Please turn to number 101 and join with the clarinets in “Our Lord is Risen From the Dead”.
Number: 101
First Line: Our Lord is Risen from the Dead
Name: WIE SCHON LEUCHTET
Tempo: With Movement
Music: Philipp Nicolai, 1556-1608
Text: Brigitte Cathrine Boye, 1742-1842
Tr. Fred C. M. Hansen, 1888-
Interestingly, like “All Hail to Thee This Blessed Morn” this is another setting of a Birgitte Cathrine Boyle text.
I do like this hymn, though I had a hard time with the improvisation on the second verse. Distracted, I think, what with the job situation, and all. That, and, the melody is just so iconic, it’s hard to think of something else which fits.
Please turn to number 100 and join with the clarinets in “Alleluia! Jesus Lives!”.
Number: 100
First Line: Alleluia! Jesus Lives!
Name: EASTER GLORY (FRED TIL BOD).
Meter: 7 7, 7 7, 7 7.
Tempo: Triumphantly
Music: Ludvig Matthias Lindeman, 1812-82
Text: Carl B. Garve, 1763-1841
Tr. Laurence N. Field, 1896-
We’ve covered this hymn’s composer, Ludvig Matthias Lindeman, before. He was well known for recording, documenting, and adapting Norwegian folk and worship tunes into hymns.
The text’s author is new to me. I am puzzled and interested by the section describing his hymns as, “entirely free from typically Moravian features,” and thus more adaptable to church use. Makes me want to read some “typically Moravian” hymns!
Garve, Carl Bernhard, was born Jan. 24, 1763, at Jeinsen, near Hannover, where his father was a farmer. He was educated at the Moravian schools in Zeist, and Neuwied, at their Pädagogium at Niesky, and their Seminary at Barby. In 1784 he was appointed one of the tutors at Niesky, and in 1789 at Barby; but as his philosophical lectures were thought rather unsettling in their tendency, he was sent, in 1797, to arrange the documents of the archive at Zeist. After his ordination as diaconus of the Moravian church, he was appointed, in 1799, preacher at Amsterdam; in 1801 at Ebersdorf (where he was also inspector of the training school); in 1809 at Berlin; and in 1816 at Neusalza on the Oder. Feeling the burden of years and infirmities he resigned the active duties of the ministry in 1836, and retired to Herrnhut, where he died June 21, 1841. (Koch, vii. 334-342; (Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, viii. 392-94, &c.)
Garve ranks as the most important of recent Moravian hymnwriters, Albertini being perhaps his superior in poetical gifts, but certainly not in adaptability to church use. His better productions are almost entirely free from typically Moravian features; and in them Holy Scripture is used in a sound and healthful spirit. They are distinguished by force and at the same time elegance of style, and are full of deep love and devotion to the Saviour. Many of them have passed into the German Evangelical hymnbooks, no less than 36 being included in the Berlin Gesange-Buch 1829; and of those noted below No. i. is to be found in almost all recent German collections. They appeared mostly in the two following collections, both of which are to be found in the Town Library, Hamburg: (1) Christliche Gesänge, Görlitz, 1825, with 303 hymns, a few being recasts from other authors. (2) Brüdergesange, Gnadau, 1827, with 65 hymns intended principally for use in the Moravian Communion.
Please turn to number 99 and join with the clarinets in “Christ, the Lord, is Risen Today”.
Number: 99
First Line: Christ, the Lord, is Risen Today
Name: LLANFAIR.
Meter: 7 7, 7 7. With Alleluias.
Tempo: Broadly, with dignity
Music: Robert Williams, cir. 1781-1821
Text: Latin Sequence, Victimae Paschali
Tr. Jane Eliza Leeson, 1807-82
However similar the words are, the tunes are quite different. This one is based on a Welsh Folk Tune.
“Llanfair is a popular traditional Welsh hymn tune, often sung to the words “Hail the day that sees him rise” or “Gwyn a gwridog, hawddgar iawn”.
“Welsh singer Robert Williams (b. Mynydd Ithel, Anglesey, Wales, 1781; d. Mynydd Ithel, 1821), whose manuscript, dated July 14, 1817, included the tune LLANFAIR, which is usually attributed to him. Williams lived on the island of Anglesey. A basket weaver with great innate musical ability, Williams, who was blind, could write out a tune after hearing it just once. He sang hymns at public occasions and was a composer of hymn tunes.”
While not as tricky as 98b, there are some fairly challenging intervals to jump in this hymn, especially for the bass clarinet parts.
Please turn to number 98 (Second Tune) and join with the clarinets in “Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands”.
Number: 98 (Second Tune)
First Line: Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands
Name: CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN.
Meter: 8 7, 8 7, 7 8, 7 4.
Tempo: Majestically
Music: Geistliches Gesangbuchlein, Wittenberg, 1524
Harm. J. S. Bach, 1685-1750
Text: Martin Luther, 1483-1546
Based on the Sequence Victimae Paschali
Tr. Richard Massie, 1800-87
Whew! That J.S. Bach sure likes to make you work for it, especially if you’re a Tenor or a Bass! This is definitely one of the most complex hymns I’ve run across so far.
So from the last version we know:
One of the earliest and best-known Lutheran chorales, CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN is a magnificent tune in rounded bar form (AABA) with vigor and lightness characteristic of Easter carols. Many organ compositions are based on this tune; Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) incorporated it extensively in his cantatas 4 and 158.
Presumably this hymn is based on some section of J.S. Bach’s Cantata 4 or 158.
I skipped the “Hymnprovisation”, as just getting this arrangement of “Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands” close to what is written was enough work to keep me busy for a couple days.
Please turn to number 98 (First Tune) and join with the clarinets in “Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands”.
Number: 98
First Line: Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands
Name: CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN.
Meter: 8 7, 8 7, 7 8, 7 4.
Tempo: Majestically
Music: Geistliches Gesangbuchlein, Wittenberg, 1524
Text: Martin Luther, 1483-1546
Based on the Sequence Victimae Paschali
Tr. Richard Massie, 1800-87
Well, it doesn’t get any more ‘Lutheran’ than an Easter hymn written by Martin Luther.
Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands
For our offenses given;
But now at God’s right hand he stands
And brings us life from heaven.
Wherefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud sons of alleluia!
Alleluia!
It was a strange and dreadful strife
When life and death contended;
The victory remained with life,
The reign of death was ended.
Stripped of power, no more he reigns,
An empty form alone remains;
His sting is lost forever!
Alleluia!
So let us keep the festival
Whereto the Lord invites us;
Christ is himself the joy of all,
The sun that warms and lights us.
By his grace he doth impart
Eternal sunshine to the heart;
The night of sin is ended.
Alleluia!
Then let us feast this Easter Day
On Christ, the bread of heaven;
The Word of grace hath purged away
The old and evil leaven.
Christ alone our souls will feed;
He is our meat and drink indeed;
Faith lives upon no other!
Alleluia!
No, really, it doesn’t get much more Lutheran than this!!
CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN is an adaptation of a medieval chant used for “Victimae Paschali laudes” (the same chant is the source for CHRIST IST ERSTANDEN, 407). The tune’s arrangement is credited to Johann Walther (b. Kahla, Thuringia, Germany, 1496: d. Torgau, Germany, 1570), in whose 1524 Geystliche Gesangk Buchleyn it was first published. But it is possible that Luther also had a hand in its arrangement.
Walther was one of the great early influences in Lutheran church music. At first he seemed destined to be primarily a court musician. A singer in the choir of the Elector of Saxony in the Torgau court in 1521, he became the court’s music director in 1525. After the court orchestra was disbanded in 1530 and reconstituted by the town, Walther became cantor at the local school in 1534 and directed the music in several churches. He served the Elector of Saxony at the Dresden court from 1548 to 1554 and then retired in Torgau.
Walther met Martin Luther in 1525 and lived with him for three weeks to help in the preparation of Luther’s German Mass. In 1524 Walther published the first edition of a collection of German hymns, Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn. This collection and several later hymnals compiled by Walther went through many later editions and made a permanent impact on Lutheran hymnody.
One of the earliest and best-known Lutheran chorales, CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN is a magnificent tune in rounded bar form (AABA) with vigor and lightness characteristic of Easter carols. Many organ compositions are based on this tune; Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) incorporated it extensively in his cantatas 4 and 158.
Please turn to number 97 and join with the clarinets in “Sing, Men and Angels!”.
Number: 97
First Line: Sing, Men and Angels
Name: HAWARDEN.
Meter: 6 6, 6 5. D.
Tempo: In moderate time
Music: Samuel Sebastian Wesley, 1810-76
Text: John Masefield, 1878-
From “Easter”
I had a really hard time the hymnprovisation on this hymn, I guess in no small part because it ends up mostly in the key of E (aka 4 sharps). Eventually, I went back and tried to keep my improvisations closer to the notes of the actual melody and came up with some rhythmic changes I liked.
There isn’t much information about either the composer or author of this hymn, aside from the fact that the tune is called “HAWARDEN” an was composed by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, who was the son of composer Samuel Wesley, and grandson of Methodist hymnwriter Charles Wesley.
Please turn to number 96 and join with the clarinets in “O Sons and Daughters, Let us Sing!”
Number: 96
First Line: O Sons and Daughters, Let us Sing!
Name: O FILII ET FILIAE.
Meter: 8 8 8. With Alleluias.
Tempo: In unison
Music: XV cent. French Melody, Mode II
Text: Jean Tisserand, 1494
Tr. John Mason Neale, 1818-66
This is a really great hymn & arrangement! Just the sort of minor key, syncopated music I enjoy playing the most.
Apparently almost nothing is known about Jean Tisserand other than the following, translated from a French wikipedia page.
Jean Tisserand († 1497 ), or Johannes Tisserandus sometimes spelled Jehan Tisserant or Jean Tisserant , or Jean Tisseran , or Tifferand , formerly Tissarandus and Tirlandus is a member of the Order of the Friars Minor , a FranciscanCordelier , probably a Doctor of Theology 1 Perhaps confessor of King Charles VIII of France or Queen Anne of Brittany , founder under his protection of a new monastery near Lyons on the Saone , strict observance , preacher.
Biography
Franciscan , that is to say, Friar Minor, Cordelier, of the custody of Dijon , preacher to Notre-Dame de Paris, founder of the order of the Filles-Repenties later called Penitentes de Saint Magloire , under The protection of Saint Madeleine from the name of the abbey where they settled on the orders of Queen Mary of Medicis , is from a large Dijon family of Burgundy , with several lords of Burgundy towns or villages, canons of the Nuits de Chalon, and officers of the bailiwick, the chancellery, and the court of accounts, members of Parliament, whose arms were of azure with a chevron of gold, accompanied by a pointed shell .
Brother Tisserand was called to Paris in 1468 .With a Franciscan friend, Brother Jean Bourgeois, they evangelize Paris by preaching in the various parishes of the city for a few years.Jean Tisserand preached brilliantly every day in a parish, and changed every month, evangelizing the whole capital.He is said to have been the confessor of Queen Anne of Brittany , who loved the order of the Cordeliers and knew Brother Jean Bourgeois well, but this is disputed.The most hardened hearts could not resist his sermons. He thus converted to Notre-Dame two hundred daughters who became the Gilles Rendues or repented daughters, to whom Jean-Simon de Champigny gave the Rule of St. Augustine .
Foundation in 1502 of the Hospitallers of Lyon : Jean Tisserand at first used repented daughters, of which he became chaplain, then widows, married women and orphans who became Servants of the Poor , religious and religious sisters in 1539.
Brother Jean Tisserand also composed an air of Easter and Christmas and passes for having founded the popular hymn.Author of a play of devotion in verse preserved at the BnF , The Dictation in French , this “dictation in French” was sung at the beginning of the sermons of Brother Jean Tisserand 6 .Also author of the hymn O Filii and Filiae7 in the tradition of Franciscan poetry, other hymns and Christmas ( Christmas Very excellent contemplatives, published by Guillaume Guerson in 1495 and 1502, At the Coming of Christmas ) Composed for the repented Girls and a very beautiful greeting for the seven feasts of Our Lady sung at the Salute Church Saint Innocent of Paris as well as the Office of the five brothers minors martyred in Morocco whose worship had just been Authorized in 1481 by Pope Sixtus IV.
Please turn to number 95 (Second Tune) and join with the clarinets in “At The Lamb’s High Feast We Sing”.
Number: 95
First Line: At The Lamb’s High Feast We Sing
Name: TICHFIELD.
Meter: 7 7, 7 7, D.
Tempo: In moderate time
Music: John Richardson, 1816-79
Text: Based on the Latin
Tr. Robert Campbell, 1814-68 a.
If you’ve been following the blog since last October, you may remember I recorded “Tichfield” under the name “Songs of Thankfulness“. Same tune used here for “At the Lamb’s High Feast we Sing”. In any case, this version is all clarinets, has a different feel, and includes a verse of “Hymnprovisation”.
Please turn to number 95 (First Tune), and join with the clarinets in “At The Lamb’s High Feast We Sing”.
Number: 95 (First Tune)
First Line: At The Lamb’s High Feast We Sing
Name: SALZBURG (ALLE MENSCHEN).
Meter: 7 7, 7 7. D.
Tempo: With Vigor
Music: Jakob Hintze, 1622-1702
Harm. by J. S. Bach, 1685-1750
Text: Based on the Latin
Tr. Robert Campbell, 1814-68 a.
It’s always a pleasure, and a bit of a challenge, to negotiate a J.S. Bach arrangement.
This one was particularly challenging, as the program I had been using to record audio, Audacity, started to act up inexplicably. Try as I might, I have not yet got it back to behaving normally.
So I had to learn a new “Digital Audio Workstation” program. The next step up from Audacity seems to be Apple’s limited version of Logic Pro X, which it calls “Garageband”.
However, moving from what is a very advanced audio editor to a full fledged DAW is a bit of a change of work flow. So it took me a while to get the hang of how to do things in Garageband.
Regarding the text of the hymn:
Campbell, Robert. Advocate, of Sherrington, Scotland, was born at Trochmig, Ayrshire, Dec. 19, 1814. When quite a boy he attended the University of Glasgow. Though showing from his earliest years a strong predilection for Theological studies, eventually he fixed upon the Scottish law as a profession. To this end he entered the Law Classes of the University of Edinburgh, and in due course entered upon the duties of an advocate. Originally a Presbyterian, at an early age he joined the Episcopal Church of Scotland. He became a zealous and devoted Churchman, directing his special attention to the education of the children of the poor. His classical attainments were good, and his general reading extensive. In 1848 he began a series of translations of Latin hymns. These he submitted to Dr. Neale, Dr. Mills of Ely, and other competent judges. In 1850, a selection therefrom, together with a few of his original hymns, and a limited number from other writers, was published as Hymns and Anthems for Use in the Holy Services of the Church within the United Diocese of St. Andrews, Dunkeld, and Dunblane. Edinburgh, R. Lendrum & Co.
This collection, known as the St. Andrews Hymnal, received the special sanction of Bishop Torry, and was used throughout the Diocese for some years. Two years after its publication he joined the Roman Catholic Church. During the next sixteen years he devoted much time to the young and poor. He died at Edinburgh, Dec. 29, 1868.
From his collection of 1850, four translations were given in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1861, “At the Lamb’s high feast we sing;” “Come, pure hearts, in sweetest measures;” “Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem;” ” Ye servants of a martyr’d God” (altered). Attention was thereby directed to his translations. They are smooth, musical, and well sustained. A large number, not included in his 1850 collection, were left by him in manuscript. From these Mr. O.Shipley has printed several in his Annus Sanctus, 1884. (C. MSS.)
And the tune:
The tune SALZBURG, named after the Austrian city made famous by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was first published anonymously in the nineteenth edition of Praxis Pietatis Melica (1678); in that hymnbook’s twenty-fourth edition (1690) the tune was attributed to Jakob Hintze (b. Bernau, Germany, 1622; d. Berlin, Germany, 1702). Partly as a result of the Thirty Years’ War and partly to further his musical education, Hintze traveled widely as a youth, including trips to Sweden and Lithuania. In 1659 he settled in Berlin, where he served as court musician to the Elector of Brandenburg from 1666 to 1695. Hintze is known mainly for his editing of the later editions of Johann Crüger’s (PHH 42) Praxis Pietatis Melica, to which he contributed some sixty-five of his original tunes.
The harmonization by Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) is simplified from his setting in his Choralgesänge (Rejoice in the Lord [231] and The Hymna1 1982 [135] both contain Bach’s full harmonization). The tune is a rounded bar form (AABA) easily sung in harmony. But sing the refrain line in unison with full organ registration.
Please turn to number 94 (Second Tune) and join with the clarinets in “That Easter Day”.
Number: 94 (Second Tune)
First Line: That Easter Day
Name: CLARO PASCHALI GAUDIO.
Meter: 8.8.8.8.
Tempo: In unison. Brightly
Music: Plainsong, Mode VIII
Text: Latin hymn, IV or V cent.
Tr. John Mason Neale, 1818-66 a.
This is a more traditional, though less common, setting for this hymn. I believe the melody comes from the traditional “Liturgia Horarum” of the early Christians.
This hymn is from the 4th or 5th century and is often ascribed to St. Ambrose (340-397). Whether it really is his or not, it is certainly worthy of his name. The complete hymn is composed of 44 lines and is given below. In the Liturgy it is broken up in multiple hymns. In the past it was broken into three hymns, Aurora lucis rutilat, Tristes erant Apostoli, and Claro Paschali gaudio, which were altered by Pope Urban VIII to Aurora caelum purpurat (Lauds), Tristes erant Apostoli (Vespers and Matins for Apostles and Evangelists in Eastertide), and Paschale mundo gaudium (Lauds for Apostles and Evangelists in Eastertide). Today parts of it are in the hymn for Laudes.
In one sense it is interesting. Usually, the drone harmony parts precede the melody part in these older hymns. In this case, the melody precedes the harmony.
As a bonus, for anyone reading along this far, I include a part with some effects applied to my clarinets, ahem, more usually associated with “rock” guitar parts.
