Karen Stephens Taylor Second Master's Recital Organ Hall I April 21, 201817:30 p.m. Recital Chromatica Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Prelude in E Minor, BWV 548i Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707) Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist, Bux.WV 208 Magnificat noni toni, Bux.WV 205 J.P. Sweelinck (1562-1621) Fantasia chromatica ********************** Giovanni de Macque (1550-1614) Consonanze stravaganze Seconde stravaganze Recercar Chromaticho, Missa delli Apostoli, Fiori Musicali Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) ********************** J.P. Lempke (1993-) Death\Rot\Bach Esta Muerto "There Is a Spirit That Delights to Do No Evil...," --from the dying words of James Naylor, A Quaker Reader NedRorem (1923-) Thierry Pallesco (1956-) Prelude Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901) Sonata No. 1, Op. 27 Praludium Andante Finale A511. Herberger Institute FOR DESIGN AND THE ARTS ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY School of Music PRC)G-RA~I NOTES J.S. BACH "The Wedge Prelude" is known for its treacherous octave leaps paired with descending scales that begin in one key and morph into another on the way down. The very dense texture is magnified here by a full plenum. The Fritts' North German-style pipes create a majestic and gorgeous plenum, supported by principles and a 16' Posaune in the pedal. DIETERICH BUXTEHUDE "Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist" ("Now we plead with the Holy Ghost") is an ornamented chorale prelude intended for use during the liturgical season of Pentecost. The chorale tune is highly decorated in the soprano line, and registered on our organ using the flute and sesquialtera. Three accompanying voices, one of which is the independent pedal line, support and echo the soprano. The soprano line is composed using mostly 16th notes, the middle two voices using mostly 8th notes, and the bass pedal using mostly quarter notes. This Magnificat, composed in the ninth mode, includes two versets, and there will be a slight pause between them. Because the organ played in alternatim with the choir, the chant tune was included in both versets; in its entirety in the •::•~-'.{•) ~:· htbt dan gq Mlod an lowest voice for verse 1, and the first three notes -. Her . ~. " " h«i, of it appearing in each of the four voices two or three times in verse 2. It is very probable that Buxtehude composed more versets than these fne traditional Gerrnan Ma9nificat. sung on a Getman vanant of the nmth tone or tonus peregrmus two, but they have been lost. J.P. SWEELINCK Dutchman Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, known as "the maker of organists" because of his pedagogical influence, distinctively announces the theme of this chromatic fantasy with three long notes, sounding on D. As the theme travels between hands (and, in my interpretation, once in the feet), the chromatic notes are actually emphasized because they occur on the strong beats. This fantasy is written in the "stile anti co" (old style) of the Renaissance, with a slow pulse and a subject written in long whole and half notes. Gradually the note values become shorter and virtuosic, until the chromatic subject enters for the last time. Although probably written for the harpsichord and for meantone tuning, this fantasy shows off the reeds and principals of the Fritts organ beautifully. GIOVANNI DE MACQUE De Macque's Consonanze Stravagante and Seconde Stravaganze herald the daring chromaticism of the earliest Baroque composers. The meantone tuning of the organs which played these short pieces highlighted their chromatic tension. The second stravaganze in particular employs the florid Italian Baroque expressive style. GIROLAMO FRESCOBALDI Frescobaldi, who was a child prodigy as a singer and keyboardist, became a papal organist in Rome. His publication Fiori Musicali (Musical Flowers), contains organ music to be used during the Sunday Mass, the Mass of the Apostles, and the Mass of the Virgin. The recercar was the ancestor of the fugue, and was distinguished by its serious subject and complex imitation. This particular chromatic recercar became in 1953 the focus of a twelve-tone composition written as an homage by Gyorgy Ligeti, "Ricercare: Omaggio a Frescobaldi." Of it, Ligeti said, "The chromatic musical language was already nascent in Frescobaldi." J.P. LEMPKE Death\Rot\Bach Esta Muerto: Commissioned by the American Guild of Organists this year to write this piece, J.P. Lempke composed this piece for the ASU Fritts organ. The Fritts speaks in a very unique way throughout this piece. In fact, it never sounds exactly the same because the weather conditions influence what sounds the pipes want to give. The score is notated in a vertical and horizontal graph that J.P. designed for this piece, marking seconds, manipulation of stops, duration, registration, pitch, and volume. Only an or:gan with mechanical stop action can produce these extraordinary effects. J.P will receive his Master's degree this semester in Composition, and is here in the audience for this premiere tonight. NED ROREM "There Is A Spirit That Delights to Do No Evil..." These are the forgiving and dying words of James Naylor, a Quaker who was persecuted, beaten, and imprisoned for his religion in England in 1660. Rorem, himself a Quaker, and also, ironically, a composer, says, "With the present suite my intention has been to meld, finally and practically, my nominal religion with my craft. Since no Song is used no actual musicalizing of words - each piece is headed with an epigraph from Friends' writings, many of which, in their urge toward pacifism as solution, extol absolute quiet and absolute light. The music represents a blaze of silence." THIERRY PALLESCO This lovely little gem of a prelude highlights the broken-ness of chromaticism with a limping rhythmic ostinato ( It speaks to me as an understatement of subdued longing, which is not l J J'J ). to be resolved. JOSEF RHEINBERGER The dramatic opening octaves and dotted rhythms of the Prelude of Rheinberger's C minor Sonata No. 1 may sound familiar; it is reminiscent of the Bach Prelude in E minor that began this program. The gentle Andante begins in C major and ends in G Major, leading into the fugue, which has as its subject a motif from the first movement. Rheinberger's organ did not have a swell box, so any dynamic changes came from changes in registration. The highly chromatic motifs in the fugue lead to a fully harmonized subject at the conclusion.