NSCS Program Notes for November 11th, 2007
By Donald Draganski
The
celebrated hymn Te Deum Laudamus (“We praise Thee,
O Lord”) dates back to the sixth century. The hymn was
traditionally attributed to Saint Ambrose, although recent scholarship
now credits its composition to Nicetius (d.568), Bishop of Remesiana
(Now Nish in southern Serbia). Normally sung only on Sundays
and Festal days, the hymn’s text has also become a favorite
choice of composers for appropriately celebratory occasions.
Mozart’s
setting of the Te Deum was long assumed to have been written
in 1774; a more careful dating now places its composition five years
earlier, when the composer was only thirteen years old. Although
already a seasoned traveler and a composer with no less than three
operas under his belt, Mozart was still very much part of the musical
life in his native city of Salzburg. In that year of 1769 he was
assigned the honorary post of Konzertmeister – without pay – in
the Archbishop’s Court. Among his colleagues was Michael
Haydn (Joseph’s younger brother) whose music Mozart much admired. In
fact, Mozart’s setting of the Te Deum is modeled almost
measure for measure on Michael Haydn’s setting of the same
text. However, there are significant differences that show
an already independent musical mind at work. Mozart’s
growing technical mastery is already evident in the several fugal
passages that permeate the work. Despite his age at the time
of its writing, the Te Deum should not be dismissed as a
piece of juvenilia, but rather the work of a nascent master who already
knows his business.
xxxx
Ralph
Vaughan Williams’ Flos Campi is not a concerto, despite
the prominence of a solo viola; nor is it a sacred work, even though
passages from the Latin Bible appear as mottos before each movement
in the printed score. The composer called it a “Suite,” a
non-committal title that neatly avoids the issue. Michael Kennedy,
the composer’s biographer, suggests that “Six Images” might
be nearer the mark. In any case, it is one of Vaughan Williams’ loveliest
works, very much in keeping with the sensuality of the texts from
the Song of Songs that inspired it. The work was first performed
in London in 1923. The composer subsequently provided the following
comments:
“When
this work was first produced two years ago, the composer discovered
that most people were not well enough acquainted with the Vulgate
(or perhaps even its English equivalent) to enable them to complete
for themselves the quotations from the Canticum Canticorum. Even
the title and the source of the quotations gave rise to misunderstanding. The
title Flos Campi was taken by some to connote an atmosphere
of buttercups and daisies, whereas in reality flos campi is the Vulgate
equivalent of the Rose of Sharon (Ego flos campi, et lilium convallium: “I
am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valleys.”) The Biblical
source of the quotations also gave rise to the idea that the music
had an ecclesiastical basis. This was not the intention of the composer.”
The
six movements, with their Biblical mottos in English, are as follows:
1. Lento. (“As
the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. Stay me
with flagons, comfort me with apples, for I languish for love.”)
2. Andante con moto. (“For
lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear
on the earth, the time of the singing of birds come, and the voice
of the turtle is heard in our land.”)
3. Lento, senza misura.
(“I sought him whom my soul loveth, but I found him not. I
charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell
him that I am sick from love. Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou
fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved turned aside? That
we may seek him with thee.”)
4. Moderato alla
Marcia. (“Behold his bed which is Solomon’s, three score
valiant men are about it. They all hold swords, being expert
in war.”)
5. Andante quasi
lento. (“Return, Shulamite! Return, return that we may look
upon thee. How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O Prince’s
daughter.”)
6. Moderato tranquillo.
(“Set me as a seal upon thine heart.”)
Flos Campi calls for a solo viola, a small wordless mixed
chorus, and a chamber orchestra. It was last performed by the North
Shore Choral Society in May, 1994.
xxxx
Joseph
Gabriel Rheinberger was born 1839 in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, the son
of the treasurer of the reigning Prince. He began his music
lessons at the age of five; by the time he was seven, he was already
playing organ during services and had composed a setting of the Mass.
Upon reaching his twelfth birthday, he went for further studies to
Munich which became his permanent home. By the time he was
twenty he had joined the faculty of the Munich Conservatory, was
playing organ at several churches, and was touring as a concert pianist. In
that same year of 1859 he published his Op. 1 piano pieces, having
destroyed most of his earlier student works. In 1867 he assumed
the post of full professor at the Conservatory where he remained
until his death in 1901. The Grove Dictionary quotes Hans von
Bülow who describes Rheinberger as “a truly ideal teacher
of composition, unrivalled in the whole of Germany and beyond in
skill, refinement and devotion to his subject; in short, one of the
worthiest musicians and human beings in the world.” Among
Rheinberger’s students we find the names of such notables as
Engelbert Humperdinck, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Wilhelm Furtwängler,
as well as two prominent American composers of the 19th century,
Horatio Parker and George Chadwick.
Rheinbergers’s Der
Stern von Bethlehem (“The Star of Bethlehem” composed
in 1890, is set to a text by the composer’s wife, Franziska
(“Fanny”) von Hoffnaass (1832-1892), whom he married
in 1867. A highly cultured woman, she was a prominent poetess
and painter who provided the text for many of his vocal works.
The oratorio recounts the Biblical story of the birth of Christ
and the subsequent visit of the shepherds and the three Magi to
the stable. The cantata is scored for two soloists (soprano
and baritone), chorus, organ and orchestra. Several
of the movements have over the years entered into the solo recital
repertoire. Today’s presentation marks the work’s first
performance by the North Shore Choral Society.
Copyright © by Donald Draganski
Home | Concerts
| Tickets | Sponsors
| Members | New
Members | About NSCS | Contact
us
Past Performances
