Jonathan W. Moyerorgan
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JONATHAN W. MOYERORGAN THE JOYS AND DELIGHTS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH Franz Danksagmüller Estampie (b.1969) Intabolatura Nova di Balli Gagliarda ‘L’herba fresca’ (Venice, 1551) Gagliarda ‘Gamba’ Gagliarda ‘Comadrina’ Girolamo Frescobaldi Recercar con obligo di cantare la quinta parte senza toccarla (1583-1643) Fiori musicali, 1635 Juan Cabanilles Tiento por A la mi re (1644-1712) Anonymous Psalmus. O Lorde turne not awaye The Mulliner Book (c.1545-1570) Verse and variation Thomas Tallis Felix namque II (c.1505-1585) Fitzwilliam Virginal Book Anonymous Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ Lüneburger Orgeltabulatur (mid-17th cent.) Versus I Versus II Johann Ulrich Steigleder Ricercar in D (1593-1635) Ricercar Tabulatura, 1624 Jonathan W. Moyer Chaconne, Oculi mei semper ad Dominum (b.1975) SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2021 4PM CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL NOTES Haec si contingunt Terris, quae gaudia Caelo? These words from Girolamo Diruta’s seminal treatise Il Transil- vano of 1593 aptly describe the dazzling sonority of Christ Church Cathedral’s remarkable chapel organ by C.B. Fisk. “If on earth one enjoys such sweet harmony afforded human ears by so much artifice, what joy and delight ought there to be in heaven over the angelic choirs and blessed spirits.” Upon my first visit on this unique instrument, I was struck by its ability to express a host of repertoire through its vibrant pipe voicing, array of tonal color, expressive temperament, and vast registrational possi- bilities. As such, I have created a program that brings together contrasting repertoire from across centuries, traditions, and geographies, representing both the “terrestrial” and “celestial” experience through intimate expressions of prayer, exultant hymns of praise, lively dances, and works of contrapuntal ingenuity. Today’s program begins and concludes with music from the present age. Franz Danksagmüller currently teaches at the Hochschule für Musik in Lübeck. His Estampie is inspired by the renaissance dance from which it takes its name and utilizes a melodic figuration taken from thePassacaglia in d by Dieterich Bux- tehude. The work was originally conceived for an Italian organ (now in the Lübecker Dom), and it translates perfectly to the tonal palette of the Fisk organ. The work is divided into 5 sections, each as a variation on this pitch-class set: Intabolatura Nova di Balli (Venice, 1551) is a collection of dances composed in the “new” style and is among some of the first published music designated for keyboard. The pieces were likely intended for stringed keyboard instruments, but they are also well suited to the lively sound of the Italian organ. For this perfor- mance, I have grouped together three galliards in rondo form (A-B-A-C-A). Their descriptive titles (l’erba fresca or “fresh grass,” gamba or “leg,” and comadrina or “mid-wife”) speak to the athletic nature of this popular sixteenth century dance. The name of Girolamo Frescobaldi has become almost synonymous with the Italianate keyboard style. One of the hallmarks of his work is the pedagogical commentary that he provides in prefaces and enigmatic instructions written into his scores. For Frescobaldi, the musical development of the performer consisted of technical, emotional, and intellectual enterprise. Such is the case with the Recercar con obligo di cantare from his masterpiece Fiori musicali published in 1635. Frescobaldi elevates the compositional art of the ricercar by inserting – even demanding (con obligo) – the literal voice of the performer, who must sing a dictated six-note musical phrase simultaneously while playing the organ. Frescobaldi’s original intention was to make this a kind of musical puzzle for the performer who would determine where the fifth part entered according to the rules of musical counterpoint: Intendami chi puo che m’intend’io (“He who can understand me will understand me”). It has become customary to sing the words “Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis” in context of the mass from which the ricercar is taken, Missa della Madonna. Although a unique world of its own, organ music in Spain and Portugal shares much of the same spirit and function as that of the Italian tradition. Like Italy, keyboard music flourished throughout sixteenth and sev- enteenth century Iberia with composers like Antonio de Cabezon, Sebastían Aguilera de Heredia, and Fran- cisco Correa de Arauxo, culminating in the vast oeuvre of Juan Cabanilles, whose technical requirements surpass all other Spanish composers to date. His Tiento por A la mi re, features elements inspired from the Battala or “battle piece” tradition, replete with heralding trumpets, dancing flutes, and extreme virtuosity. In stark contrast to the opulence of Cabanilles, the simple psalm tune “O Lorde turne not awaye” represents the piety of sixteenth century reformation in England. This keyboard variation appears in The Mulliner Book, an extensive collection of mid-16th century English liturgical keyboard music. The psalm setting was published in the Sternhold and Hopkins metrical psalter of 1562 as a confession entitled “The Lamentation of a Sinner.” Thomas Tallis is largely known as a composer of choral music, yet 24 of his ex- tant compositions for keyboard survive. His life traversed the changing tides of protestant and Roman Catholic conflict in sixteenth century England, serving as court composer and organist to four monarchs (Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I). The Fitz-William Virginal Book contains two keyboard works by Tallis based on the Gregorian melody Felix namque (“For thou art happy,” offertory for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and are among his longest and most virtuosic compositions for keyboard. The melody of the chant is treated in polyphonic imitation and as a cantus firmus set to fantastic contrapuntal figuration and varying metrical proportions. The influence of the Italian keyboard tradition was profound in the northern regions of protestant and Roman Catholic Germany. German organists expanded upon the contrapuntal and figurative techniques of the south adapting them to the large instruments of the north with their towering independent pedal divisions. Two anonymous settings of the chorale Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ come from the Lüneburger Orgeltabulatur, a large collection of keyboard works compiled by Franz Schaumkell (1590-1676), organist of St. Johannis, Lüneburg. The only composer acknowledged in the collection is the Hamburg organist Hein- rich Scheidemann, and most of the works bare characteristics of his compositional style. The simplicity and smaller scale of these chorale settings might reflect the capabilities of a more average or “village” organist of the time, yet they are no less vehicles for evocative tonal color and meaningful interpre- tation. I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ, I pray, hear my lamentation, bestow your grace on me at this time, do not let me despair; I think that I have the right faith, Lord, which you wanted to give me, to live for you, to be useful to my neighbor, to keep your word properly. The few extant compositions of the Stuttgart organist Johann Ulrich Steigleder are a testament of an ex- traordinary and overlooked composer. He is most famous for his forty settings of Martin Luther’s chorale Vater unser im Himmelreich. The first of his twelve ricercars is a remarkable example of contrapuntal skill and thematic transformation. Theorist Martin Heinrich Fuhrmann (1669-1745) stated aptly in his treatise Musicalischer-Trichter of 1706: The Italian Frescobaldi has set difficult and artful toccatas for the keyboard, and our German Buxtehude has also set some; but in my humble opinion there is a difference between them as between a copy and an original, and if one rubs the compositions of the Italian on the Buxte- hudian touchstone, one can see what is chemical – and what is ducat-gold. Ita hoc Germanus Italizat, imo multis parasangis praecurrit. “Therefore, in fact the German Italianizes, indeed many leagues ahead.” The conclusion of the program returns to the spirit of the Italian age in a new composition that I have composed for this occasion. Inspired by Frescobaldi’s combination of both hand and voice, I conceived a chaconne based on a progression of varying pure and impure harmonies suited to the temperament of the Fisk organ. The work is divided into four variations each separated by a vocal declamation of the Gregorian Introit for the Third Sunday of Lent. I offer this as a prayer during our time of pandemic. My eyes are ever toward the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare. Look upon me and have mercy on me, for I am poor and alone. -Psalm 25:15-16 Jonathan William Moyer maintains a dynamic career as a church musician, concert organist, and pedagogue. The Baltimore Sun has described his playing as "ever-expressive, stylish, and rivet- ing." He is chair and assistant professor of organ at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and organist of the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland. Moyer specializes in a vast repertoire from the renaissance to the 21st century, and has performed throughout the United States and in Europe and Japan. He has performed with numerous ensem- bles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, the Tanglewood Festival Orches- tra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Oberlin Orchestra, Quire Cleveland, Concert Artists of Baltimore, and the Handel Choir of Baltimore. Recent concerts include the Pacific Lutheran University, National Convention of the American Organ Historical Society (Rochester, N.Y.), the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Washington, D.C.), Interlochen Arts Camp, St. Sulpice (Paris), Notre Dame de Bergerac, and J.S. Bach’s complete Clavierübung III at the German Reformed Church in Budapest, Hungary. In spring 2019, Moyer will be a visiting instructor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik in Lübeck, Germany. At the Church of the Covenant, Moyer oversees two pipe organs (E.M.