October 29, 2017
About this mornings music:
This mornings prelude, Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Sans
(18351921), and postlude, Toccata in D Minor by Johann
Sebastian Bach (16851750), come from a repertoire unofficially
known as Halloween favorites, music that aesthetically and
referentially offer a glimpse of an eerie sonic landscape.
Danse Macabre, Op. 40, while written in 1874, takes its
inspiration, and title, from an artistic genre of allegory on the
universality of death dating from the Late Middle Ages.
Relevant to the Feast of All Saints, soon before us, this piece
was composed to illustrate that no matter ones station in life
the dance macabre unites us all.
Toccata in D Minor, BWV 565, is the most famous work in all
of the pipe organ musical repertoire. A toccata can be generally
defined as a musical composition for a keyboard instrument
designed to exhibit the performer's touch and technique and
without a doubt, this fits the bill. Written in three somewhat-
contrasting parts, and to precede a four-voice fugue, this
selection starts off with a riff you are sure to recognize:
R R
October 29, 2017
About this mornings music:
This mornings prelude, Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Sans
(18351921), and postlude, Toccata in D Minor by Johann
Sebastian Bach (16851750), come from a repertoire unofficially
known as Halloween favorites, music that aesthetically and
referentially offer a glimpse of an eerie sonic landscape.
Danse Macabre, Op. 40, while written in 1874, takes its
inspiration, and title, from an artistic genre of allegory on the
universality of death dating from the Late Middle Ages.
Relevant to the Feast of All Saints, soon before us, this piece
was composed to illustrate that no matter ones station in life
the dance macabre unites us all.
Toccata in D Minor, BWV 565, is the most famous work in all
of the pipe organ musical repertoire. A toccata can be generally
defined as a musical composition for a keyboard instrument
designed to exhibit the performer's touch and technique and
without a doubt, this fits the bill. Written in three somewhat-
contrasting parts, and to precede a four-voice fugue, this
selection starts off with a riff you are sure to recognize:
 About this mornings music:
(continued)
While Johann Sebastian Bach (16851750) was just one of many
Bachs making their respective livings as musicians (so much so that
Bach was actually a sort of slang term for someone who was a
professional musician), he had no way of knowing the extent to which
he cast a shadow for all future church music directors. At one point in
his life he was the kapellmeister for four churches simultaneously.
No big deal, right?
One of his other many accomplishments was composing over two
hundred cantatas, vocal compositions with instrumental
accompaniment, typically in several movements and usually involving a
choir. This mornings Sequence Music and Offertory Music are
selections from the cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty
Fortress is our God), the melody of which comes from Martin Luther,
who J.S. Bach admired. Martin Luther, along with being a key figure in
the Protestant Reformation, was a composer and lyricist. In addition to
penning his 1517 Disputation on the Power of Indulgences (or Ninety-
Five Theses) he also wrote the melody and words of this mornings
closing hymn.
This mornings communion anthem, Verily, Verily I Say Unto You by
Thomas Tallis (c. 15051585) is an example of the Anglican
Reformation in Englands impact on music during the reign of King
Edward VI at the middle of the sixteenth century, it was mandated that
services be sung in English and that the choral music be brief and
succinct: to each syllable a plain a distinct note. This setting of succinct: to each syllable a plain a distinct note. This setting of
Jesus words regarding the Bread of Life is representative of this new
English anthem style: mainly homophonic (where accompanying parts
move in the same rhythm as the melody) with moments of imitative
passages.
R R
About this mornings music:
(continued)
While Johann Sebastian Bach (16851750) was just one of many
Bachs making their respective livings as musicians (so much so that
Bach was actually a sort of slang term for someone who was a
professional musician), he had no way of knowing the extent to which
he cast a shadow for all future church music directors. At one point in
his life he was the kapellmeister for four churches simultaneously.
No big deal, right?
One of his other many accomplishments was composing over two
hundred cantatas, vocal compositions with instrumental
accompaniment, typically in several movements and usually involving a
choir. This mornings Sequence Music and Offertory Music are
selections from the cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty
Fortress is our God), the melody of which comes from Martin Luther,
who J.S. Bach admired. Martin Luther, along with being a key figure in
the Protestant Reformation, was a composer and lyricist. In addition to
penning his 1517 Disputation on the Power of Indulgences (or Ninety-
Five Theses) he also wrote the melody and words of this mornings
closing hymn.
This mornings communion anthem, Verily, Verily I Say Unto You by
Thomas Tallis (c. 15051585) is an example of the Anglican
Reformation in Englands impact on music during the reign of King
Edward VI at the middle of the sixteenth century, it was mandated that
services be sung in English and that the choral music be brief and
Jesus words regarding the Bread of Life is representative of this new
English anthem style: mainly homophonic (where accompanying parts
move in the same rhythm as the melody) with moments of imitative
passages.