Music for this Sunday
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross - September 14
Unlike Good Friday, on which the Passion is the center theme, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrates the instrument of our salvation. On September 13, AD 335, the basilica over the Holy Sepulchre was consecrated; and the day after, September 14 a relic of the true Cross was exalted, shown, for veneration. While Good Friday is penitential, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebratory.
The prelude on Saturday is Introitus and Melodica monastica from A Cycle of Eight Short pieces, Opus 154, by Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933). Karg-Elert is a late romantic German composer with both impressionistic and expressionistic tendencies. He taught at the Leipzig Conservatory.
On Sunday, the prelude is the first movement of the Organ concerto in F, Opus 9, No 2, of Guiseppe Sammartini (1695-1750). An interesting piece of trivia is his full name. He has all three names of the Wise Men, his full name being Giuseppe Francesco Gaspare Melchiorre Baldassare Sammartini. Born in Milan, his father, Alexis, Saint-Martin, was a French oboist who gave his son his first lessons. He left Milan and eventually made it to London where he was heralded as the greatest oboist the world had ever known. He was hired as Master of Music to the Prince of Wales, Frederick, and his wife, Augusta. He worked for them from 1736 until his death in 1750.
Our Entrance Hymn is Lift High the Cross, a favourite of many. It has been suggested that the hymn was inspired by the story of Constantine the Great’s conversion after his vision of seeing a cross with the words In hoc signo vinces. Originally written by George Kitchin in 1887, it was revised in 1916 by M R Newbolt with 12 verses. It was first published in the US in 1974. Very few hymnals have more than 5 verses.
As this is a feast, we switch mass settings to our celebratory Heritage Mass by Owen Alstott (b 1947). His college degrees are in philosophy and his post-graduate studies are in theology. He also attended Willamette University for lessons in organ performance. He worked extensively in many positions at Oregon Catholic Press (OCP), and is married to liturgist Bernadete Farrell.
The anthem at the Offertory is Crux fidelis by Matthew Ward. Crux fidelis is part of a larger work by Venantius that begins with Pange lingua. It was written for a procession that brought a part of the true Cross to Queen Radegunda, a Frankish queen in AD 570. Its prescribed use is on Good Friday and feasts of the Cross.
Faithful Cross, above all other,
One and only noble Tree:
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peer may be.
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee!
The Offertory hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, fittingly follows the anthem. The text by Isaac Watts is a meditation on the Cross as the instrument of the Divine Sacrifice and the Cross as the instrument of this sacrifice.
The Sanctus, sung by the choir, is from the Missa Seraphica, anonymous. There are several masses known as the Missa Seraphica, but this particular missa brevis has an unknown provenance. It’s a short, lovely piece of music, sung this Sunday to embellish the mass, the first duty of a Catholic choir.
The anthem at Communion, God So Loved the World, Bob Chilcott, addresses the reason for the Divine Sacrifice, God’s love for his creation. Bob Chilcott (B 1955) was in the choir of King’s College, and was a member of the vocal group, The King’s Singers. He is the principal guest conductor of the BBC Singers and the conductor of the Birmingham University Singers. His compositions have been recorded by The Sixteen, Tenebrae, The King’s Singers, The Choir of King’s College, Westminster Abbey Choir, Wells Cathedral Choir, and the Houston Chamber Choir.
O Cross of Christ, Immortal Tree comes from the Stanbrook Abbey, a Benedictine abbey in North Yorksire, England. Stanbrook was founded in 1625 in Flanders under the auspices of the English Benedictine Congregation, catering to English expatriates. Among the foundresses was the 17 year old Helen More, the great-great-granddaughter of Saint Thomas More. After surviving being imprisoned during the French Revolution, the surviving nuns fled to England.
The emergency choral piece, Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow, while acknowledging the Passion, concentrates on the Cross as instrument of salvation. The tune, Cross of Jesus, by Sir John Stainer is from his cantata, The Crucifixion.
Our final hymn, In the Cross of Christ I Glory, was written by English diplomat, John Bowring. It was inspired by ruined remains of The Church of Our Lady of Fatima on Macao. After a failed revolution, Bowring was approaching Hong Kong by boat. The church was on the highest hill of Macao. Left standing from the ruins was the western wall of the church, was a cross, blackened by smoke from the repeated attacks.