I Sit Alone in Martin's Church
(1998) 13:00
(Wind Band: pc2,2,eb 3 bcl,opt. Cb. Cl. 2, 2atb sx/4,4,3,euph,tb,harp,tmp +4 perc.)
Commissioned by the Connecticut Music Educators Association, 1998
Level: Advanced high school/college/professional
The question is : Who is Martin? The immediate candidates are Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr. Both represent religious heritages born from the energies of protest and oppression. Yet, even as the church of Martin Luther King, Jr. reflects the syncracy of the African slaves' experiences in this foreign land and the Christian ethics of the slaveowners, it canot be entirely detached from the rituals of early Christianity and its Protestant evolution.
Martin Luther's reform included a simplification of the music of the church. He advocated music that allowed the congregation to participate, and set to many of the early Latin plainchants melodies in the vernacular (German). This process was called contrafactum. In this piece, the basis of the melodies and harmonies that reflect Martin Luther's protestant heritage is a plainchant entitled Veni Redemptor Gentium. Here is some background on the Luther tradition:
"In 1517, Martin Luther (1483-1546) nailed his 95 Theses to the cathedral door in Wittenberg, initiating what was to become the Protestant Reformation. An important part of his reform was Luther's desire to make the congregation an active and infomed participant in the liturgy. This was achieved partly by incorporating the vernacular into the Latin mass, both in form of translations of the Ordinary and other items into German and the inclusion of German hymns (chorales). Luther viewed the congregational singing of the chorales as important both because it was an inclusive act of worship and because chorales were instructive and edifying. The chorale became the central point of the new church.
In creating a body of chorales to be sung thoughout the liturgical year, Luther and his colleagues drew from many musical and textural traditions. Latin hymns and sequences were translated and the music modified to fit the new text; vernalcular devotional songs called Leisen were pressed into service; secular melodies drawn from German folk song and French and Netherlandish art song were provided with new religious texts in a process known as contrafactum; and many new texts and melodies were composed. The first printings of chorale books began in 1524, and the canon of Reformation chorales was essentially set by 1545.
The chorale Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland is Luther's translation and adaptation of the Latin hymn Veni redemptor gentium, attributed to St. Ambrose (340?-397), the famous bishop of Milan. Both the hymn and chorale are for the Advent system."
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s tradition is represented by sounds from the voices of the slave word, rhythmic grunts that represent the cadences of the hollers and field songs of slaves, chants that embody the bluesy alterations of the diatonic scale (as happened when the African pentatonic scale was imposed over the diatonic scales of the Western music), and the overall sounds of the plagal "Amen" cadence (IV-I).
All of these concepts support the program of this composition--someone sits alone in Martin's church (piccolo). The echoes of past services float around, the glisten of light off and through stained glass reflects and flashes through the space, and the fundamental sounds of both traditions float from foreground to background. In its ultimate evolution, the sounds of Martin Luther King, Jr,'s tradition become distinctly jazzy, a relentless walking bassline supporting the antiphonal six-part setting by Johann Walter (1496-1570) of Martin Luther's Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland. Solitude, reflection, hope, oppression, sadness, melancholy, and the incredible weight of history and tradition all become embodied in sound and echo through Martin's church.
The initially melancholy/ bluesy and ultimately ebullient sounds of the African American spiritual tradition are fashioned after the painting of
Chicago artist, Melvin King, entitled Revival. "King uses his life experiences and observances to artistically depict ethnicity, spirituality, and hope for the African-American community." Revival is 8th in his web gallery at http://www.melvinking-arts.com.
(1998) 13:00
(Wind Band: pc2,2,eb 3 bcl,opt. Cb. Cl. 2, 2atb sx/4,4,3,euph,tb,harp,tmp +4 perc.)
Commissioned by the Connecticut Music Educators Association, 1998
Level: Advanced high school/college/professional
The question is : Who is Martin? The immediate candidates are Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr. Both represent religious heritages born from the energies of protest and oppression. Yet, even as the church of Martin Luther King, Jr. reflects the syncracy of the African slaves' experiences in this foreign land and the Christian ethics of the slaveowners, it canot be entirely detached from the rituals of early Christianity and its Protestant evolution.
Martin Luther's reform included a simplification of the music of the church. He advocated music that allowed the congregation to participate, and set to many of the early Latin plainchants melodies in the vernacular (German). This process was called contrafactum. In this piece, the basis of the melodies and harmonies that reflect Martin Luther's protestant heritage is a plainchant entitled Veni Redemptor Gentium. Here is some background on the Luther tradition:
"In 1517, Martin Luther (1483-1546) nailed his 95 Theses to the cathedral door in Wittenberg, initiating what was to become the Protestant Reformation. An important part of his reform was Luther's desire to make the congregation an active and infomed participant in the liturgy. This was achieved partly by incorporating the vernacular into the Latin mass, both in form of translations of the Ordinary and other items into German and the inclusion of German hymns (chorales). Luther viewed the congregational singing of the chorales as important both because it was an inclusive act of worship and because chorales were instructive and edifying. The chorale became the central point of the new church.
In creating a body of chorales to be sung thoughout the liturgical year, Luther and his colleagues drew from many musical and textural traditions. Latin hymns and sequences were translated and the music modified to fit the new text; vernalcular devotional songs called Leisen were pressed into service; secular melodies drawn from German folk song and French and Netherlandish art song were provided with new religious texts in a process known as contrafactum; and many new texts and melodies were composed. The first printings of chorale books began in 1524, and the canon of Reformation chorales was essentially set by 1545.
The chorale Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland is Luther's translation and adaptation of the Latin hymn Veni redemptor gentium, attributed to St. Ambrose (340?-397), the famous bishop of Milan. Both the hymn and chorale are for the Advent system."
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s tradition is represented by sounds from the voices of the slave word, rhythmic grunts that represent the cadences of the hollers and field songs of slaves, chants that embody the bluesy alterations of the diatonic scale (as happened when the African pentatonic scale was imposed over the diatonic scales of the Western music), and the overall sounds of the plagal "Amen" cadence (IV-I).
All of these concepts support the program of this composition--someone sits alone in Martin's church (piccolo). The echoes of past services float around, the glisten of light off and through stained glass reflects and flashes through the space, and the fundamental sounds of both traditions float from foreground to background. In its ultimate evolution, the sounds of Martin Luther King, Jr,'s tradition become distinctly jazzy, a relentless walking bassline supporting the antiphonal six-part setting by Johann Walter (1496-1570) of Martin Luther's Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland. Solitude, reflection, hope, oppression, sadness, melancholy, and the incredible weight of history and tradition all become embodied in sound and echo through Martin's church.
The initially melancholy/ bluesy and ultimately ebullient sounds of the African American spiritual tradition are fashioned after the painting of
Chicago artist, Melvin King, entitled Revival. "King uses his life experiences and observances to artistically depict ethnicity, spirituality, and hope for the African-American community." Revival is 8th in his web gallery at http://www.melvinking-arts.com.