Twin Cities Organ Concert Series
February 21, 2010
Lenten Prayers
Linda Mack, Organist.

Alain: Litanies | Vierne: Priere (from Dix Pieces) | Buxtehude: Two Chorale Preludes
Bach: Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 552 (St. Anne) | Mendelssohn: Sonata VI in D Minor, Op.65

Jehan Alain (1911-1940)
Litanies

'When the Christian soul in distress can no longer find new words to implore the mercy of God, it repeats ceaselessly and with a vehement faith the same invocation. Reason has reached its limits: faith alone can go further.”

French composer Jehan Alain inscribed these words on the score of his descriptive work Litanies, written in anguish over the loss of his 23-year-old sister Marie-Odile in a 1937 mountain accident. Utilizing the litany prayer form–a series of supplications using a quasi plainsong melody, Alain creates a “prayer (that is) not a lament, but an irresistible storm which overthrows everything in its way. It is also an obsession: it must fill the ears of men . . . and of the good Lord.”

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Rene Vierne (1878-1918)
Priere (from Dix Pieces)

René Vierne, (younger brother of the famous Louis Vierne) whose creative life was cut short in the battles of the first world war, left several colorful pieces for organ. This short piece, from a set of ten published in 1908, is a quiet, contemplative prayer, exploring the various string ensembles of the organ.

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Dietrich Buxtehude(1637-1707)
Two Chorale Preludes

Ich dank dir, lieber Herre, BuxWV 194
Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist, BuxWV 2008

The great master of Lübeck, Dietrich Buxtehude, is famous not only for his inspiration to the young J. S. Bach, but also his mastery of stylus fantasticus. This style is related to improvisation, but is a form dominated by the use of short contrasting episodes and is full of thematic, tempo and coloristic surprises. He uses this style not only in his free form works, but also in a number of his 47 settings of chorale tunes. The chorale fantasy Ich dank dir, lieber Herre, BuxWV 194 (I Thank Thee, Lord) is based on the Reformation hymn meant to be sung in the morning, giving thanks for safety through the night. After an initial statement of the opening of the hymn in four-part harmony, bits of the tune appear in various voices concluding with one of Buxtehude’s characteristic flights of fantasy.

Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist, BuxWV 209 (To God the Holy Spirit, we pray) is one of Buxtehude’s most exquisite settings of a chorale tune. The expressive Pentecostal prayer treats the chorale tune in a discretely coloratura manner while the accompaniment offers short fragments of imitative interest.

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Johann Sebastian Bach(1685-1750)
Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 552 (St. Anne)

This Fugue has pride of place by concluding the large set of chorale preludes (introduced by an equally magnificent Prelude ) called Clavierübung III. This set was the first of Bach's works to appear in print (1739). The Fugue in E-flat is often called the “Trinity” or “St. Anne.” The reference to the Trinity is due to the fact that the piece has three sections, three flats, and three main themes. One theme occurs in all three sections, and that phenomenon accounts for the “St. Anne” reference. That theme sounds very much like the English tune, St. Anne , which is most often associated with Isaac Watts' hymn O God, Our Help in Ages Past.

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Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Sonata VI in D Minor, Op.65

Theme & Variations on Vater Unser in Himmelreich
Finale (Andante)

Felix Mendelssohn was one of the leading organ virtuosos of his time and an indefatigable promoter of the works of Bach. Following a successful concert tour to England, the publisher of Coventry and Hollier commissioned Mendelssohn to write some “voluntaries” for the organ. In response, Mendelssohn produced six multi-movement works which he in turn called “sonatas.” The sixth sonata is cast in three main movements: a Theme & Variations on Martin Luther’s versification of the Lord’s Prayer, Vater Unser in Himmelreich, a fugue on that theme, and a finale. This afternoon we will hear the variations and the finale, a serene benediction, exploring the very softest sounds of the organ.

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Program notes by Linda Mack. Copyright 2010.
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