Music for January 28, 2018 + The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree – Mark Schweitzer (b. 1956)

Instrumental Music

• Wo soll ich fliehen hin? (Whether Shall I Flee?) – Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 694 (1685-1750) 
• Sonata No. 51 in B-flat Major – Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
• Praeludium and Fugue in E Minor – Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 533

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “R” which are from Renew.)

• Hymn 493 - O for a thousand tongues to sing (AZMON)
• Hymn 536 - Open your ears, O faithful people (TORAH SONG)
• Hymn 380 - From all that dwells below the skies (OLD 100TH)
• Hymn R201 - Be still, for the Spirit of the Lord (BE STILL)
• Hymn R266 - Give thanks with a grateful heart (GIVE THANKS)
• Hymn 530 - Spread, O spread, thou mighty word (GOTT SEI DANK)
• Psalm 111 – Confitebor tibi – Tone IVe

The anthem this morning is a simple but beautiful setting of an anonymous poem, The Apple Tree. We first sang this setting three years ago, and I wrote about it and its composer then, so if you want to read what I wrote, click here. It's worth it. I really did a good job. 😀

The opening voluntary is an early work of Johann Sebastian Bach on the Lutheran Chorale Wo soll ich fliehen hin, a hymn about the fearful sinner who diligently tries to escape the clutches of the devil, and finds redemption and peace in the blood of Jesus. Those happy Lutherans! Bach must not have been too keen on this arrangement, for he never tried to publish it, and it was only because one of his students, Johann Kirnberger, who discovered it among twenty-four organ compositions following Bach's death, that we even have access to it today.

The piece is a trio, meaning that there are three parts, or lines of music; two played by each of the hands, and the third, the chorale-melody, played by the feet.  "Above the doom-laden chorale melody in the pedal, which unfurls frightfully slowly and is therefore unrecognisable, the right hand plays a hurried escape motif. Nevertheless, the cheerful undertone in the left hand reveals that there will be a satisfactory outcome.melody." (1) Organist Leo van Doeselaar compares the two manual parts to a duel: "The two parts... are fighting out a duel, allowing each other no rest at all. Wide leaps, continuing musical lines, lots of syncopation, hard leaps... and that's all logical, because the text is so emotional: 'Where can I go, with all my sins?" (2)

Wo soll ich fliehen hin,
weil ich beschweret bin
mit vielen grossen Sünden ?
Wo kann ich Rettung finden ?
Wenn alle Welt herkäme,
mein Angst sie nicht wegnähme.

Where should I fly from here since I am burdened with many great sins? Where can I find rescue? If everybody in the world came to help, they would not take away my anguish. 

Another early work of Bach is his so-called "Little" Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, one of the best known and most widely played of Bach's early works. Mendelssohn was said to have introduced it to St. Paul's Cathedral in London. (Probably leading to its other nick-name, the "Cathedral.") It's form shows an immaturity, but that's overlooked by its strong spirit and drive. The work begins with a section of passage-work, which acts as an introduction and firmly sets the key. This is followed by a section of extended elaboration derived from the opening material. The second section, the fugue, contrasts with first by its thicker texture and stricter rhythm.

A contemporary of Bach named Domenico Scarlatti was living and writing music at the same time in Italy and Spain. Scarlatti churned out an enormous number of keyboard sonatas — more than 550.  If we believe the tales that are told, we have Scarlatti's gambling habit to thank for that number. One story has it that Scarlatti needed help from his patroness, the Queen of Spain, to pay off his gambling debts.  In return, she asked the composer to write down his improvised keyboard music.  The manuscripts containing the keyboard sonatas were given first to the queen and then, when the queen died in 1758, to the great singer Farinelli.  Soon thereafter, Scarlatti’s sonatas became known and loved across Europe.

Domenico Scarlatti

Scarlatti's sonatas all fall into the same form as the typical early 18th century keyboard sonata, the two-part binary form in two related sections, both of which are usually repeated. That is true of today's sonata, No. 51. The majority of Scarlatti's sonatas are brisk, energetic pieces, but since I am playing during communion, I've chosen one of his slower pieces marked Cantabile, which means "in a smooth singing style."

1. Bierman, Marloes. “Wo Soll Ich Fliehen Hin.” All of Bach, 15 May 2015, allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-694/. accessed 25 January 2018
2. van Doeselaar, Leo. “Wo Soll Ich Fliehen Hin.” All of Bach, 15 May 2015, allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-694/.