25th June 2017 Trinity 2

John Stainer “God so loved the world” from “The Crucifixion”

“The Crucifixion: A Mediation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer” was composed in 1887 and first performed on 24^th February of that year. It was dedicated to his friend and pupil W Hodge and the choir of Marylebone Church.  It is a sacred oratorio for tenor and bass soli, SATB choir and organ. W J Sparrow Simpson wrote the libretto.  The work has been dismissed in the past, even Stainer himself calling it “rubbish” but it is continued to be a staple of church music since its first performance, especially around Easter. “God so loved the world” is one of the choral pieces, but the text can be used at any time in the church calendar, as it is reflecting part of the Eucharist.

Sir John Stainer (1840 – 1901) was an English composer and organist.  He was very popular during his life, but now little of his music is performed other than “The Crucifixion”. He was the Heather Professor of Music at Oxford, and his training of choristers and organists set standard that remain influential today.

He was born in Southwark, London, son of a cabinetmaker.  He was a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral at the age of ten. At sixteen he was appointed organist at St Michael’s College, Tenbury.  He was later organist at Magdalen College, Oxford and the St Paul’s Cathedral. Whilst at Magdalen he was allowed to study as long as it did not interfere with his duties as organist.  He chose to do so and in 1864 gained his BA with his MA coming 2 years later. Due to poor eyesight he had to retire from St Paul’s whist in his forties and returned to Oxford to take up his chair. Queen Victoria honoured him with his knighthood in 1888 for his services to British music, the same year he retired from St Paul’s. He died unexpectedly whilst holidaying in Italy.

18th June 2017 Trinity 1

C V Stanford "Jubilate Deo" from Morning, Communion and Evening Service in B flat, Op 10.  The words of the Jubilate are Psalm 100, which is the psalm for this Sunday.

For further information see the post on 21st May 2017.

11th June 2017 Trinity Sunday

Tchaikovsky "Holy, Holy, Holy".

"Holy, Holy, Holy" is used for Trinity Sunday as it speaks of the Blessed Trinity. It  is a Christian hymn written by Reginald Heber (1783 - 1826) (1783–1826) but more usually set to "Nicaea" by John Bacchus Dykes (1823 - 1876).

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) studied law before studying at the St Petersburg conservatoire 1863-1865. He went to Moscow in 1866 to become professor of harmony in the new conservatoire. In 1877 he attracted the patronage of a widow, Nadejda von Meck, who gave him an annual allowance which meant he could give up teaching and concentrate on his composition. This patronage ended in 1890.  

Tchaikovsky remains a popular composer. His music is extremely tuneful, romantic, luxurious and filled with emotions that go straight to the heart.  

Forth coming concert in the church.

21st May 2017

The choir pieces were both by C V Stanford, the "Te Deum" in B flat and "O for a closer walk with God".

The "Te Deum" is from Morning, Evening and Communion Service in B flat Major first performed in Trinity College Chapel,Cambridge on 25th May 1879.  "O for a closer walk with God" is Op 113 No 6.

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) thought to be one of our great British composers was actually Irish, born in Dublin, although educated at The University of Cambridge and then studied music in Leipzig and Berlin.

Whilst an undergraduate, he was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge and was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life.  He was also Professor of Music at Cambridge.  His pupils included Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams whose fame went on to surpass his own.

He is best remembered for his sacred choral compositions for church performance in the Anglican tradition. Along with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, he was thought responsible for the renaissance of music in the British Isles.

14th May 2017

The anthem today was Mozart's "Ave verum corpus".

“Ave verum corpus” (Hail, true body) is a motet in D major, composed in 1791 (K. 618). It was composed for Anton Stoll a friend of both Mozart and Joseph Haydn, who was the musical co-ordinator of a church near Vienna.  It was written to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi.  Mozart’s  manuscript contains minimal musical direction, with only a single “sotto voce” at the beginning of the piece. It was written only 6 months before Mozart’s death.

Mozart ( 27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was born in Salzburg, Austria and considered to be a child prodigy, being proficient at keyboard and violin at the age of 5 when he commenced composing. He performed before European royalty.  At age 17 he was engaged as a musician in the Salzburg court, but was restless and travelled to find a better position.  He was dismissed from his Salzburg post whilst travelling. He chose to stay in Vienna, the capital, where he became famous but had no financial security.  He composed more than 600 works and remains a popular classical composer.

May 13th 2017

The choir sang J S Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" at a wedding.

This is the common title of the 10^th and last movement of the cantata “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben” (BVW 147) composed in 1716 and 1723.  It is commonly played at weddings and Christian festive seasons of Easter and Christmas.  Much of the music of this cantata comes from Bach’s Weimar period (the 1716 parts) finished in 1723 in Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He was a highly respected organist in his lifetime, although not recognised as a composer of magnitude (possibly one of the greatest) until a revival of his works in the first half of the 19^th century. He showed considerable skill in counterpoint and harmony. He was able to adapt rhythm, form and texture from abroad. He was a prolific composer of church music due to the demand for huge numbers of cantatas over the Christian year.  It is thought her wrote over 300 with only around 200 surviving. He also wrote many other works sacred and secular.  It is now agreed that his music has technical command, intellectual depth and artistic beauty.