Choral

Arvo Pärt’s “Solfeggio”: Adventures with a Diatonic Tone Row

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What happens when you treat the simple C major scale as a diatonic tone row? The answer can be heard in Solfeggio, the first a cappella choral work of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935). Composed in 1963, the same year as Pärt’s Symphony No. 1, Op. 9, “Polyphonic,” Solfeggio anticipates the composer’s later meditative tintinnabuli style. Solfeggio unfolds with a sense of cosmic timelessness. Serene clusters of sound form and dissipate as each vocal …

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Bach’s Cantata, BWV 106, “Actus Tragicus”: Death and Redemption

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Bach’s Cantata, BWV 106 is a gentle and intimate reflection on death and redemption. It is titled, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (“God’s time is the best time”), with the subtitle Actus Tragicus. The Cantata is scored for an unusual combination of instruments which the Netherlands Bach Society calls famous, idiosyncratic, exceptionally beautiful and meaningful…The violins are conspicuous by their absence, but there are two recorders and two viola da gambas, which …

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Handel’s “Gloria”: A Musical Treasure, Lost and Found

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In 2001, a long lost work by Handel was miraculously discovered. The manuscript for Handel’s Gloria in excelsis Deo had been hiding in plain sight in the library of London’s Royal Academy of Music. Bound in a collection of Handel arias that had been owned by singer William Savage (1720-1789), the manuscript was not in the composer’s hand. It was authenticated by Hamburg University professor Hans Joachim Marx. The Academy’s principal, Curtis Price, …

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Poulenc’s “Gloria”: Playful and Exuberant

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When Francis Poulenc’s Gloria was first performed in 1961, some critics derided it as “sacrilegious.” With his setting of the liturgical text, scored for chorus, soprano solo, and large orchestra, Poulenc followed in the footsteps of composers such as Vivaldi and Handel. But here, the exalted text is approached, not with solemnity, but with playful exuberance. Mysticism blends with humor. There is a joyful sense of song, dance, and the sounds of a Parisian …

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Holst’s “Nunc Dimittis”: Homage to Renaissance Polyphony

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English composer Gustav Holst found inspiration, not only in the folk music of his native land, but also in the early music of William Byrd and Palestrina. Nunc dimittis for eight-part choir is Holst’s homage to Renaissance polyphony. Composed in 1915 for Richard Terry, organist of Westminster Cathedral, the work was performed on Easter Sunday of that year, and then fell into obscurity. It existed in manuscript form until publication in 1979. This …

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John Adams’ “Harmonium”: A Choral Symphony on Donne and Dickinson

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Harmonium, a towering choral symphony set in three movements, is one of the earliest major works of American composer John Adams (b. 1947). It was composed in 1980 for the opening season of Davies Symphony Hall, the home of the San Francisco Symphony. Following such pieces as Common Tones in Simple Time and Phrygian Gates, it is music which expands on the pulse-and-pattern Minimalism of Steve Reich.’ The titles of the three poems …

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Stephen Paulus’ “The Road Home”: A Timeless Early American Melody

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“The most powerful and beautiful message is often a simple one,” wrote American composer Stephen Paulus (1949-2014) regarding the popularity of his brief choral work, The Road Home. Paulus explained the background of the piece further, In the Spring of 2001 I received a commission from the Dale Warland Singers to write a short “folk” type choral arrangement.  I had discovered a tune in a folk song book called “The Lone Wild Bird.” …

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