Soul Journey Frank Martin -
Mass for Double Choir
Edvard Grieg -
Hvad est du dog skjön (1906)
Trond Kverno -
Ave Maris Stella (1976)
Hans Leo Hassler -
Verbum caro factum est
John Tavener -
Funeral Ikos (1981)
Urmas Sisask -
Benedictio (1991)
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This collection of sacred choral works has taken the name "Soul Journey" because it suggested such a journey in many different ways. Journeys can be seen through the music's various liturgical functions or genesis, through its representation of different genres, as well as each composer's relation to his combination of text and music. It certainly has been a musical journey for Canticum and we hope it will be so for our listeners!
The Mass for Double Choir by Swiss composer Frank Martin was composed in the 1920s but not performed until 1962. "I placed no value on its performance," the composer said, "for I feared that one would judge it from a purely aesthetic point of view. I saw it then as a matter between me and God." The work was Martin's first work of religious inspiration and his only one with liturgical function. Martin exploits the choral texture with immense imagination and contrast, rendering the final creation a highly spiritual expression. He says "What drew me to the mass - as, by the way, so many other musicians - was at first the text, but also the form, which in itself is deserving of wonder and admiration from both the aesthetic and psychological point of view." In taking the journey through this Mass setting, one cannot help but sense this composer's own spiritual response to the text.
Edvard Grieg wrote only a few works inspired by sacred texts. His "Four Psalms" (1906), of which Hvad est du dog skjön (How lovely thou art) is one, was his last work. He had little to do with conventional religion, but this work blends Grieg's desire to combine his acknowledgment of both Norwegian folk melody and the historical place of religion in his culture. The text, a poetic paraphrase from the Song of Solomon by the 18th century poet Brorson, is set as a love song of immense intensity.
In his setting of the 11th century hymn Ave Maris Stella (1976), Norwegian composer Trond Kverno uses a musical language which reflects Nordic and the sound of ancient religious music through his use of material reminiscent of chant. The work's musical structure and material illuminate the text, which celebrates the Virgin Mary as a portal through which Christ passes on his way to earth, and is a prayer for safety on the human journey.
Hans Leo Hassler, one of the great German Lutheran composers of the 16th century, studied with Andrea Gabrieli in Venice. In his 6-part motet Verbum caro factum est (Responsory to the eighth lesson of 2nd Vespers of the Nativity), one hears the Italian influence, as he combines antiphonal interaction of upper and lower voice with dense tutti passages.
In Funeral Ikos (1981), English composer John Tavener also synthesises different traditions - a modern western idiom and the ideals of Orthodox music (he joined the Russian Orthodox Church in 1977). The work is a setting of the Order for the Burial of Dead Priests' and alternates six verses with an Alleluia responses as a litany. Chant-like phrases intone each verse, unfolding to rich harmony, ending with the same Alleluia. Highly structured, the music emanates a free quality in the seeming flexibility of the text setting.
Benedictio (1991) by Estonian composer Urmas Sisask combines many elements, running the gamut of musical style. The opening passage resembles medieval organum, then jazzy rhythms and stark contrasts soon interweave with tuneful vocal lines. Like a litany in its repetitiveness, it often surprises and is always exuberant, a joyful expression of its text and a fitting end to our musical journey.
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