Songs for July 21st

Prelude: Prelude and Fugue in E minor “The Wedge” BWV 548, J.S Bach

 

                  Among the most expansive and complex organ works of J.S. Bach is the towering Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548.

 

The 19th century Bach biographer, Philipp Spitta, went so far as to call it “a two-movement symphony” for organ. According to the polymath musicologist, Albert Schweitzer, these two complimentary movements are “so mighty in design, and have so much harshness blended with their power, that the hearer can only grasp them after several hearings.” Maarten ‘t Hart considers the somber Prelude to be “a forerunner of the lament of the wounded Amfortas in Wagner’s Parsifal,” and describes the virtuosic Fugue as “bewildering.”

 

Bach wrote this bold music between 1727 and 1736 during his tenure in Leipzig. 

Formally, the somber Prelude resembles a concerto, with a recurring ritornello. The four-part Fugue’s striking subject unfolds with wedge-like chromatic outward motion. Its dramatic contour has earned BWV 548 the nickname, “The Wedge.” The Fugue’s three-part structure includes blazing toccata passages and, in the third section, a full de capo in which the haunting exposition returns.

For Bach, the purpose of all music was “the glorification of God, and the refreshment of the spirit.” The Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548 unleashes a thrilling and ferocious sense of divine energy.

 

Anthem: The King Of Love, My Shepherd Is (St. Columba) arr. Mark Schweizer        after J.S. Bach’s Prelude 1 in G Major

Mark Schweizer

This Morning's offertory is The King Of Love, My Shephard Is, Arr by Mark Schweizer
after J.S Bach’s Prelude 1 in C Major. A setting of the hymn tune St Columba, is sung by the choir in a two-partchoir (equal voices – in canon). This is accompanied by the organ over Bach’s Cello Prelude in C. With the combination of the two, one might exude a feeling of calmness and serenity. It speaks of freedom, of unhindered movement, and of beauty in its most serene, yet powerful form.

 

Recessional Hymn: O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing #493 (Azmon)

Though John Wesley is called the father of Methodism, his brother Charles Wesley (1707-1788) may be called the father of Methodist congregational singing. 

Wesley’s poetic response to his conversion is replete with literary elegance and beautiful control of language. In the text set in the UM Hymnal, Wesley employs hyperbole right from the start with “O for a thousand tongues to sing,” to heighten the emotional impact of the poem. According to several scholars, this famous opening line may have been inspired by Charles’ spiritual mentor, German-born Moravian missionary Peter Böhler, who said, “Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise him with them all!”

The original hymn had 18 stanzas. The seventh stanza became the first stanza of the hymn that we now know. 

Lowell Mason’s (1792-1872) arrangement of the Carl G. Gläser (1784-1829) tune AZMON is used with “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” in the UM Hymnal. Gläser was a German composer and contemporary of Beethoven. Though Charles Wesley’s text has been sung to a number of tunes through the years, AZMON is the dominant choice throughout the hymnody of the mainline denominations.

Since 1870, this hymn has been the first hymn in every Methodist hymnal. 

 

Postlude: Toccata (Suite Gothique, op.25) Leon Boellmann

His best-known composition is Suite Gothique (1895), now a staple of the organ repertoire, especially its concluding Toccata,

a piece "of moderate difficulty but brilliant effect", with a dramatic minor theme and a rhythmic emphasis that made it popular even in Boëllmann's day.

 

The suite consists of four movements:

1.        Introduction - Choral (C minor)

2.        Menuet gothique (C major)

3.        Prière à Notre-Dame (A-flat major)

4.        Toccata (C minor)

The first movement (Introduction - Choral) is in C minor and is made up of harmonized choral phrases that are first played in block chords on the great and pedals, and then repeated, piano, on the Swell. The second movement (Menuet gothique) is in 3/4 time and in C major. The third movement (Prière à Notre-Dame) is in A-flat major; it rarely uses dynamics above 'piano'. The final fourth movement (Toccata) is the best-known of the suite. This movement returns to C minor, ending with a Tierce De Picardie on full organ (Major chord!!).