Ascension
The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. In Christian belief Ascension is on the 40th day after his Resurrection (Easter being reckoned as the first day), this year falling on Thursday 21st May. Jesus' final moments with his disciples focus on the commission that will shape their lives as apostles, as they spread the gospel beyond those who encountered Christ in the flesh to those who believe based on testimony. This culminates in St. Paul using the term "the body of Christ" to describe the Church.
There are many well known anthems composed for Ascension, Stanford's "Coelos ascended hodie" is another favourite of mine, and our choir have recorded Byrd's "Non von relinquam orphanos" remotely this week. See bottom of this post.)
Finzi's "God is Gone Up" Op. 27b was written in 1951, the same year in which he learned he was suffering from Hodgkin's Disease, from which he eventually died in 1956. The text is taken from a longer poem by Edward Taylor (c1642-1729) and is the second of his three opus 27 anthems. It was written in 1951 for a St Cecilia's Day Service at St Sepulchre's Church in Holborn. This anthem has rightly become an integral part of the choral repertoire, and is probably Finzi’s most well-known piece of sacred music.
George Friderick Handel was born on 23 February 1685 in Halle, in Brandenburg-Prussia. He was a German (later naturalised British in 1727) Baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London. Handel is well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi and organ concertos.
"Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712. Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such as Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks remaining steadfastly popular. " Wikipedia
Handel's "Water Music" is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three suites, which premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I's request for a concert on the River Thames. It is frequently played at garden parties in "high society" to this day, and would in my view by a wonderful accompaniment to any "Stay at Home" garden parties planned for this Friday as we celebrate VE day. VE Day is not, as the jingoistic press would have us believe, "Victory OVER Europe", but Victory IN Europe, by a massive combined effort from the Allies against the tyranny of Nazism. VE Day should celebrate - and represent - the success of partnership and working together for the common good, something not only worth celebrating from an historical perspective but extremely relevant today as we battle together to fight COVID-19. Born a German and naturalised as an Englishman, Handel epitomises the fluidity of nationality, the need to adapt and the focus on end results rather than isolation and protectionism.
Messiah - originally written to be performed at Easter
On Easter Sunday our choir would have sung the "Hallelujah Chorus" as our eucharist anthem.
The Hallelujah Chorus appears in the baroque oratorio “Messiah” composed in 1741.
Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.
John MacLeod Campbell Crum (1872-1958) wrote this text to be paired with the popular French carol melody "Noël Nouvelet", sometimes referred to as "French Carol".
During his life, Crum was highly active in the Church of England. After his education at Eton and New College in Oxford, he took Holy Orders becoming Deacon in 1897. He held various positions including chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford, Francis Paget (1901-1910), assistant curate at Windsor, vicar of Mentmore at Ledburn (1910-1921), and finally canon at Canterbury (1928-1943).
While serving the church, Crum worked in a variety of theological areas and wrote on biblical and architectural topics, as well as studying historical works, and writing children's books. He wrote many hymns which ranged from translation of Latin hymns by the fourth-century poet Aurelius Clemens Prudentius to children's hymns. He published a "Songs of Praise for Boys and Girls" in 1929 and a play (The Play of St. George in 1911), and a pageant, (Children's Missionary Pageant in 1910) with musical score.
This hymn text first appeared in the 1928 edition of the Oxford Book of Carols. For those in the northern hemisphere who live in areas where springtime usually coincides with Easter, the image of growing plants and vegetation speaks clearly as a metaphor for Jesus' resurrection.
The vivid imagery of the hymn is biblically based on selected verses. 1 Corinthians 15:37-38 connects the image with the resurrection: "And that which sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." (KJV)
Notably, in the fourth verse, Crum emphasises that no matter what we are going through, "Jesus' touch can call us back to life again."
Our choir have recorded a multi-tracked version of "Now the Green Blade Riseth" arranged by Terry.
Johann Sebastian Bach (March 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he is generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
Below is a whistle-stop-tour of Bach Cantatas, of which I'm no expert! I've thoroughly enjoyed my research for this post however and have listened to some beautiful music in the process.
Cantatas
Cantata means "sung" or "to sing". It is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning of the term changed over time, from the simple single voice madrigal of the early 17th century. Cantatas for use in the liturgy of church services are called church cantata or sacred cantata; other cantatas can be indicated as secular cantata. Several cantatas were, and still are, written for special occasions, such as Christmas cantatas.
The Bach Cantatas are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. J. S. Bach composed cantatas for both secular and sacred use, his church cantatas composed for use in the Lutheran church, mainly intended for the occasions of the liturgical year.
Bach started composing cantatas around 1707, when he was still an organist in Arnstadt. Bach's early cantatas are "Choralkonzerte" (chorale concertos) in the style of the 17th century, different from the recitative and aria cantata format that he began to use for church cantatas in 1714 when in Weimar.
The texts for the early cantatas were drawn mostly from biblical passages and hymns. These early cantatas include 17th-century elements such as motets and chorale concertos. Recitatives and arias on contemporary poetry were not yet present, although Bach may have heard them in oratorios by Buxtehude who was his teacher, or even earlier. His early cantatas often begin with an instrumental sinfonia or sonata. Bach worked at the ducal court in Weimar from 1708 to 1717 and from 1714-1717 he was commissioned to compose one church cantata a month. In the course of almost four years there he thus covered most occasions of the liturgical year. These cantatas have become known as the "Weimar Cycle".
Bach was appointed Thomaskantor, (director of music) in Leipzig 1723, and was responsible for the Thomasschule and the church music at these main churches. A cantata was required for the service on Sundays and additional church holidays of the liturgical year, and Bach composed many, preserved in five annual cycles. The Lutheran church of Bach's time prescribed the same readings every year, a Gospel passage and, recited before this, a corresponding section from an Epistle. A connection between the cantata text and the readings (or at least one of the prescribed hymns for the occasion) was the aim, facilitated by repetition and prescription with readings and hymns linked to the church cantata for each occasion.
A typical Bach cantata from his time in Leipzig follows the pattern below:
Opening chorus
Recitative
Aria
Recitative (or Arioso)
Aria
Chorale
The opening chorus is usually a polyphonic setting, with the orchestra presenting the themes or contrasting material first. Most arias follow the form of a da capo aria, repeating the first part after a middle section. The final chorale is typically a homophonic setting of a traditional melody.
Eastertide
Eastertide is the period of 50 days, spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday, celebrated as one great event. Each Sunday of the season is treated as a Sunday of Easter. Following the Sunday of the Resurrection, they are named Second Sunday of Easter, Third Sunday of Easter, etc. up to the Seventh Sunday of Easter, concluding with Pentecost Sunday. Bach wrote cantatas each year for each of these Sundays whilst in Leipzig. Our girl choristers recorded "Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt" (BWV 4) for the first Sunday after Easter, embedded below:-
Misericordias Domini
This Sunday (26th April) is the Third Sunday of Easter, known as Misericordias Domini Sunday.
The gospel readings for Misericordias Domini is Luke 24:13-35 (Walk to Emmaus) and a suggested Bach Cantata for this reading is Cantata 66, "Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen" (Rejoice, you hearts)
Bach composed this cantata for the Second Day of Easter in Leipzig and first performed it on 10 April 1724. The cantata was Bach's first composition for Easter as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, first performed in Köthen on 10 December 1718. You can read more about it here and listen below! A translation is available here.
