The Catholic Sacred Music Project’s 2023 Composition Institute with Sir James MacMillan, co-sponsored by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Liturgy, concluded with a concert of eight choral composition world premieres. The premieres were performed in concert by the Catholic Sacred Music Project Choir under the direction of Dr. Timothy McDonnell, at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, Washington, D.C. on May 27th. As a composer and teacher, I chose to attend this concert for three reasons: to hear the premiere of a work by one of my former students, to hear works by fellow Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan, and to learn more about the Composition Institute.
Upon arriving at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, I was reminded of the proliferation of magnificent buildings and gardens which have been built in honor of Our Lord throughout the world and the centuries. The lovingly maintained gardens at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America create a retreat of serene beauty. While inside the monastery, the architectural design and craftmanship is second to none. It is a place of reverence and peace. It is also a place of exquisite beauty. There could have been no better place to vocalize these virgin musical lines and for the listener to be enveloped in their sound. The music and the setting fit like a glove, reminding us of the great canon of choral music written specifically for the church as well as the purpose and importance of that genre of music within the worship service.
For the purpose of the 2023 Composition Institute, each of the eight composers was assigned an office hymn. In line with the liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the performance of the eight hymns commenced with William Fritz’s Fantasy on Pange Lingua (Hymn of Vespers). Fluid in counterpoint and a rich palate of harmonies, Fritz’s work capitalizes on the possibility of six, seven and eight vocal divisions within the SATB texture, while alternating a predominantly contrapuntal texture with sections of homophonic chorale. The phrases not only flow gracefully but rise and fall in hand with the tension and release of the harmonies. I especially enjoyed several poignant harmonic resolutions created in answer to word-painting. At times we hear an echo or a remnant of the original plainsong chant. Given that the text in this hymn is so extensive, Fritz deftly succeeds in maintaining cohesion while providing necessary textural contrast. His closing is particularly exquisite, exhibiting a harmonically thrilling final “Amen”.
Michael Garrepy’s Te Lucis Ante Terinum (Hymn of Compline) followed, with a significant contrast in compositional style. A professional vocalist, Garrepy pays homage to the history of this old Latin hymn and its subsequent polyphonic setting by Thomas Tallis throughout the work. The opening tenor solo plainsong chant supported by a bed of vocal sound slowly evolves in to a familiar, yet fresh, vocal counterpoint with resultant harmonies both old and new. At times homophonic and at other times more polyphonic, the material never strays too far from the original hymn but offers beautiful corners of harmonic tension and release as well as illuminating highs and warm, dark lows. The fluidity of the lines and phrases are paced to perfection.
In almost complete contrast to Garrepy’s Hymn of Compline, Kristian Schembri’s Rector Potens, Verax Deus (Hymn of Sext) awakens and challenges the ear with frequent harmonic shifts in answer to this midday prayer for protection against strife; shifts which are immediately addressed in the introductory setting of the words “Rector” and “Potens”. Addressing the intensity of the prayer, Schembri creates a work grounded in the excitement of contemporary classical harmony that also exudes the rich harmonies and textures of his native Maltese music for religious feasts and processionals. Arresting harmonic shifts on words such as “córporum” hint at a composer seeking a more profound means of word-painting. An ornamental vocal flourish which hints at the outline of the plainchant hymn maneuvers throughout the work creating unity and a satisfying closing in the final “Amen”. Of particular interest to my ear is the harmonic and homophonic setting of “Cum Spíritu Paráclito” (“Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee,”) which creates a place of arrival and reverence prior to the vibrant, declamatory setting of the final line of text.
Iam Lucis Orto Sidere (Hymn of Prime) by Sam Scheibe approaches the setting of the hymn for the first hour in yet another compositional style. His approach to this composition focuses on the combination of short phrases of text and individual words. Ostinatos on individual words make up the majority of the piece and provide beds of sound upon which Scheibe lays short, repeated phrases. This work is clearly embedded in the prevailing contemporary concert choral style and even exhibits influence within that style which can be traced back to Orff’s Carmina Burana. With each section building in intensity, a choral declamation on “Deo” serves as a catalyst to a highly atmospheric and poignant final stanza of text.
Aiden Vass takes a more homophonic approach to his Nunc, Sancte, Nobis, Spiritus (Hymn of Terce), reveling in the creation of a rich harmonic texture pushed forward through the movement of internal lines. This approach offers him the opportunity to create moments of heightened tension befitting of the text for this third hour of the day after dawn. At the start of the second verse Vass immediately delves into a much more chromatic language, and subsequently builds tension through to a structural highpoint at “Accéndat ardor próximos” (“Till others catch the living flame”); a build of tension which is paced beautifully. His subsequent chromatic build through “Præsta, Pater” sets the stage for a most rewarding resolution through the third verse, creating the feeling of a return home, but not without a startling final cadence.
Rerum, Deus, Tenax Vigor (Hymn of None) by Zachary Landress takes full advantage of the eight-part choir. This work combines washes of sound built in steps on top of low pedals, brief antiphonal phrases, extended four-part counterpoint and at the high point, an eight-part chorale-like texture. In addition, there is a fleeting but welcome Alto I solo phrase. A piece driven by rich chromatic harmony, Landress even includes half-step seven-part harmonic slides which are effectively executed. With great pacing throughout, the work builds beautifully to a wondrous highpoint on the text, “Præsta, Pater piíssime” (“Almightly Father, hear our cry,”) and subsequently descends to a final “Amen” mounted on a low F pedal.
Wilhelmina Esary takes a highly effective and stylistically appropriate approach to the setting of six stanzas of text in Verbum Supernum Prodiens (Hymn of Lauds). Her approach of three sections of music with each assigned two stanzas of text is coupled with a musical language that not only incorporates elements of plainsong chant but also makes great use of two-part antiphonal parallelism. While fresh and beautifully crafted, this work is the most closely akin to the great sacred choral works within which I was enveloped throughout my childhood; a kinship which for me is familiar, reassuring and reaffirming. I especially enjoyed Esary’s opening stacked-fifths to cluster-chord motif on the text “Verbum” and subsequently “In mortem”. A beautifully detailed score, this work adheres solely to four parts, with great success.
The final office was Samuel Rowe’s Sacris Sóllemniis (Hymn of Matins). With seven stanzas of text to set, Rowe launches the work in a brisk manner with a request of “hushed intensity” from the singers. The combination of this brisk tempo with a primarily homophonic and monosyllabic texture sporting the occasional fugal entry or melisma, and constantly changing time-signatures, creates a rhythmically vibrant energy which continues through to the climax of the work on the text, “Accípite quod trado vásculum; Omnes ex eo bíbite.” (“Receive this cup from me, And all of you of this partake.”). Rowe then briefly creates a period of musical repose by inserting the title of the hymn, “Sacris solemniis”, in a highly effective two-note ostinato interwoven with lines of homophony before returning to the opening style of material for the closing stanza of the hymn. Very well structured and thought-out, Rowe’s approach to the composition of this Hymn of Matins is very successful.
Accompanying these eight world premieres were three works by Sir James MacMillan: A New Song, Ave Maris Stella, Do Not Be Afraid. Although I have chosen to focus on the premieres, I would be remiss if I did not mention the MacMillan works. I have known MacMillan’s music since the 1980s and have enjoyed hearing his works performed in our native Scotland as well as in the States. These performances were extremely poignant for me as I commence my journey home to Scotland after thirty-six years studying, teaching and living in the States. Each work exhibited the great mastery of MacMillan’s craft and the beauty of his compositional voice. A New Song was, for me, a reaffirmation of the reasons why I have dedicated my life to teaching, and the composition and performance of classical music.
Finally, to the most important part of this concert review: the musicians. Organist Benjamin LaPrairie performed MacMillan’s A New Song and Do Not Be Afraid exquisitely, with great registration and clarity. The Catholic Sacred Music Project Choir performed the premieres and the MacMillan works magnificently. Under the superb direction of Dr. Timothy McDonnell, the members of the choir learned eight new pieces, all significantly different in aesthetic and technical demands, in an extremely short period of time. Not only did they perform these works beautifully, but they conveyed the meaning and context of each hymn. Theirs was a mammoth task which they executed to perfection.
Throughout the concert and the post-concert discussions, I repeatedly heard the word “revival”. It became highly evident that those involved in this Composition Institute are seeking a means to revive the legacy of high-quality choral performance in the Catholic Church, as well as the composition of new high-caliber works written for the worship service which maintain and extend the rich, historic legacy of classical sacred music. With the year from June 2022 to June 2023 being declared the Eucharistic Revival by Pope Francis, I cannot imagine a better contribution than that which took place within the Catholic Sacred Music Project Composition Institute and this concert of new works. This institute has brought about the creation of eight new high-caliber works which can now take their place within the Catholic sacred music canon.
Jennifer Margaret Barker, B.Mus.(Hons.), M.Mus.(Perf.), M.Mus.(Comp.), A.M., Ph.D. is a composer and pianist and Professor of Music Composition/Theory at the University of Delaware.
