Matthew 25:31-46 The Judgement of the Nations

Henry Purcell, arr. Doyle: Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary

• March

• “Thou Knowest Lord the Secrets of Our Hearts”

Henry Purcell’s Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary was first performed at the funeral of Queen Mary II of England in 1695. This setting of “Thou Knowest” was performed at Purcell’s own funeral later that year. The text is one of the “sentences” from the Anglican funeral service in the Book of Common Prayer:

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts;

Shut not thy merciful ears unto our prayers;

But spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty.

O holy and most merciful Savior,

Thou most worthy Judge eternal,

Suffer us not at our last hour,

For any pains of death to fall away from Thee.

In this transcription by Ångström Brass trumpeter Patrick Doyle, the march is reprised at the end of “Thou Knowest” to give a sense of closure.

Some music theory:

The march is in the key of C minor, while “Thou Knowest” is in the key of Eb major. These keys have what is known as a relative relationship, which means that they share the same notes, with different notes and chords emphasized depending on the key. Additionally, despite the overall key of the march being C minor, it ends on a C major chord with the fifth omitted. In this arrangement, the third of the final chord is initially omitted to take advantage of the austere sound of the open fifth. The major third is restored at the end of the reprise, giving a sense of secure resolution. Changing the final tonic chord of a minor piece to a major chord is often referred to as a “picardy” third.

Psalm 51:3-19 “Have mercy on me, God…”

Ralph Vaughan Williams, arr. Doyle: Mass in G Minor

• Kyrie

Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote his Mass in G Minor in 1921, intending it for liturgical use rather than the concert hall. He dedicated this piece to Gustav Holst and the Whitsuntide Singers of Thaxted, UK.*  The Credo and Sanctus settings from this Mass were later adapted for the coronation service of Queen Elizabeth II. The work was originally written for four soloists and two choirs; the Kyrie was the only section feasible to adapt for brass quartet alone.

The Kyrie is the only part of the “Latin Mass” that is actually in Greek, and the Greek is often utilized even when the rest of the Mass is translated to a local vernacular.

Greek:

Κύριε, ἐλέησον

Χριστέ, ἐλέησον

Κύριε, ἐλέησον

Transliteration:

Kyrie eléison

Christe eléison

Kyrie eléison

English:

Lord, have mercy

Christ, have mercy

Lord, have mercy

Compositionally, Vaughan Williams’ setting follows the structure of the text, with an ABA1 form. Each section opens (in this transcription) with a brief trumpet solo. The harmonies are fairly simple throughout, and voice exchange is a frequently-employed compositional device. The modal melodic writing and use of imitation hearken back to 16th century compositional techniques, giving the piece a sense of timelessness through the blending of old and new.

*Thaxted, UK, is the eponym of the hymn tune THAXTED, a tune taken from the “Jupiter” movement of Holst’s orchestral work, The Planets, composed during the period in which Holst lived in that town.

James 1:19-27, 2:14-16, & 4:13-17 “Be doers of the word and not hearers only…”

J.S. Bach, arr. Doyle: Variations on “Christ lag in Todesbanden”

J.S. Bach was a prolific composer. On several occasions, he harmonized Martin Luther’s Easter hymn, “Christ lag in Todesbanden” (“Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death”). This arrangement of four such settings is presented in a theme and variations format, although this is merely a modern expediency: the settings themselves are not grouped in this way by Bach himself. The first setting is the least ornate, and thus serves as the “theme” on which the other three settings “elaborate.”

The tune is clearly present in the first trumpet part, and virtually unchanging throughout all 4 settings; the interest lies in the bass line and the inner voices.

While most sections of this program have the reading and then the music, this particular pairing is structured as follows:

• BWV* 279

• James 1:19-27

• BWV 4, Versus 7: “Wir essen und leben wohl”

• James 2:14-16

• BWV 277

• James 4:13-17

• BWV 625

*BWV stands for Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (“Bach works catalogue”) and refers to the modern standard list of Bach’s known compositions. Because many of the well over one thousand included titles are actually incipits (e.g. “Christ lag in Todesbanden”), the BWV number is often used as a shorthand. The BWV also groups works by genre, so the number provides even more information than the title; an astute Bach scholar would instantly recognize that BWV 4 was a cantata, BWV 277 and BWV 279 were four-part chorales, and BWV 625 was a work for organ.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord…’”

Dustin Williams: Shades of Brass

• 4: Sorrow

This movement of Williams’ Shades of Brass is a lament that delicately balances the emotions of grief and regret. The movement has the flavor of a prelude to a New Orleans funeral march interpreted through a classical lens. The sorrow is not particularly immediate; the impression is of sorrow observed rather than felt–perhaps the soundtrack to the silent movie of the funeral procession rather than the experience of any particular participant therein–or of remembered regrets that with time have faded from a stinging pain to a dull ache. Dissonances are fairly restrained, followed by conventional resolutions. Melodies are fairly simple, although they do contain the added inflection of grace notes and judicious use of portamenti. In a typical concert performance, the following poem is read before this movement:

Sorrow

For the depth of it all

The expansive darkness

Awakening nightfall

When all hope is lost

A dream unrealized

Misery embossed

Seeing no more

Missing always

Eternal door

Remorseful

Despondent

Weariful

Luke 12:2-48 “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed…”

Dustin Williams: Requiescat in Pace [world premiere]

This is the world premiere of Dustin Williams’ Requiescat in Pace (“May he rest in peace”). This piece was written for Ångström Brass with the cathedral acoustic in mind. After a short introduction, the tuba plays the Gregorian chant-inspired main thematic material of the piece.

The middle section of the work begins with muted trumpets and an anguished trombone solo. The intensity builds, breaking into a frenzied flurry of sixteenth notes before dying away into a restatement of the tuba solo.

Luke 16:19-31 The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

Casey Dickey: Nothing I Can Say

Casey Dickey’s Nothing I Can Say is arguably the most “cerebral” piece on tonight’s program. In this work, Dickey uses densely packed, imitative polyphony to create a series of roiling, oscillating timbral interactions. Unlike the rest of tonight’s program this piece falls within the jazz idiom, which is reflected in the harmonies and use of dissonance as well as the improvised trumpet solo in the middle section of the piece.

This piece has been recorded by Dickey’s duodecet, DODECADICKEY, which features saxophones and rhythm section in addition to brass. Our interpretation is essentially independent from that rendition due to the disparity in instrumentation. As with the many choral transcriptions on tonight’s program, the brass quartet version of Nothing I Can Say provides a different perspective on the musical material.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 “We do not want you to be unaware…”

Dustin Williams: Shades of Brass

• 6: Remember

This movement of Williams’ Shades of Brass is written for cornet, flugelhorn, trombone, and tuba. In our typical concert performances the musical material is preceded by a short elegy he wrote for his late grandmother, entitled, Remember… These Hands. The music is characterized by a sense of fond remembrance and incorporates they hymn tune NEW BRITAIN, which you will surely recognize. The movement ends with a hopeful, poignant offstage cornet iteration of a fragment of this tune; in deference to the overall flow of tonight’s program, this offstage solo will be performed in situ.

Remember...These Hands

Grandma.

Eggs.

Bacon and Eggs.

Blanket forts, cousins, and fun.

Daily bread and blessings with oil

Giving.

Too much giving? Selfless.

Ice cream and hot dogs

Prayer list.

Work.

Sinking spells.

Love.

Love, work, and sinking spells.

Love. Work.

Sick.

Cared for.

Eggs.

Love and loved.

Gone.

Missed.

These hands.

Working hands.

Loving hands.

Blessed and kept.

Remember...

These hands.

John 14:1-7 “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

Anton Bruckner, arr. Doyle: Locus iste

Anton Bruckner is best known for his eleven symphonies, but he also composed over a hundred choral works as well as several lieder (German-language art songs) for voice and piano. His Locus iste was composed early in his “Vienna Period.” 

Locus iste is the gradual of the Mass for the Dedication of a Church, and this setting was composed for the dedication of a votive chapel in the New Cathedral of Linz, Austria.

Original Latin text:

Locus iste a Deo factus est,

inaestimabile sacramentum,

irreprehensibilis est.

English translation:

This place was made by God,

a priceless mystery,

it is beyond reproach.

This transcription was one of the first pieces Ångström Brass performed in 2021 as we started navigating the transition from a quintet to a quartet following the lockdowns and other pandemic-related performance restrictions. It has become one of the core pieces in our repertoire, and will be on our forthcoming album.

Revelation 21:1-11, 21:22-27, 22:3-5 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”

Patrick Doyle; Alexander Ewing, arr. Doyle: Revelation Underscore/EWING

The term underscore denotes music that is played in the background under spoken text or dialogue. Because this is a fairly lengthy passage from the book of Revelation, and tonight’s program is, after all, a concert, it seemed appropriate to accompany the text with some simple music.

The first section of music, which accompanies the text from 21:1-7, has been newly composed for tonight’s concert. The second section of music begins at 21:9 and is a fairly straightforward adaptation of the hymn tune EWING.*

Written by Alexander Ewing in 1853, EWING is the standard tune for the hymn “Jerusalem the Golden.” This text is John M. Neal’s translation of a section of De contemptu mundi, a 3,000 line satirical Latin poem written by the early-twelfth-century French Benedictine monk Bernard of Cluny, that speaks of the beauty and glory of heaven.

*Hymn tune titles are typically written in all capitals. Tunes are often named for their authors, places or cities, or the hymn texts for which they were originally written. In many cases the syllabic structure of the lines is also given (in this case: 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6), which makes it easy to mix and match different tunes and texts.

Revelation 22:6-21

Dustin Williams: Shades of Brass

• 8. Mystery & Finale

This is the final movement of Williams’ Shades of Brass. Musical material from many of the preceding seven movements is incorporated into this movement. Each movement of the piece demonstrates a different musical style and incorporates different tone colors, and each is written to stand on its own as a shorter composition. This gives the piece a lot of flexibility as we do not need to perform every movement every time. The final movement imparts a retroactive coherence to the piece by weaving together material from the other movements, showing their interconnectedness despite their initial appearance of independence.

The movement does not rely exclusively on material from the rest of the piece. The opening measures are reminiscent of the beginning of the epic finale movement of Ottorino Respighi’s Pines of Rome, “The Pines of the Appian Way.” The movement also features the return of “Amazing Grace,” and culminates in a triumphant coda. Typically, the following poem is read before this movement:

Mystery and Finale

The casing creaks,

dusty from the years.

The darkened door,

reluctantly clears.

The prisoned prize,

bounteous, appears.

The myst'ry met,

relieved the fears.

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