The Thirteen originated in 2012 with performing music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In our first concert in Oct., 2013 this included works from Tallis, Palestrina and highlighted works of the 16th century. Several forms were presented – madrigals and selections from the mass of St. Cecelia. Over the years they have expanded to include selections from the 18th through the 20th centuries.
We will concentrate on the Renaissance and Baroque and then 20th century work to show the diversity of the choir. One work will be highlighted in the earlier periods which is still an area of emphasis for the group.
Renaissance
The two main forms of sacred Renaissance music are the motet and the mass. They are alike in style, but a mass is a longer composition. The Renaissance mass is a polyphonic choral composition made up of five sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.
Motets first developed in the late Middle Ages but flourished primarily in the Renaissance. Unlike Medieval motets, Renaissance motets are smooth-sounding and imitative in texture. Although a motet can sound like a Mass, a Mass is based on one of the five prayers of the "Ordinary" (Kyrie eleison, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) while a motet has some other type of religious text. A motet is usually sung a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment), although instruments may "double" the voices. There are two major characteristics of this music:
1 Polyphany – Renaissance works usually have at least five independent vocal parts, with expanded ranges (higher soprano parts, lower bass parts). Imitation among the voices is common: each presents the same melodic idea in turn, as in a round. ("Row, Row, your boat")
Renaissance composers began to write in a new way called simultaneous composition, in which all the voice parts were constructed together phrase-by-phrase allowing echoing of music from voice to voice)
2. Rhythm and Melody – In Renaissance music, rhythm is more a gentle flow than
a sharply defined beat. This is because each melodic line has great rhythmic independence: when one singer is at the beginning of his or her melodic phrase, the others may already be in the middle of theirs. This technique makes singing Renaissance music both a pleasure and a challenge, for each singer must maintain an individual rhythm.
William Byrd’s "Vigilate"
Here is the The Thirteen’s version of this motet.
Here is the sheet music.
Even if you can’t read music you can see the polyphany interplay of voices. Note the flow of the notes up and down five notes at the beginning between the voices.
William Byrd’s (1543-1623) known professional employment was his appointment in 1563 as organist and master of the choristers at Lincoln Cathedral and remained in post until 1572 From the early 1570s onwards Byrd became increasingly involved with Catholicism, which became a major factor in his personal and creative life.
The majority of Elizabeth’s subjects were still Catholic. But they had to worship in private, and the threat of state reprisal was ever-present. Many of Byrd’s Latin motets — often composed for such in-home services set texts that would have held special meaning for English Catholics hoping for a restoration of the faith.
Byrd’s "Vigilate" is a five-part Latin motet. It was published in 1589 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and takes its text from Mk. 13 : 35-7, where Christ exhorts his disciples to watch for the end of the world. “Keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will return.”
Its syncopated outbursts on the word “repente” (“suddenly”) either (or both) the anticipated short-circuit of the Protestant regime or the disrupting penalty for insufficient vigilance; and “Ne irascaris,” a grandly sober setting of Isaiah’s assessment that “Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem is desolate.” Such passages could be nominally unobjectionable to Protestant authorities — being, after all, scrupulously biblical — while still speaking directly to the Catholic hopeful.
Baroque
Baroque music is closer to our modern conception music. This is the period from approximately 1600-1750. We know it as the time of Bach and Handel.
There is much more diversity of form as shown in the table below. These included the first operas,oratorios, cantatas and for instruments the solo sonata, trio sonata and chamber duet; and the prelude and fugue.
There is much more variety of rhythm and with the much stronger bass there is a much closer feeling of beat. Among the general characteristics of Baroque art is a sense of movement, energy, and tension (whether real or implied). There is a repetition of a basic melody, creating a feeling of continuity. We hear Baroque music all the time from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” to Johann Bach “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring”. The term “baroque” is derived from the Portuguese barroco, or “oddly shaped pearl,”
The idea of a concert whether instrumental or vocal was changing in this period. In modern times, going to a concert is an event. We hear an ad on the radio or see a listing in the newspaper; we purchase tickets; we go to a concert hall and sit quietly until it is time to applaud. In the baroque era, this kind of public concert was rare. Many of the most famous baroque compositions were performed in churches for a service, or as part of a private concert or celebration in the home of a wealthy patron. During the course of the baroque, however, public performances became more common, particularly in the genres of opera and oratorio, and our modern concert tradition began to coalesce in many European cities.
The advent of the public concert made the growing middle class an important source of income for musicians. By the end of the baroque, this social subset had become a musical patron almost as powerful as the church or court.
The featured work is J.S Bach "Lobet den Herrn", BWV 230 – We are using another motet in part to contrast Bach’s handling with Byrd’s motet ofthe Renaissance period.
This is not just a vocal piece. It was probably accompanied by organ and at least one of the bass strings. That’s one difference. Note the different fealing of rhythm, helped by the instrumental accompaniment . There is a definite sense of a "beat."
The text is drawn from Psalm 117, vs. 1-2:
"Praise the Lord, all nations,
and praise Him, all peoples!
For His grace and truth rules over us for eternity."
A joy motif pervades the whole chorus in a straightforward hymn of praise to God, according to the text of Psalm 117. Bach follows his text closely, dividing the text into three sections – an animated fugue with a joy motif for the fist two lines, a motif of calm for the next two lines, and a return to the joy motif in the final Alleluja
Here is the Thirteen’s version
Here is a diagram
Modern Era
The Thirteen in our time focuses on the popular song. During the 20th century there was a vast increase in the variety of music that people had access to. It was transmitted through technology (sound recordings), radio, TV, etc. The popular was transmitted through Broadway, Jazz and other forms of music.
Arrangers emerged to take older songs and take them into a new context. Many had an older history. The Thirteen looked to Christmas music as a source
Here are examples
1. Shenandoah – Shenandoah is said to have originated with French voyageurs traveling down the Missouri River. The lyrics tell the story of a trader who fell in love with the daughter of an Algonquian chief, Shenandoah. American sailors heading down the Mississippi River picked up the song and made it a capstan shanty that they sang while hauling in the anchor. James Erb’s setting of "Shenandoah" composed in 1971 and performed the Thirteen:
2. Three Kings
The Thirteen performance
James Healey Willan, ( 1880 – 1968) was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and piano. He is best known for his religious music.
3. O Come O Come Emmanuel
Joseph Jennings is widely regarded as one of the choral world’s top conductors and music directors, clinicians and arrangers. He joined the renowned a capella group, Chanticleer, in 1983 as a countertenor, and shortly thereafter assumed position as Music Director.
The Thirteen’s version
4. Jeffrey Van’s "Reconciliation" from "A Procession Winding Around Me"
Another example of taking text from an earlier time with a modern song setting
Text from Walt Whitman
"Word over all, beautiful as the sky,
Beautiful that war and all its deeds of carnage must in time be utterly lost,
That the hands of the sisters Death and Night incessantly softly wash again, and ever again, this soil’d world;
For my enemy is dead, a man divine as myself is dead,
I look where he lies white-faced and still in the coffin–I draw near, Bend down and touch lightly with my lips the white face in the coffin."
Thirteen performance
Today
As evident from their touring page, the Thirteen’s repertoire is increasingly diverse. Here are some recent concerts:
1. On the Migration of Souls – The human story is a history of migration. As humankind has migrated, musical ideas have migrated as well, often resulting in flowerings of choral music.
2. Northern Lights-landscapes of the far north through works by Scandinavian, Baltic, and Northern composers.
3. Bach Reflections-We explore what the music of Bach means for us today.
4. Vespers of 1610-To celebrate Claudio Monteverdi’s 450th birthday -Combining the exoticism of the East with the structure of the West, this pivotal masterpiece encompasses the full spectrum of genres and styles of the time, from the archaic to the avant-garde, from massive choruses to enchanting solos and innovative combinations of instruments.
At. St. Peter’s, he Thirteen will be presenting a program on the topic of nature :
In planning the concert Matthew Robertson, the artistic director was struck by the role of nature in the form of inspiration and place of grounding. Over the centuries, the mystery of the cosmos and the beauty of natural world has inspired and entranced composers and have resulted in some of the finest works of music every written.
In this concert, the Thirteen will explore music of the cosmos, the earth, and our changing environment in a concert expressing our love for our natural world. This concert will include works by Brahms, Monteverdi, Britten, Stanford, David Lang, Daniel Elder, Willametta Spencer, and even Dolly Parton!