Tag Archives: hymn

O Filii et Filiae

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OFiliiEtFiliae
This melody dates to the Fifteenth century and was very popular in France. The original nine verse Latin hymn was written by Jean Tisserand, OFM (d. 1494). It was assigned to the celebration of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on Easter Sunday. While the triple alleluia was only to be sung at the beginning and ending, it has become a persistent refrain after each verse in most modern hymnals. The irregularity of the word stress may also have contributed to the great variety of rhythmic variations in the tune.

See a list of other chant themes here.
See a list of other hymn tunes here.

Videos:
François-Henri Houbart – Improvised Sortie on ‘O Filii et Filiae’ – La Madeleine, Paris
Jonathan Y. Tan – Postlude on ‘O Filii et Filiae’ – Grace Episcopal Church, Cincinnati
Bert Rebergen – Entree Improvisation “O Filii et Filiae” – St. Lambertus Castrop-Rauxel

Michael Burkhardt – Creative Hymn Playing

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Michael Burkhardt
Creative Hymn Playing: Improvisation, Exercises, and Repertoire


Michael Burkhardt is well known for his inspiring hymn playing and hymn arrangements. This book provides a guide to some of his techniques and can best be summarized by a quote from the end of the instruction portion of the book:

Develop one facet of improvisation at a time. Create a plan of attack, experiment, and modify.

The book is divided into four parts. The first part – Leading Congregational Song – offers some philosophical background and covers general performance practice for accompanying hymns. He gives specific and concise advice concerning tempo, registration and phrasing:

Slower tempi may be needed for rhythmically complex and intricate hymns….
Consider using as few stops as possible….
Generally speaking, a pulse of silence is needed for a breath between stanzas when a hymn begins on the beat, and half a pulse of silence for a breath between stanzas when a hymn begins with an anacrusis.

Part Two moves on to using the hymnal and becoming comfortable playing and using the material provided on the printed page. A series of very simple steps is outlined and illustrated using the tune Winchester Old.

Part three outlines a process for beginning hymn-based improvisations and then works through examples using the tunes O Filii et Filiae, Erhalt Uns, Herr, and Holy Manna. The last portion of part three is a set of variations on O Filii et Filiae with all the techniques of part three explained and labeled. Like part two, these steps are very simple and seem like they would be easily managed by a student with minimal music theory instruction.

The final part, providing almost half of the page count for the book, is filled with examples of hymn treatments with the forms and techniques identified in a box at the top of the piece. In addition to providing repertoire that the student could play, these examples show how simple the application of the techniques outlined in this book can be.

In general, I find this to be an entry level book. The material covered is very simple, but not so simple that it can be skipped by the student beginning to study improvisation. There is almost no discussion of harmonic language in this book. If the organist is to use these techniques to introduce, accompany, or provide an interlude for a hymn, it makes sense that harmonic vocabulary would be similar to what is printed on the page, so not a lot of discussion is necessary. Burkhardt does indicate that “further harmonizing possibilities are beyond the scope of this resource.” It would be nice to see a second volume address harmonic vocabulary in the same concise way Burkhardt has addressed form and melody here. (Breaking Free by Jeffrey Brillhart addresses harmonic language brilliantly but might be a little advanced by comparison to this book.)

Creative Hymn Playing: Improvisation, Exercises, and Repertoire gives clear and concise instructions with many examples on how to transform and create pieces based upon hymns. While the material is simple, it provides a solid foundation for further studies. It would be a great volume to work through before tackling Improvising: How to Master the Art by Gerre Hancock.

Jesu dulcis memoria

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Jesu dulcis memoria is a hymn often attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux. The original poem, depending on the manuscript, ranges from forty-two to fifty-three stanzas. Three sections of it are used as hymns in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus: “Iesu dulcis memoria” (Vespers), “Iesu rex admirabilis” (Office of Readings), “Iesu decus angelicum” (Lauds).

Several English hymns sung today are based on translations of Jesu dulcis memoria. These include “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts” (1858 translation by Ray Palmer) and “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee” (1849 translation by Edward Caswall).

Old Hundredth

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OldHundredthOld Hundredth is a hymn tune in Long Meter from Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (1551) (the second edition of the Genevan Psalter) and is one of the best known melodies in all Christian musical traditions. The tune is usually attributed to the French composer Loys Bourgeois (c.1510 – c.1560). While first associated with Psalm 134 in the Genevan Psalter, the melody receives its current name from an association with the 100th Psalm, in a paraphrase by William Kethe entitled All People that on Earth do Dwell. Many other texts are also used with this melody, including a paraphrase of Psalm 117 by Isaac Watts as well as the text often referred to as the Doxology, written in 1674 by Thomas Ken, a clergyman in the Church of England:

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

A version was sung at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, with harmonization and arrangement by the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.

Videos:
Pierre Pincemaille: Improvisation sur “Noi canteremo gloria a Te” (aka OLD HUNDREDTH) – Chignolo d’Isola, Bergamo, Italy
Sietze de Vries – Improvisation on’The Old Hundredth’ – Martinikerk, Groningen

Conditor Alme Siderum

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ConditorAlmeSiderum

Conditor alme siderum,
aeterna lux credentium,
Christe, redemptor omnium,
exaudi preces supplicum.


Creator of the stars of night,
Thy people’s everlasting light,
Jesu, Redeemer, save us all,
and hear Thy servants when they call.

Conditor alme siderum is an anonymous text from the 7th century used at Vespers during Advent. It was translated from Latin to English by John M. Neale in the Hymnal Noted, published in 1852. The hymn follows the Long Meter poetic rhythm and is in Mode IV.

See a list of other popular chant themes here.

Videos:
Pierre Pincemaille – Conditor Alme Siderum – St. Denis

Pange lingua

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PangeLinguaPange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium is a hymn written by St Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) for the Feast of Corpus Christi. It is also sung on Holy Thursday, during the procession from the church to the place where the Blessed Sacrament is kept until Good Friday. The last two stanzas, called separately Tantum Ergo, are sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The chant is in the Phrygian mode.

See a list of other popular chant themes here.

Videos:
Aart de Kort – Grands Jeux sur le Pange Lingua – Orgue Isnard (1774) de la Basilique St. Marie-Madeleine à St. Maximin (Provence)
Anthony Hammond – Improvisation on “Pange Lingua” – Bradford Cathedral

John Riley

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Website:
www.organimprovisation.net

YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeO4mMq0ARGvNFsLngpG6hg

Born in Leeds in 1958, John Riley started playing piano from the age of two. His formal training was at Liverpool, Cambridge and St Andrews Universities. John has enjoyed a varied career, both within and outside of music, including 15 years as a teacher in charge of computer studies and music at Pilrig Park special needs school in Edinburgh. During this time he raised the musical profile of the school significantly, including several concerts with the School Choir at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral. John’s improvised accompaniments and compositions have also featured in School productions at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.

Part of a team of musicians at St. Paul’s & St. George’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh since 1990, John has also acted as organist for numerous concerts and services at the Usher Hall and the Edinburgh Cathedrals.

As organist and pianist, John has a particular interest in the art of keyboard improvisation. John’s recitals invariably contain improvisations on submitted themes or pastiches on ‘hidden melodies’. He has performed his improvisations at a number of major venues and festivals. These include:- Bavokerk, Haarlem, (Haarlem International Organ Festival); Örgryte Nya Kyrka, (Gothenburg International Organ Academy); Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. He has taught on numerous Oundle for Organists and Royal College of Organist Academy study days, together with Prospective Organ Scholars courses at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. John has also acted as guest tutor on some of the annual London Organ Improvisation Courses.

John has written series of articles on organ improvisation for Organists’ Review (2001) and for The Organ (2005) and a self-published improvisation tutor, ‘The Creative Organist’ (1999). A new book and CD tutor on organ improvisation is in preparation.

Videos:
John Riley – Overture in the style of Mozart – Paisley Abbey
John Riley – Scottish style bagpipe tune – Kenneth Jones organ in the chapel of Loretto School, Musselburgh
John Riley – Prelude on ‘Truro’ in the style of Vivaldi – Kenneth Jones organ in Loretto School Chapel, Musselburgh
John Riley – Improvisation on three themes: Teddy Bears Picnic, Roll Out The Barrel and Postman Pat – Wells-Kennedy organ at Pamerston Place Church, Edinburgh
John Riley – Toccata on ‘St Fulbert’ in the style of Vierne – Paisley Abbey
John Riley – Improvisation in the style of Elgar – St Paul’s Cathedral, London

St. Anne

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StAnneST. ANNE was probably composed by William Croft when he was organist at St. Anne’s Church in Soho, London, England. The tune was first published in A Supplement to the New Version (1708) as a setting for Psalm 42. ST. ANNE became a setting for “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861), and the two have been linked ever since. The tune shares its first melodic motif with a number of other tunes from the early eighteenth century, most notably Bach’s great fugue in E-flat, nicknamed “St. Anne” because of the similarity of the first fugue subject to this tune.

Videos:
Robert Summers Potterton, III – Improvisation on ST. ANNE – St. Luke’s Lutheran Church: Dedham, MA

Nettleton

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NettletonFirst published without any composer listed in Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (1813), this tune has been ascribed to both John Wyeth (1770-1858), pubisher of the collection and Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844), who was a well-known evangelist of the early nineteenth century for whom the tune is named. Nettleton published Village Hymns (1825), but this compilation had no music and there is no indication that Nettleton wrote any tunes at any time. Wyeth, a printer by trade, was known as a compiler and publisher of early shape-note tune books. However there is no evidence that he also wrote music, as he was not himself a musician.

See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.

Videos:
Timothy Howard – Improvised postlude on NETTLETON – Pasadena Presbyterian Church, California