Lily Among Thorns Westminster Kantorei Westminster Baroque Orchestra Amanda Quist, Conductor
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Lily Among Thorns Westminster Kantorei Westminster Baroque Orchestra Amanda Quist, conductor e Saturday, November 17, 2018 8 p.m. Bristol Chapel Westminster Choir College Princeton, N.J. 2 Conductor’s Note Tonight’s program is a study in contrast. “Lily among thorns” takes its title from the Biblical text found in Song of Solomon, a passage set by many composers. Incorporated in tonight’s program by Palestrina in his parody mass, the lily has been used metaphorically throughout centuries to symbolize purity, and is juxtaposed with the thorn, the symbol of pain, highlighting its emergence from struggle with virtue and beauty. The concept of contrast in music mirrors good and evil; contrast pervades artistic composition, like a relief sculpture, allowing those who experience it to appreciate consonance and beauty more deeply after having experienced pain and darkness. A 1997 article titled “That Crown of Thorns” published by the Riemenschneider Bach Institute’s BACH Journal 28, by Timothy A. Smith, references the symbol below. Bach’s monogram includes his initials, JSB, inscribed both forward and backward, intertwined with a crown topping the image. The crown of thorns and the cross are symbols of suffering found throughout the music of Bach, whether in form, musical gesture, key selection, or text. Cantata 45 is no exception, making use of the acrostic form, sharp keys, and painting the journey of the soul through the cantata from dark to light. Palestrina, the Italian composer whose music is revered by many as the finest example of stile antico in its polyphonic perfection, is juxtaposed in the first half of our program by Carlo Gesualdo, along with a set of Italian madrigals. Gesualdo’s music is in many ways the exact opposite of Palestrina’s within a similar time period, with its unprepared dissonance, highly chromatic harmony, and delivery of the unexpected. Like the symmetry found in his cantata, our program begins and ends with the music of J.S. Bach, and we hope leaving the listener with a sense of a completed journey, from dark to light. — Amanda Quist Program Prélude Sonata I in E Flat, BWV 525 Johann Sebastian Bach I. Allegro (1685 – 1750) III Vivace Michael Ryan, organ I. Missa Sicut Lilium Inter Spinas Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Kyrie (1525 – 1594) Sanctus & Benedictus Agnus Dei Program 3 II. O dolce mio tesoro Carlo Gesualdo (1566 – 1613) Chi la gagliarda Baldassare Donato (1525 – 1603) El grillo Josquin de Prez (1455 – 1521) Vecchie letrose Adrian Willaert (1490 – 1562) Ari Carrillo, recorder John Swedberg, violin Matthew Marinelli, guitar Sam Scheibe, percussion III. Sicut cervus Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 – 1594) Os justi meditabitur Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) Intermission Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, BWV 45 Johann Sebastian Bach 1. Coro: Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist (1685 – 1750) 2. Recitativo: Der Höchste läßt mich seinen Willen wißen John Swedberg, tenor 3. Aria: Weiß ich Gottes Rechte Kevin Schneider, tenor 4. Arioso: Es werden viele zu mir sagen Matthew Lee, baritone 5. Aria: Wer Gott bekennt aus wahrem Herzensgrund Vivienne Longstreet, alto 6. Recitativo: So wird denn Herz und Mund selbst von mir Richter sein Rachel Feldman, alto 7. Chorale: Gib, dass ich tu mit Fleiß Westminster Baroque Orchestra 4 Program Notes Missa Sicut Lilium Inter Spinas, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy. Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy. Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Heaven and earth are full of your glory, Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Revered as the master of Renaissance stile antico, a style that employed equal-voice polyphony, Palestrina played a central role in establishing the music of the Counter-Reformation. His mass settings, such as the Missa Sicut Lilium Inter Spinas, embody the central compositional principles encouraged by the Catholic church at the time: textual clarity achieved by carefully prepared dissonances within a texture of rising and falling melodic lines. This parody mass borrows its title and melody from a motet and translates as “Lily Among Thorns.” The opening melody presents the symbolic struggle of a lily attempting to emerge out of a group of thorns. The melody repeatedly tries to move upward but is forced to descend into a more harmonically stable line. The lily, historically a sign of purity related to Easter, represents the hope and peace of Christ after the resurrection. Used within a context of carefully prepared dissonances, the lily struggles in a world of uncertainty, plagued by humanity and is a reminder of the struggle for good in a world that, at times, appears anything but pure. O dolce mio tesoro, Carlo Gesualdo O dolce mio tesoro, Oh, my sweet treasure, non mirar s’io mi moro, do not look at me while I die, che il tuo vitale sguardo for your life-giving gaze non fa che mi consumi il foco ond’ardo. will make the fire that burns me, consumes me. Ah no, mìrami pur, anima mia, Ah, no, look at me, my soul— che vita allor mi fia la morte mia. for life then my death gives me. Chi la gagliarda, Baldassare Donato Chi la gagliarda, donna, vo’imparare? Whoever wants to learn about the galliard, Venite a noi che siamo mastri fini, Come to us, who are fine teachers, Che di sera e di matina mai manchiamo For at night and in the morning Mai manchiamo, di sonare: We never fail to play: Tan tan tan tarira, tan ti ru ra. Tan tan tan tarira, tan ti ru ra. El grillo, Josquin de Prez El grillo è buon cantore, The cricket is a good singer Che tienne longo verso, Who can sustain a long phrase. Dalle beve grillo canta. Drink, cricket, and sing some more El grillo è buon cantore The cricket is a good singer. Ma non fa come gli altri uccelli, But unlike the other singers, the birds, Come li han cantato un poco, Who after having sung a bit Van' de fatto in altro loco Fly off to another place, Sempre el grillo sta pur saldo, The cricket is ever constant. Quando la maggior è'l caldo When the heat is the greatest, Al' hor canta sol per amore. Then he sings only for love. Vecchie letrose, Adrian Willaert Vecchie letrose, non valete niente Crabby old people, all you are good for Se non a far l'aguaito per la chiazza. Is prying and meddling in the village square. Tira, tira, tir'alla mazza, Beat, beat, beat with their canes, Vecchie letrose, scannaros'e pazze! Crazy gossips! Program Notes 5 Carlo Gesualdo composed primarily secular music with chromaticism and dissonance that implies a tonal landscape closer to the one used in modern day. O dolce mio tesoro highlights Gesualdo’s ability to use melody, harmony and rhetoric to paint the literal and figurative meaning of the text, an illustrative compositional technique known as a madrigalism. A striking example of this is the text “il fuoco.” The vocal lines employ a cacophony of fast moving notes that literally represent the fire burning within one of the two lovers characterized in the piece. The other three madrigal settings, written by earlier Renaissance composers, also use madrigalisms to tell a story representative of the text but uses tonality in a way more characteristic of the time period. Sicut cervus, Palestrina Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, As a deer pants for water, Ita desiderat anima mea ad te deus. so my soul longs for thee O God. Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem vivum: My soul has thirsted for the living God: quando veniam et apparebo ante faciem Dei? When shall I come and appear before the face of my God? Fuerunt mihi lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte, My tears have been my bread by day and by night, dum dicitur mihi quotidie: While it is said to me daily: Ubi est Deus tuus? Where is your God? Os justi meditabitur, Anton Bruckner Os justi meditabitur sapientiam, The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, et lingua ejus loquetur judicium. and his tongue speaks what is just. Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius The law of his God is in his heart; et non supplantabuntur gressus ejus. and his steps will not be impeded. Just as Palestrina lived during a time of church music reform during the Counter-Reformation, Anton Bruckner composed sacred motets during the Cecilian movement in Germany. A reaction to the Enlightenment, the Cecilian movement attempted to refocus the music in the Catholic church through simplified compositional styles where the text and ideas of the liturgy surfaced instead of the artistic individuality of the composer. Appreciating the similarities in circumstances, Bruckner looked back to the music of Palestrina which is why, though years apart, many similarities are recognizable between these two motets. Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch was gut ist BWV 45, J. S. Bach 1. Coro: Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch was gut ist Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist und was der Herr von dir fordert, It has been told to you, mankind, what is good and what the Lord nämlich: expects from you, namely: Gottes Wort halten und Liebe üben und demütig sein vor deinem to keep God's word and practice love and be humble before your Gott.