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Ennis Fruhauf
Hymns for All Seasons
1. Processional on Kremser [en Rondeau] (3 pages)
2. Chorale Prelude on Llangloffan [cantus firmus in Pedal] (5 pages)
3. Choral Fantasy on Morning Song (8 pages)
4. Two Chorale Preludes on "Nun danket alle Gott"
Manualiter (3 pages)
Organo Pleno (5 pages)
5. Epilogue on Picardy (4 pages)
6. Intermezzo on Sicilian Mariners (6 pages)
7. Dance for Flute Stops on Ubi Caritas (4 pages)
8. Orison on Veni Emmanuel (4 pages)
Notes (2 pages)
The title, Hymns for all Seasons, is a misnomer in that there are not representative hymn tunes from all of the liturgical seasons of the church year in this collection, and furthermore they are not necessarily new or old tunes, relatively speaking. It is however very much of a pot-pourri in terms of the varied origins, nationalities, and treatments of the source materials.
The setting of Kremser, a hymn tune originating from The Netherlands, converts the original triple meter to quadruple in order to create a more suitable setting for a processional. As a result, the original tune acquires accents and syncopations that create an entirely new musical personality. The hymn tune refrain is repeated in an accumulative manner: with each restatement, a new voice is added. A contrasting verse or couplet has been interpolated into the repeated refrains of the processional, creating a rounded binary upon the final restatement.
Llangloffan is a somber setting of a traditional Welsh hymn tune; it is strongly imitative and modeled after German Baroque organ chorale preludes, with the original melody presented as a cantus firmus in the tenor voice but sounded in the pedal. The ornamentation is notated in the manner of Baroque performance practices.
Fantasy on Morning Song is an extended setting of an early American hymn tune. Hints of a counter-melody that is yet to make its appearance are suggested in the first half of the introduction, followed by loosely imitative rising and falling triplet phrases drawn from the source melody. The entry of the complete tune in the tenor is boldly apparent, accompanied in the right hand by a toccata figuration in triplets. This statement cedes to a sweetly contrasting counter-melody (presented in the relative major key), followed in turn by a statement of the hymn tune in the tenor (in the key of the dominant). Once again the counter-melody returns, giving way to the imitative passages from the introduction, after which the hymn tune is presented triumphantly in the bass register of the organ pedal, juxtaposed with the counter-melody in the soprano and sixteenth note rhythmic activity in the tenor voice. A gentle coda hints at a restatement of the counter-melody in the tenor voice and then ends serenely.
The two chorale preludes on "Nun danket alle Gott" are modeled after some of the larger scale settings by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the second of them adopts and develops a unique motivic ostinato from one of the chorale preludes of Bach’s Orgelbüchlein. The first prelude is identified by the term manualiter, indicating that it is intended for perfomance on the keyboards only, without pedal. The chorale melody, a hymn tune from Johann Crüger, migrates between the soprano and alto voices and is melodically ornamented. In contrast, the setting indicated for organo pleno (‘full organ’) is tightly imitative in its use of Bach’s borrowed motiv, as well as in the application of traditonal augmented cantus firmus soundings of the hymn tune, repeated as they are between the soprano line and bass pedal registers. A rhythmic vitality is maintained throughout by tightly energetic contrapuntal textures.
The Epilogue on Picardy is a brief but stirring postlude on a familiar French hymn tune. In marked contrast with the familiar text from the traditional verse that sings, "Let all mortal flesh keep silence . . . ," the epilogue is a showy but not necessarily difficult sectional toccata that offers great contrasts of rhythm, texture, and presentations of melodic statements that migrate from voice to voice. The harmonies are bold, and the nature of the setting emphasizes the brilliance of the spirit of Epiphany, the church season that celebrates the bringing of light, or ‘enlightenment.’
The setting of Sicilian Mariners is a breezy diversion for organ that displays gentle airs and a flowing vitality associated with the classical tradition of the intermezzo, or ‘interlude.’ The hymn melody, one whose specific European origin is unknown but dates from the latter 18th Century, is heard in the soprano after a brief introduction, accompanied by flowing triplet figurations, and it is followed by a soulful mid-section reappearance of the tune, again in the soprano, but with a slowly rocking syncopated accompaniment. Upon the rondo-like restatement of the tune in its original setting, a counter-melody is gently woven around it in duet. A brief codetta echoes the mid-section presentation of the hymn tune.
Dance for Flute Stops on Ubi Caritas is a highly improvisatory composition, in which the first phrases of the original plainchant are repeated again and again, contrasted by varied rhythmic accompanimental figures and migrations through various keys and tonalities. After a brief hiatus, the final phrases of the chant are sounded with increasing registrational intensity, drawing the dance to a strongly affirmative conclusion.
The Orison on Veni, Emmanuel presents a familiar Advent hymn tune that was long ascribed to Thomas Helmore, who adapted it for hymnal use. More recently the chant has been determined to have originated from a melody applied to verses sung in association with the text, ‘Libera me’: it was not until 1966 that the original manuscript of a 15th Century Processional belonging to a community of French Franciscan nuns was recovered. This setting is meditative in nature and begins with a hypnotically mystical sounding of the chant in the pedals, phrase by phrase. Not until the text "Rejoice" does the setting dare to blossom out into repeated and modulatory fragmented statements that depict one single word and then continue on through the final phrase of the hymn. The codetta echoes the introduction and concludes with a serenely sounded ‘amen.’
Copyright © 2006 Ennis Fruhauf
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Ennis Fruhauf.
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