Welcome to the first concert of the 20th Anniversary Season of Griffin Choral Arts. In 2016, when we celebrated Season 10, the concerts were named with congratulatory exclamations: “Well Done!”, “Cheers!”, “Bravo!”, and “Encore!” For Season 20, I chose instead to use “Joy” as a theme for the entire season. Initially inspired by the amazing opportunity we have in March 2027 to perform the “Ode to Joy,” Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, “Joy” seemed like an appropriate theme for the year. As we approach our 80th concert program at the end of the season, we celebrate the community we have created around joyful singing and great choral literature.
Tonight’s concert is a sampling of music which expresses joy in various musical styles and shades of emotion. Our opener, Ralph Manuel’s “Alleluia,” uses a single-word text to allow the chorus to explore the beauty, serenity, longing, and soaring emotion that choral music can provide. The piece is a journey through contrasting dynamics, melodic development, major and minor modes, and finally a satisfied, peaceful conclusion.
“Praise the Lord,” with music from Handel’s oratorio “Judas Maccabeus,” contains the imitative entrances and moments of homophony we expect from Baroque oratorio choruses, as the choir proclaims, “Let songs of joy break forth!” Handel composed the oratorio about the Jewish military hero in 1746 to honor Prince William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, after his return from a successful campaign in the Battle of Culloden, where his British forces defeated the Jacobite uprising of 1745. Originally titled “Hail, Judea, happy land,” arranger Hal H. Hopson modified the text to make the work suitable for church and concert use.
Moses Hogan, perhaps the most quintessential arranger of spirituals, was born in 1957 and grew up in New Orleans before receiving his musical training at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Julliard. He was an exceptional pianist, winning several national piano competitions. In 1980 he began to focus on arranging choral music, first for his New World Ensemble and later for his own Moses Hogan Singers, created in 1997. Moses Hogan died in 2003 from a brain tumor. “I Can Tell the World” was published in 1998 and dedicated to Leo H. Davis and the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church Sanctuary Choir of Memphis, TN. Like “Elijah Rock,” his first published spiritual arrangement, “I Can Tell the World” is highly rhythmic and syncopated, features divided voice parts, and has a dramatic, dynamic swell at the end, as the choir proclaims, “He brought this joy to my soul!”
“Jubilate Deo” (from “Three Latin Psalms”) by Peter Angelea is the first of two Psalm 100 settings on tonight’s program. The Latin title is commonly translated “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!” The composer’s website notes that “Jubilate Deo” is “by far, my best-selling piece.” When you hear the lilting rhythm, the flowing piano accompaniment, and the satisfying harmonies, you will understand why. He describes the work:
I decided upon an asymmetrical meter (10/8) for this piece because it brings energy and exuberance to the music and because it fits the declamation of the text perfectly. The form is a modified rondo in which the recurring theme is the one set in 10/8. The rest of the piece bounces between differing meters – 6/8, 3/4, 4/4, and even 8/8. The layering of different rhythms on top of each other helps build the momentum and excitement throughout.
The central work on tonight’s program is Misa Criolla by Argentinian composer Ariel Ramirez. The title (translated “Creole Mass”) refers to “criollo,” the children of Spanish settlers born in Argentina during the colonial period. Most Argentinians today are of European descent and are therefore considered creoles—a combination and fusion of European and South American cultures. Ramirez was a student of Argentinian folklore and folk traditions and was a leading folklore expert as Argentinian culture had a reawakening in the 1950’s. Ramirez wrote popular songs and was championed by famous tenor soloist Jose Carreras. Carreras also promoted Misa Criolla when it was composed and participated in the first recording of the work. Misa Criolla remains Ramirez’s most popular and influential work.
When GCA first performed this work in March 2009, GCA Alum Theresa Chafin composed the program notes and wrote this summary about the Ramirez work:
The Misa Criolla, or “Creole Mass,” is representative of a very particular intersection between a place, Argentina, and a time, the years immediately following The Second Vatican Council. Held in 1962, Vatican II relaxed some requirements on aesthetic elements of worship that had been in place for hundreds of years. The main difference was the language that could be used for settings of the Mass. Until this point, the Mass was sung exclusively in Latin, with the notable exception of the “Kyrie,” which is Greek. Vatican II thus also recognized that vernacular translations of the text and local flavors of musical styles would be appropriate. Composers all over the world took advantage of the new guidelines to produce settings of the Mass Ordinary that incorporated local elements. Ariel Ramirez’ setting is an excellent marriage between the Spanish translation of the ancient text and several traditional music forms of his homeland. The outer two sections, “Kyrie” and “Agnus Dei,” which are both penitent prayers for mercy and peace, are set in the style of recognizable folk songs. Two of the inner movements—the “Credo,” a statement of basic Christian beliefs, and the “Sanctus,” a celebration of God’s holiness—utilize rhythms and patterns taken from dances. The second movement, “Gloria,” begins and ends with a song, and contains a slower dance-based portion in the middle. Appropriately, dance forms are used to highlight the more joyful and confident texts. During many of the song-based portions, the choir acts as an instrument to accompany the soloist. At several points, the texture strongly mimics the sound of Gregorian chant—an acknowledgement of the older style in the midst of a ground-breaking work. This work beautifully marries the age-old tradition of the Catholic Mass with the equally perseverant traditions of song and dance from rural Argentina.
Ralph Vaughan Williams created his setting of the Old Hundredth Psalm Tune (All people that on earth do dwell) for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The poetic English translation of Psalm 100:4 by W. Kethe proclaims: “O enter then his gates with praise; Approach with joy his courts unto!” Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1872. He is considered the founder of the nationalist movement in English music. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at the Royal College of Music, London. Later he studied with Max Bruch in Berlin and Maurice Ravel in Paris. He served as an artillery specialist in World War I and then became professor of composition at the Royal College of Music. A revered British composer, Vaughan Williams provided music for several royal ceremonies throughout his career, and this work was performed at his own funeral in Westminster Abbey in 1958. As the choir sings with the organ, Gate City Brass, and timpani, we invite you to join your voice with ours.
Thomas Campion, a remarkable poet, musician, and physician (1567-1620) wrote over a hundred lute song as well as a definitive treatise on musical counterpoint. He was popular in his lifetime, but his poetry and music were mostly left dormant after his death until they were rediscovered by A. H. Bullen who published a Campion collection in 1889. It is likely that this rediscovery brought Campion’s poetry and lute songs to the attention of composer Charles Wood (1866-1926). “Never Weather-Beaten Sail” was originally a lute song in Campion’s The First Book of Ayres (1613). Walford Davies composed another solo voice setting of the text in 1908. Charles H. H. Parry wrote a choral setting in 1916 which is still frequently performed. Charles Wood composed and published this setting in 1935. The text echoes the theme of “E’en so Lord Jesus Quickly Come,” a familiar choral favorite by Paul Manz frequently sung during Advent. The second verse begins with the words, “Ever-blooming are the joys of heaven’s high Paradise…” as the poet longs for his soul to be raised to rest on the heavenly shores.
Natalie Sleeth’s anthem “Joy in the Morning,” published in 1977, has been a favorite of church choirs for several decades. The catchy tune quickly becomes an ear worm: “There’ll be joy in the morning on that day!” The Hope Publishing website raves, “Far and away the best-selling anthem in the Hope catalog with over one million copies sold, Natalie Sleeth’s ‘Joy in the Morning’ is a true classic.” Dedicated to the West Virginia Wesleyan College Choir, we are pleased to present this nostalgic work with piano, organ, and brass.
The feast day for Saint Francis of Assisi is celebrated every year on October 4. Francis is the patron saint of animals, ecology, and the environment, and many churches observe his feast day with a Blessing of the Animals. The familiar Prayer of Saint Francis (“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…”) was not actually written by Francis, but it truly captures the essence of Saint Francis, his teachings, and the way he lived his Christian walk. The prayer provides a litany of Christian practices that outline a model for the transformation of God’s Kingdom on earth. Hatred is replaced by love; despair is replaced by hope; darkness is replaced by light; and “Where there is sadness, let there by joy!” As we continue our journey through our 20th Anniversary Season celebrating “Joyful Song,” may we all carry the spirit of Saint Francis with us.
–Dr. Stephen J Mulder
(With appreciation to Theresa Chafin and Jennifer Durham)
