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Ennis Fruhauf
Germanic Hymn Tunes
Settings for Organ
Chorale Prelude
on Es ist ein Ros [Rosa Mystica] (4 pages)Notes (2 pages)
Chorale Prelude on Es ist ein Ros (Rosa Mystica) draws on a beloved anonymous Christmas hymn that first appeared in Alte Catholische Geistliche Kirchengesang (Cologne, 1599), with roots that likely date from the 14th or 15th century. It is better known in its harmonization by Michael Praetorius, as seen in his Musae Sionae of 1609. This quasi-Baroque setting presents a ten-measure soprano line, with echoed registrational contrasts, that is harmonized in the left hand. Upon repetition, development and extension, it becomes an accompaniment for a phrase-by-phrase statement of the hymn tune cantus firmus which appears in the pedal line.
Declamation on Grosser Gott sets an anonymous tune that first appeared in Katholisches Gesangbuch, published in Vienna in 1744, with a text of the German versification for the Te Deum laudamus. Its presentation here makes use of a moderately ‘contemporary’ tonal orientation of parallel fourths, or quartal harmony. A characteristic motivic development provides accompaniment for a bold statement of the hymn’s cantus firmus in the tenor register, also presented in harmonic intervals of fourths. The composition is a binary structure, with the first portion repeated, similar to the hymn itself, and a brief coda added at the conclusion.
Chorale Prelude on Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir appears here in the triple meter of its German chorale source, but its twin in quadruple meter can more readily be identified as the familiar tune of Old 100th. Louis Bourgeois’ composition, or adaptation, of a melodic setting for Psalm 134 appeared in Trente Quatre Pseaumes de David (Genevan Psalter, 1551). It was subsequently published in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter and the English Psalter in 1561 with a text version of Psalm 100, hence its inseparable tune name. This chorale prelude offers the language and techniques associated with similar settings by Johann Sebastian Bach, with the melody in the soprano voice and occasional free imitation occurring in the lower manual voices. The strongly motivic pedal line is also reminiscent of Bach’s writing.
Toccata on Lasst uns erfreuen is a jubilant ‘free-for-all’ in which the familiar strains of the hymn tune, also known as Vigiles et Sancti, surface in various guises and forms. The source melody was published in Ausserlesene Catholische Geistliche Kirchengesänge (Cologne, 1623), in conjuction with an Easter text, but its roots go further back in time to the tune for Psalm 36 that appeared in Aulcuns Pseaumes et Cantiques mys in chant (Strasbourg, 1539). Its early 20th century reemergence in The English Hymnal (1906) combines a familiar harmonization by Ralph Vaughan Williams with the English text, "Ye watchers and ye holy ones." The toccata begins in familiar territory with the first phrase of the hymn, combined with rolling chords and fanfare trumpet interpolations, then settles briefly into a triplet figuration accompaniment in quartal harmony, with subsequent contrapuntal inversion of the voices. The introduction of eighth notes adds gathering momentum to the accompaniment, repeated in contrapuntal inversion with the hymn tune, and then accelerated triplet figures impel the rhythmic motion toward the introduction of a sixteenth note toccata figuration. Here the hymn tune sounds out in boldly overlapping imitation between the pedal and an augmented soprano version, until an abrupt interruption by the return of broad hymn-textured writing and the rolled chords and fanfare trumpet interpolations of the opening measures. A brief codetta, imitative of pealing bells, adds a final punctuation to the end of this venturesome and splashy toccata.
Chorale Fantasy on Lobe den Herren is a highly romantic and dramatic setting of a hymn tune that first appeared in an altered form in 1665, in Part II of the Straslund Ernewerten Gesangbuch. It was adapted in 1680 for its publication with a text by Neander, but it was not until the appearance of subsequent versions around the turn of the 18th century that it become the more familiar melody now in contemporary use. The Chorale Fantasy opens with broodingly chromatic harmonies that build in waves to a heroically chordal statement of the first half of the tune, presented in canon between the soprano and pedal voices. The chromatic writing of the beginning returns and builds in intensity to a similarly canonic restatement of the second portion of the melody, ending with a triumphal codetta.
Prelude on Schmücke dich is a neo-Romantic setting of a chorale by Johann Crüger that appeared with Johann Franck’s original German text, "Soul, adorn yourself with gladness," in Crüger’s own publication of Geistliche kirchen Melodien (Berlin, 1649). A gently rocking motif permeates almost every measure of this setting, along with a characteristic echoing repetition of single measures. The melody sounds in the soprano voice, and the pedal part is simple and unobtrusive.
Five Variations and a Postlude on Stuttgart render the tune of a familiar Advent hymn in a multiple-movement format. The original form of the melody first appeared in Psalmodia Sacra (Gotha, 1715), a collection edited by Christian Friedrich Witt, who is also thought to be its composer. It was subsequently altered to its present state by William Henry Havergal (1793-1870). Following a brief introduction, the first variation of a relatively conservative tonal setting in F major presents the tune in the tenor. The melody migrates to the alto and soprano voices for the second variation, and then to the soprano for a chromatic duet. After a brief contrast of key for the fourth variation (D major), the hymn tune reverts to the tenor voice, then back to the soprano with the return of tonic F major in the fifth and final variation. The postlude offers bold pedalpoints with a series of building statements and echoes, culminating in a presentation of the entire hymn at a broader tempo, followed by a briefly repeated codetta figure. The variations and postlude are relatively easy to play and are ideal for student organists.
Copyright © 2005 Ennis Fruhauf
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