The loveliest of all Baroque adagio melodies . . . little Brenda sang this in church yesterday on Good Friday. Keep in mind, friends, I'd like this sung at my funeral someday, so somebody, please learn the music! Text:
Bist du bei mir, geh' ich mit Freuden
zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh'.
Ach, wie vergnügt wär' so mein Ende,
es drückten deine lieber Hände
mir die getreuen Augen zu!
English translation:
Be Thou with me, then I will go gladly
unto [my] death and to my rest.
Ah, what a pleasant end for me,
if your dear hands be the last I see,
closing shut my faithful eyes to rest!
Enjoy this fine performance (posted above).
Showing posts with label Great Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Music. Show all posts
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Friday, February 1, 2008
Brahms’ Requiem:
An Appreciative Analysis for Deeper Listening
I wish to examine the masterful illumination of a great text with music fully befitting its grandeur. Few composers ever matched the intellectual mastery of Brahms’ work. He obviously took his craft as a musician very seriously, and honed his skills to their highest capacity.
The word Requiem is Latin for “rest.” Originally, in the Latin liturgical tradition, Misse pro Defunctis (Mass for the Dead) began with the words Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis (Give them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them). A very small portion of the Latin text came from the Bible, but it was apparently composed for the express purpose of observing a mass for the departed; it contained, most notably, a section called the Dies Irae or Day of Wrath, conjuring images of terror at the Last Judgment, which Brahms ignores. Countless settings of the Requiem Mass had been produced by composers since medieval times.
Influenced, no doubt, by Lutheran innovation, Brahms takes this opportunity to break with Catholic tradition by using a completely different text and still calling it a requiem. Brahms carefully chooses relevant texts from Luther’s translation of the Bible which focus on comfort for the living who mourn their dead. The use of the German vernacular is quite significant in church history, and subsequently in music history.
Brahms seeks to express the heart and soul of the various Biblical texts; each new thought in the text comes in on the wings of a new melodic theme perfectly suited to its character. Brahms draws from an exceptionally wide palette of musical techniques in producing the desired effects. One sees the influence of early music and especially Bach, from whom he learned the art of fugue. The musical structure of the Requiem is often compared to an arch, with seven movements that complement and balance each other in mood and character.
The work opens with “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” and closes with a quote from Revelation, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; for they rest from their labors and their works do follow them,” both set gently with tender, lyrical melodies.
The second and sixth movements are heavy both in character and content, with the music ponderous under the weight of ultimate realities. The text of these movements (refer to translation below) reflect on the brevity of human life, the vanity of human works and the hope of the Resurrection as the sole relief of that despair. The sixth movement gives way to a fierce, ostentatious celebration in the victory (won by Christ) over death, and then falls into a rapturous, deeply felt adoration of our God, Who is “worthy to receive glory and honor and power.”
The third and fifth movements each make use of baritone and soprano soloists, respectively. The text of the third movement states the human longing for purpose and meaning to life: “Lord, help me to number my days, that my life would have a worthy goal,” (loose translation from the German) and the haunting woodwinds reflect that yearning. This cry is answered in the fifth movement, where God promises to comfort His people “as a mother comforts her child.”
In the fourth and central movement (also the most popular), the Christian’s blessed hope becomes luminous and palpable. “How lovely is Thy dwelling-place, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longs, fainting, for the courts of the Lord! My heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God. Blessed are they who dwell with You; they will praise you forever.” As if David’s poetry alone were not breathtaking enough, the sweep of angelic massed sopranos and determined footsteps of the bass-entering fugue would threaten to overwhelm the sensibilities. The melodies are utterly charming, but the compositional workmanship is nothing less than masterful.
The effect of the work as a whole is uncommonly powerful because of its dual impact on right and left brain functions. The profound intellectual and technical mastery allows the emotional response to follow it to its depths.
Come and hear the Master Singers of Milwaukee perform this work in two locations,
Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 7:30pm
North Shore Congregational Church, 7330 N. Santa Monica, Fox Point
Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 3:00pm
St. Sebastian Catholic Church, 5400 W. Washington Blvd., Milwaukee
I wish to examine the masterful illumination of a great text with music fully befitting its grandeur. Few composers ever matched the intellectual mastery of Brahms’ work. He obviously took his craft as a musician very seriously, and honed his skills to their highest capacity.
The word Requiem is Latin for “rest.” Originally, in the Latin liturgical tradition, Misse pro Defunctis (Mass for the Dead) began with the words Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis (Give them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them). A very small portion of the Latin text came from the Bible, but it was apparently composed for the express purpose of observing a mass for the departed; it contained, most notably, a section called the Dies Irae or Day of Wrath, conjuring images of terror at the Last Judgment, which Brahms ignores. Countless settings of the Requiem Mass had been produced by composers since medieval times.
Influenced, no doubt, by Lutheran innovation, Brahms takes this opportunity to break with Catholic tradition by using a completely different text and still calling it a requiem. Brahms carefully chooses relevant texts from Luther’s translation of the Bible which focus on comfort for the living who mourn their dead. The use of the German vernacular is quite significant in church history, and subsequently in music history.
Brahms seeks to express the heart and soul of the various Biblical texts; each new thought in the text comes in on the wings of a new melodic theme perfectly suited to its character. Brahms draws from an exceptionally wide palette of musical techniques in producing the desired effects. One sees the influence of early music and especially Bach, from whom he learned the art of fugue. The musical structure of the Requiem is often compared to an arch, with seven movements that complement and balance each other in mood and character.
The work opens with “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” and closes with a quote from Revelation, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; for they rest from their labors and their works do follow them,” both set gently with tender, lyrical melodies.
The second and sixth movements are heavy both in character and content, with the music ponderous under the weight of ultimate realities. The text of these movements (refer to translation below) reflect on the brevity of human life, the vanity of human works and the hope of the Resurrection as the sole relief of that despair. The sixth movement gives way to a fierce, ostentatious celebration in the victory (won by Christ) over death, and then falls into a rapturous, deeply felt adoration of our God, Who is “worthy to receive glory and honor and power.”
The third and fifth movements each make use of baritone and soprano soloists, respectively. The text of the third movement states the human longing for purpose and meaning to life: “Lord, help me to number my days, that my life would have a worthy goal,” (loose translation from the German) and the haunting woodwinds reflect that yearning. This cry is answered in the fifth movement, where God promises to comfort His people “as a mother comforts her child.”
In the fourth and central movement (also the most popular), the Christian’s blessed hope becomes luminous and palpable. “How lovely is Thy dwelling-place, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longs, fainting, for the courts of the Lord! My heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God. Blessed are they who dwell with You; they will praise you forever.” As if David’s poetry alone were not breathtaking enough, the sweep of angelic massed sopranos and determined footsteps of the bass-entering fugue would threaten to overwhelm the sensibilities. The melodies are utterly charming, but the compositional workmanship is nothing less than masterful.
The effect of the work as a whole is uncommonly powerful because of its dual impact on right and left brain functions. The profound intellectual and technical mastery allows the emotional response to follow it to its depths.
Come and hear the Master Singers of Milwaukee perform this work in two locations,
Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 7:30pm
North Shore Congregational Church, 7330 N. Santa Monica, Fox Point
Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 3:00pm
St. Sebastian Catholic Church, 5400 W. Washington Blvd., Milwaukee
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Text of Brahms' Requiem
I. Chorus
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
-Matthew 5
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. They go forth and weep, and bear precious seed, and shall come again with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.
-PSALM 126
II. Chorus
For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls...
-I PETER 1
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient.
-JAMES 5
III. Baritone Solo & Chorus
Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a few handbreaths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Surely everyone goes about like a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; they heap up, and do not know who will gather them. And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in Thee.
-PSALM 39
IV. Chorus
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.
-PSALM 84
V. Soprano Solo & Chorus
Ye now are sorrowful; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,and no one will take your joy from you.
-JOHN 16
As a mother comforts her child so will I comfort you. Behold with your eyes: but for a little have I known sorrow and labor and found much rest.
-ECCLESIASTICUS 51
VI. Baritone Solo & Chorus
For here have we no continuing place, but we seek one that is to come.
-HEBREWS 13
Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the hour of the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
-I CORINTHIANS 15
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.
-REVELATION 4
VII. Final Chorus
Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord. "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labors, and their deeds follow them."
-REVELATION 14
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