Cecilia McDowall: Laudate

Premiering in the U.S. this afternoon, Laudate is a three-movement setting of Psalm 112 (Psalm 113 in the Hebrew Bible), a prayer of praise for the Lord’s generosity. Scored for mezzo-soprano soloist, full chorus, and chamber orchestra of two oboes, bassoon, two trumpets, timpani, and strings, Laudate was commissioned by St. Albans Choral Society, an amateur chorus based in Hertfordshire, England, led by George Vass, a strong advocate for new music. Laudate’s world premiere on April 12, 2008, was held at St. Albans Cathedral, a building dating from the Middle Ages. For this performance, the chorus was joined by the Orchestra Nova and the mezzo-soprano Frances Bourne, both based in London

Psalm 112 has been set to music numerous times, as it is used in Anglican, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, and other Protestant liturgies, particularly during the office of Vespers. McDowall divides the piece into three movements, each depicting three verses of the nine-verse psalm. The majestic first movement, “Praise the Lord, you children,” opens with an extended orchestral introduction, where a trumpet fanfare alternates with lyrical statements by the strings. The fanfare alludes to biblical times, as the Bible has numerous mentions of trumpets used in a variety of functions, from calls to war to calls for celebration. The latter aptly applies to this movement as it respectfully invites us to praise the Lord and bless His name. Just as trumpets and strings alternate throughout the movement, so do the chorus and the soloist. The melodies of the chorus are based on a few notes and make use of repetition, creating a soothing and hypnotic effect. The soloist’s melodies, however, are soaring and elaborate, adding expressiveness to the movement. Frequent meter changes, regular use of syncopation, and occasional dissonant chords bring vitality to this reverential piece. An instrumental section builds up towards the closing, where chorus and soloist imitate each other in joyful repetitions of the word “praise.” The trumpets end the movement with a final fanfare-like embellishment.

The second movement, “The Lord is high above all nations,” praises the greatness of the Lord. To contrast with the outer movements, McDowall sets it for the orchestra and the soloist. In the composer’s words, this movement “brings a mood of simplicity and quiet joy to the work,” but frequent meter changes add rhythmic energy to this gentler mood. The last movement, “Lifting up the needy from the dust,” joyfully celebrates the Lord’s generosity with the “simple, the poor, and the barren woman.” Contrasting with the first movement, McDowall uses the strings, not the trumpets, to introduce the movement. Each verse is structured in a similar way. The soloist introduces each, followed by frequent exchanges between her and the chorus, now using a more polyphonic texture. Again, the soloist has more elaborate and soaring melodies, while the chorus uses melodies based on a few pitches. Dissonant chords add more color to the movement, while frequent meter changes and syncopation reinforce the celebratory mood. Laudate fittingly ends with a powerful crescendo where the chorus joyfully reiterates the word “praise,” supported by the full orchestra.

Jonathan Dove: Köthener Messe

In the Köthener Messe, Dove pays homage to Johann Sebastian Bach. The Mass was commissioned by the Köthener Bach Festtage (Köthen Bach Festival Days), a week-long music festival founded in 1967 and held once every two years. It is scored for four vocal soloists—consisting of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass—full chorus, and an orchestra resembling the small ensembles of the Baroque: two recorders, harpsichord, and strings. The premiere took place on September 1, 2002, at St. Agnes Church in Köthen with the Akademie für Alte Musik of Berlin and Himlische Cantorey, a vocal ensemble based in Hamburg.

Köthen, today the capital of the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, was home to Bach from 1717 to 1723, ages 32 to 38, when he was Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Köthen. It is in Köthen that he lost his first wife, Maria Barbara, married Anna Magdalena, and where two of his twenty children were born. His job was to direct the prince’s small orchestra of about 18 players and compose music for it. Because the prince belonged to the Calvinist church, where only simple psalm singing was permitted during  the service, most of Bach’s works from Köthen are secular. Among the many instrumental pieces he wrote for the prince are the works that Dove uses as inspiration at his Mass, the set of six Brandenburg Concertos and Volume I of the Well-Tempered Clavier, a book of preludes and fugues in all 24 keys, major and minor. 

To honor Bach, a devout Lutheran, the Köthener Messe consists of four of the main movements of the Lutheran service, Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, as the Credo was not always present. Dove kept the Latin for all, except for the Kyrie, which traditionally uses Greek. As impetus for the piece, Dove imagined Bach attending St. Agnes Church and falling asleep during the sermon. As he dreams, fragments from these works form themselves into a Mass. “As the great man’s head nods, incomplete phrases of the E minor prelude repeat fretfully and become the accompaniment for a Kyrie. A passage from the slow movement of the fourth Brandenburg Concerto drifts waywardly into the Christe. The prelude returns in augmentations that Bach would forbid, if only he could wake up. In the Gloria, the prelude and fugue in G major mingle with snatches of the third and fourth concertos. The Sanctus is a dreamlike meeting between the sixth concerto and the C major prelude. It leads seamlessly into the Benedictus – a pupil is playing the B flat major prelude, but his left hand has started on the wrong note. Finally, in the Agnus Dei, the transposed opening of the B flat minor prelude repeats itself over the subject and answer of the B minor fugue, and eventually over the closing bars of the fugue – but Bach is still fast asleep, and his music plays in slow-motion.” Köthener Messe is full of inventiveness. The juxtaposition of Bach’s musical language with that of Dove creates an eerie feeling, as polyphony and dissonance combine to often produce a distorted sound. But it is this misshapen sound that fittingly represents a musical dream where “ideas have detached from their surroundings and float in free association.”

Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat in D, BWV 24

The Magnificat, a canticle that celebrates Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who will soon give birth to John the Baptist, has a significant function in the liturgical services of the Anglican, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Lutheran Churches. The narrative is based on the Gospel of Luke (1:46-55), where Mary, in the early stages of her pregnancy, greets Elizabeth by expressing her joy for having been chosen as Jesus’ mother: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked with favor on the lowliness of His servant.”

Considered one of Bach’s best-known works, the first version of the Magnificat was composed in 1723 (BWV 243a), his first year in Leipzig, where his job as cantor at St. Thomas’ Church required him to produce compositions for the four Lutheran churches, as well as the town. It is likely this version was first performed at St. Nicholas’ Church on December 25, 1723, as part of the Christmas celebration. The Magnificat was a regular part of Sunday services in Leipzig, where it was sung in German, but for the high holidays of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, and on the three Marian feasts of Annunciation, Visitation, and Purification, it was sung in Latin.

Reflecting on the importance of the occasion and aiming to impress the town council, Bach conceived the Magnificat on a grand scale. He scored it for five vocal soloists, consisting of two sopranos, alto, tenor, and bass, as well as a five-part chorus doubling the sopranos, and a large orchestra of two oboes, three trumpets, timpani, violins, viola, and a continuo group consisting of cello, contrabass, bassoon, and organ. In 1732, Bach, who liked to rewrite and modify his compositions, revised the work, transposing it from E-flat major to D major, changing some harmonies and rhythms, and altering some instrumental parts. Probably first performed during the feast of the Visitation on May 31, 1733, this version, cataloged as BWV 243, is now more often performed, and it is the version we are performing this afternoon.

Bach divided the Magnificat into twelve movements, each displaying Bach’s vocal melodies, often instrumental in conception, featuring wide leaps and awkward intervals. The first, Magnificat, is fast-paced and opens with an exuberant orchestral introduction, followed by the chorus joyfully singing “Magnificat,” the word that dominates. It is repeated in imitation with the voices using melismatic melodies, many notes singing its first syllable, reflecting the decorated melodies of the Baroque. Two soprano arias follow. In Et exsultavit, the soprano 2 soloist, accompanied by the strings, states the text twice with a cheerful melody that continues the expression of joy of the first movement. Bringing contrast, the soprano 1 aria, Quia respexit, is more subdued. The soloist engages in dialogue with the oboe d’amore, an instrument slightly larger than the oboe, but with a plaintive tone that highlights the sense of humility described in the text, which Bach reinforces by setting “humilitatem” to descending melodies. The soloist is interrupted by the chorus singing the two words that complete her statement, “omnes generationes,” repeated in close imitation, expressing the multitude of generations that call Mary “blessed.”

Again, two solo movements follow. Quia fecit, is sung by the lowest voice, the bass, to express power and might, emphasizing the word “potens” with melismas. From might, the text of the next movement focuses on mercy: Et misericordia. Bach sets it to a duet for alto and tenor accompanied by flutes and strings. The text repeats three times, emphasizing “misericordia” with a soothing melody sung by the duet. The seventh movement, Fecit potentiam, considered the height of the Magnificat, brings stark contrast. To show the Lord’s strength, Bach uses the full chorus and orchestra in dense polyphony. Every statement of “potentiam” is highlighted by one of the voices with an elaborate melisma supported by the might of the trumpets. “Dispersit” is set to scattered utterances in descending skips. To end this dramatic movement, there is a sudden pause after “superbos,” followed by a change to a slower tempo and an end to polyphony, as the chorus sings “even the arrogant of heart” in mostly homorhythm.

For the second half of the Magnificat, Bach continues with the pattern of following a choral movement with solo arias. In Deposuit, the tenor, supported by the violins, sings two statements of the text, where the second is more decorated than the first. To bring contrast, in Esurientes, the alto is accompanied by the flutes. The text is again sung twice with the second statement further embellished. For variety, Suscepit Israel is sung by the female voices of the chorus. To make a clear connection to Lutheranism, Bach uses this movement to quote Martin Luther's German translation of the Gregorian chant Magnificat, presenting it in long notes played by the oboes, while the singers add intricate counterpoint around it. Sicut locutus est uses the exposition of a fugue, a technique in which Bach excelled. The subject, or main theme, is introduced by the basses and in turn is imitated by the tenors, altos, sopranos 2, and finally by the sopranos 1. Bach concludes the Magnificat with a grand choral movement for the doxology, Gloria Patri. The chorus alternates between homorhythm and imitation for “Gloria.” The imitation sounds like an ascending cascade of voices going from the bass to the soprano 1 for the first statement and descending from the soprano to the bass for the last. Sicut erat uses material from the opening movement bringing the work full circle for a joyful and triumphant conclusion.