A special Ash Wednesday Organ concert presented by WPC Music Director and Organist, Rodney Loren, on February 14, 2024.
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00:00 Welcome
01:25 Sonata No. 3, Opus 65 ….Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
09:07 Scripture Reading: Selections from Joel
11:50 Prelude on the Pange Lingua ….Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
16:25 Scripture Reading: Psalm 57:1-13
18:57 Cortége et Litanie …Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)
25:43 Lenten Prayer
26:45 Benediction
27:52 Meditation …Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)
Program Notes
Sonata No. 3, Opus 65 ….Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Mendelssohn was commission by English publishers to compose a set of voluntaries in 1844. He decided to expand the pieces and refer to them as sonatas, using the word as it had been used by Bach, meaning a collection or suite of varying pieces. Sonata No. 3 incorporates a Lutheran chorale as well as music written as a processional for his sister’s wedding. Organized into four sections, the sonata opens and closes with the processional music in A major; the inner two sections are fugues in A minor. As each fugue develops in the manuals, the chorale Aus tiefer Not shrei ich zu dir (From deep affliction I cry out to you) appears in the pedal. The text associated with this melody is translated “In deepest need I cry to thee, Lord give ear to my cry. Thy gracious ear incline to me, and to my plea be open”.
Prelude on the Pange Lingua ….Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. As composer, he wrote for many forms: orchestra, opera, the church, solo instruments, and choral music. His choral work Pange Lingua is introduced by an organ prelude that: is full of contrasts in dynamics and harmonic language. The Pange Lingua is medieval Latin hymn attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas traditionally sung on Maundy Thursday and Feast of Corpus Christi. An excerpt of the English translation of the text is:
Sing, my tongue, the Saviour's glory, of his flesh, the mystery sing;
Of the Blood, all price exceeding, shed by our immortal king,
Destined, for the world's redemption, from a noble womb to spring.
Cortége et Litanie …Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)
Cortége et Litanie was originally written for a small orchestra of eleven players for a theatrical production. Dupré was later asked to transcribe it for organ, subsequently becoming one of his most recognizable compositions. The work has two distinct parts. Cortége is a hymn like modeled after the music for a funeral procession; Litanie follows with a chanting, repetitive pattern. After many repetitions of the melody with some development, both the chorale and chant are played simultaneously, building to an explosive finale.
Meditation …Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)
This relatively obscure piece by Duruflé, published posthumously in 2001. Using themes from the Agnus Dei of his Messe Cum Jubilo (1966), Duruflé constructed this Méditation for use in the liturgical offices.
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Wilton Presbyterian church is a progressive, welcoming and inclusive congregation seeking both to know Christ and to make Christ known to people from all walks of life. We welcome you to join us in person! Services are every Sunday at 10 am. Located in Wilton, CT.
