Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) will be the organ music focus this Sunday morning as part of the Advent Baroque composer series. The four Advent works of the Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") will be offered. Composed mostly in Bach's Weimar period from 1708-1717, the collection contains 46 works representing the major feast days of the liturgical year, a small number completed of the 146 planned works. Bach describes the purpose of this collection in his foreword: "In which a beginning organist receives given instruction as to performing a chorale in a multitude of ways while achieving mastery in the study of the pedal, since in the chorales contained herein the pedal is treated entirely obbligato. In honour [sic] of our Lord alone. That my fellow man his skill may hone." The Orgelbüchlein was a pedagogical guide, study in compositional techniques and a religious statement. The four Advent works, BWV 599-602, are Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Come now Saviour of heathens), Gottes Sohn ist kommen (The Son of God is come), Herr Christ, der einge Gottes-Sohn (Lord Christ, the only Son of God), and Lob sei dem allmächtigen Gott (Praise be to God Almighty).
At the 11:00 a.m. service, the Chancel Choir will sing composer Robert Hobby's setting of the Charles Wesley Advent hymn, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. The text is set to the tune JEFFERSON from the 1835 early American shape note and song book, Southern Harmony. Amy Welsh will conduct. At 6:00 p.m. the annual Longest Night service will include harpist Alaina Bongers, flutist Rebecca Quillen, the Plymouth Ringers, and our newest ensemble, the Chamber Choir. Advent selections include an arrangement of the 16th century plainsong chant Divinum Mysterium by Alaina Bongers and the Anglican choral classic A Spotless Rose by Herbert Howells.
0 Comments
For each Sunday in the remainder of Advent, the seasonal chorale-based output of a Baroque composer will be focused upon from the organ.
This week, it will be German composer Georg Böhm (1661-1733). He is known as the father of the chorale partita, a composition which offers a succession of creative variations on a chorale tune. Excerpts from Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele (Rejoice greatly, O my soul) will be heard at the morning prelude and postlude and during the 9:00 a.m. service communion. The chorale melody is known to us as the Advent hymn Comfort, Comfort O My People, a tune compiled in the 16th century Genevan Psalter. The Chancel Choir will offer Felix Mendelssohn's How Lovely are the Messengers from the 1836 oratorio St. Paul. A paraphrase of Romans 10.15 & 18, the chorus praises the harbingers of peace on earth and the coming new kingdom of God on earth. At 6:00 p.m., Bobby, cantor Blair Carpenter, and bassist Peter Strening will lead us in song as we continue our Advent journey. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, instructor, and priest whose influence on composers was widespread even in his day. At this Sunday's morning services, we will hear his Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins, Op. 3, No. 11 with violinists Harmony Tucker and Katrina Nelson. The work is one of twelve concertos published in 1711 originally entitled L'estro armonico (the harmonic inspiration). The D minor concerto was highly revered by contemporary J.S. Bach and transcribed for organ as Organ Concerto in D Minor, BWV 596. Bach transcribed several other Vivaldi works as well. At the 11:00 a.m. service, I will play a transcription of the final movement of Vivaldi's Winter from The Four Seasons as we anticipate the cold days ahead.
At 6:00 p.m. Bobby and vocalist Hannah Walters will offer a contemplative jazz-inflected musical experience on this First Sunday of Advent. Hannah is organist and Administrator of Music and Education at Peace With Christ Lutheran Church here in Fort Collins. |
Details
|