass, is dramatically contrasting in style and instrumentation. Featuring a small mariachi ensemble, this work is a critical demonstration of how the message of love, hope, and mercy embedded deeply in the text transcends musical styles, voicings, and genre. The third mass featured is Fauré’s Messe Basse. Written earlier than his famous Requiem, this Messe Basse is a foreshadowing of the composer’s philosophy developed more fully in the Requiem. The Messe Basse is critical as it clearly demonstrates the harmonic and aesthetic language so important to his compositional output. Lastly, it is critical that every individual be able to internalize the ideologies, principles, morals, and philosophies of the world around them. Process them. Scrutinize them. It is then our responsibility to morally and ethically embody these ideals in our daily lives. As such, we developed our own personal “composite mass”—constructed with choral octavos. We used the mass movement structure as a scaffolding for personalization. This structure also allowed us to “plug and play” various smaller-scale choral works of a greater variety of genres, styles, and composers. Most importantly, this mass structure was critical in allowing us, as the Chorale, to create a unique experience with the mass and the message embedded within it.

Second—the choir and community. It was important for me to clearly identify just how important our various stakeholders are to the organization’s success—director, staff, choristers, organizational board, volunteers, community partners, sponsors, and audience members. Simply put, any stakeholder, by themselves, cannot make this organization operate. Each and every facet of the Chorale is critical to the success of the overall group, and every single stakeholder is equally important. This synergy, this “better together” approach, truly is critical mass. Together (and only together) can we—director and choir, board and community, volunteer and audience, donor and sponsor—truly reach the critical mass necessary to live out our mandate to change the lives of those in both our chorale and in our community through the powerful medium of the choral art.

 

Program Notes

 

When In Our Music God Is Glorified by Stanford/Arr. Ziegenhals (1925-2016)

This hymn is unique in the way it deals with the act of making music itself as a means to express religious doctrine—paraphrasing scripture, exhorting listeners to belief or commitment, and addressing a social concern. Bert Bolman stated that this hymn is the “the only hymn text in Christendom that explains the reasons for church music while simultaneously offering ‘alleluias’ to God.” Raymond Glover explained the void: “History suggests that it is very difficult to write a real hymn on the subject of congregational music-making. Usually there is insufficient weight and development to support the effusiveness that this theme seems to generate. Here, however, we have an honest hymn of substance and scope that is never self-congratulatory or platitudinous and is always grateful and worthy.”

The hymn was built around the meter 10.10.10.4—a meter for which few texts existed at the time. This meter easily lends itself to a three-part text stanza. In a textual analysis, Vernon Wicker noted, “Commitment to the rhyme scheme, AAA, could easily force a poet toward awkward technical solutions, but in this case the hymn writer utilizes the metrical restriction to create a stronger sense of unity and strength of expression.”

Charles V. Stanford composed ENGELBERG—the tune used for our text. The tune was published in the 1904 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern with no less than six different settings. It is a fine congregational hymn but also a stunning choral anthem. ENGELBERG is an attractive, energetic melody with many ascending motives, designed for unison singing with no pauses between stanzas. 

 

No. 7 in B-flat major: ‘Missa brevis Sancti Johannis de Deo’ (H. 22/7) by Haydn (1732–1809)

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. Instrumental to the development of the string quartet and the piano trio, his contributions to musical form led him to be dubbed the “Father of the Symphony,” having composed 107. He spent most of his career as a court musician and composer for the Esterházy family. He was known also for his humor, weaving musical jokes into his music. He was a friend and mentor to Mozart, a tutor to Beethoven, and the elder brother to composer Michael Haydn. 

Haydn composed eight settings of the mass. His Mass No. 7 in B-flat major: ‘Missa brevis Sancti Johannis de Deo’ (H. 22/7) was composed during the winter of 1777–78 during his stay in Eisenstadt. It is commonly referred to as the “Keline Orgelmesse” or “Little Organ Mass” due to the extended organ solo in the Benedictus movement. This missa brevis was composed for the order of the Barmherzige Brüder (Brothers of Mercy), whose chapel in Eisenstadt had a fine small organ, featured in the mass.  He dedicated the work to the patron saint of their order, St. John of God (Sancti Joannis de Deo). The music calls for the limited forces that would have been available to him at the chapel: small chorus, strings without violas, and organ. The Benedictus features one soprano soloist accompanied by obbligato organ, probably first played by Haydn himself. A surviving set of parts suggests that the mass was later adapted to add several wind parts, but it is normally played in its original more intimate scoring.

The work is classified as a missa brevis (short mass) in which the lengthier texts, particularly in the Gloria and Credo, are telescoped (four choral voices sing different words of the text simultaneously). This compositional technique was common. Despite obscuring the intelligibility of the text, this technique does make the movements more concise. This small, intimate mass has always been popular, particularly in central Europe. It conjures imagery of the small country church of the Brothers of Mercy and the quiet, devotional character of their worship. As the work concludes, it turns inward, gradually fading to the words dona nobis pacem (grant us peace). 

 

Mariachi Mass by A. Avalos (1919–1999)

Mariachi Mass, a work in five movements, was published in 1970. The work’s composer (listed as A. Avalos) is actually a pseudonym for Theron Kirk (1919–1999) who composed more than 1,000 published works. Kirk served on the music faculty at San Antonio College from 1955–1986 and as president of the American Choral Director’s Association. A modest and accessible work for flexible voicing with mass text in English, this work features an accompaniment scored for traditional mariachi ensemble (paired trumpets, guitar, guitarrón, and ad. lib. percussion). The work is intended to be performed in the spirit of mariachi style—informally and with much “gusto.” This engaging and accessible piece is rarely performed today. Chorale CdA’s performance of this work is, to the best of our research efforts, only the third time this work has been performed in the US in approximately the last 25 years. 

 

Messe Basse by Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)

Fauré’s Messe Basse is a prime example of the missa brevis (shortened mass). Fauré rejected the bombastic 19th-century settings of the Mass, particularly that of Berlioz, whose grandiose spectacle emphasized the wrath and judgments of God. Conversely, Fauré felt that the mass should be all about mercy and forgiveness. The Messe Basse reflects this attitude in its gentle voicing and scoring, anticipating the same effect more fully Gabriel Fauré achieved in his more famous Requiem.

According to liner notes by Jeremy Cull for a Lammas recording (2001), “The Messe Basse dates from about 1880, although not published until 1907, and is scored for treble voices and organ. Fauré omits the Gloria and Credo–sections of the Mass that give most scope for dramatic writing–concentrating instead on the Kyrie, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei, imbuing them with a quiet lyricism that is also to be found in his songs and some of his quieter piano works. In this respect, the writing in the Messe Basse anticipates his approach to the Requiem. In the Kyrie and Benedictus, Fauré sets a solo voice against the rest of the choir, whilst in the other two movements, the treble voices are divided equally in two.”

 

Old Hundredth Hymn Tune arr. by R. Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)

More of the “public” music of Vaughan Williams, this work was arranged for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. This is of course one of the greatest chorale tunes in the world as well as one of the best known. During the coronation, Vaughan Williams wanted the congregation of peers to join in to the musical experience, revealing his spirit of idealism. During the singing of this work, it was recorded that “the noble lords predictably made harsh of their unison part, but who cares?” 

Old Hundredth is a hymn tune in long meter from the second edition of the Genevan Psalter, and is one of the best-known melodies in many Christian musical traditions. The tune is usually attributed to the French composer Louis Bourgeois (c. 1510–c. 1560). Although the tune was first associated with Psalm 134 in the Genevan Psalter, the melody takes its name from the Psalm 100, in a translation titled “All People that on Earth do Dwell.” It is this text Vaughan Williams employs for the current setting. 

 

For This Joy by Susan LaBarr (b. 1981)

Written in memory of choral singers and clarinetist George Olin, this work is a modern arrangement of the LOBE DEN HERREN hymn tune. This tune is most commonly associated with the text “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.” This tune was first seen in 1665 printed in the Stralsund Gesangbuch. The composer is unknown. With a meter of 14.14.11.8, this tune is generally considered to have an irregular meter, hence its close association with only a small number of hymn texts. This new ecumenical text was written for this arrangement by Charles Anthony Silvestri. The text focuses on the richness of life and creation and the joy that is found in all aspects of life. The musical arrangement is simple yet effective. The consistent eighth note alternating pattern between the treble and bass clef in the piano provide a consistent yet unassuming rhythmic drive. The texture and dynamic range of the choral writing slowly develops, moving from a soft humble unison melody to a thicker fuller homophonic declaration of the final verse. 

 

Praise His Holy Name by Keith Hampton (b 1957)

Praise His Holy Name is one of Keith Hampton’s most popular gospel arrangements. Originally scored for mixed voice ensemble for the 30th anniversary of the Voices of Melody, the beginning section of the piece is a homophonic declamation in three parts. The middle section recalls the lyrics of Amazing Grace in highly rhythmic figures. The final section is intensified by the addition of layering the vocal textures and repeating the text multiple times. This work features complex rhythmic figures, stacked harmonies, and a powerful piano part. 

 

I Believe by Mark Miller (b. 1967)

The background of this text, at this point, is a part of folklore. As such, the background story of this text has evolved and grown over time, leaving us (and this particular choral work) with a slightly different text than what might be most historically accurate. However, the powerful message of love, hope, and perseverance remains. On June 26, 1945, the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Nachrichten published published a “special correspondence” from an unnamed reporter writing from Cologne. The article is about Catholic resistance to the Nazis in Cologne. The author speaks of the underground bomb shelters used by the Catholic community and of abandoned underground passages in old buildings that the Catholic resistance used as refuges from the Gestapo. Here is a translation of this passage, provided by Nicholas Kontje:

 

“Catholic scouts had discovered underground passageways which had been unused for many years under old buildings, and these could now serve as refuges from the Gestapo. At one point, nine Jewish fugitives hid here for four months without ever being caught. When I visited the shelter, I had the opportunity to see the emergency housing, fully equipped with a kitchen, bedroom, living room, radio, a small library, and oil lamps—evidence of a stunning experience. Meals could only be prepared at night so as not to attract the Gestapo’s attention, who would have noticed the smoke during the day. Food had to be supplied by friends who willingly gave up a portion of their rations to help those unfortunate people living for weeks in utter darkness. The following inscription is written on the wall of one of these underground rooms, which in some ways resemble the Roman catacombs: ‘I believe in the sun, though it be dark; I believe in God, though He be silent; I believe in neighborly love, though it be unable to reveal itself.’”

 

These words have come to symbolize hope in the face of the despairing circumstances of the Holocaust. Mark says: “I composed this as a testament to the power of love over institutionalized hate, whether it comes from government or religion. Several years ago, I came upon this poem (I had sung the text years before to an anthem by Jane Marshall) at a difficult time in my life when I was searching for words to embody the pain I was feeling and the hope I was needing. There are rare moments when composing is more like an uncovering of something that was already there- this piece emerged within a few minutes and became a solace and an antidote for my world weariness. My hope is for this sacred gift of lyrics and song to be ‘medicine for the soul’ for all who hear it.”

 

Festival Sanctus by John Leavitt (b. 1956)

John Leavitt was born in 1956 in Leavenworth, Kansas. He is a composer, conductor, teacher, and church musician. He received the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from The Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His music has been performed in 30 countries across the globe and his recordings have been featured nationally on many public radio stations. 

Commonly performed by large festival choirs, this well-known choral work is full of energy and vitality. Leavitt employs a combination of brisk spritely tempo, active piano accompaniment, syncopated rhythms, and consistent meter change to keep both the listener and chorister engaged. The musical themes of the work are relatively accessible, but Leavitt’s clever and engaging treatment of the main melodic components provides a continual sense of variety within a familiar form. 

 

“Pie Jesu” from Requiem by John Rutter (b. 1945)

John Rutter is a composer of primarily choral works, including Christmas carols, anthems, and extended works such as the Gloria, the Requiem, and the Magnificat. Rutter’s style is influenced by 20th century English and French choral compositions as well as American songwriting. His compositions are most popular in the United States and the UK, with the London Evening Standard writing, “For the infectiousness of his melodic invention and consummate craftsmanship, Rutter has few peers.”

The Requiem was first performed in its entirety on October 13, 1985 at the United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, conducted by the composer. It was written “in memoriam L. F. R.” and dedicated to Rutter’s late father. In his own words:

 

“The Requiem was written in 1985 and dedicated to the memory of my father, who had died the previous year. In writing it, I was influenced and inspired by the example of Faure. I doubt whether any specific musical resemblances can be traced, but I am sure that Faure’s Requiem crystallized my thoughts about the kind of Requiem I wanted to write: intimate rather than grandiose, contemplative and lyric rather than dramatic, and ultimately moving towards light rather than darkness….”

 

As with the Requiems of both Fauré and Duruflé, the Pie Jesu features a soprano soloist, though in this case with the addition of a subdued choral commentary. With this compositional choice, Rutter pays homage to the masterworks so influential to the choral art. 

 

The Ground by Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978) 

Ola Gjeilo was born in Norway in 1978 and moved to the US in 2001 to begin his composition studies at the Julliard School in NYC. His concert works are performed all over the world. The Ground is based on a chorale from the last movement of his Sunrise Mass (2008) for choir and string orchestra. The work is called “The Ground” because he wanted to convey a sense of having ‘arrived’ at the end of the Mass—to have reached a kind of peace and grounded strength after the long journey of the Mass having gone through a lot of different emotional landscapes. On creating a standalone version of this work, the composer states that he, “wanted to make a version that could be performed independent of the Mass and one that was also more accessible in terms of instrumentation, with a piano & optional string quartet accompaniment.”

 

He Never Failed Me Yet by Robert Ray (1946–2022)

This well-known work, in the choral gospel style, was composed by Robert Ray, the founder of the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus. Passing in late 2022, Dr. Ray will be remembered as a skilled pianist, teacher, director, and composer. He mentored many young composers and leaves a legacy as a “serious, but kind-hearted musician.” His students remembered him as “thorough and respectful, maintaining high standards for musicality.” This piece is frequently performed and “packs a serious punch” of emotion. Note the use of homophonic choral writing for maximum textual clarity accented by vocal solo. In this musical style it is encouraged, and even expected, that featured vocal leaders/soloists incorporate elements of improvisation into their performance.