'14 and '15 favorites

Fourteen amazing things that happened to me last year:

- Completing Round 1 of grad school, and reaching the halfway point!  MCM, organ emphasis:  3.7.  MA in Lutheran Theological Studies:  3.38.

-. Running by Lake Superior over choir tour and by Lake Michigan during my summer program, listening to the Mass in b minor.

- Being a personal attendant for a wedding, playing piano for some other friends' wedding, and playing organ for still another friend's wedding.

- Performing a coffee-themed collaborative piano recital.  Win.

- Trying caviar sushi, escargot, Sriracha sauce, a "cable car," coconut oil, crayfish, two-person sized chocolate cake, papayas, and most gluten-free food (after cutting out gluten!)

- Learning what Heinrich Schuetz's Musikalische Exequien is, and how to pronounce it.  Third movement.

- Getting to know two special (and hilarious!) guys at grad school.  Happy trees!  NYstedt! Musica ficta!

- Finally getting to see Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg, Split Rock Lighthouse, the Duluth Liftbridge, a cruise on Lake Superior, and Chanhassen Dinner Theatres for the first time!

- Completing losing my NOOK tablet at a restaurant, only to have the kind staff mail it back to me a month later without harm.

- Landing a position at my alma mater's library for night shifts (AND doing all my dogmatics homework!).

- Obtaining my driver's license and the use of my parents' Camry.

- Hearing a hymn I wrote sung at my friends' wedding.

- Accompanying all the choirs plus ringing bells for my alma mater's Christmas concerts.

- Teaching a children's choir how to sing in PARTS (yes, you guys) and getting the sweetest thank-yous and Christmas gifts from them.  So worth it...with an eternal blessing.

Fifteen great things I pray will happen  (and happen well) next year:

- Turning 23 on the 23rd.

- My MCM recital and MA thesis.

- Completing master's degree No. 1.

- Learning how to do quality research.

- Accompanying at least two solo recitals.

- Traveling with a musical purpose?

- Something cantata-related. :)

- Making a new friend (or two or more).

- Making acquaintances better friends.

- Giving a hymnology presentation to the Synod at the yearly convention.

- Having the privilege of being a bridesmaid or godmother (or both).

- Learning German.

- Ending up someplace completely unprecedented...in a serendipitous way.

- Truly caring for everyone I know and with whom I work, as people God has redeemed.

- Growing stronger in repentance and faith in my Savior, Christ Jesus.  Seminary has only shown what a "bad" Christian I really am - my worthiness by being theologically involved does NOT earn me anything better.

Someone surprised me with this on my birthday!  A real God-send.  :)

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you[ what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21

Cantata No. 182: the cute one

I've got news for you.  Bach did write cantatas for performance during Lent.

Say what?

Though all instrumentalists were out of service until Easter morning and its explosion of trumpets and D Major, Germans in the Baroque era still employed music for Annunciation on March 25, which is always a happy thing.  In that wonderful instance in which Easter landed on April 1, you get - a Palm Sunday cantata!  Learned something new, didn't you?

So, if you are going to get away with exciting music before Lent is over, you might as well make it worthwhile and tie in all the Holy Week references imaginable.  No, not lop-eared rabbits in baskets.  Still, symbols of springtime aside, this piece is overwhelmingly "cute."  Hard to articulate unless you are listening, but it is far better than baby animals.

Once again, this is an extremely early Weimar cantata, put together when J.S. Bach was still figuring out his style.  A simplified instrumentation of recorder, concertato and ripieno violin, two violas, cello, and keyboard render its performance quite feasible, and produce a charming sound.  On Emmanuel Music's program notes, Craig Smith describes that the sinfonia has the "sound of early morning about it," which is the most fitting image I can put to it.  Welcoming Jesus' procession into Jerusalem, the lower strings pluck while the three soprano instruments alternate a charming dotted rhythm (French overture!), with all picking it up arco at the end.   It is hard not to like this - exactly like Christ's gentle and humble entrance.

Its second movement follows through with Jesus (the bass) responding to the question- "See,  I come! - in the Book it is written of me..." then resuming in chant style:  "Your will, my God, my God, my God, I do gladly," with an eagerly rippling cello figure underneath.  The held cadences on the word "gladly" seem to accentuate it.  "My God" is repeated three times - Trinitarian reference?

Using strong triadic forces, the bass, now the role of the firm believer in Christ, sings "Strong love, which, great Son of God, has thrown You from the throne of Your glory," "throwing down" with an octave dominant cadence.  Continuing on, "Strong love, that You, for the salvation of the world, might be a Sacrifice which You have prescribed with Your own blood."  Unlike several English translations, the German indeed says "presented as a Sacrifice," not "sacrificed."  Theologically, this is a necessary distinction.  "No man takes (My life) from Me; I lay it down of myself" (John 10:18).  At the forementioning of bloodshed, Bach notes "piano" as if disclosing an Old Testament mystery, and cross-motifs emerge in the solo as well as the violin concertato and jagged continuo.

The alto aria integrates the natural result of sanctification after receiving this salvation, comparing rendering one's life as a "living sacrifice" (Romans 10:2) to the laying down of garments on the Jerusalem road.  Outlining many diminished sevenths, the voice and solo flute imitate one another, and at the Andante the "repentant" alto character describes how this spotless garment of body, life (with an extended, breathy melisma) and desires must be subject to the King (going up for a high note in the melodic contour).

The tenor sails confidently through good and bad, illustrated by madly modulating running notes in the cello. "Though the world only scream 'Crucify!' do not let me flee, Lord, from your cross' banner, I find crown and palm here."  Crucifixion here, of course, involves fully-dimished sevenths, but also a four-note pattern with 1-2 and 3-4 seconds in the same direction, with 2-3 a third in the opposite direction.  "Cross' banner" uses a melodic variation of the fully-diminished seventh intervals.  "Crown and palm" straightens out to the sturdiest of arpeggiated thirds.

Looking into the upcoming Passion week, for which Bach would not be able to provide Lenten music, the full choir introduces a fugue on "Jesus, I Will Ponder Now," verse 33, with vorimitation in tenor and bass before the soprano cantus firmus, then alto.  Even the entrance order is cross-shaped!
"Joy" ends each subject with a laughing turn; "pasture" in the next phrase a lively rise and fall.  "My soul walks on roses" uses syncopation in all parts to get the "skipping" idea across.  This is very hard to catch unless you are following the score closely, but in the alto part preceding the last soprano entrance on the word "sake" (referring to the cross), there is a cross motif.

Walking by faith on Jesus' robe of righteousness, everyone calls out, "Now let us go into the Salem of joy!" in a bright G-Major gigue.  Accompanying the King in not only love, but also suffering is shown by a quick alteration to minor, speedily recovering to major in a mere measure.  Such is the Christian life under the cross - on the way to heaven all experience earthly sorrow, but in view of this joy it disappears in a moment.  The basses have the first entrance in "He goes before and opens the path," before everyone else jumps in at once.  Coincidence?  Not likely.

Listen for yourself!  Have a lovely day, and imagine it's spring (or that you are surrounded in palm trees)

Score:  http://imslp.org/imglnks/usimg/a/ad/IMSLP01444-BWV0182.pdf
Translation:  http://emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_cantata/t_bwv182.htm#pab1_7
Recording:  http://imslp.org/imglnks/usimg/a/ad/IMSLP01444-BWV0182.pdf

A wedding song of love known

Two of my friends just got married!  All of us graduated from the same college, were born within a month apart, and got involved in the same musical ensembles.  Sharing an appreciation for good hymnody, the groom asked me to pen additional verses to "My Song Is Love Unknown," tying it into the wedding ceremony.  Delving into Ephesians 5, I attempted to include more Lutheran - and Scriptural :) - concepts of love.  

On this my wedding day

I praise this love divine

For sending me a friend

Who is now truly mine

Let me this love

For all our days

Share as it is is in heaven above.

And like this love, I pray

Help me to show it well

To this one dear to me

For all my days, and tell

His untold grace

His dying love

Until at last we see His face.

Lord Jesus, enter now

Our hearts this wedding day

Through Sacrament and Word

Guide us now and always

Your grace alone

By faith in You

Will bless and keep our joyous home. 

Through Him this love is known

I share that love with you

And as He wills, may all our days

Spring forth that joy anew

By faith alone

He holds us dear

Until we reach His heavenly throne.  

As Christ cherished his bride

So may I love my wife

Protect and care for her

As I do my own life

God, please impart

This strength to me

To sacrifice my selfish heart

Through human strength alone 

I cannot show this love

The Spirit, yet, by faith 

Endows it from above

The Father's Son 

His love has giv'n

It is through Him our works are done.

Our marriage may He bless

Bestow with grace our home

Until we know as we are known

The holy Word

And Sacrament 

Will guide us till we see our Lord.

"By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16).  We can know true love as it is revealed in God's Word - the simple Gospel message of Christ's substitutionary satisfaction which frees us from the power of sin.  Understanding this supreme love makes for a different case - we cannot, in our sinful state, take in why He has elected us from eternity, but the Holy Spirit moves us to confess that it is true.  Additionally, He promises to keep us in that grace and bring forth good fruits (such as love toward others) until we see Him face-to-face.  

SDG, and enjoy!

Wake, awake! A LOT to celebrate.

Too many things going on this Sunday!  I don't know about you, but we celebrated Reformation Sunday in church today (even though the 31st is Thursday).  Also, it's National Pumpkin Day, so I threw together a raw, organic, gluten-free pumpkin cheesecake before church, plus got my pumpkin fix at the Barnes and Noble Cafe with the bro.  Excellent morning.  Did I mention we sang most of the Luther ordinary hymns?  :D

On top of that, it's Philipp Nicolai's birthday, commemorated along with Paul Gerhardt and Johann Heermann as the three great early Lutheran hymnwriters.

Philipp Nicolai (1556-1608)

Philipp Nicolai grew up during the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy in Germany, living in the town of Waldeck.  As a pastor's son, he became inspired to attend the universities of Erfurt and Leipzig (the conservative place to get educated) in order to enter the ministry as well.  In 1583 at Herdecke he began his first ordained post, but pressure from the Catholics soon encouraged him to go elsewhere.  After that, he continued to hold a variety of roles within his vocation, such as private preacher to a countess, tutor, and deacon, but soon entangled himself in a theological debate with the Calvinists over the true physical presence of Christ's flesh in the Lord's Supper.  Starting in 1597, the plague hit Unna, his current post, and in constant view of this he ushered in a new type of hymnody, more first-person and devotional, with "Joy-Mirror of Eternal Life," his reflective book containing three hymns - "Wake, Awake, For Night Is Flying" and "How Lovely Shines the Morning Star" the two that are commonly sung in America today.

The first, the King of Chorales, might possibly be based on a chant melody, but if nothing else Nicolai evokes the excited tone of the watchmen in highlighting the major triad.  Metrically, it retells the Matthew 25 account of the blessed and foolish virgins awaiting the Bridegroom through the night, proceeding into the glory of Christ's eternal marriage feast. Compared to "Day of Wrath," the sequence hymn describing the terrors of redeemed-but-not-saved persons in judgment, this hymn paints Christ the King's return as a happy occasion for believers, in which they should be confident in their sainthood according to His merit.

http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/ELH1996/544

The second, the Queen of Chorales, also continues the celebratory wedding metaphors, freely based on Psalm 45.  It became so popular that its verses were engraved on household items, it was considered essential to the wedding service, Holy Communion, and funerals.  Johann Gerhard prayed the seventh verse ("Oh joy, to know that Thou, my Friend...") when dying.  Additionally, the tunes is used for the Exordium hymn on the festivals of Christmas ("Rejoice, Rejoice This Happy Morn"), Easter ("He Is Arisen! Glorious Word") and Pentecost ("O Holy Spirit, Enter In").

http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/ELH1996/167

Collect for the day:  Almighty God, who through Your holy apostle have taught us to praise You in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs: We give You thanks this day for the gift of writing hymns which You gave to Your servants Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann, and Paul Gerhardt; and we pray that Your Church may never lack those with the gifts of writing words and music to Your praise, and may be ever filled with the desire to praise and thank You for your great goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
 Amen.

St. Katherine's in Hamburg, the last church at which Nicolai served

You know you're "beaned" when...

You know you're beaned when you get bored and make coffee at 10 p.m., just because you're bored and want to fall asleep to the smell.

You use empty coffee bags as drawer sachets.

You look up what order to order your itemized list in a beverage (the one presented on the cup, starting with size of course).

You have tried mixing light and dark roast together to make medium roast, and it doesn't work.

Your heart leaps with joy when you see Caribou has texted you...except it's not the $2 medium drink for which you hoped.

You have spilled coffee on every white piece of clothing you own (bonus points:  your wedding dress).

You know that Folgers is seriously shooting itself in the foot by being in a plastic canister, not a bag lined in foil.

You remove your coffee grounds from the bag and put them into an individual, sterilized jar.

You can't tell whether or not gas has leaked in your apartment because it smells so strongly of coffee.

Chocolate-covered espresso beans are the ultimate treat.

You know that Caribou gives free refills of the "on tap" roasts with purchase of a specialty drink.

You give a piano recital that is coffee-themed.

Every time you think of the "Coffee Cantata" you start cracking up because you realize that J.S. Bach seriously wrote that.

You tell your tea-drinking, owl-loving friends (because that's how they come) that no, you're not too caffeinated, coffee has way more health benefits anyway.

You drink the first cup just to get started, the second to warm yourself up, and the third to actually work.

You meet another person who thinks they love coffee more than you, and you inwardly laugh to yourself.


You can distinguish a peculiar taste to decaf, somewhat reminiscent of marinara sauce.

You have so frenziedly made coffee that you forgot the water/filter/grounds/all of the above.

You have coffee grounds in every drawer of your pantry, with no recollection of how they got there.

You know what Cuban coffee is and it is the best stuff you will have in your life.

You consider ways of incorporating coffee into your wedding theme.

You have ordered beans directly from Hawaii and not even bothered to note the shipping costs.

You like dark beer mainly because it reminds you of coffee.

You were so pumped to have come up with this list, you wrote a note about it to celebrate.

I must be beaned.

Knut Nystedt: Immortal Bach

What if you could recompose your favorite J.S. Bach piece?  What parts of the piece would you play around just to see what it would sound like, because you hear it a certain way when you listen to it?

What if you could keep Bach's timeless music from decomposing?

Knut Nystedt's 1988 work, Immortal Bach, attempts precisely that.  Surprise!  The harmonization parades itself as a classic isometric chorale setting by the composer as of cantata finale movements, but the original is a solo voice and continuo setting included in Georg Christian Schemelli's Gesangbuch of 1736.

Original.  Not kidding.

Supplying a four-part harmonization for the first three phrases, you would think the composer had revived Bach enough to make Felix Mendelssohn click the "like" button.

Not so!  There's more!


The instructions for the chorale set it apart, and make music theory lovers like myself shiver with joy.  In performance, all vocalists sing the first chord for 4 seconds, then progress at different rates - some continue at 4 seconds per quarter notes, but others for 6, 8, 10, or 12 seconds.  Once the first group reaches the cadential chord, they wait until everyone else resolves to it, and release together.  The same procedure applies to the rest of the phrases - things get very interesting sonorically with the eighth-note passing tones.  Depending on the recording, the chorale may be sung before (Nystedt) or after (which I prefer for better contrast).

Come, sweet death;
Come, blessed rest;
Come, lead me in peace!


Just when it seems like nothing can get better than 18th-century counterpoint, someone adds a spatula and kaleidoscopes all of the harmonic possibilities so we can hear them.

I wonder what text-painting the composer has in mind?

Recording:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pftYqg6iyvQ

Can we have the sharp sign back now?

If you routinely hashtag, you may fully disagree with this post.  I understand, and that is your choice. Still, let me explain why I don't use them on social media (as well as the Facebook "like" button or Twitter "@," but those are different posts).

Coherence:

You are reading this sentence in your normal voice.  #nowyourereadingitinalowmonotoneandfastvoice.  

See how that broke up the flow?  When a person reads something internally and it's peppered with hashtags, it is less coherent and harder to follow.  In writing, I try to write as if I was speaking out loud - then I am more well-rehearsed in coherent conversation when I do.  Keep this change of tone in mind as you read the rest.

Credibility:  I have a few friends well-versed in communication and promotion - they know how to utilize social media, and they can get away with #hashtagsoneverything #andstill #itmakessense.  For the other 90% of the symbol's manipulators, it juices the serious tone out of whatever you just said.

My skills in marketing and interpersonal relations have been honed by twenty years of service experience in a developing company.  I strive to be resourceful and professional in each task.  #hireme

Practicality:  Originally, the hashtag was invented for Twitter usage to group posts by topic - then, someone could search a "trending" news item and see them more clearly organized.  It quickly lost this function, however, and people started thinking of it as a dress-up function for their updates.

This is what I have to say, and because I'm one of these people, I'm #hashtaggingendsofeverysentence.  
So then Facebook users started doing it.  Sorry guys, it doesn't work.  Oh wait.  They MADE it work.  In most cases, though, it ends up being word clutter, and harder to see the real meaning.  #excessive #redundant  #superfluous

Literary Technique:  Some might aver that hashtags are their own literary form of writing - you express something and add a few more ideas at the end.  #context  #justforkicks.  Still, social media followers are reading this in their heads over and over, and then it turns into speech in real life - ergo the song "#SELFIE."

Could we just show culture what it means to converse meaningfully?  If you have a thought, presenting it in a way that conveys a direct message instead of #together #adding #stringing #ideas #order #in #random.

Happy 60th Birthday to my dad!  I thank God every day for your example of sacrifice and love in my life.  Your appreciation of books, patience with my parking skills, and Scrabble wits inspire me to learn.  Enjoy the cake!

Happy birthday, Dad!  #60 #example #Scrabble #literary #hetakesthecake



Disambiguation:  Before the hashtag, the symbol indicated other extremely common things, such as pounds, numbers, or to the entire world of music, SHARPS.  Now, children learning to play tic-tac-toe or music students playing C# Major pieces in an atonal key signature are quite confused.  Well, we were there first.

Finally, there's something I need to get off my chest.

#isasharp #7thinharmonicminor #6thinmelodic #impliescontinuosecondarydominant #musicaficta

Whew.  You know, maybe the musicians need to start a trending discussion using flat symbols.  Then everything would be natural again.

The church that wouldn't sing

"I have no pleasure in any man who despises music.  It is no invention of ours; it is the gift of God." - Martin Luther

Dear Pastor:

About a month ago, two of my friends and I visited your church once while in town.  Looking for a congregation of my fellowship at which to hear God's Word and worship, I did research and found your parish, and it appeared to be a promising, confessional Lutheran assembly.

Settling into our pew near the back of the ornate, historical sanctuary and locating hymnals, we were instructed by the HD flatscreen to join in hymn 593.  We did so.  Glancing about the room, I was shocked - not one member of the 20 or so present sang along.  Perhaps about half of them had hymnals open and were leaning over to read the words, yet no lip movement.  The others, all of whom were seated towards the west end of the church, faced straight ahead.

My friends and I continued along, leading the hymn in equal volume to the organ, splitting into parts, adding a descant, and so on as we were used to doing.  The sermon ironically concentrated on enthusiastic outreach to the community, and consisted of primarily third function of the law - not misfitting within context.  To close the service, you and your vicar planned to supplement the message on evangelism with a video on abovementioned flatscreen, but after a solid five-plus minutes of attempts, the presentation was adjourned.

Following the benediction, a woman in front of me, who had been silent for the whole hour next to her restless teenage son, turned around and complimented me on my singing voice, interested in knowing if we were musically trained.  I explained to her that although I am an organ major and have had limited vocal instruction, I enjoy singing hymns and think it is an important part of the Divine Service.  Upon shaking your hand, Pastor, I thanked you for chanting the cantor's part in the psalm.  You apologized for your weak singing voice, but I tried to encourage you for setting a good example for your church.

What we saw and didn't hear was disappointing, not because we were graduate music majors, but because we were Christians who believe that hymnody and liturgy is a central part of worship.  It has nothing to do with how "well" people can sing.  If anyone thought he or she could please God or be a better Christian by the quality of the sacrifice - if that is how congregational song is viewed - there is no way even I could impress God.  Yes, to some extent worship concerns rendering the Lord His due honor, as expressed in Scripture, but even that is for our edification as well. A church musician named Louis G. Nuechterlein wrote, "The music of the congregation derives from the triangular shape of Christian worship...God Himself communicates with His people in Law and Gospel; Christians communicate with God in prayer, praise, and thanks; Christians teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)."

The Lord does not need those He has created to tell Him His attributes in order to possess them. By singing the Word in church, the Holy Spirit brings the salvation truth to the believer personally, and he or she actively confesses the good confession (1 Timothy 6:12) in a way that increases memory of those doctrines like no other method.  Additionally, though aside from experience it is difficult to explain, singing hymns in church connects one to the believers of the past as well as others living elsewhere, reassuring the believer that "no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

I fear that if this is a habit and not an isolated circumstance, it is a symptom of a larger problem.  Do they feel self-conscious compared to the other worshippers (who in turn are also not singing)?  Do they lack interest in Scripture in metrical form, or any form for that matter?  Does the use of a screen possibly confuse some of the older members?  Might there be a way you could call upon some local students of the fellowship to assist in leading music from the pew?

Here is an excellent description from Carl Halter and Carl Schalk's A Handbook of Church Music:

The music of the congregation is not that which is sung by the clergy or choir in the congregation's behalf, with the congregation as an attentive and appreciative audience.  Nor is it music scheduled for all the people to sing, but in which only a faithful few participate while the majority stand with hymnals open but with mouths shut.  The music of the congregation in that in which all those gathered for worship take an active part, regardless of ability or vocal skill.  Even those very few who cannot carry a tune join unabashedly in the singing, using their limited vocal resources in the praise of God (136).

It is my sincere prayer that your parishioners will learn that song is not something others do for them, but their own treasure to have and enrich in the one true faith.

Sincerely,

A concerned Christian and teacher of the Gospel in song

Schütz happens.

GUYS.  Then there is the one Heinrich Schütz cantata where the scoring IS THE TEXT-PAINTING ITSELF.

What?

For the funeral of Count Heinrch Posthumous (yes, I'm not kidding) Reuss, Schütz composed a Lutheran type of funeral mass, the Musikalische Exequien, completely unique in form.

The Kreuzkirche in Dresden where Schütz worked.

The first movement is the Lutheran "missa brevis," the Kyrie and Gloria for six voices and/or instruments - Schutz and other of the time believed in an early sort of Gebrauchsmusik in which they could customize it depending on the forces available.  Only single parts of this score are extant, so there may have been any number of combinations in voicing or instruments.  Here, biblical texts showing the Christian's beliefs concerning death and resurrection are accentuated with chorale verses in a straightforward cantionale-homophonic texture.  As if to comfort the grieving listener, key concept in each verse are painted very obviously or repeated motivically.  For example, the Romans 14:8 mini-aria preceding the Kyrie II describes "living" and "dying" in Christ with appropriately perky or languid tempi.  "Our true life is in heaven," a duet sings, where the believer's likeness is transfigured unto Christ's, illustrated by a similar ornament transforming the word.  "The souls of the righteous are in God's hand" by the full ensembles is surrounded by the sopranos echoing "But they are at peace" (Ecclesiastes 3:1-3), wrapping the hearts of the faithful in rest.


Secondly, Psalm 73:25-26, the sermon text, becomes a double-choir motet.  The rich scoring does in no way obligate it to be overpowering, but instead it creates a quietly intense, prayerful tone.  "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  Listen carefully.  Is there a familiar chorale melody hidden in there?  Hint:  it seems to be a common occurrence.  At the end, "my comfort" and "my part" scattered between the sides of the room provide a exclamation point, leaving the ear with "Jesus only."

Title page of the first print.

At last, the tenor intones the well-known Nunc Dimittis:  "Lord, now You let Your servant..." and the SATB choir finishes.  With written directions to be at a removed location from the main ensemble, two sopranos (Seraphim I and II) and a bass (the Departed Blessed Soul) sing "Blessed is the man who dies in the Lord" (Revelation 14:13) sailing ethereally over the congregation below.  The way in which Schütz arranges the two texts also seem to bring out other Scriptural comforts - the soloists' "They have rest after all their works, and their works follow them" is interrupted by the tutti "for all people," implying that the peace of the Church Triumphant lies in the same salvation believers grasp by faith on earth.  "Death" is the last word by the trio, while the choir finishes singing yet of God's glory.  

Enjoy!

Translation: http://www.spectrumsingers.org/archives/1997-98/mar98_words.html (This ensemble's notes are also helpful.)

Score:  http://imslp.org/wiki/Musikalische_Exequien,_Op.7_(Sch%C3%BCtz,_Heinrich)

Recording:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gd1DqDUC2U

.

Cheesecake girl.

How I often feel, living my single-girl musician graduate student life:  


Day 363:  the terror continues. Also, made another cheesecake! ...Very nearly.  Oh, and it’s my mum’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mum. I did make you a cheesecake, but it was too beautiful to live.

When one gets bored in her own little world, baking happens.  This gluten-free and vegan recipe happened quite well.

Chocolate Peanut-Butter "Cheesecake"

Crust:  
2 c. almond flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. coconut oil
2 tbsp. organic maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
Coffee as needed

Filling:
10 fresh figs, chopped
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 14-oz. package extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. agave syrup
Dash of cinnamon

Blend all crust ingredients in food processor.  Press into 9-inch springform pan and chill in refrigerator.  Blend all filling ingredients until smooth.  Spread on top of crust and chill until firm.

Remember:  the cheesecake isn't the cheesecake - the cheesecake is the recipe!

The crash-course guide to Bach motets

Motets, as Bach defines them, are a slightly different genre than used before.

 The “cantata,” a new genre, came to mean a multimovement work typically beginning with chorus, alternating arias and recit, and concluding with a chorale.
 Motets are essentially cantatas consisting of all choral movements
 No librettist, aside from the chorales, is credited – Bach selected the texts
 Written approximately between 1723-29 at least some and possibly all for funerals
Things for which to listen in Bach:
 Laughter/dancing
 Sighing/weeping
 Wandering/fleeing
 Cross
 Trinity
 Rhythms and meters signifying biblical numbers
 Soloists and instrumentalists themselves text-painting
 Doctrine of affections

Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (BWV 225)
Sing to the Lord a new song
1. Singet dem Herrn (Psalm 149:1-3)
2. “Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren” v. 3
3. Lobet den Herrn (Psalm 150:2-6)

Two choirs toss back shouts of “Singet!” and playful figures in 3/8 to illustrate the joy of the Christian, additionally text-painting on the words “Harfen,” “Pauken,” and “Reichen,” making use of the “laughing” style. The second movement, an aria alternating with a chorale movement, blends the two with supplementary texts and similar melodic shapes. Lastly, “Lobet den Herrn” returns to the effervescent style of the first movement, rolling back and forth in 3/8 between choirs until combining all to sing “Praise the Lord!” at the end.

Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (BWV 226) The Spirit helps in our weakness
1. Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (Romans 8:26)
2. Der aber die Herzen forchet (Romans 8:27)
3. “Komm, Heiliger Geist” v. 3

Composed in a rush in October of 1729, this cheerful motet was sung for a funeral for the rector Johann Ernesti, or adapted from a now-lost cantata. Rocketing off in the bright key of B-flat Major, the laughing groups of spiritlike 16th-note figures surround the listener in polychoral comfort that “The Spirit helps in our weakness.” Bach must have written the verse from memory, for the word “selbst” seems to have an extra syllable. Secondly, the words “He who examines hearts…” are set to a canon, hinting at the fact that He is measuring something according to the Law. Finishing this lively fugue is the third verse of “Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord,” praying for the Comforter to come and strengthen the hearts of all believers.

Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 227)
Jesus, my joy
1. “Jesu, meine Freude” v. 1, 4
2. Es ist nun nichts Verdammliches (Romans 8:1)
3. “Jesu, meine Freude” v. 2
4. Denn das Gesetz (Romans 8:3)
5. “Jesu, meine Freude” v. 3
6. Ihr aber seid nicht fleischlich (Romans 8:9)
7. “Jesu, meine Freude” v. 4
8. So aber Christus in euch ist (Romans 8:10)
9. “Jesu, meine Freude” v. 5
10. So nun der Geist (Romans 8:11)
11. “Jesu, meine Freude” v. 5

This simple pairing of verses from Paul Gerhardt’s hymn with passages of Romans 8 shows Bach’s theological mastery as well as text-painting skills. Each verse of the chorale is set to fit the text: “Now there is nothing, nothing” is set quite emphaticallythe third verse, on the word “trotz,” meaning “defiance,” is spit out with anger, hinting at the cantus firmus in the shape of the melody. “Tobe,” the word for rage, is painted with an aggressive run in the tenor and bass. “You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit,” has a very long melisma on the latter. The fifth verse “Good night,” sighs as the walking continuo marches away from the world’s temptations. Romans 8:10 then adds how the believer will be raised again from the
dead, with the “spirit” figure at the close coming to rest. Lastly, the final verse looks to Jesus’ entrance as the Master of joy in a glorious four-part setting identical to the first.

Furchte dich nicht (BWV 228)
Do not fear
1. Furchte dich nicht (Isaiah 41:10)
2. Furchte dich nicht, denn ich habe (Isaiah 43:1)
3. “Wann ich gramen” v. 4 and 5

Some consider this to be the most difficult of Bach’s motets. In the opening figure, the choir is scattered everywhere, almost as if they doubt the plea “Do not fear.” “I will strengthen you” is the next motif, supported by fully-diminished seventh chords. The extent of repetition emphasizes how much the listener needs it.

In the third movement, a descending chromatic subject penetrates all voices parts underneath the soprano cantus firmus. To close, all exclaim “Do not fear” several times, ending in homophonic motion: “you are Mine!”

Komm, Jesu, komm (BWV 229)
Come, Jesus, come
1. Komm, Jesu, komm
2. Drum schliess ich mich in deine Hande

With a cry of urgency, each side of the choir calls out “Come!” with a slow pace to suggest “my body is weary.” Painting “waning strength,” they start out the next phrase with vigor but then die away in tempo. Thinking about peace, they cadence at a major chord before going on to the “sour path,” then “yielding” in rest to Jesus at the end. This motet’s following aria prays that the Lord will come quickly, singing the world a farewell, and commiting quietly to Jesus at the end.

Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden (BWV 230) Praise the Lord, all ye nations
1. Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden (Psalm 117)

The opening triadic shape of the text, Psalm 117 exudes a festive, confident air, imitating trumpets and timpani with the layering and melismas of voices. Describing God’s “grace and truth,” the style slows and becomes homophonic, regaining speed and polyphonic texture to paint His rule for eternity, and a joyous Alleluia in a waltz-like triple meter.

Works Cited:
Emmanuel Bach Choir. “Motets and Liturgical Works Notes and Translations.” Emmanuel Bach Choir. Web accessed 26 June 2014. http://emmanuelmusic.org/ notes_translations/nt_notes_transl_motet.htm#pab1_7
Geck, Martin. Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work. Orlando: Harcourt Publishing, 2000.
Shrock, Dennis. Choral Repertoire. London: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Stapert, Calvin R. My Only Comfort: Death, Deliverance, and Discipleship in the Music of Bach. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000.

Adventures in Grad School, Part 2

A test, hymnal review, article review, many Finale transcriptions, four organ lessons, a choral hymn setting, and about 70 hours of class later, I am done with grad school.  The first half of the session, and over half of my whole MCM degree.

The Kretzmann post feels like forever ago.

Anyhow, since then, I promise that I have learned LOTS, including actual coursework.  One of them is that I say the word "actual" way too much - oops.

Last Sunday, Trinity Sunday, I attended my first-ever hymn festival for the dedication of this organ:

My organ instructor led the special program, several choirs sang, the parish handbell choir rang, and the pastor read the three articles of the Creed from Luther's Small Catechism while we joined in on hymns describing the explanations to each.  Fun!  More ideas for MY upcoming senior service/project, whenever that is.

To reward ourselves for doing so well in an unconditioned church on an 80-degree afternoon, my friends and I wandered over to our favorite frozen custard joint, where I tried a banana split for the first time.

For one of our projects, I got to explore the rare-book room here at school, and obviously did make it out of there.  Just barely.  Gingerly, I perused the tiny German hymnals, numerous English psalm books, and other token publications of the old Synodical Conference with columns so tight and bindings so fragile I was afraid to drop anything.  There, in the crisp air, I cradled several of them in white-gloved hands, smiling as I traced the names written inside.  Each one belonged to someone like me.  For the first half of my project, I selected the English Chorale Book for England, and carefully paged through, taking down its organizational characteristics.

Another perk about school?  Running by a lake every morning.  :)  I've discovered it's hardly possible for myself to listen to anything but the grandest music with this view.

Perfect.  It's also always cool early in the morning here, and not many people can roll out of bed and come this far to be right on the shoreline, so awesome for the students here.

For lessons, I get to work with one of these:

Yes, that is a Zimbelstern.  Apparently, in some Lutheran synods, this stop of whirling bells is Pavlovian for "Please rise and sing the Doxology."  Currently, I'm working on a Herman Schroeder prelude, Brahms' "Schmucke dich," Buxtehude Prelude/Fugue/Chaconne BuxWV 137, Joseph Jongen's "Choral," and Bach Prelude/Fugue in c minor BWV 549.

Today, I'm getting together and exploring the area with some friends who live about an hour away - so excited!  The end of classes are in sight.  Still, I'm realizing in all of this that I'm really not cut out to live by myself.  Doing serious coursework like this, it's honestly very difficult for me to get back to my suite and have no one with whom to recall the day's events.  That's why I blog.  Hopefully I can have a person someday to share morning coffee and Gerhard loci and silliness and awesome music...

You can tell where my mind is.  Happy Saturday.  Study hard and play hard, and God's blessings on all of it.

The Kretzmann cantatas

Did you know that Paul Kretzmann (author of the venerable Popular Commentaries) also wrote cantata libretti?  You probably didn't.  That's because from my library catalogue-digging, only two locations have scores available to borrow.  However, one of them happens to be where I go to school.  Guess what I did this afternoon.

I checked both of them out!  Kretzmann actually founded the church where my dad was a pastor, and I was baptized and a member there until I was four years old, so seeing these is like a letter from an ages-past friend.  

Both of them are in delicate shape, rebound, and taped.  I tried to play through them on a practice-room piano, but had to gently place my cell phone over the bindings the whole time to keep them from closing or tipping.  

Stylistically, I don't want to label them "schmaltzy," but the Romantic harmonies of the piano accompaniment, rich with secondary V7s and diminished viis, almost render it over to the concert nature rather than a special festival service.  The melody lines are rather complicated and at times chromatic.  Nonetheless, the words are great and biblical, just like his hymn translating and hymnwriting.  

Examples of text (all copyright by Concordia Publishing House):

Our King Victorious,Part III, 9. Chorus with Children's Chorus

Let us with joyful tone the Savior's praises sing,

Messiah on His heavenly throne devoutly worshipping

Who deigned in flesh to shade His glorious deity,

Himself of no repute made us lost ones to set free, 

Exult we on that day 

When Jesus rose on high

And opened wide the living way

Deliverance is nigh

Let stars and earth and heav'n rejoice

And all angelic choirs on high 

Upraise their glorifying voice 

To praise the Trinity.

Amen!  Hallelujah!

Unto Us, 24. Soprano

Bright was the guiding star that led with mild benignant say,

The Gentiles to the lowly shed where the Redeemer lay,

They brought Him gold, as King that reigns forever, 

They offered incense, as to a mighty God, 

And myrrh withal, since death their Lord would sever,

From those He loved, and on whose foes He trod.  

In addition, he also at least wrote the words for Der 46th Psalm (1921), Cantate! A Song Service (1924), Liturgical Service for Rally Day (1927), He Lives!  A Childrens' Vesper Service for Easter Day (1929), In Dulci Jubilo and Soli Deo Gloria (no dates) (see http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/inauthors/view?).  

Here also is an interesting link to his hymn texts that have made it into lesser-known hymnals:  http://www.hymnary.org/person/Kretzmann_PE3

Happy digging!

Cantata No. 18: the one with the Litany

Once again, I'm on a cantata kick - this time, it's Bach's Weimar cantatas.  Stylistically, these differ a bit from the later, more "practical" Leipzig cantatas intended for the school and resident musicians to rehearse and perform every week.  At Weimar, Bach's main duties constituted leading the instrumental ensemble and playing organ in the court, but the unstable health of the current Capellmeister obligated him to begin writing cantatas for performance there.  Weimar's resident poet, Salomo Franck, also supplied libretti for many of Bach's cantatas, beginning with BWV 182, 12, 172, and 21, so that connection certainly proved helpful.  This work, however, uses a text by the father of the chorale cantata, Erdmann Neumeister, who also wrote our beloved hymn "God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It."

Violists need not feel ignored any longer.  The sinfonia for Bach's personal group of instrumentalists individually uses FOUR of them (!) with a thunderous triple figure under a contrapuntal interplay of two recorders, emulating the rumbling and flashing of a precipitous storm and its fruition on the earth.

As Jesus' voice, the bass reads these very words in a descriptive secco recit, picking up tempo for the mention of rain and snow falling from heaven, and slowing for its response.  Next, we run into a scene from courtly devotional life:  the tenor, in a corner as it were, sings "My God, here is my heart:  I open it to you in Jesus' name," essentially asking the classic sermon blessing, "May with words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight" (Psalm 19:14).  Suddenly, the continuo picks up and the sopranos chant a portion of the Litany: "That You would lend your Spirit and power with Your word..." with a four-part cadence "Hear us, dear Lord God!" just as it would be intoned in church.

The Litany chant tone, as heard in the soprano

 Next, the bass bequests the Father to guard Christians from the Devil's tricks, jumping around delightfully crunchy intervals, and acknowledging that Satan's purpose is to rob us of the Word, with escaping melismas outlining a fully-diminished chord.  Again, the trebles stomp in with "That Satan may be crushed under our feet..." and all "Hear us...!"

Back to the tenor, in his other corner.  In commentary, he expresses disgust at the fall (text-painting!) of those who are not careful when they endure persecution (also depicted by a very long, persecuting, run in one breath with accidentals galore).  Sadly, he concludes that they instead bring themselves eternal suffering in its place.  "That we, from the Turks' and Pope's great murder and blasphemy..." "Hear us...!"

The bass returns, shaking his head at those who serve their gut, earthly goods, and lust.  Recalling Romans 1:26, the world becomes heaven to them since they have erred (a tangled, beastly diminished-interval melisma). "That all erring and misled ones may be brought back - hear us, dear Lord God!"

"My soul's treasure is God's Word!" exclaims the solo soprano, trying not too get too involved in the nets of ornaments all over the aria.  "Away, away!" she tells the riches of the world, carrying them up the staff to heaven, where the Lord can deal with them.

The closing chorale draws upon Lazarus Spengler's hymn "By Adam's Fall Is All Forlorn," including all voice parts to pray that God's Word remain in their mouth, and for trust in His salvation despite total unworthiness, which will shield them so that they will not see death.

Score: http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/4/40/IMSLP00743-BWV0018.pdf
Translation:  http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_cantata/t_bwv018.htm
Recording:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGz2Npl7oL0

How to treat your...musicians?

Dear people who have a musician in their lives,

I just want to make something clear, especially if you are not musical yourselves.When you hire a musician to do something for you - perhaps accompanying for a church service, teaching private lessons, composing a soundtrack for a music video, whatever - you are NOT merely paying for the ten minutes that is the final product.

Instead, you are also compensating the person for all the time it took to get there, to the point where the abilities become natural.  You see, being a musician does not involve turning a skill on or off, like putting a kit together or lifting something heavy.  When one of us does something that we do, it's that complete set of expertise we have gathered until then, concentrated into that moment.  There are years of private lessons on an instrument, music-skills classes in which one becomes used to sightreading, listening to countless ensemble rehearsals, and even the overall awareness of the space in which a piece is played, including recordings.  For every minute of perfected "actual" applied ability, there may very well be three hours from starting at zero to finish.

Because we put so much time behind the tip of the iceberg that is seen, you can also expect us to value the time we allot you greatly.  When a musician sets up a meeting with someone, he or she specifically carves out that chunk of time around practicing and other highly specific things that require attention - musical activities usually aren't like a book you can pick up and read on the bus, or a movie you can watch on your phone.  You have to be certain places at definite times with objects like a string bass that don't always lend themselves to convenient transport. Even if one thinks they can reschedule musicians to no end, it honestly does wear down our patience.  Please understand that our time with you means a lot to us.

Along the same thought, we do need breaks.  (What? Making music all day is tiring?  I thought it was supposed to be fun!)  Ensure that you know when and where those times are, and respect those limits. R and R is welcomed, and musicians probably love sleep almost as much as they do food.  Okay, other people love food, too, but musicians really love food.  It also means that they have to take a break from practicing, because it's generally difficult to do that and eat at once, especially for a vocalist.

Truly, we enjoy helping you out.  That's why we majored in that one weird field where you do all of these classes that supposedly don't help in real-world situations and earn no money post-graduation.  We have good reasons to be where we are.  So, please remember, next time you see us, throw us a pillow for the cardboard box in the alley - I mean, a little understanding, a hug, and maybe a giftcard or Almond Joy.  You know, something commensurable for lunch.

Sincerely,

Me (and every other person brightening the world with music at this moment)

That would actually make a great box in which to live.

My second-highest possession

Today, May 16, 2014, I "should have" graduated.  God had other ideas.  I'm still in school, in fact two different ones, and will graduate in two more years.  What's wrong with me?  

As I watch the class I came in with as an undergrad walk and flip tassels today, I thank God for my second-highest gift besides saving faith in His promise:  my education.  The Lord has somehow put the right people in my life when I could grow from them the most, whether professors or other students, and their "Yeses" and "Nos" have reshaped my future.  

The ability to go to an academic institution and earn high grades is a beautiful blessing from God, for which the graduate should give hearty thanks.  Not everyone can or has the will to do so, and it is certainly a way to publicly glorify Him.  I look at life as kind of a game:  how much can I further my understanding by the end of the day, to more and more enhance my ministry as a Christian in two "kingdoms"?  Some view college as a contest to see how much nothing they can do in the space of four years, but really, how much "something" can you cram into every day?  

Often, learning is not what you expect - it may come in a conversation in the car, an emergency, encountering a person you never really became acquainted with before, trying a new skill in your field, reading, or solving a problem with a group.  Every single day, our hours are composed of these types of things, one after another.  Stepping back and checking out what I do in a day, the Lord has seen to it that these "classes" give me a full schedule.  It's just up to the student to run around with the intellectual "butterfly net" and grab all of the knowledge that exists to be caught.  

To my teachers in whatever form:  thank you for putting up with all of my hand-raising, questions, and tangents, plus reading my logical soups called research papers and clapping at my recitals.  I thank the Giver of all wisdom for placing you in my life for edification to His praise, and hope that you may be enriched "beyond a lifetime."

To all student:  keep taking the classes of Christian life, no matter what kind of student you are.  Your gracious God has laid wide the privilege and signed all of the application sheets for it in His precious words of salvation.  

"In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3

"God gives us richly all things to enjoy."  1 Timothy 6:17

All our knowledge, sense and sightLie in deepest darkness shroudedTill Your Spirit breaks our nightWith the beams of truth unclouded;You alone to God canst win us;You must work all good within us.

Glorious Lord, Yourself impart,Light of Light, from God proceeding;Open now our ears and heart,Help us by Your Spirit’s pleading.Hear the cry Your people raises; Hear and bless our prayers and praises.
- Tobias Clausnitzer, "Blessed Jesus, At Your Word"

All Keyed Up program notes

I'm super weird, because I think of program notes as an opportunity, not an assignment.  My two biggest interests (music and writing) intersect, and it usually turns into something subtly persuasive, why art music is still cool.

Case in point:  I gave a collaborative-piano recital this afternoon with a soprano, a mezzo, a flutist (ahem, that is what they like to be called) and a second pianist.  Knowing me, I got the coffee theme in there somehow.

I additionally attempted to integrate coffee puns into every paragraph of the notes, but I'm sure that would have gotten me grounded (aha! ha!).  With or without, enjoy. 

Program Notes

Frédéric Chopin may have not been able to decide between composing a nocturne, an etude, and a waltz, so he blended all of them together into one of the first programmatic instrumental pieces:  the ballade.  This genre sets forth a story in several parts, each flowing seamlessly into the next.  Musicologists wonder if the Ballade No. 3 describes a disastrous Majorca vacation with his lover –uncomfortable carriage rides and loud thunderstorms kept interrupting the romantic moments.  Considering the style reminiscent of Viennese waltz, it also seems to depict a scene from a 19^th-century ballroom.  The listener will have to guess what the performer’s personal narrative is.

Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera Paride ed Elena (Paris and Helen) chronicles the mythological opening to the Iliad:  Paris, winner of the Olympian contests, has chosen love, and falls in love with Helen of Troy.  Baroque operas such as these are rarely performed in entirety (the form dramatically and musically matured later), but vocalists often single out arias for concert performance.  Tenors often choose O del mio dolce ardor, a first-act declaration of love, but it may also be performed by a female soprano, as is done here.

Ernest Chausson’s music lands stylistically between the Romanticism of his teachers Cesar Franck and Jules Massenet and the beginnings of Impressionism.  A writer and painter himself, Chausson gave his art songs a florid and elegant simplicity foreshadowing that of Debussy’s later piano works.  In this selection from 7 Melodies, the composer lushly sets a poem by Leconte de Lisle about a lover comparing a hummingbird at the flowers to his lover’s kiss. 

Imagine stopping by the city’s favorite coffeeshop after church to find Johann Sebastian Bach directing a cantata!  After Sunday morning services wrapped up, Bach found time for his other pursuits:  a side stint at Café Zimmermann, Leipzig’s largest and best niche of its kind.  Instituted by Georg Philip Telemann, its resident collegium musicum drew its support solely from the café’s sales, and often premiered Bach’s new secular works, including the comical “Coffee Cantata.”  Essentially a miniature opera, it presents an argument between a father who wants his daughter Lieschen to give up java for a husband, and the daughter who ignores his pleas.  In the end, she pretends to agree with him, but secretly spreads the word that any potential suitor must allow her to make coffee any time she pleases.  Ei! Wie schmeckt der Kaffee süße is her “love ballad.”

Clearly undistracted by its cultural scene, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart experienced one of his most productive bursts of inspiration in Vienna from 1784-86, finishing the last 12 of his 27 piano concerti.  Of this set, No. 25 (K. 503) is one of the lesser-performed, but nonetheless has a authoritative and distinguished personality – the first movement’s themes may have inspired Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 and Symphony No. 5, and the second motif hints at France’s national anthem.  The composer supplied no cadenza for this piece, so the soloist simply takes the second-inversion chord and runs with it until cuing the orchestra - or second pianist.

Once again, we explore the fine line between French music and Impressionism in Poulenc’s Flute Sonata.  As one of “Les Six,” a sextet of composers seeking a national musical voice for France, Francis Poulenc demonstrated 20^th-century techniques of polytonality alongside traditional textures in piano and chamber works.  In many cases, he and the others ended up more or less sounding “not German” instead of uniquely French, but his compositions are distinct for being lyrical.  Rapidly changing keys and meters, the piano and flute alternate the melody in the Allegro, and the wistful Cantilena sprinkles an element of jazz into the sonata art form.  Contrasted with earlier pieces of the same name, here the soloist and accompanist are artistic equals, and thus it is well-loved in collaborative repertoire. 

 “Wouldn’t you like to be on Broadway?” asks (or rather sings) Harry to his young protégée Rose in Kurt Weill’s slice-of-life 1947 musical Street Scene.  The cavatina “What Good Would The Moon Be?” is her rhetorical retort.  Aside from show-business aspirations, these words apply to any other joy in life – without the right person, or even with the wrong person, the sparkle and shimmer cannot change the way one looks at life.  Whatever life sends, the right love in whatever form it appears brings a glisten to the everyday and ordinary.

My Fair Lady ‘s Eliza Doolittle, like Rose, is also dropping hints to her romantic interest.  During “I Could Have Danced All Night,” she has just danced with her mentor Henry Higgins, and though it took place for only a few seconds during a lesson in English diction, she is abuzz with late-night exhilaration.  Sometimes the hero simply needs a little assistance in figuring out what the heroine really desires.

In George Gershwin’s song transcriptions, the pianist gets the chance to emulate a jazz singer.  For example, “The Man I Love” features an additional staff on which the pianist is to play, with the accompaniment in the lower register leaping up to “sing.”  Playfully, “Somebody Loves Me” trades off the tune between the left and right hand with unexpected changes of style.  Finally, Gershwin presents the melody of “Nobody But You” with ostentatious chords utilizing the whole keyboard like an embellished piano roll.  Though these three fall in another order in his collection of 18 arrangements, the lyrics as configured here tell a charming tale.  

~~~

P.S.  You know what's really cool?  My parents gave me a whole tub of Trader Joe's chocolate-covered espresso beans.  I won't need them to stay up late practicing any more, but oh well...