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Ennis Fruhauf
Variations
on
Veni Creator Spiritus
Notes
Prologue, Five Variations, and Finale on the plainchant melody, Veni Creator Spiritus, is a large-scale work for solo organ in the French post-Romantic tradition. It is a work inspired by the breadth and scope of Maurice Duruflé’s magnum opus on the same chant tune, but it is considerably less technically demanding and far more modest in terms of its harmonic language and format.
The hymn tune is presented boldly with ornamented alterations in the Prologue. Each of the following variations are in contrasting moods and formats. In the first, the chant is sounded in the pedal on a solo register, simultaneous with a harmonized hymn version of the same tune ("Komm, Gott Sch
öpfer, heiliger Geist") played in the manuals; each phrase is separated by cadenza-like interpolations. In the second variation, a toccata in miniature, the hymn tune soars above animated rolling triplet figurations. The cantus firmus then migrates to the tenor register for its appearance at a slowed tempo and in the rich harmonies of the third variation. The fourth variation follows with a freely ornamented version of the plainchant (recalling the ornamentation of the Prologue), sounded in canon in the soprano and alto voices, harmonized in the lower voices, and all as accompaniment to the cantus firmus solo statement in the pedal. In the fifth of the sequence of variations, the tune reappears in the tenor voice while the soprano and alto voices share a lively duet above it.The Finale opens with a brooding introduction, which soon gives way to an extensively developmental presentation of the plainsong tune, soaring above and below accompanying voices that are moving in constant triplet motion. As subsequent phrases appear, interrupted by episodic interludes, the registrational intensity builds through the last chant phrase, which is sounded in augmented note values. A bold and brilliant coda is heralded by the returning ornaments (heard in the Prologue and fourth variation), limning the chant’s Amen figuration in overlapping imitation, followed by brief motivic reminders from the first and second variations, all rising and building to the last chord of the Finale.
Copyright © 2004 Ennis Fruhauf
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