It’s hard to believe that the release date for Kiev 2014, the new CD of my works for orchestra, is only 51 days away. I would like to share about this and other news about the music I am composing, but first a brief review of some splendid new music from fellow Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers member Paul Stanbery.
I just listened to four movements from the Music for Mass: the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. There are three other movements, according to http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/paulstanbery, all available in separate scores and parts. Writing a Mass has always entailed choosing a balance between high art and effective liturgical application. Some composers simply ignored the latter, such as Bach and his incomparable Mass in B Minor. Other composers have served the needs of the parish through easily learned and accessible settings that simply are not memorable nor moving to one’s heart and spirit. Stanbery has managed to accomplish both objectives in this work, no small feat for any composer.
While Stanbery cites Aaron Copland as an influence, I hear much more the echoes of two great British composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten, in these moments of high worship. The “Kyrie” invokes the purely liturgical elements of chant and call-and-response, making the music a little easier to learn. Yet, we also hear these simple, elemental motives, gradually pile up on top of their former iterations to become a deeply satisfying, heartfelt cry for mercy from the Lord. It is fascinating to hear this music grow not only in intensity and complexity, but also in its Chromaticism, until the eternally long pedal C finally resolves to a brilliant F major seventh chord. This, to my mind, is vintage Britten and profound worship as the music brilliantly underscores this powerful prayer for mercy.
Following on the heels of “Kyrie,” the “Gloria” takes on a more liturgical tone as it dutifully sets this long text that depicts worship of the three Persons of the Trinity. The liturgical tone is underscored by subtle references to the Mixolydian and Lydian modes, evoking not only plainchant, but the music of Vaughan Williams. There are some elegant touches in the orchestration, particularly the use of the harp with the pizzicato strings, and the starkly contrasting mood of the middle section, which extols the Son for His sacrifice on our behalf. This middle section is wonderfully intimate and explores many other keys, particularly as it retransitions to the Holy Spirit section that largely recapitulates the music of the opening. While not as captivating as the “Kyrie,” this movement is still quite effective.
The “Sanctus” is possibly the weakest of these four movements. It remains in the key of C major, at a time when I would covet a new key. Its musical language and impetus is overly indebted to the “Gloria.” In many liturgies, when the movements of the Mass are separated by other worship elements, the common tonality can unify the work effectively as one element of worship, and perhaps Stanbery has this detail in mind. However, I miss the passion of the “Kyrie” here and believe the words could have been set with richer imagination and “word-painting.” Like the “Gloria” and “Kyrie” it has a wonderful climax right at the end.
Were the “Sanctus” in a different key, a return to C major for the concluding “Agnus Dei” would be quite compelling. Here we become aware of a chiasmic ordering of the movements as the “Agnus Dei” invokes the music of the “Kyrie” and finishes the structure of the two outer movements surrounding the two inner movements, mirroring the thrust of the texts. It seems, therefore, that Stanbery is at his best setting prayers invoking the mercy of God. The universality of this final prayer for forgiveness and peace is richly underscored by a gorgeous chromatic descent that beautifully frames the final cadence.
This work has proven itself in performances both at St. Peter In Chains Church, Hamilton, Ohio, and then by the local symphony and chorus. It is my hope that Hamilton will have multiple opportunities to hear and worship with this glorious music and share this with our nation and world.
In closing, some news about what I am up to:
- We have just received both DVD’s and CD’s of my work Quiltings. Scored for piano with optional parts for flute and voice in three of the movements, Quiltings is my musical response to the amazing artistry of my sister-in-law’s fabric art. Please visit her website at www.annharwell.com to experience some of the videos that have been incorporated into the DVD. While we are still planning an official release in late 2015 or early 2016, these DVD’s and CD’s can be obtained through this website (www.waltersaul.com) at pre-release prices now.
- I just completed Sonatina #5 for Piano at the request of my good friend Walter Cosand, who promptly performed it on August 13th in China. The sonatina was written and engraved in two days in late July, so it received an international world première only 17 days after I finished it!
- Speaking of Walter Cosand, one of his doctoral students has chosen all five sonatinas as the topic of her dissertation for her DMA at Arizona State University.
- I am also hard at work on a new sonata for violin and piano for the Italian violinist Francesca Dego, which will receive its world première on February 10, 2016, at Fresno Pacific University’s Pacific Artist Series.
More information about Kiev 2014 to come in my next blog next week. If you would like to receive e-mail notifications from us about new blogs, please contact us at walter.saul@fresno.edu.