An exquisite work of an unknown composer: The Organ Sonata of Aleksander Glinkowski

Marta Szoka

For more than three decades, since the appearance of very radical organ compositions such as those by Bengt Hambraeus (Constellations) and György Ligeti (Volumina), the language of organ music has developed considerably. Although organ sound is often perceived through its religious connotations, many composers have tried to use the organ as a modern concert instrument, as a viable medium for communication today. In Poland, as well as in other European countries, organ music has developed in two directions: as functional, and as independent of liturgical function. This distinction is especially pronounced in Poland. With the Catholic Church playing such a dominant role, the place of music in the liturgy has been strongly limited ever since Vatican II. Therefore, the more interesting Polish composers' production of independent concert organ music has presented itself. Although the most internationally-known composers such as Witold Lutoslawski, Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Mikolaj Górecki have not been interested in writing organ music (with the exception of H. M. Górecki's early Kantata for organ, 1968), the group of Polish organ music composers constantly expands.

After the time of searching for new sound and technical possibilities (in the 1960's and 70's), from the very beginning of the 80's we observe the conversion of the previous relation between aesthetic and technological problems in the process of composing music, resulting in a stylistic synthesis. Different elements have been linked up together: simple and complex, old and new, conservative and radically innovative. Tonality has been combined with cluster technique, monumentalism with intimacy, harmonic principles with sonorous ones. Composers use different techniques and different conceptions, but there is at least one feature in common: they have reinstated the primary role of the expressive factor.

The inauguration of an organ festival which focused entirely on contemporary music (Legnica, October 1986) can be considered--in a certain sense--as the culmination of the decade of the 80's in the province of new organ music. Each year during Conversatorium, as the festival is named, groups of composers, organists and musicologists get together to listen to new organ music and to discuss its problems. In Legnica, several new compositions have been performed for the first time, including those commissioned by the festival's Director, composer and organist, Stanislaw Moryto. Several experimental works for organ and other instruments were premiered, far from the organ in terms of an aesthetic and historical point of view (such as accordions, percussion or saxophone). In 1987 four works for organ and two accordions were presented: Trigonos by Zbigniew Wiszniewski, Conductus by Stanislaw Moryto, Por Dia De Anos by Wieslaw Rentowski, and Intervals by Krzysztof Olczak.1 In 1988, pieces for organ and saxophone: Ordines for saxophone, violoncello and organ by Piotr Grella, Trio for saxophone, organ and timpani by Norbert Mateusz Kuznik, Ab Ovo for saxophone and organ by W. Rentowski and The Painfull Remembrance for saxophone and organ by Wladyslaw Slowinski. The work by Tadeusz Wielecki, The Gestures of Soul, presented in 1989 in Legnica and during the Warsaw Autumn Festival as well, calls for organ, synthesizer, accordion, guitar and percussion. It may be questionable whether this piece still can be classified among organ compositions in the strict meaning, but certainly it is a good example of the new direction in music for organ.

Wieslaw Rentowski, born in Poland in 1953, represents that group of contemporary composers who place equal emphasis on both the traditional and novel aspects of music. He received degrees in psychology (University of Lodz), organ performance (Conservatory of Music, Lodz) and composition (Frederick Chopin Academy of Music, Warsaw). He has participated in the Darmstadt International Summer Courses in New Music in 1984 and in master organ classes in Bayreuth, Germany in 1985. He is the winner of several composers' competitions (including the first prize in the 1988 National Competition for Young Composers in Poland for his Wayang for chamber orchestra), as well as a recipient of grants from the Polish Ministry of Culture and Arts in 1988 and 1989, the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts in Canada in 1989, and the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York in 1990. Since 1990 he has lived in the U.S.A. (recently Dallas, Texas), and in 1996 he received his D.M.A. degree in composition at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Rentowski has appeared as soloist at concerts, lectures and organ recitals in Poland, Germany, Canada and the U.S. His other compositions have been performed many times in Europe and North America (including Carnegie Hall: Lagniappe for 8 instruments, 1991, commissioned by the LSU New Music Ensemble).

As Rentowski is also a concertizing organist, he has a special interest in writing music for organ idiomatically. That makes his organ works extremely difficult and very complex in the technical sense, demanding top virtuosity as well as big concert instruments with rich sound qualities. Previously his organ music (Albebragen, Chorea minor, Ab ovo--see the catalogue of the principal works) brought some interesting innovations such as tremolo of pentatonic clusters moving in opposite directions, fast short strikes with the register "Tutti" while the cluster moves from low to high, and specific changes of registration.2 All these innovations served to enrich the sound, which the composer liked to compare with the sound of electronic music (but not electronic organ!).

But Rentowski is also keenly aware of the historical and aesthetic position of the organ. Although he is very progressive, all his organ compositions contain some traditional elements. In his earliest organ piece, Ekleipsis, written during the last year spent in the composition class of Wlodzimierz Kotonski in Warsaw, a short quotation of the Lacrimosa motif from Mozart's Requiem and the very general tendency towards D-minor tonality were the only signs of the musical tradition. But the work delivers also a specific catalogue of new ideas, cultivated by the composer later, including, for instance a fast change of the manuals with so called "cascade" effect. (See Example 1.)

In the next work, Albebragen, Rentowski used the twelve-tone row of Alban Berg's Violin Concerto as a harmonic and motivic disposition. The row, which in spite of the strict rules of dodecaphony contains several minor and major chords, served as a structural model for different figurative passages or glissando tone-strands. The presence of the row then is noticeable mainly inside of clusters or complex progressions, since it doesn't follow typical dodecaphonic linear texture. The row appears only twice in a linear form, as a quotation in the pedal part. The imitation of the flageolet sound of the violin can be realized through using the 2¢ flute (or octave) coupled from the manual to the pedal part. (See Example 2.)

Albebragen begins with a very fast (Prestissimo) and loud (fff) pulsation of the octaves: d-d, d-e, a-flat-b-flat, followed by the short pedal cadenza. (See Example 3.) Later, this repetitive phrase returns twice, separating longer phases of contrasting pp or p figuration.

Albebragen had its first performance in Legnica, in 1986, by organist Marta Szoka. The piece was also presented by the composer during the 26th Annual Conference of the Society of Composers in Alabama, 1992.

The next work, Piffero, dedicated to Marta Szoka, was performed by her for the first time in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1985. The title is derived from Italian: Piffero (or piffaro), a wind instrument thought to be a thousand years old. The unique sound of the Pan pipe inspired the composer in two ways: first for using a variety of flute organ stops (including 2¢ in the pedal part); secondly for exploring modality. Since the Pan pipe as an instrument is typical of the folk music of Mediterranean countries, the main melodic theme of Piffero is based on the D-minor scale with two augmented seconds: f-g-sharp and b-flat-c-sharp. (See Example 4.) The dreamy-like atmosphere and purely lyrical style of the piece brings us something new after the strongly contrasted Albebragen and its forceful expression. However, both works through their quasi-improvisatory character demand from the organist creative involvement, especially in terms of the sound color (registration) and time organization (approximate duration in some phases). In 1995, Piffero was choreographed as the dance Rivers of Life by Anne Marks and Betty Wooddy.

In the next three works Rentowski took up the very specific problem of combining organ sound with other instruments. The combination of the organ and brass is one of the few in which the organ may fully assert its sound without being compelled to limit its scope to a few, or subdued, registers. Chorea Minor for trumpet and organ, premiered by the composer and Jozef Dejnowicz (trumpet) in 1986 in Lodz, partially hinted at baroque trumpet sonatas. But on the other hand, Rentowski has loaded the parts of both instruments with new technical means, as for instance, a variety of clusters (static and moving) and tremolos or rhythmic manipulations with the "Tutti" piston in the middle of sustained clusters etc. (in the organ part). The trumpet part contains both traditional melodic lines and some motifs typical of baroque style (See Example 5) as well as glissandi, very fast pulsation on one tone, and a chromatic ascending course of figuration, based on the ostinato pattern.

The title of the work refers to the Latin term for St. Vitus's dance, that as the disease syndrome was described for the first time in 1686, exactly 300 years before the piece was composed. But the designation "minor" could be perceived also as a suggestion of the presence of the minor scale. As a matter of fact, the tonality D-minor has a dominant role in the piece, framing all its phases. Two main parts of Chorea Minor symbolize two psychological conditions, typical of the course of the disease.

The first part (Largo) is very slow, static and quiet, with an atmosphere of deep dejection; the second part (Presto), following the trumpet glissando from pianissimo to fortissimo, expanded from F-sharp to the highest possible tone, is full of impetuosity, quick changes and special sound effects. At the end, the short reminiscence of the Largo brings a final stabilization of the D-minor tonality.

The dynamic and coloristic relation between trumpet and organ is perfectly complementary. Although the density of the organ texture (chords, clusters, trills, tremoli) is sizeable, the organ sound never overdominates the trumpet. On the contrary, the sound of the trumpet and organ correlate, especially in those phases where three sound strands are horizontally simultaneous. (See Example 6.) In Chorea Minor Rentowski tried to achieve a synthesis of avant-garde techniques and traditional elements, such as a tonal center and baroque melodic features. But, quite unexpectedly, the strongly emotional and expressive character of the piece indicates also a new area of the composer's inspiration: late Romanticism, with special reference to the music of Gustav Mahler.

Although Chorea Minor is linked with the musical past in some ways, the works for organ and accordions, as well as for organ and alto saxophone, seemed to be unique at the time of their composition. It must be emphasized here that in the last decades in Poland the accordion has been emancipated from a typical folk-dance music instrument to a modern one. For a long time a synonym for musical triviality, recently it has found a place in the conservatory of music education, as well as in contemporary concert life.

The saxophone, on the other hand, is perceived mostly through its jazz associations. So, both the accordion and saxophone are fairly far from the classical organ tradition, especially distant from the religious context of organ sound, so fundamental in the European tradition. Rentowski was perfectly aware of all these implications, although, above all, he tried to shape his new sound ideas.

Por Dia De Anos for organ solo and two accordions, was premiered in 1987 in Legnica by the composer--as organist--and Zbigniew Kozlik and Krzysztof Olczak playing accordions. Since the accordion and organ possess the same abilities to produce unlimited sustained sound, and they can similarly play chords and polyphony, the combination of their sounds can be shaped in a layered manner. Rentowski gets at the effect of dynamic intensity flow through different types of texture, including a variety of performing techniques. Some of these appear already at the very beginning of the piece; e.g. moving diatonic clusters, and a structure of fast extension of interval size: from a half-tone to the ninth. The traditional category of motif or theme, as a fundamental structure for organizing musical form, does not exist here. Instead, the composer  has built the sound texture of flowing layers with changing density and contours, one overleaping the other, sometimes vanishing, sometimes returning. This sort of technique results in form without breaks or distinct demarcations between successive phrases. Therefore, Por Dia De Anos seems to be a continuum of loosely connected musical ideas.

The material for building clusters, chord structures, and sound layers is derived from three scales: diatonic, pentatonic, and whole-tone. The lack of both strong contrasts and aggressive dissonant sounds is matched by the playful, serene character of the piece. This character has as its other source a combination of the static, solemn sound of the organ and the lightness and mobility of the accordion part. Certainly, after the very emotional expressivity of Albebragen and Chorea minor, Por Dia De Anos presents a new stage in Rentowski's organ music.

The continuation of this stage is set in the next piece, Ab Ovo for alto saxophone and organ (two performers), premiered in 1988 in Legnica by Krzysztof Herder (saxophone), Marta Szoka and Wieslaw Rentowski. The exploration of new sound and performance techniques in the organ part here provide ways to improve the unique possibilities of playing with four hands. Both organists have the pitch range (low and high) and one manual assigned. Therefore Ab Ovo is playable even on a small tracker organ with two manuals and without any registration aids. The composer has expanded several forms of  simultaneous play on two manuals, linking together chords, clusters, figuration, and even polyphony. (See Example 7.) Quite often one of the sound layers is a compound of static structure, while the other one is of ostinato motion. (See Example 8.)

The organ part does not exceed conventional keyboard technique. In contrast, the saxophone appears richly. The most interesting is using its natural technical possibilities, such as fast scale courses, extended figurations, extremely high and low tones (indeterminate pitch), very fast repetition, glissandi, and so-called "combination tones," which means non-harmonic "unmusical" sound. (See Example 9.) But the saxophone is used also for its lyrical and melodic qualities. Then the alliance with a jazz idiom is the most distinct. (See Example 10.) Of course, it is not simple pastiche, since the idea of Ab Ovo is much more complex. But numerous sequences with syncopation, free, quasi-improvisatory form of the piece, and the very characteristic sound color of the saxophone, with typical "entry" solo cadenza, are a manifestation of jazz influence.

Another source of inspiration is revealed in quasi-baroque motifs and polyphony in the organ part (See Example 7). The repetition of a single tone A in the pedal part that opened the piece, returns  after the climax (See Example  9). This makes the whole form more clear and similar to a ternary form. Ab Ovo has an atmosphere of its own; lyrical rather than dramatic, with the soft sound of the saxophone, and harmonic language subdued through the several tonal and modal sings. Five years passed before Rentowski composed his next organ piece, and eight years since his last piece for organ solo. New Orleans Magnificat (1993) was premiered in 1994 by the composer himself in Montreal, during a concert sponsored by the Faculty of Music at McGill University and the Department of Music at Concordia University. (First European performance was given in 1994 by Prof. Andrzej Chorosinski--who also commissioned the piece--at the  XIX Internationale Studientage für Neue Geistliche Musik, Sinzig, Germany.)

The work is based on the opposition of modal, tonal and chromatic features. Modality is represented by the Gregorian theme that opens the composition. Since the latter returns several times, the form of the piece resembles a rondo form, although without classical regularity. Tonality marks a presence of tonal centers: first it is A-flat major in a trill sequence, later F-minor that determinates the climax section (Presto possibile and Prestissimo). (See Example 11.) The tonal element plus ostinato technique and some rhythmic patterns are common in New Orleans Magnificat and Ab ovo. But there are also many differences. New Orleans Magnificat brings some idiomatic organ sound obtained through trills, tremolo, pedal glissando, fast chromatic passages, and so-called "cascade" cluster glissandi, done across three manuals from up to down (compare Example 12 and Example 1). In terms of  pedal technique, Rentowski requires here also double play in extended intervals above two octaves (C-sharp-g1). With regard to technical innovations, New Orleans Magnificat refers to earlier works of Rentowski, as for instance Ekleipsis and Albebragen. Moreover, this is also music of high contrasts and powerful expression. However, New Orleans Magnificat is the first organ piece written by the composer in America, as a special "hommage à Louisiana." The question arises immediately of whether there are any noticeable signs of something new, of the influence of American music or New Orleans tradition on the compositional style of Rentowski. But before anyone can answer, let us examine Rentowski's newest organ work, In Nomine, for organ and orchestra. It was written in 1996 and has not yet been performed.

The work is in three movements: Allegro - Largo - Fugue, and resembles the classical concerto. Both the organ part and orchestra have been handled conventionally in terms of instrumental technique and notation. There is no further exploration for new effects or unusual sound combinations. On the contrary, the organ part has been written moderately and it does not demand extraordinary virtuosity.

In Nomine is based on an original scale, called by the composer, Gamma. The scale resources are related to the concept of "open tonality" which in general reverses the function of the traditional dominant and tonic. As the composer explained, "In traditional tonal system, the dominant functions as a single channel that leads to only one predetermined resolution (tonic). This concept assumes the existence of an open channel (open Tonic) that leads to many different resolutions (predominants). Because "predominants" are related to and based on different representative scales (not on chords), the system creates an open universe of equally important tonal levels that have a freedom of coexistence."3

It is not my purpose to present a detailed analysis, but let us state here that the first part, Allegro, introduces the main melodic theme, based on Gamma (See Example 13), and then transposed from f, g, a, a-flat, and later from d, e-flat and f. Fugue has its own theme. (See Example 14.) In the middle section of the fugue it appears in a stretto with the theme of Allegro. Another melodic line is the basis for Largo, where the organ solo creates a mysterious atmosphere with only tympani and chimes.

Certainly, In Nomine shows attributes of a classical composer's technique to an extent never before seen in Rentowski's production. Using classical forms and textures, as well as recalling the dominant role of the melodic factor and well-tried harmonic and orchestral principles, the composer consciously accomplished a radical simplification of his style. It is difficult to say if now it is more "his own" style than before. Probably, American audience expectations and quite different views of organ music history and aesthetics could bring Rentowski to propose something new. He has come a long way from Ekleipsis to In Nomine, and it seems to be a very consistent journey. I hope that my short review will stimulate readers to get acquainted with the very interesting organ music of Wieslaw Rentowski.

Wieslaw Rentowski's Organ Works

Ekleipsis for organ (1984), recorded by Polskie Nagrania and West Deutsche Rundfunk.

Albebragen for organ (1985), recorded by Polonia Records 1994 (CD 020), score available from Astra, Lodz (Poland) and Conners Publications, Baton Rouge, LA.

Piffero for organ (1985), published by Conners Publications.

Chorea Minor for trumpet and organ (1986), commissioned by Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic Society, Lodz, Poland; published by Agencja Autorska, Warsaw, Poland.

Por Dia De Anos for 2 accordions and organ (1987), recorded by Sonoton, Germany; published by Pro Nova Sonoton, Munich, Germany and Pomorze, Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Ab Ovo for alto saxophone and two organists (1988), awarded a prize at Polish National Composers' Competition, Warsaw 1989.

New Orleans Magnificat for organ (1993), recorded by Polonia Records 1995 (CD 057), published by Conners Publications.

In Nomine for organ and orchestra (1996), published by Conners Publications.

by Earl Holt

Earl Holt is a graduate of Elon College, the University of Michigan, and Arizona State University, where he recently completed the D.M.A. degree in organ performance with Robert Clark. Dr. Holt served on the music faculty of San Jacinto College North in Houston from 1982-90, and is currently Director of Music at the First United Methodist Church of Gilbert, Arizona.

Introduction

In Organ Technique: Modern and Early, George Ritchie and George Stauffer summarize the contribution of American composers to organ music of this century:

If the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries belonged to Europe as far as organ building and composition are concerned, the twentieth century belongs to the United States. For it has been America, with its extraordinarily eclectic culture, that has set the standard for the Modern Era.1

Organ building in the United States since the late 1960s has returned, more and more, to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century principles of design and construction; the interest in the tonal resources of these instruments may account, in part, for some American composers' renewed interest in the organ. Another contributory reason for interest in organ scoring is the possibility of early public performances, in comparison to the relative improbability of having large-scale modern orchestral works performed. Logistical difficulty and expense of paying multiple performers, combined with a lack of acceptance of modern art music by aging concert audiences, make orchestral conductors reluctant to program such works. In contrast, compositions for solo instruments or small ensembles are more likely to receive an early hearing. Some composers have written works for organ in combination with other instruments, particularly percussion; an important example of the genre is William Bolcom's 1967 work, Black Host for organ, percussion, and electronic tape.

In her book, Survey of Organ Literature and Editions, Marilou Kratzenstein attributes renewed interest in American organ composition to the Hartt College Annual Contemporary Organ Music Festival, held during the 1970s and early 1980s. She writes that "it is at least partly due to the efforts of this festival that an impressive number of composers not formerly associated with the organ have begun to view the organ as a viable vehicle for expressing contemporary ideas."2 Commissions have undoubtedly played a major role in the creation of new organ works, too. In particular, all four of the American compositions examined in this article resulted from commissions.

Viktor Lukas writes in A Guide to Organ Music that modern American composers "have recognized and been encouraged by the organ's diversity today, but that diversity along with, in the minds of some, the instrument's association with liturgical functions seems to have discouraged many gifted composers from writing on a scale similar to their output for other instruments."3 Lukas cites only Igor Stravinsky and Norman Dello Joio as examples, however, and his observation is more characteristic of the first sixty years of this century than of the last several decades. Lukas's comment has validity, nevertheless; it is questionable, for example, whether the sole organ works of George Crumb or Ellen Taaffe Zwilich would have been composed without commissions.

Major American organ composers of the past two decades have turned increasingly to programmatic, secular subjects. They have also incorporated modern performance techniques into their writing (tone clusters and cluster glissandos, for example), most of which are unassociated with past or present church usage. As a result, works that display these techniques are often inappropriate for church services. Even Bolcom's Gospel Preludes, based on church hymns, are at present more suitable for concerts than for church services. If western-European trends in organ composition are a paradigm, the secularization of the organ is likely to continue in the United States.

This article surveys four selected secular organ works by modern American composers and compiles relevant performance information in an attempt to make the compositions more comprehensible and accessible to recitalists, teachers, and students.

Mysteries by William Bolcom

Background

William Bolcom, born in Seattle, Washington in 1938, attended Mills College, the University of Washington, and Stanford University. At Stanford, he studied composition with Leland Smith; Bolcom also studied composition at the Paris Conservatory with Olivier Messiaen, Darius Milhaud, and Jean Rivier in the 1960s. Bolcom's career has included piano performance and composition; he has written organ, piano, choral, vocal, and orchestral works. In the 1980s he completed his fifth symphony and a violin concerto. The premiere of his first opera, McTeague, was at Chicago's Lyric Opera in October, 1992. Since 1973 Bolcom has taught at the University of Michigan, where he is a professor of music composition.4

Bolcom's organ works are Black Host for organ, percussion, and tape (1967), Praeludium for vibraphone and organ (1969), Chorale Prelude on "Abide with Me" for organ solo (1970), Hydraulis for organ solo (1971), Mysteries for organ solo (1976-77), Humoresque for organ and orchestra (1979), Three Gospel Preludes for organ solo (1979), Gospel Preludes, Book Two for organ solo (1980-81), Gospel Preludes, Book Three for organ solo (1981), and Gospel Preludes, Book Four for organ solo (1984). In all, the Gospel Preludes comprise four books of three pieces each. The third and fourth books, previously available only in manuscript, were published in 1994. The publication of the third book of Gospel Preludes also includes the 1970 Chorale Prelude on "Abide with Me" as an extra piece.5

The work selected for this article is Mysteries.6 Organist and composer William Albright, professor of music composition and associate director of the electronic music studio at the University of Michigan, played the premiere. The performance took place at the University of Hartford's Hartt International Contemporary Organ Music Festival, held July 21-25, 1980.7 Walter Holtkamp Jr. commissioned the work for the festival; it was subsequently published in 1981.8

Structure

Mysteries is a suite of four through-composed movements that are unrelated in motivic material. The movements are "The Endless Corridor," "Eternal Flight," "La lugubre gondola," and "Dying Star." In a note to the player, Bolcom states his preference that "the four movements be played together as a set, for cumulative effect."9

"The Endless Corridor" is a trio, and is the only movement with changing meters. Little stepwise motion occurs in the three voices of the trio, which move almost entirely by leaps of fourths, fifths, sixths, or sevenths. The voices are not imitative and the rhythm of individual beats is varied, so the same rhythm rarely appears simultaneously in two voices. This compositional technique makes each voice appear to move independently. Although the form of the movement is not ABA in the traditional sense of repeated motivic material, the registration does create that impression; one registration in mm. 1-9 and 20-32 flanks a differently colored registration in mm. 10-19, the central one-third of the movement.

"Eternal Flight" is a pointillistic movement with spatial rhythmic notation. It is in three continuous sections: (1) staccato figures and clusters that increase in frequency, tempo, and dynamic; (2) whole-note clusters that increase in texture and dynamic to full organ, and then reverse the process; and (3) staccato chords and short figures that decrease in frequency, tempo, and dynamic.

Viktor Lukas writes that the third movement, "La lugubre gondola," "suggests a gently rocking gondola through soft dynamics and an emphasis on lower registers and gently moving chord changes."10 Except for one short section (11/2-11/3), the movement is unmetered; that section is marked "all values relative," however.11 As in "Eternal Flight," this movement has three continuous sections: (1) low-pitched arpeggios with long note values; (2) overlapping, ascending melodic figures that lead to a few seconds of eighth-note figuration; and (3) another (abbreviated) section of long note values to end the work. Characteristic of this movement is the frequent use of pauses of various lengths that serve as sound objects.

"Dying Star" begins with rapid, scherzo-like figuration in spatial rhythmic notation. A pedal citation of the chorale melody An Wasserflüssen Babylon then joins the texture. Later, a fragmented version of J.S. Bach's harmonization of the same chorale, in 3/4 meter, alternates with the spatially notated figuration, which gradually becomes more widely dispersed. To heighten the effect of disintegration, which Bolcom describes as "floating in and out, like a radio signal from a distant star," he uses dramatic pauses ranging from seven to thirteen seconds.12 The movement ends with a pppp chorale fragment, and a final pause.

Registration

In a note to the player, Bolcom writes about the desired instrument for Mysteries: "The object is that this music should be equally effective on any type of organ, large or small, Romantic or Baroque--even on electronic organs."13 Each movement can be performed on a two-manual instrument, although a three-manual instrument is optimum. Because the score rarely indicates crescendos or diminuendos that require expression shades, the work can be performed adequately on an instrument without expressive divisions.

Although a large list of specific stops is not required, two movements recommend registrations that are often unavailable on small instruments. First, "La lugubre gondola" requires a 32' pedal Bourdon, but a footnote indicates that a 16' stop may be substituted if a suitable 32' stop is unavailable. Second, "Dying Star" requires a pp 16' and 2'  stop combination for the Bach chorale harmonization.

Bolcom writes that "registration is largely left to the organist, except for a few suggestions here and there."14 Because of the wide latitude given to the performer, and the variety of acceptable instruments, there are many possible registrations. Table 1 has an appropriate registration for a three-manual instrument.

The beginning of "The Endless Corridor" requires a "cool-sounding" 8' pp stop for each manual and a pp 16' pedal stop.15 The upper voice (right hand) requires a "different color" in m. 10 and the middle voice (left hand) requires a similar substitution in m. 14. The change in timbre can result from substituting a different 8' stop, adding a soft mutation, or substituting a 4' stop and playing an octave lower. It is important to maintain the pp dynamic; therefore stops of significant dynamic contrast should be avoided. The two manual voices return to their original registrations in mm. 18-19, and continue to the end of the movement.

No specific stops are indicated in "Eternal Flight." The opening section (5/1-7/2) requires at least two manuals, one with a pp registration, and the other somewhat louder for the sf material. If three manuals are available, the pp material is divided at random between two of the manuals, as indicated in the score.16 The pedal has to alternate between pp and sf dynamics in the opening section; this switch can be accomplished by quickly coupling soft pedal stops to the Great manual for the sf spots only. The middle section (7/2-8/2) is played on the Great manual alone. For the crescendo to fff and the subsequent diminuendo to pp, the crescendo pedal and other expression pedals may be used; if neither is available, a console assistant can add or remove stops. Registration for the final section (8/2-9/4) is the same as at the beginning, with the exception that the Great manual is not used.

The registration shown in Table 1 for "La lugubre gondola" is specified in the score. For the two manuals, Bolcom wants stops of "different but related color."17 In the pedal, a 32' flue is best, although the piece can be performed with a 16' pedal stop.

"Dying Star" requires an "8' soft flute with much 'chiff'''  for the flute figuration that continues throughout the movement.18 On a large instrument, a combination of 8' flute stops, instead of a single stop, is often necessary for sufficient dynamic. Registration for the harmonization of An Wasserflüssen Babylon (16/1), is "2' and 16' only--with a distant, otherworldly registration."19 Because of the ppp dynamic, there is often little choice of stops, however. On a large instrument it may be possible to couple manuals together for the desired pitch combination and timbre. The same chorale registration is coupled to the pedal, because the chorale cannot be played on manuals alone. The 4' pedal stop that was added for the "subliminal" chorale melody at the beginning of the movement (13/1-15/1) is removed before the chorale harmonization begins.

Double pedal technique is necessary for all movements except the first. In addition, pedal clusters are in "Eternal Flight" and "La lugubre gondola." Because of the slow tempos, however, the clusters are easy to play. The pedal clusters in "Eternal Flight" have to be carefully practiced, nevertheless; some require awkward positions--the C to E-flat interval played by the left foot in 8/4, for example.

Interpretation

Because of the programmatic theme of Mysteries, each movement should be interpreted in a way that is consistent with the text associations. For example, in the trio "The Endless Corridor," Bolcom creates the aural impression of three slowly moving, endlessly drifting voices. No tonal, motivic, or rhythmic relationships exist between the voices, no suggestion of cadence or phrase structure occurs, and the angularity of the voices discourages melodic perception.

The rhythm of "The Endless Corridor" is played precisely as written; because the irregular motion of the voices has been created rhythmically, further rubato is unnecessary and contrary to the character of the movement. Legato articulation further enhances the intentional monotony. Selection of thinly voiced, distant-sounding stops is consistent with the "cool-sounding" stops mentioned in the score. Slight shading with expression pedals is appropriate at locations indicated in the score.

In contrast to the precisely notated rhythm of the first movement, the spatial rhythmic notation in "Eternal Flight" allows considerable freedom in rhythmic interpretation. Creating a sense of immense space is important at the beginning, with a certain unpredictability when the pointillistic staccato clusters are played. Near the end of the opening section (6/3-7/1), the clusters and figuration become more densely packed, as if drifting closer and closer in space; the increased density should not be perceived by the listener as an increase in tempo, however. Bolcom indicates short accelerandos at irregular intervals by using arrows (----> ).

A series of ritardando arrows ( <----) reduce the tempo at the beginning of the middle section of "Eternal Flight" (7/2). The middle section has the broadest tempo, the thickest texture, the longest note values, and the loudest dynamic of the movement. The legato, parallel clusters in this section require a considerable amount of finger substitution, but the long note values allow sufficient time.

The third section of the movement (8/2-9/4) reverses the motion of the first section in a gradual process of disintegration: (1) clusters that are at first close together become spaced farther and farther apart; (2) the dynamic decreases; (3) pitch becomes gradually lower; and (4) texture thins to single notes. The performer helps to communicate the disintegration by allowing playing gestures to become gradually slower, to the point that notes in the final few systems are gently pressed down. If the console is in view of the audience, it is vital that the performer not relax his/her body posture, so that intensity is maintained during the increasingly longer periods of silence between the final notes.

"La lugubre gondola" has a stifling, airless quality created by the long note values, low pitches, and pauses of various lengths. Although the movement is almost entirely unmetered, the note values are relative, and must be played precisely in rhythm. Because of the difficulty in counting the long note values, the performer can count quarter notes, at the rate of one per second, as a basic pulse, and write the number of quarter-note pulses over each note in the score as listed in Table 2.20

The comma symbols used for the long pauses of varying lengths are unexplained in the score. The same symbols appear, however, in a previous Bolcom work, Hydraulis, and are defined in a foreword as "pauses, ranging from long to very short, depending mainly on context of the passage." In a recent letter, Bolcom confirmed that the Hydraulis pauses also apply to Mysteries.21

The eighth-note figuration that appears in the metered middle section of the movement (11/2-11/3) is played with light, elegant articulation. In the unmetered final section (11/3-11/4), playing gestures become increasingly slower; intensity must be maintained during the pauses, though.

The title "La lugubre gondola" is from an 1882 piano piece of the same name by Franz Liszt. Liszt had the inspiration for the piece while watching funeral processions by gondola through the Venetian canals, when he was staying with Richard Wagner and Cosima (Liszt's daughter, who had married Wagner) in Venice. Anecdotally, Liszt abruptly quit working on his final oratorio and wrote two versions of La lugubre gondola in December 1882, after he had a strange presentiment--presumably of Wagner's impending death. Irrespectively, Wag-ner died in Venice two months later, and his body was borne by gondola in the funeral procession.22 Although not widely performed, several pianists have recorded the piano piece La lugubre gondola, No. 1; listening to such recordings is helpful in establishing the mood of the Bolcom movement, because the central, metered section of the Bolcom movement quotes the Liszt work.

"Dying Star" begins with thirty-second-note flute figuration marked "legato, even throughout."23 A more detached articulation is appropriate, however, if the room is acoustically live or if the selected flute does not have enough chiff for articulative clarity. Nevertheless, the articulation should not be a mechanical staccato.

The thirty-second-note figuration in the right-hand part continues to the end of the movement, and it is impossible to play all four voices of the An Wasserflüssen Babylon chorale fragments (beginning at 16/1) in the left hand alone. It is therefore necessary for the pedal, coupled to the manual, to play the tenor and bass voices of the chorale. Articulation for the chorale is molto legato for both manual and pedal parts. Bolcom commented on the significance of An Wasserflüssen Babylon to this movement: "That chorale prelude always gave a chilling intimation of eternity; I could imagine a dead Earth with some eternal record[ing] of it [An Wasserflüssen Babylon] playing (or a ghostly organist)."24

During the long blocks of silence (beginning at 16/4 and continuing to the end of the movement) it is important to follow Bolcom's instructions: "These pauses are exactly timed--be sure to remain physically suspended during them so that the tension is not lost."25 As in the second and third movements, the fourth also ends with a gradual disintegration of musical texture in space and time.

No errata were discovered in the score, and Bolcom confirms that he knows of none. Mysteries has not been commercially recorded. Bolcom lists a performance time of seventeen minutes and ten seconds for the entire work, broken down by movement as follows:

The Endless Corridor  [3:35]

Eternal Flight   [2:40]

La lugubre gondola     [5:45]

Dying Star       [5:10]26

Pastoral Drone by George Crumb

Background

George Crumb, born in Charleston, West Virginia in 1929, studied composition at Mason College of Music and Fine Arts (B.M., 1950), the University of Illinois (M.M., 1953), and the University of Michigan (D.M.A., 1959), where his principal composition teacher was Ross Lee Finney. His compositions include chamber, orchestral, vocal, and instrumental works, and he has received many honors, including the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for the orchestral work Echoes of Time and the River. Since 1965 Crumb has been professor of music and composer-in-residence at the University of Pennsylvania.27

The work selected for this article, Pastoral Drone, is Crumb's only solo organ work.28 David Craighead, professor emeritus of organ at the Eastman School of Music, played the official premiere at First Unitarian Church in San Francisco on June 27, 1984, at the national convention of the American Guild of Organists, which had commissioned the work for the occasion.29

Structure

Crumb wrote the following notes about Pastoral Drone in Don Gillespie's book, George Crumb: Profile of a Composer:

Pastoral Drone, commissioned by the American Guild of Organists and composed in the summer of 1982, represents my first essay in the solo organ genre (my Star Child of 1977 included organ as an addition to the orchestral resources).

Pastoral Drone, cast in one continuous movement, was conceived as an evocation of an ancient "open-air" music. The underpinning of the work is provided by relentless drones executed on the organ pedals. The periodical "bending" of the basic drone sound (a lower D-sharp and a higher G-sharp, spaced as an interval of the 11th) announces the principal structural articulations of the work. The drone is overlaid by strident, sharply etched rhythms in the manual parts and the dynamic throughout is sempre fortissimo ("boldly resounding"). The characteristic sound of Pastoral Drone will suggest a kind of colossal musette.30

In the Gillespie book, theorist David Cope writes about Crumb's works from the early 1980s, including Pastoral Drone:

These later works show a progressively more inclusive use of tonality and interesting new approaches to formal organization. Although Crumb's stylistic "fingerprints" are indelibly impressed on every page, one also perceives an ongoing tendency toward new modes of expression.31

Two drones are in Pastoral Drone: a pedal drone based on a perfect eleventh (D-sharp to g-sharp), and a manual drone based on the perfect fifth. The pedal drone continues from beginning to end, interrupted at times by chromatic movement, but always returning to the same interval. The manual drone changes pitch six times, however. These pitch changes delineate the seven main sections of the work.

Each section contains the same three parts: (1) simultaneous pedal and manual drones with ff chromatic clusters constructed from neighboring tones to the drone; (2) a double pedal solo during which the feet move chromatically; and (3) a freely composed part, consisting of rapid manual figuration over the drone bass in the pedal. In sections 2-6 the three parts are presented exactly in that order. In section 1, however, the pedal solo is delayed, occurring in the middle of the manual figuration part. Section 7 is differently ordered, too; it begins with alternating pedal solos and manual figuration, and then concludes with a ff chromatic cluster in both manuals and pedal. Table 3 is a structural outline of the work.

As shown in Table 3, the manual drones, built on the pitches G-sharp, B, D, and F, outline a diminished-seventh chord. The symmetrical structure outlined by these tonal areas forms an arched rondo, with the distinctive manual drone, punctuated by clusters, serving as a ritornello. Besides using the tonal shifts of the manual drone, Crumb emphasizes the symmetrical structure in other ways: (1) quasi danza triplets in sections 3 and 5 flank the central section; (2) the parallel pedal movement from the first section returns, expanded, in the last section; and (3) the order of the parts is skewed in sections 1 and 7, as noted above.

The freely composed parts of each section are improvisatory in character. Each part is based on a unifying rhythm, headmotive, or harmony, and the end of each phrase is dovetailed. For structural material, Crumb uses tritones, perfect fourths in parallel motion, pentatonic sequences and clusters, and both whole-tone scales in simultaneous parallel motion.

The work is in changing compound meter, with only two exceptions to regular compound beats: (1) a single simple beat at m. 44, beat 2; and (2) pedal stop additions that occur on the second half of the simple beat in m. 72, beats 2 and 3, and m. 75, beats 2 and 3. Crumb uses traditional notation for the work, except in mm. 68-69, where a single enlarged accidental affects all five notes of each pentatonic cluster.

Registration

A three-manual instrument is necessary to perform Pastoral Drone. Because the manual compass is F-sharp to c'''', 61-key manuals are recommended. The score indicates three ossia passages (mm. 40-48, 56-58, and 78-84), marked come sopra, that are intended to make the work playable on an instrument with 56-key manuals by playing the passages an octave lower. A 56-key instrument's top key is g''', however, and the pitch a'''--requiring a 58-key compass--occurs in m. 66. In a recent letter, Crumb acknowledges that the pitch a''' was overlooked. He writes: "I was unaware that one note was outside the 56-key range. Perhaps the 56-key notion should be abandoned!"32 Although less common than 56-key instruments, 58-key organs can encompass all pitches, if the performer follows the octave displacement directions in the score.

The same ff registration, listed in the score at the beginning of the work, is needed each time the manual drone ritornello occurs:

            Gt.--full

            Sw.--full with 16'

            Pos.--full

            Ped.--32'16' 8'4'

            No couplers--Sw., Pos./Gt.

At the ritornello, a 16' reed plenum with mixtures is appropriate for the Great manual, with full registrations on the Swell and Positive manuals, too. The pedal drone is marked f sempre. Because the same pedal registration sounds, unaltered, through the first seventy-one measures, it should balance the Swell and Positive manuals, and must not be oppressively loud.

The registration direction "No couplers--Sw., Pos./Gt." is ambiguous at first glance, but apparently refers to the continuous alternation between coupled and uncoupled manuals: the Swell and Positive manuals are coupled to the Great manual during the ff introduction to each section, and then uncoupled for the rest of the time.

Manual changes are clearly marked and should be followed exactly. Additions to the pedal in mm. 72 and 75 are on simple divisions of the compound beat. Table 4 lists an appropriate registration for each section.

If the ossia passages are taken (on an instrument with manuals of fewer than sixty-one keys), the registration must be adjusted to mask the jump to one octave lower (mm. 40-48, 56-58, and 78-84). A footnote in the score that gives directions for this adjustment is unclear, however: "Ossia: play this passage (concluding at *) down one octave without 16' or 8' (come sopra)."33 What it should state is that (1) if 16' stops and couplers are the lowest-pitched stops used in the measure before the ossia, those 16' stops and couplers are removed for the duration of the ossia; or (2) if 8' stops and couplers are the lowest-pitched stops used in the measure before the ossia, those 8' stops and couplers are removed for the duration of the ossia.

Because of the large number of registration changes within the work, an instrument with an adjustable combination action is optimal. Otherwise, the performer will need a console assistant for stop changes.

Interpretation

Clean articulation clearly aids the "precise and sharply etched rhythm" that Crumb prescribes.34 Crisp articulation is particularly necessary in the rapid thirty-second-note figuration that occurs throughout the work. Furthermore, the dynamic, which is never less than f, creates a level of sound that takes time to disperse, particularly in a room that is acoustically live.

Except for the quasi danza parts, the freely composed parts are always introduced by an articulative element that imitates the percussive attack of bagpipes or musettes. Grace notes serve this purpose in sections 1 and 4, mordents in section 2, quintuplets in section 6, and arpeggios in section 7. The grace notes are played before the beat of the principal note; all other figures are played as written. In section 3, a distinction exists, and should be observed, between the dotted and triplet rhythms.

In the final cluster that ends the work, the right thumb has to play three notes at once: f-double-sharp, g-sharp, and a. The tip of the thumb plays the g-sharp, and the base of the thumb plays the two white keys. This maneuver is made more difficult by the position of the hand that is necessary to play seven notes at once.

A tenuto marking occurs at the pentatonic clusters in section 6 (mm. 68-69) and at the arpeggios in section 7 (mm. 73, 76, and 78). The tenuto causes a temporary broadening, and not a dramatic slowing, of the tempo; the passages that flank the tenuto passages are a tempo.

The pedal part is simple; throughout most of the piece, the organist merely holds down the two-note drone. Nevertheless, because of the wide distance between the two notes (a perfect eleventh), the length of time that they must be sounded, and the fact that they must be played by the toes, it is imperative that the organ bench be low enough that relaxed leg weight can be used to maintain the drone. Chromatic movement in the pedal part is marked legatiss. sempre, as opposed to the articulative clarity that is necessary in the manual parts.

C.F. Peters has published two versions of Pastoral Drone. The earlier version is an excellent-quality manuscript reproduction and the later version is typeset. Both are dated 1984, and both have the same cover, title page, and catalog number. Nevertheless, minor revisions in pitch, notation, registration, performance directions, dynamics, and scoring were made for the typeset version.35 Asked about the differences in the two versions, Crumb writes: "The typeset version is the definitive version. I checked the typesetting very carefully (I prepared it myself!)--so I hope there are no errata."36 Table 5 contains a comparison of differences in the two versions.

At the beginning of the manuscript version there are also two short instructions that are not in the typeset version: (1) the beginning registration has the direction "Sw. and Pos. balanced dynamically;" and (2) a footnote on the first page states "All long notes should be full value!"37

Pastoral Drone has not been commercially recorded. Gillespie lists a performance time of eight minutes, but the work is actually only six minutes and twenty seconds in length when played at the tempo indicated in the score.38

Praeludium by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

Background

Violinist and composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, born in Miami, Florida in 1939, graduated from Florida State University and the Juilliard School. Her composition teachers were John Boda, Elliott Carter, and Roger Sessions. Besides becoming the first woman to take a composition D.M.A. degree at Juilliard, Zwilich was also the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in music, which was awarded in 1983 for Symphony No. 1. Most of her compositions are chamber and orchestral works, including two symphonies. She has accepted numerous commissions from major orchestras.39

The work selected for this article, Praeludium, is Zwilich's only solo organ work.40 It was commissioned by the Boston chapter of the American Guild of Organists and published in 1987. Organist James David Christie played the premiere at the Church of the Advent in Boston, Massachusetts on May 1, 1988.

Asked in 1993 if she were planning any other organ compositions, Zwilich wrote: "YES! I will be writing a work for chorus and organ for next season, and I'd love to write more--I love the instrument."41 The work, A Simple Magnificat for SATB chorus and organ (1994), has now been completed and published. The premiere was recently performed at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, which commissioned the work.42

Structure

In the preface to the score of her first symphony, Zwilich describes her approach to composition:

First, I have long been interested in the elaboration of large-scale works from the initial material. This "organic" approach to musical form fascinates me both in the development of the material and in the fashioning of a musical idea that contains the "seeds" of the work to follow.

Second, in my recent works I have been developing techniques that combine modern principles of continuous variation with older (but still immensely satisfying) principles, such as melodic recurrence and clearly defined areas of contrast.43

This organic approach to the composition of Symphony No.1, whose premiere was in 1982, is similar to the organization of Praeludium, published five years later. The opening Maestoso of Praeludium contains the compositional techniques that shape the work: (1) complex harmonies and dense textures that result from piling up thirds; (2) distinctive articulative elements, or headmotives, used to begin melodic lines; and (3) frequent changes in texture.

Brochure notes in a 1986 recording of Zwilich's Symphony No.1 describe the first movement of the symphony, but they also accurately describe the genesis of Praeludium:

Everything in the work arises from the melodic and harmonic implications of the first fifteen bars, music Zwilich says she felt compelled to write. These [evolutions] work up to a sustained allegro that ultimately subsides into an ending as quiet as the beginning. All the most complex harmonies come from piling third upon third upon third.44

Praeludium develops according to the same construct. It contains four continuous sections: Maestoso, Più mosso, Allegro moderato, and Tempo I. Material from the Maestoso is later developed in both the Più mosso and the Allegro moderato. Both the tempo and dynamic increase gradually until the climax (mm. 168-73). The final section, Tempo I, has the tempo and dynamic of the Maestoso. The structural organization of the four sections of Praeludium is illustrated in Table 6.

Registration

In a note to the player, Bolcom writes about the desired instrument for Mysteries: "The object is that this music should be equally effective on any type of organ, large or small, Romantic or Baroque--even on electronic organs."13 Each movement can be performed on a two-manual instrument, although a three-manual instrument is optimum. Because the score rarely indicates crescendos or diminuendos that require expression shades, the work can be performed adequately on an instrument without expressive divisions.

Although a large list of specific stops is not required, two movements recommend registrations that are often unavailable on small instruments. First, "La lugubre gondola" requires a 32' pedal Bourdon, but a footnote indicates that a 16' stop may be substituted if a suitable 32' stop is unavailable. Second, "Dying Star" requires a pp 16' and 2'  stop combination for the Bach chorale harmonization.

Bolcom writes that "registration is largely left to the organist, except for a few suggestions here and there."14 Because of the wide latitude given to the performer, and the variety of acceptable instruments, there are many possible registrations. Table 1 has an appropriate registration for a three-manual instrument.

The beginning of "The Endless Corridor" requires a "cool-sounding" 8' pp stop for each manual and a pp 16' pedal stop.15 The upper voice (right hand) requires a "different color" in m. 10 and the middle voice (left hand) requires a similar substitution in m. 14. The change in timbre can result from substituting a different 8' stop, adding a soft mutation, or substituting a 4' stop and playing an octave lower. It is important to maintain the pp dynamic; therefore stops of significant dynamic contrast should be avoided. The two manual voices return to their original registrations in mm. 18-19, and continue to the end of the movement.

No specific stops are indicated in "Eternal Flight." The opening section (5/1-7/2) requires at least two manuals, one with a pp registration, and the other somewhat louder for the sf material. If three manuals are available, the pp material is divided at random between two of the manuals, as indicated in the score.16 The pedal has to alternate between pp and sf dynamics in the opening section; this switch can be accomplished by quickly coupling soft pedal stops to the Great manual for the sf spots only. The middle section (7/2-8/2) is played on the Great manual alone. For the crescendo to fff and the subsequent diminuendo to pp, the crescendo pedal and other expression pedals may be used; if neither is available, a console assistant can add or remove stops. Registration for the final section (8/2-9/4) is the same as at the beginning, with the exception that the Great manual is not used.

The registration shown in Table 1 for "La lugubre gondola" is specified in the score. For the two manuals, Bolcom wants stops of "different but related color."17 In the pedal, a 32' flue is best, although the piece can be performed with a 16' pedal stop.

"Dying Star" requires an "8' soft flute with much 'chiff' for the flute figuration that continues throughout the movement.18 On a large instrument, a combination of 8' flute stops, instead of a single stop, is often necessary for sufficient dynamic. Registration for the harmonization of An Wasserflüssen Babylon (16/1), is "2' and 16' only--with a distant, otherworldly registration."19 Because of the ppp dynamic, there is often little choice of stops, however. On a large instrument it may be possible to couple manuals together for the desired pitch combination and timbre. The same chorale registration is coupled to the pedal, because the chorale cannot be played on manuals alone. The 4' pedal stop that was added for the "subliminal" chorale melody at the beginning of the movement (13/1-15/1) is removed before the chorale harmonization begins.

Double pedal technique is necessary for all movements except the first. In addition, pedal clusters are in "Eternal Flight" and "La lugubre gondola." Because of the slow tempos, however, the clusters are easy to play. The pedal clusters in "Eternal Flight" have to be carefully practiced, nevertheless; some require awkward positions--the C to E-flat interval played by the left foot in 8/4, for example.

Interpretation

Because of the programmatic theme of Mysteries, each movement should be interpreted in a way that is consistent with the text associations. For example, in the trio "The Endless Corridor," Bolcom creates the aural impression of three slowly moving, endlessly drifting voices. No tonal, motivic, or rhythmic relationships exist between the voices, no suggestion of cadence or phrase structure occurs, and the angularity of the voices discourages melodic perception.

The rhythm of "The Endless Corridor" is played precisely as written; because the irregular motion of the voices has been created rhythmically, further rubato is unnecessary and contrary to the character of the movement. Legato articulation further enhances the intentional monotony. Selection of thinly voiced, distant-sounding stops is consistent with the "cool-sounding" stops mentioned in the score. Slight shading with expression pedals is appropriate at locations indicated in the score.

In contrast to the precisely notated rhythm of the first movement, the spatial rhythmic notation in "Eternal Flight" allows considerable freedom in rhythmic interpretation. Creating a sense of immense space is important at the beginning, with a certain unpredictability when the pointillistic staccato clusters are played. Near the end of the opening section (6/3-7/1), the clusters and figuration become more densely packed, as if drifting closer and closer in space; the increased density should not be perceived by the listener as an increase in tempo, however. Bolcom indicates short accelerandos at irregular intervals by using arrows (----> ).

A series of ritardando arrows ( <----) reduce the tempo at the beginning of the middle section of "Eternal Flight" (7/2). The middle section has the broadest tempo, the thickest texture, the longest note values, and the loudest dynamic of the movement. The legato, parallel clusters in this section require a considerable amount of finger substitution, but the long note values allow sufficient time.

The third section of the movement (8/2-9/4) reverses the motion of the first section in a gradual process of disintegration: (1) clusters that are at first close together become spaced farther and farther apart; (2) the dynamic decreases; (3) pitch becomes gradually lower; and (4) texture thins to single notes. The performer helps to communicate the disintegration by allowing playing gestures to become gradually slower, to the point that notes in the final few systems are gently pressed down. If the console is in view of the audience, it is vital that the performer not relax his/her body posture, so that intensity is maintained during the increasingly longer periods of silence between the final notes.

"La lugubre gondola" has a stifling, airless quality created by the long note values, low pitches, and pauses of various lengths. Although the movement is almost entirely unmetered, the note values are relative, and must be played precisely in rhythm. Because of the difficulty in counting the long note values, the performer can count quarter notes, at the rate of one per second, as a basic pulse, and write the number of quarter-note pulses over each note in the score as listed in Table 2.20

The comma symbols used for the long pauses of varying lengths are unexplained in the score. The same symbols appear, however, in a previous Bolcom work, Hydraulis, and are defined in a foreword as "pauses, ranging from long to very short, depending mainly on context of the passage." In a recent letter, Bolcom confirmed that the Hydraulis pauses also apply to Mysteries.21

The eighth-note figuration that appears in the metered middle section of the movement (11/2-11/3) is played with light, elegant articulation. In the unmetered final section (11/3-11/4), playing gestures become increasingly slower; intensity must be maintained during the pauses, though.

The title "La lugubre gondola" is from an 1882 piano piece of the same name by Franz Liszt. Liszt had the inspiration for the piece while watching funeral processions by gondola through the Venetian canals, when he was staying with Richard Wagner and Cosima (Liszt's daughter, who had married Wagner) in Venice. Anecdotally, Liszt abruptly quit working on his final oratorio and wrote two versions of La lugubre gondola in December 1882, after he had a strange presentiment--presumably of Wagner's impending death. Irrespectively, Wag-ner died in Venice two months later, and his body was borne by gondola in the funeral procession.22 Although not widely performed, several pianists have recorded the piano piece La lugubre gondola, No. 1; listening to such recordings is helpful in establishing the mood of the Bolcom movement, because the central, metered section of the Bolcom movement quotes the Liszt work.

"Dying Star" begins with thirty-second-note flute figuration marked "legato, even throughout."23 A more detached articulation is appropriate, however, if the room is acoustically live or if the selected flute does not have enough chiff for articulative clarity. Nevertheless, the articulation should not be a mechanical staccato.

The thirty-second-note figuration in the right-hand part continues to the end of the movement, and it is impossible to play all four voices of the An Wasserflüssen Babylon chorale fragments (beginning at 16/1) in the left hand alone. It is therefore necessary for the pedal, coupled to the manual, to play the tenor and bass voices of the chorale. Articulation for the chorale is molto legato for both manual and pedal parts. Bolcom commented on the significance of An Wasserflüssen Babylon to this movement: "That chorale prelude always gave a chilling intimation of eternity; I could imagine a dead Earth with some eternal record[ing] of it [An Wasserflüssen Babylon] playing (or a ghostly organist)."24

During the long blocks of silence (beginning at 16/4 and continuing to the end of the movement) it is important to follow Bolcom's instructions: "These pauses are exactly timed--be sure to remain physically suspended during them so that the tension is not lost."25 As in the second and third movements, the fourth also ends with a gradual disintegration of musical texture in space and time.

No errata were discovered in the score, and Bolcom confirms that he knows of none. Mysteries has not been commercially recorded. Bolcom lists a performance time of seventeen minutes and ten seconds for the entire work, broken down by movement as follows:

The Endless Corridor  [3:35]

Eternal Flight   [2:40]

La lugubre gondola     [5:45]

Dying Star       [5:10]26

lists stops suggested in the score for a three-manual organ.

Because the Trompette en chamade 8' is used as a solo stop against the full Great manual, the stop is most convenient on a secondary manual or floating division. If a chamade is unavailable, another loud trumpet or combination of reeds can be substituted. For the last pedal notes in the work, a 32' Bourdon is effective, although a footnote in the score indicates that a 16' Bourdon may be substituted, if necessary.46

Interpretation

 

In the preface to the score, Christie writes: "Praeludium was conceived in the spirit of the 17th-century North German 'Stylus phantasticus' and is to be performed as a fantasia with interpretive spontaneity and much freedom. The articulations are indicated to encourage clarity in all lines and textures."47 Besides working for clarity, the performer should observe the tempo markings in the score. As illustrated in Table 6, the tempo increases at major structural posts until the climax of the work (mm. 168-72).

A vocal 16' principal is specified in the score for the short pedal solo at the beginning of the Maestoso; if the principal is unavailable, 16' and 8' flutes are substituted. The pedal voices should be articulated cleanly, with attention paid to agogic accents that are marked above or below some of the notes. The molto legato marking in m. 3 applies to stepwise movement in m. 3 and mm. 8-10. Because of the wide leaps in double- and triple-pedal textures, an entirely legato articulation is impossible.

The pedal solo is followed by a section of densely textured harmonies that arise gradually out of piled-up thirds. The aural effect of piling up thirds is one of individual melodic lines coalescing into a chord; this recurrent compositional technique serves as a unifying characteristic of the work. During the process, the gradual change from Choir manual to Great manual in mm. 15-18 requires the left hand to "thumb up" to the Great manual while simultaneously holding three notes on the Choir manual. Depending on the instrument and the location of the manuals, it may be possible during this section to "thumb down" to the Great manual from the manual above, thus making this manual change less difficult.

The pedal motive at the beginning of the Più mosso is marked non legato, but the sixteenth notes should be given sufficient length for the pedal reeds to speak. The low pedal thirds in mm. 34-47 can be played by the left foot alone. In mm. 50-55, the accel. poco a poco increases the tempo to 112; restraint is necessary, however, because of a natural tendency to accelerate too much during the long note values. The right-hand part in mm. 62-64 is played one octave lower if the instrument has a short upper octave.

The climactic section, Allegro moderato, is a fugato that contrapuntally combines its subject with motives from the first two sections of Praeludium. Articulation of the staccatos and slurs in this section should be observed exactly as marked in the score. At m. 153 the Trompette en chamade may be coupled to the Great manual to achieve the fff dynamic. Alternatively, additional intramanual couplers or a sfz mechanism can be used.

Three short passages in the third section (mm. 131-34, 153-56, and 160-63) are marked: "Omit upper notes if not available."48 Even if the upper notes are available, though, it may be necessary to omit them if the sound is too overbearing. The extreme dissonance, in combination with full organ and high register, is excessively loud on some instruments.

At the climax in mm. 168-72 it is necessary for the left thumb to take the top two notes of the left-hand chord, because of the thirteen-voice texture at that point. Also, a meter change from 4/2 to 4/4 occurs in mm. 171-74; the note values remain constant, however. At m. 174 the pedal has to be reduced quickly from fff to subito mp.

Finally, the short closing section, Tempo I, serves as a soft codetta to Praeludium. In m. 185 the final pedal interval, a perfect octave, has the instruction: "32' Bd. alone or play the lowest 'A' on Bd. 16' only."49 Another possibility, however, is to play the pitches A and e on the 16' Bourdon; the resultant harmonic produces the desired 32' tone.

The score has one error: Page 6, Measure 81, Beat 2: the sharp in the bass clef should precede the F, not the A.

Praeludium has not been commercially recorded. The performance time is approximately eight minutes, if played at the score tempos.   

Notes

 

            1.         George Ritchie and George Stauffer, Organ Technique: Modern and Early (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1992), 304.

            2.         Marilou Kratzenstein, Survey of Organ Literature and Editions (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1980), 190.

            3.         Viktor Lukas, A Guide to Organ Music, 5th ed., ed. Reinhard G. Pauly, trans. Anne Wyburd (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1989), 229.

            4.         John Woodford, "His Night at the Opera," Michigan Today 24, no. 4 (December 1992): 1-3.

            5.         Michael Lawrence Mazzatenta, "The Gospel Preludes of William Bolcom" (D.M.A. diss., Arizona State University, 1991), 95; William Bolcom, Letter to this writer, October 20, 1993; Id., Gospel Preludes, Book Three (New York: Edward B. Marks, 1994).

            6.         William Bolcom, Mysteries (New York: Edward B. Marks, 1981).

            7.         "Hartt Contemporary Organ Music Festival," The American Organist 14, no. 7 (July 1980): 22.

            8.         Bolcom, Mysteries, 1.

            9.         Ibid., 2.

            10.       Lukas, 238.

            11.       The symbol 11/2-11/3 refers to page 11, system 2 and page 11, system 3 of the score. All score references to movements 2, 3, and 4 of Mysteries, which are unmetered, will use this system.

            12.       Bolcom, Mysteries, 16.

            13.       Ibid., 2.

            14.       Ibid.

            15.       Ibid.

            16.       Ibid., 5-6.

            17.       Ibid, 10.

            18.       Ibid., 12.

            19.       Ibid., 15.

            20.       A footnote on page ten of the score defines a stemmed double whole note as two times as long as a double whole note.

            21.       William Bolcom, Hydraulis (New York: Edward B. Marks, 1976), 2; Id., Letter to this writer, October 20, 1993.

            22.       Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London: Macmillan and Co., 1980), s.v. "Liszt, Franz," §4: Rome and the last years, by Humphrey Searle.

            23.       Bolcom, Mysteries, 12.

            24.       Bolcom, Letter to this writer, October 20, 1993.

            25.       Bolcom, Mysteries, 16.

            26.       Ibid., 2.

            27.       H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie, eds., The New Grove Dictionary of American Music (London: Macmillan Press, 1986), s.v. "Crumb, George," by Edith Borroff.

            28.       George Crumb, Pastoral Drone (New York: C.F. Peters, 1984).

            29.       Byron Belt, "AGO National Convention San Francisco 1984," TAO 18, no. 8 (August 1984): 29.

            30.       George Crumb, "Annotated Chronological List of Works," in George Crumb: Profile of a Composer, ed. Don Gillespie (New York: C. F. Peters, 1986), 112.

            31.       David Cope, "Biography," in George Crumb: Profile of a Composer, 14-15.

            32.       Crumb, Letter to this writer, Oct. 14, 1993.

            33.       Crumb, Pastoral Drone, 9.

            34.       Crumb, Pastoral Drone, 4.

            35.       References to the score in the text of this article are to the later, typeset version.

            36.       Crumb, Letter to this writer, Oct. 14, 1993.

            37.       Crumb, Pastoral Drone (manuscript version), 3.

            38.       George Crumb, "Annotated Chronological List of Works," in George Crumb: Profile of a Composer, 112; Two hundred seventy-nine total beats divided by forty-four beats per minute equals 6.34 minutes.

            39.       Hitchcock, s.v. "Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe."

            40.       Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Praeludium (Hillsdale, New York: Mobart Music Publications, 1987).

            41.       Zwilich, Letter to this writer, October 21, 1993.          

            42.       Zwilich, Telephone conversation with this writer, April 24, 1995.

            43.       Richard Dyer, brochure notes for Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 1, New World Records NW336-2, 4.

            44.       Ibid., 5.

            45.       Zwilich, Praeludium, 2.

            46.       Ibid., 11.

            47.       Ibid., 2.

            48.       Ibid., 9-10.

            49.       Ibid., 11.

This article will be continued.

by Earl Holt

Part 1 was published in the January, 1996 issue of The Diapason.

es ist genug... by Sten Hanson
Background

Sten Hanson, born in 1936 in Klövsjö, Sweden, has been chairman of the Society of Swedish Composers since 1984. Although self-taught as a composer, he has been chairman of the Fylkingen language group, and an executive committee member of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), and Electronic Music Studio (EMS). For the last thirty years he has worked in experimental music, literature, and art, producing instrumental, vocal, and electro-acoustic music for radio and television performances. The premiere of Hanson's Wiener-Lieder for soprano, piano, and recorded tape, took place at the 1987 Swedish Music Spring Festival. Hanson tours internationally as a lecturer and artist.30

Music journalist Göran Bergendal writes that "the initial point of departure for Sten Hanson's art is literature--with underlying associations with popular and oral traditions of poetry."31 Hanson has treated historical and political subjects in his compositions, and even used the science fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs in a 1982 work, The John Carter Song Book.

Hanson has composed two organ works: Extrasensory Conceptions III for organ solo (1964) and es ist genug... for organ solo (1985), the work selected for this article.32 Extrasensory Conceptions III, however, was written for the late organ virtuoso Karl-Erik Welin, who was recognized for creativity in graphic score interpretation. Hanson writes that the work is "so closely related to this now deceased performer that it hardly can be used again." Hanson is currently composing a new work for organ and tape, "with the loudspeaker placed in the opposite side of the room in relation to the organ," for well-known Swedish organ virtuoso Hans-Ola Ericsson.33

Swedish National Radio produced a live broadcast of the premiere of es ist genug... (it is enough...) on February 8, 1986, as performed by Ericsson at the Jacob's Church in Stockholm. The piece, which is dedicated to Ericsson, has received approximately 150 European performances and has been broadcast in several countries, according to the composer. It was published in 1988, al-though the score lists no publication date. The title of the piece is correctly written in lower-case letters and is followed by three ellipsis points.34

Although es ist genug... is based on J.S. Bach's setting of the Lutheran chorale, the piece is not the expected chorale prelude, intended for a church service. Moreover, Hanson has always expressed extreme criticism of the Church and its tenets. Ericsson writes: "In this scherzandolike piece he [Hanson] drives his own criticism in absurdum, and the end gesture, a great cluster in diminuendo which concludes in major/minor tonality, says 'Enough of that now!'"35 es ist genug... is therefore Hanson's commentary by double entendre on religious dogma, and is not a church work based on the chorale text.

Structure

As a musical allusion to the four-syllable title of es ist genug..., the primary motivic material is taken from three four-pitch fragments of the chorale melody: (1) A, B, C-sharp, D-sharp--the distinctive, ascending whole-tone phrase that begins the chorale; (2) C-sharp, B, D, C-sharp--taken from the penultimate phrase of the chorale; and (3) E, C-sharp, B, A--the descending final notes of the chorale. The three fragments are treated individually in sections linked by clusters or extended rests. As pointed out by Ericsson, the rapid repetition in absurdum of the motivic fragments is the predominant compositional technique used in the piece. Table 3 shows the structural organization of es ist genug... .

es ist genug... is primarily a tonal piece, since it is based on the original Bach harmonization of the chorale in the key of A major. Non-tonal elements do occur, however: (1) dissonant harmonizations of the chorale in mm. 14, 20-21, and 50-56; (2) clusters, which serve to accompany the figuration in mm. 57-64, and to punctuate areas of rapidly repeated motives throughout the piece; and (3) the graphic notation and A-major/minor chord at the end of the piece (m. 71).

Registration

A three-manual instrument is necessary to perform the piece, since extended sections of rapid changes are divided among three different manuals. It is not feasible to make quick registration changes on a two-manual instrument, even with the help of a console assistant. Also, since these changes contribute greatly to timbral variety, and occur at irregular intervals, it is unacceptable merely to alternate between two manuals.

Dynamic changes in the piece require significant use of the Swell expression pedal, although stop changes can be made by an assistant if the instrument has no expressive divisions. The piece requires 56-key manuals and a 29-key pedal clavier, and thus can be performed on instruments with short upper octaves or limited pedal ranges.

Registration is outlined in the score. Table 4 lists the individual registrations specifically indicated for each manual.

Interpretation

As outlined in Table 3, note values of the motivic figuration decrease steadily throughout the piece, from eighth notes to sixteenth notes to thirty-second notes. Therefore, the beginning tempo must be slow enough to accommodate both the accelerando in mm. 51-56 and the thirty-second notes in the final pages. No tempo is printed in the score. The tempos in Ericsson's compact disc recording are useful as a guideline, however: the initial quarter note tempo of 44 has increased to 68 by the end of the accelerando in mm. 51-56.

With the exception of the final arm cluster in m. 71, all manual clusters are played as chromatic palm clusters, performed by playing as many black and white keys as possible within the range outlined. Each palm cluster is held the length of a quarter note, unless tied to another cluster. Tied clusters occur in mm. 47, 49, and 65; they follow the customary rules for tied notes.

Although the left hand can sustain both black and white keys in the long palm cluster in mm. 57-64, the feet will be able to cover only the white pedal keys in the accompanying pedal cluster. A console assistant, if available, can play the lower part of the pedal cluster and the left-hand palm cluster on the Swell manual. This assistance makes it possible for the performer to position one hand on each manual for the quick changes. It will also enable the performer to close the Swell expression pedal with the right foot. If the pedal dynamic has to be reduced to balance the manuals, the assistant can remove stops. As the cluster sound diminishes, the manual figuration emerges gradually from the cacophony.

During each section of rapid motive repetition, a form of staccato articulation is printed in the score: (1) stacc., mm. 24-34; (2) molto stacc., mm. 36-46; and (3) staccatissimo, mm. 50-64. The increasingly detached articulation maintains clarity as the note values decrease throughout the piece.

Almost all dynamic changes in the piece are accomplished by stop changes. Nevertheless, the Swell expression pedal is used in mm. 14-15, 21, 51-64, 67-69, and 71. These dynamic changes made with the Swell pedal are structural and must not be arbitrarily omitted if the instrument has no expressive divisions. A console assistant can make the changes by gradually adding or removing stops.

The first recording of es ist genug... was a compact disc recording by Ericsson on January 19, 1986, three weeks before the premiere, at the Jacob's Church in Stockholm. In 1989, a Russian organist, Alexander Fiseisky, made another recording on the Melodya label. Hanson writes: "I have heard his [Fiseisky's] version in a concert in the chapel of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, but I have never received a copy of the record, not even before the present Russian chaos."36

On the Ericsson recording, the final ffff cluster (m. 71) takes sixty seconds for the resolution to the A major/minor chord and for the diminuendo to ppp. The cluster is struck initially with both arms, reduced gradually to palm clusters, and then resolved poco a poco to the final A-major/minor chord. For the diminuendo, the expression pedal is gradually closed, or stops are removed by an assistant.

The Ericsson recording, made from a preliminary version of the score, differs somewhat from the 1988 published score, as shown in Table 5.

In mm. 1-12 and 16-19, Ericsson plays five repeated notes per measure, instead of six, taking advantage of the vast tonal resources of the five-manual instrument in the Jacob's Church in Stockholm. He plays each of the five notes on a separate manual, using five different timbres in the process.

Ericsson's omission of m. 9 is logical, since the measure appears to be an erroneously printed duplicate of the preceding two measures. Because the pitch b' occurs twice at this point in the original chorale melody, only two corresponding measures are correct in the score, and not three. Measure 9 is therefore included in the list of errors in Table 6.

In a recent letter, Hanson explained the difference between Ericsson's recorded version and the 1988 score:

After this [Ericsson's] first performance I was a little unhappy with the beginning of the piece, where the desired quality of "boredom" does not come out properly. I have later corrected that by adding a sixth note in each of the bars where a single note is played, as well as by rejecting the performers' frequent jumps from one registration to another in the beginning of the piece. Ericsson's recording follows correctly the first version of the score and the changes in the score vis-a-vis the record[ing] are the results of the later revision. The recording was made in connection with the first performance without my presence or assistance, [otherwise] I would have asked the performer to wait for my revised score.37

The 1988 published score, not the recorded version, is therefore definitive. The score has a number of errors, however. (See Table 6.) Hanson has reviewed the errata and writes that they are identical to the errors he has found. A forthcoming reprint of the score will have the necessary corrections.

The performance time on Ericsson's compact disc recording is five minutes and nineteen seconds. As indicated in Table 5, however, the early version of the score used for the recording omits mm. 27-34 and 38-46, thus shortening its length. If the 1988 printed version is performed in its entirety, therefore, the piece will be approximately forty-five seconds longer, or six minutes and four seconds.

Gesänge der Toten by Hans-Ola Ericsson
Background

Hans-Ola Ericsson was born in 1958 in Stockholm where, as a child, he sang in the Stockholm Boys' Choir. His first counterpoint, composition, and organ performance teacher was innovative Swedish composer Torsten Nilsson (b. 1920), to whom Gesänge der Toten is dedicated. Ericsson's first public organ recitals began in 1974, the same year his first organ compositions were written. In 1977 he was admitted to the State Academy of Music in Freiburg, Germany, where he studied composition with Klaus Huber and Brian Ferneyhough, and organ with Zsigmond Szathmáry. Further composition study was with Luigi Nono in Venice in 1984.38

Ericsson has performed at many European festivals, and on French, Japanese, and American radio. Since 1986 Ericsson has been principal instructor of organ performance at Piteå College in Piteå, Sweden. At present, he also teaches solo organ performance and courses in interpretation of modern organ music at the State Colleges of Music in Stockholm, Malmö, and Göteborg. As a virtuoso organist, he is well-known from tours of Europe and the United States, and from recordings for radio and compact disc. He has recently recorded the complete works of Olivier Messiaen on seven compact discs for the BIS label.39

Ericsson's works for organ are Gesänge der Toten for organ and percussion (1977), J'Ecris Ton Nom for organ, percussion and electronic tape, Niemandsland for organ and electronic tape, Orgelsymphonie in tre Satzer for organ solo (1975-76), Via Dolorosa for organ solo, and Melody to the Memory of a Lost Friend XIII for organ and electronic tape (1985).40

The work selected for this article, Gesänge der Toten (Songs of the Dead), was composed in January 1977 and published the same year. The score is a legible photocopy of the manuscript.

Structure

Gesänge der Toten is based on a chorale of unknown origin that occurs monophonically (mm. 10-16), as a jazz variation (mm. 23-40), as the pedal line during the climax (m. 51), and in a four-voice harmonization (mm. 53-62). The chorale is present sporadically; thematically unrelated sections of arpeggios, improvisation, and graphically notated clusters constitute most of the piece. Meter is either 3/4 or 4/4, except for four instances of free meter (mm. 8-9, 41-44, 51, and 68-69), measured in clock seconds. Although the piece contains areas of chromaticism and extreme dissonance, it centers on the key of the chorale, F minor.

Despite areas of tonality and the presence of the chorale, the piece has no conventional form. The chorale serves chiefly to unify the piece by providing a recurring theme; its treatment and occurrences, however, are irregular. Table 7 is a structural outline of the work.

Registration

The manual compass for Gesänge der Toten is C to g''' and the pedal compass is C to f'. The manuals must therefore have at least fifty-six keys. The note g''' only occurs four times, however, in ten-voice dissonant arpeggios over triple pedal (m. 7); it can be omitted, virtually unnoticed, on fifty-four-key manuals.

The score specifies a three-manual instrument, but the piece can be performed on two manuals. Only one instance of rapid interplay among all three manuals occurs--improvisatory figuration and a sequence of twenty-four palm clusters in mm. 8-9; a console assistant can alternate stops to produce the three distinct timbres. An assistant is necessary, anyway, to manipulate percussion stops: the Röhrenglockenton (tubular bells), Xylophon 4', and Cymbelstern. The assistant must add and remove the Röhrenglockenton at specific points indicated in the score in mm. 60-65, and must stop the Cymbelstern in m. 64. If an adjustable combination action is unavailable, an assistant will also be indispensable for stop changes.

Besides the organ percussion stops, a bass drum ostinato occurs in mm. 51-63; the drum can be played by a second assistant or by a percussionist. The ostinato is simple and does not require a trained drummer. If the available organ does not have the necessary percussion stops, a percussionist can produce most of the percussive timbres--the Cymbelstern in mm. 51-63 and the tubular bells in mm. 60-65, for example. To heighten the dramatic intensity, the organist screams ffff in m. 8, before beginning a "wild outburst" on the manuals--an improvisatory section with palm clusters.41

The Swell expression pedal is used in mm. 2-7, 9-16, 39-40, and 51, although the console assistant can make gradual stop changes if no expression pedal is available. Table 8 lists a complete registration, based on the score, for a three-manual instrument.

Interpretation

Gesänge der Toten is a dramatic, violent, macabre work, characterized by extremes in dynamics, pitch, note values, and dissonance. A number of similarities--coincidental or not--to American composer William Bolcom's Black Host (1967) suggest his influence: (1) the use of percussion, including tubular chimes and bass drum; (2) a centrally placed dirge, accompanied by a jazz background at a slow tempo; (3) the use of a chorale, or psalm tune, especially at the end of the work; (4) graphically notated arm clusters used at the climax; and (5) a deliberate, brutal style. Obvious differences exist, too; Ericsson's piece is much shorter and does not incorporate an electronic tape. As illustrated in Table 8, the quarter note tempo increases steadily at major structural posts--from quarter note = 46 at the beginning of the piece to 112-126 at the end. That the piece is a kind of procession is emphasized in the score at the outset: "In the tempo of a very slow march."42

At the beginning, twenty-eight successive, ascending arpeggios--one per beat--are played in exact rhythm. Each hand must play and sustain five notes from each ten-voice arpeggio, spanning intervals of a ninth or tenth. Because of the difficulty in spanning these wide intervals, it will be impossible for some performers to play the piece. The arpeggios increase dynamically and rise in pitch until m. 8, where the performer suddenly screams ffff (using the vowel A, as in "father"). The scream appears on a separate staff with a speaking clef (talklav); it begins as loudly and as high in pitch as possible, and then slides downward in pitch. A footnote in Swedish in the score allows a substitute screamer: "A scream, executed by the performer or by someone in his place."43

Before the scream ends, a "wild outburst" of graphically notated improvisation in free meter begins. The first six seconds of improvisation have swirling figuration and occasional clusters that are distributed among three manuals (m. 8). In a commentary at the end of the piece, Ericsson describes the figuration as "rapidly vibrating movements of the fingers and the palm within the indicated range."44

In m. 9 the improvisation continues with ten seconds of palm clusters divided at random among the manuals. The first six palm clusters are notated as 2048th notes (with nine ligatures); the note values then increase gradually to eighth notes. This exaggerated notation produces, in effect, the indicated ritardando. The improvisation concludes with an eleven-voice chord that becomes arm clusters, and then gradually decreases in texture and dynamic over twenty seconds.

The monophonic statement of the chorale in mm. 10-16 begins tranquilly and ends with a crescendo to fff. A section of ascending arpeggios, similar to those at the beginning of the piece, begins in m. 16. This time, however, the arpeggios in the last measure of the section (m. 21) are changed to two cluster arpeggios and a cluster glissando that embellishes an arm cluster. Those clusters and the three arm clusters in m. 22 are played precisely in the march rhythm; both black and white keys are struck.

The jazz section in mm. 23-40 is loosely based on the chorale theme, which is treated as a highly embellished solo against a blues accompaniment; the section contains two tremolos (mm. 27-28), two tied trills (mm. 26 and 29), and a few other basic licks. The subsequent pedal solo begins with a low-register cluster glissando (m. 41) that can be played by the right foot on the black keys and by the left foot on the white ones. The graphic notation in m. 44 represents a fast improvisation, with toes and heels rapidly striking pedal notes at random within the range indicated. The 32' reed, added at the beginning of the measure, is unlikely to speak during the random figuration because of the fast tempo; the stop is probably added in anticipation of the three long notes that follow the improvisation. The pedal solo ends with a white-key glissando played by the left foot (m. 47).

The rhythm of the pedal solo in mm. 45-47 is repeated for the palm clusters in mm. 48-50. Then the Cymbelstern sounds, unaccompanied, for four seconds at the beginning of m. 51, before the organist and drummer begin the climactic crescendo. The bass drummer begins a five-note ostinato, accenting the note-heads that have an "X" superimposed on them. At the same time, the organist begins a slow, eighteen-second crescendo by using both arms in a cluster glissando that covers the entire Great manual. The glissando starts with the left elbow sustaining a few low notes. Gradually the entire left forearm is lowered onto the manual; the right wrist is added near the center of the manual and the right forearm is gradually lowered onto the manual until the elbow is completely down. Meanwhile, the Swell expression pedal, if available, has been opened halfway at this point; alternatively, the console assistant could have gradually added stops. The manuals are silent for four seconds while two more notes of the chorale are played in the pedal. The organist then improvises rapid manual figuration with fingers, palms, and elbows for eighteen seconds more--until maximum cacophony is reached, the expression pedal is fully opened, and the chorale in the pedal has been completed.

After the climax, the manuals are silent and the pedal sustains a perfect fourth, C-F, on soft 32' and 16' flues; the Cymbelstern continues to sound, and the bass drum begins a diminuendo. The organist plays the first seven measures of the harmonized chorale (mm. 53-59); when m. 60 is reached, the console assistant begins to add and remove the Röhrenglockenton stop four times, at locations in mm. 60-65. The Cymbelstern and bass drum are tacet at the first beat of m. 64, where the pedal takes over the ostinato from the bass drum. Stops and couplers are added at m. 67 for the end of the piece. In m. 68 the half notes with arrows through the stems are sustained while the unstemmed notes are played during a fifteen-second period of free meter.

The score contains several errors. (See Table 9.) No commercial recording of the work was located. The performance time is approximately six minutes.

Notes

                  30.           Peterson, s.v. "Hanson, Sten." by Stig Jacobson.

                  31.           Roth, 52.

                  32.           Sten Hanson, es ist genug . . . (Stockholm: Svensk Musik, [1988]).

                  33.           Hanson, Letter to this writer, October 18, 1993.

                  34.           Ibid.

                  35.           Ericsson, brochure notes for Organo con Forza, 4.

                  36.           Hanson, Letter to this writer, October 18, 1993.

                  37.           Ibid.

                  38.           Anders Ekenberg, brochure notes for Olivier Messiaen: the Complete Organ Music, vol.1, BIS CD 409,26.

                  39.           Ibid.

                  40.           Walter A. Frankel and Nancy K. Nardone, eds., Organ Music in Print; 2d ed. (Philadelphia: Musicdata, 1984), 89; Ericsson, Organo con Forza.

                  41.           Hans-Ola Ericsson, Gesänge der Toten, (Munich: Edition Modern, 1977), 4.

                  42.           Ibid., 2.

                  43.           Ibid., 4.

                  44.           Ibid., 12.

Peter Hardwick

Guelph, and Agincourt Collegiate Institute, Toronto, Ontario. In addition, he served as organist of St. John's Cathedral, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and St. George's Church, Guelph.
In 2003, Scarecrow Press published his book British Organ Music of the Twentieth Century. Over the last two and a half years he has been writing a monograph on the life and music of Kenneth Leighton, which will probably be finished sometime this year. Dr. Hardwick has written feature articles and numerous reviews of recordings and organ music for The Diapason.

Works of the 1970s

The title of the ten-minute The Second Service
style='font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'>, Op. 62 (1971) is puzzling, for
there is no known first service, unless one counts the Magnificat
style='font-style:normal'> and Nunc Dimittis
style='font-style:normal'> (Collegium Magdalenae Oxoniense) of 1959. If this is
the case, then surely opus 62 should be titled The Second Evening
Service, since it consists only of settings
of the two evening canticles. The title is an enigma, but it is clear that the
work is packed with attractive ideas that are convincingly developed. It is a
staple of cathedral and major churches’ repertories.

The soft, intimate opening for trebles and manuals-only
organ accompaniment is perhaps reminiscent of the beginning of Howells’
famous Magnificat in his Collegium
Regale (1945). Like Howells, Leighton leads
from the single boys’ line at the outset to polyphonic imitation, and the
vocal lines are, like the older man’s, slow, melismatic, and
plainsong-like. Leighton’s organ accompaniment of ostinato figures
involving cluster chords sets an intimate reflective tone that is very
appropriate in an “In memoriam” work.16 A lengthy section that
begins with “For he that is mighty” follows this. Here, the
organ’s accompaniment of short, dancing, staccatissimo motifs stand in
sharp contrast to the choir’s bold, more legato, chordal declamation of
the text. During the development in this section, there are instances of
Leighton’s characteristic writing in octaves for the whole choir, and he
also uses the two-part texture that he liked, with soprano and tenor sections
singing the same an octave apart, and altos and basses the other part in
octaves. A calmer mood is introduced at “He remembering his mercy,”
with the choir singing imitative counterpoint that is lyrical and legato, while
the organ, as a counterbalance, provides faster moving, syncopated, rhythmic
motifs that are frequently repeated before being relinquished. The setting of
“Glory be to the Father” contains strong reminiscences of the music
with which the movement began, music that has not been heard since the start.
Following the choir’s a cappella, hushed, mysterious close on C-sharp
major, the organ has the last word in a series of rich, intense repeated
dissonant chords alternating with C-sharp chords.

Marked Molto lento e sostenuto, the organ’s opening of the Nunc Dimittis
style='font-style:normal'> parallels the atmospheric, mysterious mood of the
start of the Magnificat. Again,
there are ostinato figures in the organ accompaniment, as in bars 10-13,
where the ostinato is in the manuals over a pedal point. (Example 6)

The choir, at first hesitant and somewhat aimless, gradually
begins to gather momentum towards the first of the movement’s two
climaxes, at “To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory
of thy people Israel.” In this passage, there is an increase of energy
and volume, and the voices sound more emphatic, due in part to their pairing
off--sopranos and tenors singing the same music in octaves, and,
simultaneously, altos and basses in octaves. The word “glory”
erupts joyfully in florid lines, followed by the voices coming together with
short repeated tones on an A major chords for “Israel.” (Example 7)
The Gloria Patri is reminiscent of the calm, mystical mood of the setting of
Gloria in the Magnificat, but is
shorter. Astringent harmony pervades the soft closing three-fold
“Amen,” but there is peace at the last when the voices finally
settle on an F major chord, and the organ echoes this tonality in a deep,
low-pitched, enchanting whisper.

The ten-minute Awake My Glory
style='font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'>, Op. 79 (1979), for soprano
soloist, SATB choir, and organ, is Leighton’s longest anthem. St.
Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, commissioned the work for a
concert in the Cathedral on October 3, 1979, as part of the institution’s
centenary celebrations.17 Since the composer was a member of the congregation
of St. Mary’s, this must have been a particularly special assignment for
him personally, and he responded with an inspired work that is replete with
felicitous eloquence and deeply moving mysticism. The first performance was
give by the Cathedral Choir under the composer’s direction and
accompanied on the organ by his friend, the cathedral’s organist, Dennis
Townhill.18

Awake My Glory falls
into the multi-section, through-composed form of which Leighton is so fond.
Though the excerpt he set to music from the poem On the Eternity of
the Supreme Being (1750) by Christopher
Smart contains no palpably religious references, one might safely infer that
the poet had God in mind in such phrases as “My fellow subjects of the
eternal King,” and “Confess his Presence and report his
praise.” There is also a spiritual ambiance running through the verse.
However, Smart is mainly concerned with depicting dawn and the awakening of the
animals in the countryside, which he does fluently and with great joy. Leighton
is, as usual, extremely responsive to the text, and writes music that is
appropriately graphic--sometimes quite madrigalian, in fact--and
atmospheric.

The composition opens with a lengthy organ prelude depicting
night. Low-pitched, rhythmically vague shifting chords become increasingly
active and loud. This musical impression of dawn’s initial glimmer ushers
in the first of a series of imitative contrapuntal choral sections that occupy
the first half of the work. In the initial polyphonic choral section, the
voices, like heraldic fanfare trumpeters, sing out the words “Awake my
glory” to a rapid ascending motif whose energetic rhythm and melodic
contour are quite Bachian. The voices and organ grow in emotional intensity,
dynamics, and contrapuntal activity, and finally coalesce in a last ecstatic
chordal presentation of “Awake my glory,” after which the music
gradually subsides and comes to a peaceful close.

The ensuing section, marked Molto allegro e leggiero
style='font-style:normal'>, is based on a languorous lyrical setting of the
words “Soon as the stately, night-exploding bird,” accompanied on
the organ by a very dry, bird-like, twittering that is developed along very
similar lines to the first section. Momentum increases little by little as the
poet declares, “List ye! how nature with ten thousand tongues, Begins the
glad thanksgiving,” and joyous choral melismas ring out on the word
“welcome” in the setting of the phrase “In lively lay, sings
welcome to the dawn.”

Various musical techniques are used to unify this work.
Cohesion is achieved through the use, in each of the major sections, of a
constantly evolving motif in the manuals part of the organ accompaniment. This
may be illustrated in a central section of the work, in which the ground swell
of bird song at the words “welcome to the dawn” is described. A
rhythmic eighth-note ostinato motif is introduced at bar 127 in the organ part.
(Example 8) This figure is repeated, and, with each repetition, is exposed to
variation treatment.

At last, the grand fortississimo apotheosis is reached in an
exuberant cacophony of vocal and organ sound at the words “My fellow
subjects of the eternal King, I gladly join your matins and with you Confess
his Presence and report his praise.” (Example 9) Returning to the opening
words of the anthem at the end also has a unifying effect. The choir sings with
pleasure mixed with overtones of sadness the text with which the work began,
“Awake my glory,” after which the organ, alone, cadences on a
simple C major chord.

Last Masses

Between 1972 and Leighton’s death in 1988, five more
Masses were written: The Sarum Mass, Op.
66 (1972), Mass for Ampleforth,
Op. 67 (1973), Missa Cornelia,
Op. 81 (1979), Missa Sancti Petri
(1987), and Missa Christi (1988).
All, except Mass for Ampleforth,
are English settings, and none is longer than fifteen minutes.

Missa Sancti Petri, for SATB choir, soprano, tenor, and bass soloists,
and organ, is a setting of words from the Church of England’s Anglican
Liturgy Rite B, and requires performers of a high caliber.

The Kyrie Eleison,
probably one of the composer’s most sublime religious pieces, resonates
with the human’s feelings of prayerfulness and utter awe as he requests
Christ’s mercy for his sins. Choral imitation and linear counterpoint
provide a dense eerie texture of complex, sonorous sound, that is constantly
sparking with flashes of transient dissonances, while the organ accompanies
with a foundation of supporting rhythmic motivic interjections and sustained
chords. As well as obeisance and reverential wonder, the mood is also one of
uneasiness, almost of agony, which is injected into the music partly through
the syncopations, including Scotch snap rhythms. The rhythmic freedom, together
with the gently undulating, lyrical vocal lines, is reminiscent of medieval
plainsong, especially the two highly melismatic solo tenor phrases, marked Più
calma, un po’ liberamente, that rise
and fall over sustained organ chords. The movement ends with references to the
melodic idea with which the movement began.

The Gloria in Excelsis Deo is through composed, and divided into clearly marked contrasting
sections. In order to create a sense of homogeneity in this long movement,
Leighton engineers a certain amount of unity by means of repeated bass patterns
in the organ accompaniment that frequently undergo metamorphosis, and are
usually accompaniments for passages of choral imitative counterpoint. For
instance, cohesion is provided in the brilliant, majestic, fortissimo opening
setting of the words “Glory to God on high,” by the organ’s
four-note, conjunct-motion, descending pattern that is never repeated at the
same pitch.

The setting of the next lines of text, beginning with
“We praise thee, we worship thee,” is similar, and equally
sparkling. The vivacious, fanfare-like, and highly ornamented choral melodic
idea is set in imitative contrapuntal style, supported by an organ part that
not only has a repeated, ever-changing descending pedal pattern, but also a
motif that is treated imitatively for the manuals. As the section draws to a
close, the densely textured counterpoint is reduced to a two-part, canon-like,
6/8, lilting stretto, between sopranos and tenors singing simultaneously the
same line in octaves, and the altos and basses singing the other line in
octaves, while the organ articulates bold cluster chords in syncopated duple
meter. The section ends with the voices and organ finally coalescing on a
sustained chord on the last word of “For thy great glory.”

“For thou only art holy” is set as a peaceful
and quiet a cappella two-voice canon for
sopranos. This brief moment of quiet reflection is short-lived, and the final
cataclysmic buildup to the Gloria’s end begins.

The surge to the final climax is inaugurated by the choir,
which sings out happily “Thou only O Christ, with the Holy Ghost art most
high” in imitative counterpoint, over an organ part that is reminiscent
of the accompaniment to the setting of “We praise thee, we worship
thee” earlier in the movement. Over heavy sustained organ cluster chords,
the choral “Amen” is set in complex imitative counterpoint, based
on a motif that opens with reminiscences of the idea with which the Kyrie
Eleison movement started.

There is a return to the swinging, 6/8 melodic idea heard
previously at the opening of the Gloria for the Sanctus section of the third
movement. The start consists of a brilliant choral passage in imitative
polyphonic style, with a flamboyant organ accompaniment. The cut and thrust of
this imitative linear counterpoint continues with a new melodic idea in the
setting of “Glory be to thee, O Lord most high.” While the voices
weave a tapestry of cogently argued counterpoint, the organ has a contrapuntal
part based on an oscillating sixteenth note figure. This energetic hustle and
bustle of choral and organ sound eventually comes to a halt on an extremely
acrid cluster chord, followed by a general pause.

The extreme mental anguish and pain in the setting of the
first part of the Agnus Dei, “O
lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world,” may call to mind the
morbidity of the composer’s Crucifixus Pro Nobis
style='font-style:normal'>, Op. 38 (1961), especially the “Christ in His
Passion” movement of that work. In any case, both the Agnus Dei
style='font-style:normal'> text from this Mass and the “Christ in His Passion”
words of the earlier composition, deal with Christ’s sacrifice on the
cross as the expiation for the Christians’ sins. However, the dissonances
in the Agnus Dei are even more
searingly acrid than in the cantata movement. In particular, one might note the
composer’s use of some of his favorite dissonances: simultaneous seconds,
and augmented fourths and diminished fifths. Anguish and pain felt by Christ on
the cross, and by grieving witnesses of his fate, are expressed in the angular,
awkward vocal lines, notably the ascending major and minor seventh leaps.
Clearly, this expresses gravely troubling feelings about human sin. The anxiety
expressed here perhaps also reflects a facet of the personality of the
composer, for, although usually a very positive kind of person, he suffered
extreme bouts of depression on several occasions during his life, and
throughout his career made excessively high demands of himself as a composer.19
Rejoicing, Leighton reaches the high ground of salvation and confidence in the
final section, “Grant us they peace.” Here, the dissonances of the
tenor solo are disturbing, but there is relative calm in the choral writing,
and, after the voices have finished, the organ’s final three sustained
chords of A-flat major, F major, and D major leave one calm and optimistic.
Leighton’s enduring affection for writing church music, and his
outstanding gifts in the field, are

reflected marvelously in these closing pages of movingly
beautiful, ethereal music.   

by Earl Holt

Experimentation in a radical, theatrical style has
characterized much contemporary Swedish organ composition over the last twenty years, and Swedish organ composers have been prominent in the movement toward
secularization of the organ. 
Marilou Kratzenstein writes:

One should remember that Swedish churches no longer play
much of a role in the spiritual life of the people, but rather concentrate on
being a cultural force. Organ concerts are encouraged in the churches, which
are viewed primarily as concert halls. 
Major organ composers generally write little music for use in the church
service, but focus on concert works devoid of religious significance.1

A number of modern Swedish composers have found the organ's
array of tonal colors and wide dynamic range particularly useful for the
expression of musical thought in a modern idiom. As a result of the Orgelbewegung (Organ Reform Movement), the resurgence of interest in instruments with mechanical action has offered the possibility for greater expressive control and a greater range of performance techniques than were previously available on instruments with some form of remote  action.

Swedish composer and organ virtuoso Hans-Ola Ericsson wrote
recently of modern composition:

The tendency is the same everywhere, in Sweden, too: it
seems that the 1980s mark the beginning of a new musical era. The composers are
striving for objectivity, diversity, and structural density or airiness. A new
æsthetic is growing up, far from the experimenting expressionism of the
1970s.2

If young Swedish composers now find themselves to be
innovators, they have come to the forefront of avant-garde composition as a
result of influential forebears, including Bengt Hambræus, one of the
first organists to introduce avant-garde techniques. Douglas Reed writes:

Following Hambræus' lead, a school of Swedish
contemporary organ music sprang up; it includes Arne Mellnäs (b. 1933: Fixations, 1967), Jan W. Morthenson (b. 1940: New Organ Music, 1961-73), and Bo Nilsson (b. 1937: Stenogramm, 1959).3

These Swedish composers and their contemporaries studied or
collaborated with György Ligeti, who began regular visits to the Stockholm
Academy of Music in 1961 to teach composition as a visiting professor.4 Under
Ligeti's tutelage, they pioneered new techniques in their organ compositions,
including virtuoso clusters, stop-knob manipulation, and switching the blower
on and off to produce a gradual sound decay. They have taken advantage of the
increased availability of tracker actions and have experimented with bending
pitch by playing or releasing the keys very slowly, sometimes assisted by
rubber mats placed under the keys. The works are clearly unintended for
liturgical use:

The new organ music of Ligeti and the Swedes is firmly
secular, having few if any religious connotations. It continues, perhaps
completes, the process of secularization started by Franck and Liszt in the
nineteenth century.5

Hambræus wrote recently about his intense
collaboration with Ligeti in the early 1960s:

When [Mauricio] Kagel, Ligeti, and I got a commission each
for an organ work to be performed in Radio Bremen in 1962, we decided between
us to apply different notations to achieve similar results; Ligeti selected the
"graphical" method, partly developed from what he had learnt from my Constellations (Ligeti worked in Stockholm at that time, and we knew each other very well!). His Volumina looks different than my Interferences, or Kagel's Improvisation Ajoutee.6

This article surveys four selected secular organ works by
modern Swedish composers and compiles relevant performance information in an
attempt to make the compositions more comprehensible and accessible to
recitalists, teachers, and students.

Befria mig ur friheten! All denna frihet! by Sven-David Sandström

Background

Sven-David Sandström, born in Borensberg, Sweden in
1942, studied composition with Ingvar Lidholm at the State College of Music in
Stockholm, where he was Lidholm's teaching assistant until 1974. Sandström
also studied composition with György Ligeti and Per Nørgård,
and has worked since 1974 as a composer. Since 1981 he has taught composition
and improvisation at the State College of Music in Stockholm, where he was
appointed professor of composition in 1986.7 He has also been an administrator
in the Society of Swedish Composers since 1979, and was chairman of the Swedish
section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) in 1983. He
received the Christ Johnson Prize in 1974 and the Nordic Council Prize in
1984.8

Sandström's works are primarily for orchestra or
chamber ensemble, although he has also composed solo instrumental and choral
works, including several operas. His music often involves serial and
post-serial techniques, microtones, and aleatoric procedures.9

The work selected for this article, Befria mig ur
friheten! All denna frihet! (Liberate me
from freedom! All this freedom!), is the second movement of a three-movement,
large-scale organ work, Libera me.10 Befria mig can be performed successfully as an independent work, however. The title comes from the Tobias Berggren text, "replete with sadistic obscenities and pornographic proclamations," to Sandström's Requiem: De ur alla minnen fallna (Mute the Bereaved Memories Speak), which Sandström composed at the same time as Libera me.11 The Requiem is "a graphic and expressionistic tonal painting, an indictment of the Nazi murders of children during the Second World War."12 Besides Libera me, Sandström has composed two other solo organ works: The Way (1973) and Openings (1975).13

Befria mig was
composed in January 1981 and dedicated to organist Hans-Ola Ericsson; the
premiere took place in Zurich at Grossmünster on December 25, 1981.14 The
score, published in 1984, is a legible photocopy of the original manuscript.

Structure

In Biographies of Modern Swedish Composers
style='font-style:normal'>, Hans-Gunnar Peterson writes about the philosophy
and design of Sandström's compositions:

Desperation--security: these opposite relationships dominate
his thoughts on composition and make his works unusually existentially
orientated [sic]. The fact that music has the power to bring about great mental
changes or to create inner peace interests Sandström. Formally, his music
is concentrated, often with complicated schemes as bases of his works.15

Although Befria mig
has highly concentrated notation, the piece has a simple scheme as its basis: an
extended crescendo. Little by little, the texture thickens, the dynamic
increases, the tempo broadens, the range widens, and the key modulates from G
minor to C minor. Ericsson describes the evolution in brochure notes to the
recording:

The course of events is simple: a slow, almost unendurable
culmination, which alternates the whole time between major and minor, and which
does not reach its goal until the ecstatic C-minor chord of the final bar. The
movement--in 10 parts [voices]--is unbelievably complex in its inner
structure.16

The dense texture restricts the melodic movement of
individual voices, so chromatic or stepwise movement predominates. The
intricate writing suggests choral polyphony, and the stylistic influence is
unquestionably Ligeti.

Befria mig, composed
in 4/4 meter solely as a structural convenience, has five continuous sections,
or stages, that are delineated by tempo changes. Although the texture varies
within each section, it is usually ten voices. The incremental changes in
texture, dynamic, and range take place gradually from beginning to end, but the
tempo changes occur in terraces--not as a gradual ritardando. Table 1 is a
structural outline of the piece.

Registration

The manual changes and couplers in the Libera me
style='font-style:normal'> score are marked for a four-manual instrument;
indeed, a performer playing the entire work does need a large instrument for
the intended effect. As a single movement, however, Befria mig can be performed on any instrument with sufficient dynamic range and enough stops for the gradual crescendo, since the piece is played entirely on one manual, the Hauptwerk.

The manual compass of the piece is F-sharp to g''' and the
pedal compass is C to a-flat'. The pitch a-flat' is unlikely to exist on any
pedal clavier, and probably results from Sandström--who is not an
organist--forgetting the pedal range of the instrument. Fortunately, it occurs
only once (m. 55, in eleven-voice ffff texture), and can be omitted
inconsequentially. In addition, the pedal pitch g', which also occurs only in
m. 55, might also have to be omitted to accommodate a 30-key pedal clavier. An
alternate solution is to have a console assistant play one or both notes on the
Hauptwerk.

The long crescendo, a six-minute, fifty-seven measure
crescendo from ppp to fffff, is created mainly by incremental stop additions,
which can be made by a console assistant, by an adjustable combination action,
or by using the crescendo pedal. The stop additions occur nine times, and are
marked "reg. cresc." (register crescendo) in the score.17 Two
"reg. cresc." markings also coincide with tempo changes (mm. 24 and
48) for heightened dramatic effect. If a crescendo pedal is used for the stop
additions, additional stops and couplers can still be added by thumb pistons or
a console assistant. The score does not indicate expression pedal usage,
although it is effective to open available expression pedals gradually
throughout the piece. 

Sandström marks dynamics in the score, as illustrated
in Table 1, but individual stops or timbres are unspecified. Therefore,
registration for the piece, within the dynamic bounds indicated, is left to the
discretion of the performer. Pedal coupler additions are marked at four points
in the score:

                  Measure
style='mso-tab-count:1'>               Coupler

                  24
style='mso-tab-count:1'>            Sw./Ped.

                  36
style='mso-tab-count:1'>            Bw./Ped.

                  48
style='mso-tab-count:1'>            Rp./Ped.

                  57
style='mso-tab-count:1'>            Hw./Ped.

These coupler additions signal a louder pedal, whether
accomplished by the specific couplers (if available) or by the addition of
pedal stops.

The registration in the score has all secondary manuals
coupled to the Hauptwerk from the beginning of the piece, so that stop
additions from any division affect timbre and dynamic immediately. This
arrangement works well on a large, orchestrally conceived instrument, but might
be disadvantageous on a smaller instrument. On a two-manual instrument, for example, it might be better to begin the piece on the Hauptwerk alone, and then to couple the other manual to the Hauptwerk later, as part of the crescendo.
Another possibility is to begin the piece on a secondary manual and move to the
Hauptwerk later. Three rests in mm. 14, 27, and 43, respectively, provide
opportunities for the hands to change manuals. The last practicable opportunity
to move to the Hauptwerk is at m. 48, beat 4, where both hands must shift down
almost an octave; the hands can easily change manuals in the process. Whether
or not a console assistant is necessary for stop additions, an assistant must
play three chords in mm. 56-57.

Interpretation

Relentless tension characterizes Sandström's works, as
described in Musical Life in Sweden:
"In the case of Sven-David Sandström, it would be no exaggeration to
speak of an incessant struggle between constructive and destructive powers,
with constant reminders of the existence of other worlds."18

The Befria mig score
gives no performance directions or interpretive suggestions, perhaps because
the challenge of the piece is largely technical, not interpretive. It is a
major technical obstacle to play four contrapuntal voices per hand--and two to
four pedal voices--for nearly six minutes, while creating an aural effect of
continuously weaving lines. Despite the dense textures that tend to lock the
wrists in position, it is necessary to keep the wrists flexible and relaxed.
Light articulation will help to combat a tendency to become mired in a
continuous, overlapping legato. Moreover, a live acoustic is a virtual
necessity.

The steadily increasing tension inherent in the piece
exacerbates the tendency toward tension in the wrists. Frequent finger
substitution is neither advisable nor practical in this texture. The pedal
texture is from two to four voices; pedal articulation is legato, whenever
possible.

Complex rhythmic units include supertriplets and
superquintuplets, played in various cross-rhythms between the manual and pedal
voices. To keep the tempo steady, the performer must maintain a strong internal
beat. As noted in Table 1, subito decreases in tempo occur four times in the
work. A metronome is helpful in learning to judge the relative tempos.

Curiously, the word "Affettuoso" is placed over m.
39, although it is unclear how a tender mood can be produced in ten-voice
texture at ff dynamic. The piece ends in m. 57 with "General tutti sempre
al fine." A sforzando mechanism, if available, can be engaged on the long
C-minor chord that ends the work. A sixteen-note cluster (m. 57, beat 4)
effectively serves to disintegrate the C-minor chord (and symbolically,
perhaps, to liberate the listener from tonality), but the cluster is omitted in
the only commercial recording of the piece that was found, a compact disc
recording by Ericsson at Katarina Church in Stockholm on February 24, 1986.19

Performance time for Befria mig
style='font-style:normal'> is seven minutes and thirty-two seconds on the
recording, but Ericsson's performance tempo is quite broad in comparison with
the performance time of five minutes and forty-five seconds listed by
Sandström in the score. Sandström's time agrees exactly with the
tempos marked in the score, but a broader tempo might be appropriate in a live
acoustical setting. Performance time for all three movements of the
fifty-three-page Libera me is
twenty-three minutes.

Champs by Bengt Hambræus

Background

Born in Stockholm in 1928, Bengt Hambræus first
studied organ performance with Alf Linder and later with Swedish musicologist Carl-Allan Mo-berg at Uppsala University. Hambræus completed his dissertation in medieval studies at Uppsala, and then taught there from 1947 to 1956. After joining the music department of Swedish Radio in 1957, he became director of the chamber music section in 1965 and its production manager in 1968.

Some of Hambræus's early compositions paralleling the
work of György Ligeti first earned major recognition in the 1960s. Known
as a musicologist specializing in medieval and baroque studies, Hambræus
has composed for stage, orchestra, chorus, solo voice, various ensembles, and
organ, and was the first Swedish composer to work in the field of electronic
music. As a result of work at electronic studios in Cologne and Milan, he has
also produced a number of works on magnetic tape. He has been a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Music since 1968. In 1972 he left Sweden to become a
professor of composition at McGill University in Montreal, where he has
remained to the present.20

Hambræus's organ works are Toccata och Fuga
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1946), Chorale Partita: In
Dich hab' ich gehoffet, Herr for organ solo
(1946-48), Fantasia for organ
solo (1947), Chorale Partita: Puer natus in Bethlehem
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1947), Concerto for organ
and harpsichord (1947-51), Concerto for Organ and String Orchestra (1948), Koralförspel
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1948), Orgeltrio
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1948), Toccata pro tempore
pentecostes for organ solo (1948), Introitus et Triptychon for organ solo (1949-50), Musik för Orgel for organ solo (1950), Liturgia
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1951-52), Permutations and
Hymn: Nocte surgentes for organ solo (1953),
Psalmus CXXI for soprano and organ (1953), Psalmus
CXXII for soprano and organ (1953), Konstellationer
I for organ solo (1958), Konstellationer
II for organ and tape (1959), Konstellationer
III for organ and tape (1961), Interferenser
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1961-62), Tre Pezzi
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1966-67), Nebulosa
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1969), Toccata: Monumentum
per Max Reger for organ solo (1973), Ricercare
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1974), Continuo a partire
de Pachelbel for organ and orchestra
(1974-75), Icons for organ solo
(1974-75), Extempore for organ
solo (1975), Advent: Veni redemptor gentium
style='font-style:normal'> for organ, brass, and percussion (1975), Antiphonie
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1977), Konstellationer IV
style='font-style:normal'> for organ and percussion (1978), Livre
d'orgue for organ solo (1980-81), Voluntary
on a Swedish Hymn Tune from Dalecarlia for
organ solo (1981), Sheng for oboe
and organ (1983), Variations sur un thème de Gilles Vigneault
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1984), La Passacaille
errante-autour Haendel for organ solo
(1985), Pedalexercitium for organ
solo (1985), Canvas with Mirrors
for organ and tape (1987-90), Après-Sheng
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1988), Cadenza
style='font-style:normal'> for organ solo (1988), Missa pro Organo:
In memoriam Olivier Messiaen for organ solo
(1992), Organum Sancti Jacobi for
organ solo (1993), and Meteoros
for organ solo (1993). A Ph.D. dissertation by musicologist Per F. Broman at
Göteborg University, Sweden, is currently being prepared in consultation
with Hambræus; it contains a comprehensive list of Hambræus's
works, and a complete discography.21

The work selected for this article, Champs
style='font-style:normal'> (Fields), is the ninth movement in Volume I of Livre d'orgue, published in 1981. A foreword to the score describes the movement as a piece in which "the performer is exposed to one kind of cluster notation which has been rather common in contemporary organ music after 1960."22 Livre d'orgue exemplifies Hambræus's well-known preoccupation with timbre to a greater degree, perhaps, than any of his other works. Modeled after the livres d'orgue of the Classical French period, whose movements were often named for the organ colors specified, the Hambræus work adheres to Classical French tradition in retaining the integrity of typical classical registration, which he indicates clearly in the score, and in requiring no dynamic changes by means of the expression pedals.

Livre d'orgue uses a contemporary harmonic idiom, however.
The work comprises four separate volumes containing twelve pieces each, and is
graded from the easier pieces of Volume I to the more difficult in Volume IV.
Even though Hambræus describes Volume I as "easier," its pieces
nevertheless require advanced technique. The preface to Livre d'orgue states that although each volume can be considered a complete suite, it is unnecessary to play all the pieces from the volume, and it is permissible to mix pieces from one volume with those from other volumes.23 This practice of selecting pieces is consistent with common practice in the Classical French tradition.

Hambræus composed Livre d'orgue
style='font-style:normal'> for the installation of the Hellmuth Wolff organ in
Redpath Hall at McGill University, Montreal, in 1981. On May 26, 1981, John
Grew played three pieces from Livre d'orgue
style='font-style:normal'> at the Montreal Symposium, a three-day series of
recitals and panel discussions on historical organ construction held to
inaugurate the new instrument; however, Hambræus does not recall whether
Champs was performed. He writes that he has heard the work performed only
once--in Redpath Hall on a 1982 or 1983 exam recital by Josée April, a
student of Grew.24 Livre d'orgue
is dedicated to Hambræus's son Michael, who first conceived of the
project, and to McGill University, which made it possible.25

Structure

Champs is a moderately
difficult study in cluster technique, the most challenging technical aspect of
the piece. Hambræus writes that the piece is related to other pieces from
Livre d'orgue:

There are internal relations between corresponding pieces in
the respective volumes [of Livre d'orgue]; somebody who has played the more easy items in volume I has got acquainted with my music language (harmony, texture, momentum, density, etc.) and can easily understand how basic ideas develop; compare, for instance, the first movements in volumes I and IV! Regarding Champs--"Fields"--it is a link between other pieces in Livre d'orgue: what is in other movements notated with pitches in dense clusters has just been notated differently here.26

As shown in Table 2, registration changes punctuate major
sections of the piece, illustrating Hambræus's characteristic use of
timbre as a compositional element. Champs
is formally constructed from two double periods and a four-measure ending. In
the first double period, the Grand Orgue and Positif bourdons are set in
contrast to each other. In the second, parallel stops on each manual are added
to the bourdons at major structural posts. In the final measure, however, the
sound is reduced by removing the two stops added last, thus serving to taper the
crescendo shape of the piece.

Registration

Hambræus composed Livre d'orgue
style='font-style:normal'> with a specific instrument in mind: the Hellmuth
Wolff organ in Redpath Hall at McGill University. Completed in spring, 1981,
the large tracker instrument was built "in accordance with the detailed
descriptions in Dom Bédos de Celles's important treatise L'art
du facteur d'orgues (1766-78)."27 The
inside back cover of each volume of Livre d'orgue
style='font-style:normal'> has the complete stop list for the instrument.

Since Champs is a manualiter piece for Grand Orgue and
Positif, pedals are not used. As illustrated in Table 2, the two manuals
maintain dynamic balance by the simultaneous addition or removal of stops from
both divisions at major structural posts. The specific registration for the
Wolff instrument, listed in the score, is helpful in selecting stops of the
same pitch and timbre on a different instrument. The following stops are
specified in the score:

Grand Orgue

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Bourdon

                  22/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Nazard

                                    Cymbale
III

                                    Fourniture
IV-III

                  2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Doublette

Positif

                  8'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Bourdon

                  22/3'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>      Nazard

                                    Cymbale
II

                                    Fourniture
III

                  2'
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             Quarte
de Nazard

All stop changes occur at rests, so it is possible for the
performer to add or remove the stops without assistance. Expression pedals are
not used.

Interpretation

The main challenge of Champs is the interpretation and performance of graphically notated
pentatonic, diatonic, and chromatic clusters, as well as cluster glissandos.
Some pentatonic or diatonic clusters also develop into chromatic ones.
Hambræus defines pentatonic clusters as black-key clusters and diatonic
clusters as white-key ones; chromatic clusters involve both black and white
keys.

Hambræus notates each pentatonic and diatonic cluster
as a geometric figure that outlines the cluster's position on the staff. The
geometric figure encloses either the letter P, for pentatonic clusters, or the
letter D, for diatonic ones. If there is insufficient room for the letters to
be placed inside narrow clusters, the letters are placed directly above. Both
chromatic clusters and chromatic cluster glissandos are notated as filled-in
geometric shapes. Small notes at the beginning of each cluster indicate its
precise span.

The pentatonic black-key clusters found in Champs
style='font-style:normal'> are played either with the fingers or with the top
of the palm and the fingers, if the fingers alone cannot span the cluster. In
either situation, it is easier to play such clusters with the fingers held at a
right angle, instead of parallel, to the keys. Diatonic white-key clusters can
either be played by the fingers or with the thumb placed at a right angle to
the keys. When a diatonic cluster expands to a chromatic cluster, the length of
the thumb and the inside base of the palm are used to play the white keys,
while the fingers are held above the black keys for the expansion, as
illustrated for the left hand in mm. 8-9. The process is immediately repeated
in a mirror-image inversion for the right hand in mm. 10-11.

Hambræus indicates the correct realization of his
cluster notation in a footnote, but provides no physical description of the
techniques needed, except to write that "in order to execute cluster
glissandos, the performer must use all of the hand in different positions, in
addition to the fingers!"28 Two distinct kinds of chromatic cluster glissando occur in Champs: an hourglass-shaped cluster glissando in mm. 25-26, and common cluster glissandos that span a
specific interval (mm. 26-28, for example). Both kinds of glissando begin on a
C-sharp to G tritone and end on a G to c-sharp tritone.

The left hand plays the hourglass-shaped cluster glissando
in mm. 25-26. It is begun with the back of the fingers sustaining all possible
keys within the C-sharp to G tritone; the palm is facing up, at this point. The
thumb-side of the hand is then gradually raised until the hand is perpendicular
to the keys, with the back edge of the hand (little finger) resting on G and on
surrounding notes. Finally, the palm is gradually lowered onto all possible
keys within the G to c-sharp tritone.

The common cluster glissandos in mm. 26-28 occur in both
hands simultaneously. They are played entirely with the palms down. The middle
finger pivots on the pitch G as the fingers and part of the hand to the left of
the middle finger play all possible keys within the C-sharp to G tritone. Then,
as the wrist moves gradually from left to right, the fingers and part of the
hand to the right of the middle finger gradually play all possible keys within
the G to C-sharp tritone. It is helpful to flatten out the hand and to place
the middle, pivot finger near the back of the G key--between F-sharp and
G-sharp, if possible. This procedure allows all of the hand to be used
effectively, and achieves a consistent texture throughout the glissando.

The tempo (quarter note = 56) is maintained by carefully
counting beats throughout the piece. Constant, internal counting is the
performer's only rhythmic guideline, since clusters begin and end at irregular
intervals, and structural posts rarely occur on a discernible beat.

Volume III of Livre d'orgue was recorded by John Grew (McGill University Records, LP 85024, now
out of print), and volume IV by Hans Hellsten (MAP CD 9236, currently
available). Two pieces from volume IV, Ouverture and Récit de Nazard,
were recorded by Erik Lundkvist (MAP CD 9026). Marilou Kratzenstein recorded
selections from volume I (WMC LP 4593) approximately twelve years ago, but the
record was not located; it is therefore unknown whether Champs was on the
album.29  Performance time for
Champs is two minutes and thirty-five seconds.    n

Notes

                  1.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Marilou
Kratzenstein, Survey of Organ Literature and Editions (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State
University Press, 1980), 147.

                  2.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Hans-Ola
Ericsson, brochure notes for Organo con Forza, Phono Suecia PS CD 31, 2.

                  3.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Robert
Douglas Reed, "The Organ Works of William Albright: 1965-1975"
(D.M.A. diss., The University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, 1977), 21.

                  4.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Paul
Griffiths, György Ligeti, ed. Nicholas Snowman (London: Robson Books,
1983), 39.

                  5.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Reed,
22.

                  6.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Hambræus,
Letter to this writer, November 23, 1993.

                  7.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Ericsson, 9-10.

                  8.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Hans-Gunnar
Peterson, Swedish Composers of the 20th Century: Members of the Society of
Swedish Composers (Stockholm: Svensk Musik, 1988), s.v. "Sandström,
Sven-David," by Hans-Gunnar Peterson.

                  9.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Stanley
Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London: Macmillan
and Co., 1980), s.v. "Sandström, Sven-David."

                  10.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Sven-David
Sandström, Libera me (Munich: Edition Modern, 1977), 12-15.

                  11.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Nicolas
Slonimsky, ed., Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. (New
York: Schirmer Books, 1992), s.v. "Sandström, Sven-David;"
Ericsson, 10.

                  12.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Lena Roth, ed., Musical Life in Sweden, trans. Michael Johns (Stockholm: Norstedts Tryckeri AB, 1987), 55.

                  13.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Sadie; Slonimsky.

                  14.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ericsson, 10.

                  15.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Peterson.

                  16.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ericsson, 10.

                  17.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Register crescendo is the German Rollschweller, a type of crescendo pedal.

                  18.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Roth, 55.

                  19.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ericsson, Organo con Forza recording.

                  20.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Sadie, s.v. "Hambræus, Bengt."

                  21.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Brian Morton and Pamela Collins, eds., Contemporary Composers (Chicago: St. James Press, 1992), s.v. "Hambræus, Bengt;" Per F. Broman,
"Bengt Hambræus: Work List and Discography," (supplied by
Hambræus from Ph.D. diss. in progress, Göteborg University, Sweden).

                  22.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Hambræus, Livre d'orgue, vol. 1, preface, 3.

                  23.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid., 4.

                  24.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Hambræus, Letter to this writer, November 23, 1993.

                  25.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Peter
Williams, "The Organ in Our Time: Montreal Symposium," The American
Organist 15, no. 9 (September 1981): 58; Hambræus, Livre d'orgue, vol. 1,
title page.

                  26.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Hambræus, Letter to this writer, November 23, 1993.

                  27.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Hambræus, Livre d'orgue, vol. 1, preface, 2.

                  28.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid., 8.

                  29.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Hambræus, Letter to this writer, November 23, 1993.

This article will be continued.

Peter Hardwick

Dr. Peter Hardwick is a retired music professor who, during his career, taught at the University of Guelph, Guelph, and Agincourt Collegiate Institute, Toronto, Ontario. In addition, he served as organist of St. John’s Cathedral, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and St. George’s Church, Guelph.

In 2003, Scarecrow Press published his book British Organ Music of the Twentieth Century. Over the last two and a half years he has been writing a monograph on the life and music of Kenneth Leighton, which will probably be finished sometime this year. Dr. Hardwick has written feature articles and numerous reviews of recordings and organ music for The Diapason

Kenneth Leighton was born on October 2, 1929, at Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. His formal education was at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield (1940-47) and Queen’s College, the University of Oxford (1947-51). He continued his composition studies privately with Goffredo Petrassi in Rome (March-September, 1951). Leighton was principally a composer, but he also appeared quite frequently as a concert pianist, and he gave the first performances of a number of his own piano works. In addition, he was a highly regarded teacher of composition. Except for two years as a lecturer and fellow at Worcester College, Oxford (1968-70), he taught composition in the Faculty of Music at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1956 until his death on August 24, 1988.1

Musical training

The composer was involved with church music throughout his life. In his childhood, the Leighton family were parishioners of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in downtown Wakefield, and Kenneth sang in the choir there, as did his father and brother. In 1938, he gained admittance to the Wakefield Cathedral Choir. Years later, the composer reminisced that

 . . . my career as a Cathedral chorister left some of the most vivid impressions in my mind of that time of life. I didn’t particularly ask to become a chorister . . . but my father had sung in church choirs all his life, my brother had been a choral scholar before me, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world--nobody questioned it--that I should follow in their footsteps. Unlike my brother I didn’t have much of a voice, I fear, and I would never have made a soloist--but I was able to sing reasonably in tune, and I was able to sight-read; and so I became one of those worthy and stalwart leaders at the bottom end of the stalls--hooting away with not a very strong voice--but to be relied on in moments of crisis. . . .

As far as the repertoire it was pretty wide for those days--we sang some Palestrina, we sang the old favourites--Noble in B minor, Walmisley in D minor, and the Stanford (all fine music in its own right--and thank God that we are getting over our prejudices against the Victorian and Edwardian church music)--and we also sang what was then the latest thing--Darke in F minor--a most exciting experience--Warlock carols, and even a piece by Britten which I didn’t like very much because it seemed so outrageously modern and cacophonous. And then there were many great occasions like the Stanford TE DEUM with Trumpets and Drums--and [Handel’s] Messiah for the first time. I was so completely overwhelmed--emotionally--by the Messiah that I was completely unable to control myself and had to escape from the stalls half way through. Curiously enough I have never heard the Messiah since.

On the whole what an extraordinary richness of musical experience it all was--and what a marvellous musical training!2

Wakefield Cathedral was a High Church of England establishment, and during these years, the composer had his first taste of plainsong. He clearly liked the old chants, and later they were sometimes used verbatim in his compositions. In other works, original themes cast in the plainsong mold were introduced. In the Cathedral Choir, he also sang sacred Tudor polyphonic music, which impressed him,3 and he used a modernized version of the cut and thrust of this style in his own counterpoint later.

In 1947, he was awarded a Hastings Exhibition to study Classics at Queen’s College, Oxford, and a year later he gained permission to continue with Classics, but to also focus principally on music under the direction of the Queen’s College music lecturer, Bernard Rose. Vaughan Williams, Walton, and Britten were Leighton’s idols at this time, and they were to have an effect on his music to a limited degree during the next few years. He learned much during his Oxford music studies, but perhaps the only lasting skill that he acquired was his immense contrapuntal technique.

During his six months of composition studies with Petrassi in 1951, Leighton became more aware of modern Continental musical styles, especially those of Bartók, Hindemith, Stravinsky, as well as the techniques of the Second Viennese School’s serial procedures, and, thereafter, Leighton adopted a much more highly chromatic, mid 20th-century style.

Compositional style

However, he did not adopt one style thereafter for all his compositions. For instance, the choral music, including the works for church services, is quite conservative. In the sacred scores, links with traditional musical style are maintained, yet they sound modern. He achieves this partly by retaining elements of tonal and modal music, while making little use of conventional functional harmony and key signatures. The highly dissonant chords, including cluster chords, in the sacred music have a modern ring to them, but most of these are coincidental, the result of linear counterpoint, not, primarily, vertical thinking.4 At least occasionally, in most of the church pieces Leighton likes to cadence on diatonic chords, which help underline his adherence to tonal/modal traditions. There is also a conventional versus forward-looking ambivalence in the voice leading in Leighton’s church music. This is the result of the contours of the vocal lines being essentially conventional, while at the same time there is a liking for such “dissonant” leaps as augmented fourths and major sevenths.

Almost a third of the ninety-six published works in The Kenneth Leighton Trust’s Opus Index are for use in church services. They consist of nineteen anthems, motets and carols; ten masses and communion services; eight canticles for matins and evensong; one set of preces and responses; five hymn tunes; and two hybrid works that may be sung at the Mass or as concert works.5

Like most 20th-century English church composers, he generally wrote for a four-part all-male choir consisting of trebles, altos, tenors, and basses, and quite frequently called for one or more vocal soloists. In his fondness for centuries-old poetry and prose of the highest literary quality, he showed decided insight into what words blended best with his elevated, emotionally intense musical style. In particular, he set many passages from the King James I version of The Holy Bible of 1611, and the Church of England’s The Book of Common Prayer, whose origins may be traced to 1552. The other old British religious writers whose work he set include Robert Herrick (1592-1674), George Herbert (1593-1633), Sir Thomas Browne (1605-82), Isaac Watts (1674-1748), and Christopher Smart (1722-71).

The organ parts in the church music are idiomatic and important, yet Leighton was not fond of the instrument. He revealed his feelings as early as 1952, when, after playing the new organ in Wakefield Cathedral, he wrote: “It is a very large instrument with five manuals but . . . I don’t like the organ very much. On this instrument, one can produce magnificent effects but I find it incapable of expressing those fine feelings which are the secret of a truly human music. It is an instrument without heart.”6 His reservations were reinforced later when he heard the criticisms of British Romantic/Orchestral instruments of his colleague in the Edinburgh University Faculty of Music, the celebrated organ historian, Peter F. Williams.7

Three Carols

Among the earliest works in the genre is the miniature a cappella Three Carols, Op. 25 (1948-56), for soprano soloist and SATB choir. The modality, occasional open fifth chords, and Picardy third cadences match well the archaic English language and imagery of the texts.

These points are illustrated in the second carol, titled Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child. One of the composer’s most celebrated sacred choral works, it echoes, characteristic of his music of the late 1940s, with the style of Vaughan Williams. There is much word painting. For example, the introductory gentle rocking motion of the ostinato musical phrases, as the choir repeatedly sings the words “Lully, Lulla, thou little tiny child,” paints an intimate scene of Mary lovingly, and with gentleness, caring for the baby Jesus in the cradle. The music’s Mixolydian modal harmony enriched with seventh chords, and two cadences containing a Picardy third, enhances the ancient ambiance of the old words. In addition, the waves of close position concordant triadic upper vocal lines over a pedal in the bass capture in sound the image of the nativity scene, with the mother rocking her child to sleep in her arms. (Example 1)

In the second strophe, a loud setting of the words “Herod the king, In his raging, . . . All children young to slay,” the mood changes from the idyllic happiness of verse one to deadly chilliness. This iciness reaches a peak at the word “slay,” which is sung to a dissonant forzato chord consisting of two simultaneous augmented fourths.

With verse three, a setting of words beginning “That woe is me, Poor child for thee!,” there is an abrupt return to the mystical, cradle-song style of the first verse. The choir softly performs a varied version of the music heard at the start of the carol, with the harmony consisting of leisurely paced block chords, embellished with faster moving harmonic and non-harmonic tones. Over this rich four-part choral writing, the soprano soloist effortlessly floats a soaring obbligato line. The juxtaposition of contrasting sonorities, textures, and moods, such as exists in the three verses of Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child, is a hallmark of Leighton’s style.

Works of the 1960s

The anthem Give Me the Wings of Faith (1962) is a setting of the All Saints’ Day hymn text of the same title by Isaac Watts. The performing forces are typical of much of the church music the composer wrote in the 1960s: soprano and baritone soloists, SATB choir, and organ. Overall, the anthem is written in a lean, prickly, non-functional harmonic language in which there tend to be many transient dissonances.

There is a mental struggle in Give Me the Wings of Faith, and the mood is complex. At the start, the tone is one of uncertainty and anxiety. Leighton seems to have found disturbing the notions of the human soul rising above into heaven and seeing the saints, who had, like us in our time, wrestled with sins, doubts, and fears. This is depicted in the soprano solo “Give me the wings of faith,” in which the organ accompaniment slithers snake-like in small chromatic intervals. However, the depressing mood, while never completely dispelled in the work, gradually gives way to a more optimistic tone as the saints find their eternal rest through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. The somewhat triumphant final section, which is perhaps best described as being “on” D major, rather than in that key (even though the D major key signature is used), is launched by the baritone soloist singing “They marked the footsteps that he trod” to a bold, wide-ranged melody. This theme is developed at length chorally, and the choir closes with a triumphant chordal setting of “Our glorious Leader claims our praise.” However, the full organ alone has the last word, blazing out majestically, yet with a trace of nervous uncertainty, on a B minor chord with an added C sharp.

A hallmark of Leighton’s style is idiomatic writing for voice, and this is certainly true in Give Me the Wings of Faith. The same could be said of the organ, whose role is to contribute to the singers’ word painting, and provide a continuous web of sound that links up the choral sections. A fondness is evident for flowing manual lines that have chains of parallel perfect fourths and fifths, supported by slower moving pedal parts.

His only arrangements of preexistent church music are O Leave Your Sheep (1962) and Wassail All Over the Town (1964).8 O Leave Your Sheep is a setting of the four-strophe French traditional carol text of the same title, and the tune with which it is usually associated, Quittez Pasteurs. For SATB choir and organ, the work is uncharacteristic of Leighton’s mature style in its tonal idiom, and the scaled-down technical demands. As such, it is accessible to the amateur choir and organist. The preexistent melody undergoes a limited amount of variation after the first verse, and is easily recognizable throughout. Verse one, in F major, is sung by a soprano soloist or by all the sopranos, with a light and transparent organ accompaniment that is almost entirely in the treble clef. In verse two, which is in D major, the melody is treated to four-voice imitation, with sustained organ chords in the bass register. The D minor, a cappella third verse is much more ruminative, almost improvisatory, and the preexistent melody is treated more freely. After this section of relative repose, an energetic mood is introduced by the staccato, highly rhythmic organ introduction to the last verse, and this is followed by imitative entries of the voices. The chordal vocal writing gradually increases in excitement and becomes exultant, while the organ accompaniment adds further to the joyous sound with long flowing chains of parallel thirds in the manuals over sustained bass notes in the pedals. O Leave Your Sheep ends ecstatically with a più largo block chord phrase and perfect cadence in D major alla Handel for choir and organ.

The ten-minute setting of the matins canticle Te Deum Laudamus (1964) for soprano and baritone soli, SATB chorus, and organ, is arguably one of Leighton’s first great liturgical masterpieces. It marked a major confluence in the development of the composer, where, at last, his creative inspiration was matched by his mastery of the tools of his profession.

Most of the hallmarks of his style are present in the work. Among these elements is the taste for soloists, with the traditional Church of England SATB choir and organ. Other aspects of his style, already noted in previous works, that are also found here include a freely dissonant, non-functional harmonic idiom; plainsong-like melismatic vocal embellishments; masterly imitative counterpoint and abundant word painting.

The opening is a good example of the style. Over a series of held, close-position cluster chords on the organ, each of which begins with a Scotch snap articulation, the soprano soloist declaims the words “We praise thee” over and over again, “praise” being embellished more elaborately with each repetition, much along the lines of settings of joyous words in Gregorian chant. One by one the choir sections enter and rise in excited acclamation as they surge forward to the first loud grand climax, a moment endowed with a sense of glorious revelation, at the word “everlasting” on an F major chord.

There is a lull in the rejoicing at the words “When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man: thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb,” which are set in a polymetric,9 syllabic style reminiscent of ancient chant.

The counterpoint is frequently linear and imitative, supported by a foundation of rhythmic figuration in the organ accompaniment. This may be seen, for example, in the setting of “When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death” (bars 83-91). Cruelly painful cut-and-thrust imitative counterpoint, in which simultaneous seconds create flashes of hard sharp dissonance, are heard over a backdrop of vaguely menacing syncopated, rhythmic detached chords in the organ manuals, and a more sustained pedal line. (Example 2)

The ancestry of such musical pathos might be traced to the choral settings of similar texts by late Renaissance and early Baroque English composers, such as Tallis, Byrd, and Weelkes. In passing, one might also mention the two-part polyphony in Example 2: sopranos and tenors singing the same line in octaves, altos and basses singing the other line in octaves. This was a type of doubling of pairs of voices at the octave that Vaughan Williams had utilized in contrapuntal passages in, for example, his Te Deum in G (1928), O How Amiable (1934), and the Benedicite (1939).10 Britten also wrote passages like this in such works as Antiphon (1956), a setting of sacred words by George Herbert for choir (with optional soloists) and organ. The Te Deum appears to be the first work in which Leighton used this texture. He was to use it many times in his subsequent church music, partly, one might suspect, because it sounds effective, but also because two parts are easier to sing than four parts, and this offers relief from singing in four real parts.

The bustle of the setting of “When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death” ends dramatically with fortissimo cluster chords on the organ that create a cacophony of sound, followed by general pause. After the silence, a volcanic blast of sound erupts as choir and organ present the words “We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.” Leighton obviously is struck with grave misgivings, possibly fear, at the thought of the Last Judgment, and the music of this short, highly dissonant passage, marked Lento sostenuto and fortississimo, is pervaded with a sense of bewildering awe mingled with anxiety. The emotionally distraught mood is initiated by a loud, low pedal point on the organ pedals, and twisting, snake-like chromatic counterpoint in the manuals. Then the voices enter in a five-part stretto-like point of imitation. (Example 3)

An element of prayerful hopefulness ensues at the start of the last section of the work, as the baritone soloist sings softly and with contrition in a plainsong-like chanting style “We therefore pray thee help thy servants.” The setting of “Day by day we worship thy Name: ever world without end” is bright and joyful, but this is halted abruptly by a sense of dread and fear in an acridly dissonant chord at the word “sin” in the phrase “Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.” With reminiscences of the organ music with its Scotch snap rhythms that had been heard at the opening of the composition, the choir then presents “O Lord, have mercy upon us” with very expressive, pianissimo, ethereal phrases. Finally, after the choir’s last, prayerful entreaty, “O Lord, in thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded,” the organ ends the work with a whispered F-sharp major chord.

Less than a year after the Te Deum Laudamus, Leighton wrote an anthem on George Herbert’s hymn text Let All the World in Every Corner Sing (1965) for SATB choir and organ. Since both the Te Deum and Let All the World texts are joyous, and the pieces were composed close to each other, it is hardly surprising to note similarities between them. For example, at the start of the anthem he uses the two-voice canonic imitative style between the altos and basses singing the same line in octaves simultaneously, and the paired sopranos and tenors in octaves simultaneously, that was noted in the Te Deum. Such two-voice canonic imitation appears several times in the anthem, and there are also several passages in which, in like fashion, the four voice parts divide into pairs singing in octaves, though not in imitation.

In the first section, the organ has staccato, fragmented phrases against which the voices joust. As in the Te Deum, there is a departure from conventional, rhythmically square, metric writing. This occurs in the short polymetric setting of the words “The heavens are not too high, His praises may thither fly,” where the music slips quickly from 3/4+3/8 to 4/4, 7/8, 4/4, and 7/8, before settling in 4/4. (Example 4)

In the concluding passage of the anthem, the words and a variation of the music of the opening return in the manner of a recapitulation. However, here there is a much greater sense of excitement, of breathtaking denouement. Contributing to this sense of rousing celebration is the thickening choral texture to five parts, with the sopranos dividing into two parts, and all the voices being called upon to sing in their upper ranges. The organ also adds to the drive to climax. Far more flamboyant and bombastic than at the opening of the anthem, the instrument’s assertive role is to provide rhythmic excitement with short motivic groupings of ejaculatory cluster chords, punctuated by short general rests. In addition, the organ has numerous short joyous rushing ascending scales that are reminiscent, possibly, of one of Leighton’s musical heroes, Howells, who was fond of these embellishing figures as an expression of joy in his church music organ parts. After so much astringent dissonance, the organ brings down the curtain on the anthem with an appropriately shrill, dissonant chord: C-sharp and D major chords played simultaneously--in effect the simultaneous sounding of tonic and dominant harmony, a tonally ambiguous ending.

First Masses

In the 1960s Leighton composed his first Masses: Missae Sancti Thomae, Op. 40 (1962), Mass, Op. 44 (1964), Communion Service in D, Op. 45 (1965), and Missa Brevis, Op. 50 (1967).

The twenty-six-minute Mass, Op. 44, for double mixed chorus, is arguably a masterpiece. The first of only two Latin Masses by the composer,11 it is a cappella, except the Credo, which calls for organ, and is in the Palestrina style, as seen through a 20th-century prism. Among the innumerable remarkable passages in the Mass is the opening of the Kyrie Eleison, which starts with a solo voice singing in the minor mode, and surges irresistibly to an immense, fortississimo climax for double chorus at bar 17. The passage’s penitential, bittersweet opening that quickly changes to a great paean of confident optimism is so characteristic of Leighton’s mercurial nature. (Example 5)

An Easter Sequence, Op. 55 (1968) is a fourteen-minute piece in five movements, for boys’ or female voices and organ with optional trumpet. Considering the crème de la crème choir for which the work was written,12 one might have expected a more technically demanding, showy composition. In fact, the vocal writing is tonal; the melodic contours conventional, and there are no gallery-pleasing virtuosic fast melismatic lines. Nor is the organ part especially difficult. In the absence of a trumpeter, the solo trumpet part may be played on a trumpet stop, if one is available on the organ being used.

An Easter Sequence is not a sequence in one of the traditional music history or theory meanings of the word. It is a homogeneous series of pieces,13 setting in English of four Roman Catholic liturgical texts and Psalm 23.14 If the five movements are performed at Mass, they are to be sung as the Introit, Gradual, Offertory, Communion, and Sortie. The work may also be sung on the concert platform.

One may notice similarities between An Easter Sequence and Britten’s Missa Brevis in D (1959) for three-part boys voices and organ, written for the boys of Westminster Cathedral Choir. As in Britten’s composition, there is much three-part writing for the voices, though single- and two-part music is more common. Several passages of canon-like imitation, and a number of ostinatos in the organ accompaniment in Leighton’s work are also Brittenesque.15 In addition, like Britten, the Yorkshireman is especially adept at word painting. For example, he captures the mostly joyous Introit text, “Alleluia. Rejoice in God our helper: Sing aloud to the God of Jacob,” with buoyant, dancing vocal lines that leap lightly, and with staccato articulation. See also the setting of Jesus’ words “Peace be with you” in the Gradual. This music is ethereal, and consists of a soft, glossy, heavenly halo of sustained four-part chords--the only four-part phrase in the composition. The pastoral imagery of Psalm 23 is captured immediately in the opening gentle, reflective organ solo. The melody, in the organist’s right hand, is a chromatic, sinuous, rhythmically complex line oscillating within a narrow pitch range. The left hand accompaniment consists of a close-position cluster-chord that undergoes slight alterations over a pedal point.

In the Sortie, the organ part is much heavier and dominant than in the earlier movements, and it shines forth in a most thrilling manner. This is illustrated in the instrument’s slow improvisatory introductory solo section, with its chromatic, serpentine lines. Then the main section of the movement begins, in the style of a very fast fanfare for voices, organ, and trumpet. Against a backdrop of brightly registered, rhythmic, often stabbing organ chords, the choir, in unison throughout, declaims in brief snappy phrases “God is ascended in jubilee,” and short trumpet obbligato phrases rasp out as the choir sings “and the Lord in the sound of the trumpet” in short, motivic, rhythmic fanfares.

This material is heard again in the coda of the Sortie. First, a greatly transformed variant of the chromatic organ introduction to the movement is presented over a pedal C. Then, the choir sings the stirring vocal fanfare-like phrases “God is ascended, and the Lord in the sound of the trumpet” that were heard early in the movement, while the organ pursues its own path of syncopated, rhythmic, stabbing, highly dissonant manual chords. As so often happens with Leighton, the organ (with trumpet) has the last words: an emotionally gripping tonic C major chord combined with the dominant chord.        

This article will be continued.