Classics New and Old

Program Notes

by Richard H. Trame, S.J., PhD. Magnificat - Francesco Durante, attr. to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Until quite recently this highly regarded Magnificat was attributed to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736). Pergolesi enjoyed an active bur short career as a Neapolitan composer of opera buffa, as well as instrumental and church music. Curiously, a large proportion of the music anribured to him was composed by other composers of the period, including his reacher Francesco Durante (1684-1755). Indeed, of all the works so attributed to him, about ten percent are authentic. As early as 1888 rhe German scholar Krerzchmer attributed rhe Magnificat to Durante, as did the later historian of Catholic church music, Karl Gustav Fellerer. Although two editions of a 1963 scholarly edition of the work published it under Pergolesi's name, current musicologists have definitively concluded that the work is Durante's. Little is known about Durante's life. Born near Naples, Durante received his early musical education from his priestuncle. He seems to have spent some rime studying and working in Rome, perhaps traveling in Germany, and then returning to Naples where he taught at the top Neapolitan conservatories. His widespread 18th century reputation rested on his prowess as a superb reacher. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Durante composed mostly church music rather than opera. His music is distinguished by the flowing melodic character typical of the Neapolitan school; he combined old and new compositional techniques exhibiting mastery of the stik antico, a compositional sryle which continued to employ the contrapuntal methods of the Renaissance, and the stile moderno concertante, a style devoted to instrumentally accompanied choral music. Durante's compositions in both sryles brought him widespread distinction. In 18th century terminology his compositions were characterized as "sentimental," a term which refers to the lighter more transparent texture typical of the "modern style." Krerzchmer observes that this Magnificat stands among the most significant of Durante's works: "It is one of his most charming and in a certain sense may be regarded as the ideal composition of a song of praise. In form it is outstanding for the plasticity of its themes, which in part capture the ear and heart like folksongs, and through the masterly utilization of thematic materials. None other than that acerbic 19th century German critic Hanslick saw in this Magnificat a Tondichtung (tone poem) which in the beauty of religion celebrates the religion of beauty." Lux Aeterna - Morten Lauridsen Our concert this evening marks the third world premiere and seventh Music Center performance by the Master Chorale of works by Composer in Residence Morten Lauridsen. Mr. Lauridsen provides the following notes concerning his Lux Aeterna: "The Lux Aeterna for chorus and chamber orchestra or organ is my sixth extended vocal cycle based upon texts by a single poet or on a common theme. Each of the five connected movements in this cycle contains references to Light assembled from various sacred Larin texts. The piece opens and closes with the beginning and ending of the Reqiuem Mass, with the central three movements drawn respectively from the Te Deum (including a line from the Beatus Vir), O Nata Lux and Veni, Sancte Spiritus. The instrumental introduction to the Introitus softly recalls motivic fragments from two pieces especially close to my heart (my settings of Rilke's Contre Qui, Rose from Les Chansons des Roses and O Magnum Mysterium) which recur throughout the work in various forms. Several new themes in the Introitus are then introduced by the chorus, including an extended canon on Et lux perpetua. In Te Domini, Speravi contains, among other musical elements, the cantus firmus Herzleibster Jesu (from the Nuremburg Songbook, 1677) and a lengthy inverted canon on Fiat misericordia. O Nata Lux and Veni, Sancte Spiritus are paired songs, the former a central a cappella motet and the latter a spirited, jubilant canticle. A quiet setting of the Agnus Dei precedes the final Lux Aeterna, which reprises the opening section of the Introitus and concludes with a joyful Alleluia. The chorus/organ version of the Lux Aeterna will be premiered April 26th by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Maestro Salamunovich with organist James Buonemani at Loyola Marymount University." Missa Cellensis - Joseph Haydn Haydn composed the Missa Cellensis (Mariazellermesse) in 1782, the only Mass produced by him between 1775 and 1796. The distinguished Haydn scholar H. C. Robbins Landon has noted that the Mass rowers a lone and solitary monument to the composer's genius, well above his symphonic and chamber music output between 1774 and 1784. It stands like a rock of faith untouched by the squalor of Haydn's business dealings with Vienna, London and Paris, which so damaged the symphonies of that period. The Mass was commissioned by a "Monsieur Liebe de Kreutzner" and received its name from the Austrian pilgrimage church of Mariazell. In it Haydn reconciles the popular manner in his use of hymns beloved by the humble pilgrim with his most radiant inspiration. Haydn's earlier Masses composed prior to 1775 were short, concentrated Missae Brevae, with the exception of the great Baroque-style cantata Mass of St. Caecelia. Without sacrificing the Baroque brilliance of trumpets and drums, of fugal and contrapuntal splendor Haydn, in this Mass, for the first time creates the more symphonic style Mass so characteristic of the six monumental Masses composed by him between 1796 and 1802, and upon which his fame as a choral composer largely rests. Like most composers of his day, Haydn derived themes for the Mass from hymns and from his other compositions, for example, that of the Benedictus comes from an aria in his opera II Mondo della Luna. The Mariazellermesse, highly popular in Austria to this day, has seldom been performed in the United States. It is scored for chorus and orchestra of two oboes, two trumpets, timpani and strings. Te Deum - Joseph Haydn No better comment can be made on this jubilant work than to quote from the preface to the critical edition of it published in 1959 by H. C. Robbins Landon, the great Haydn and Mozart scholar. "One of Haydn's admirers was no less a person than the Empress Maria Theresa, wife of Francis I. She was highly musical and possessed, in the composer's own words, 'a pleasant but weak voice.' She was anxious to have Haydn write her various pieces of music for church, but Haydn's patron, Nicholas II Esterhazy, was most unwilling ro have his famous Kapellmeister write church music for anyone but himself. Prince Esterhazy, indeed, would not even let her make a copy of the Creation Mass (1801), which she very much wanted to have; in fact, she did manage to get a copy, which is still extant in the archives of the Imperial Chapel. Thus Haydn's rather difficult patron did not receive kindly the news that Haydn had written a large-scale Te Deum for the Empress, though it would appear that Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, Esterhazy, were the first to hear the work sometime in late October, 1800. "Haydn's late Te Deum is conceived on a large scale. It can and ought to be executed with large forces. We hope that this new critical edition will serve to make this grandiose work, one of Haydn's most sublime creations, known to wider audiences than has hitherto been the case." Lord Nelson's great naval victory over the French fleet at Abukir in Egypt, a victory which stirred the hearts of Austrians, may have been the inspiration for Haydn to compose this masterly choral paean.