Of thy mystical supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a partaker.
– Liturgy of Holy Thursday
– Liturgy of Holy Thursday
It is probably sui generis (“without generation,” i.e., without precedent) to use the words “triduum,” “eucharistic,” and “Dale Warland” (b. 1932) in one title, but I am confident in my logic here. Although this professional chamber choir from Minneapolis–St. Paul was not a church choir, the treasury of sacred music from the Dale Warland Singers (hereinafter DWS) is significant for maintaining the highest possible quality of choral music through attention to detail. The hours that went into programming, rehearsing, and even editing programs for the DWS is immediately evident to anyone who has ever heard their music, live or via recording. Their “Christmas with the Dale Warland Singers” series was especially beloved in the choral community, so I will devote a column to their Christmas music this December. For this month, please join me on the fiftieth anniversary of their ‘birthday’ and the year of Warland’s ninetieth birthday to explore three anthems for the Lord’s Supper: sacred music for Great and Holy Thursday (“Of Thy Mystical Supper”), for any given Friday (“Salvation is Created”), and for the Feast of Corpus Christi (“O Sacred Feast”), thus creating a triduum or “three-day” cycle of music for the Lord’s Supper.
I.
The text of “Of Thy Mystical Supper” is assigned in the Eastern Orthodox Liturgy to Great and Holy Thursday, the third-last day before Easter Sunday on the Julian calendar. The original language of the text is outside my linguistic skill set, but I found a few exegetical gems all the same.
First, the word translated “supper” in the first and third lines of text (please see the text below) is the same word translated “kingdom” in the final line. Thus, the Kingdom of God comes to us in the Lord’s Supper, granting us to lead an earthly life in heaven and a heavenly life on earth. (The word “sacrament” in churches of the West is theologically equivalent to “mystery” in the churches of the East.)
Second, see how penitent faith permeates first-person narrative for those who receive the heavenly mysteries. Far from the modern notion that Communion is a personal right, a step towards church unity, or merely a show of camaraderie, this anonymous liturgical text grants the faithful the ability to speak in genuine, sacramental piety. Here is the prayer of the broken heart (Psalm 51) that joins with the penitent thief to cry, “Remember me, O Lord, in Thy kingdom” (St. Luke 23:42).
The music by Alexandre Gretchaninoff (1864–1956) is typical of the Russian Orthodox liturgical music of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries: “dark, lavishly layered music” and “big, sixteen-part pieces that reach for the effect of an orchestra” (Brian Newhouse, liner notes to Gothic CD 49252, p. 5). Here the DWS encountered a challenge, since a forty-voice ensemble might be stretched thin by too many textures. But they were certainly up to the task. Listen for their purity of tone, intonation, and legato sound, as befits music that accompanies the sacred feast.
First, the word translated “supper” in the first and third lines of text (please see the text below) is the same word translated “kingdom” in the final line. Thus, the Kingdom of God comes to us in the Lord’s Supper, granting us to lead an earthly life in heaven and a heavenly life on earth. (The word “sacrament” in churches of the West is theologically equivalent to “mystery” in the churches of the East.)
Second, see how penitent faith permeates first-person narrative for those who receive the heavenly mysteries. Far from the modern notion that Communion is a personal right, a step towards church unity, or merely a show of camaraderie, this anonymous liturgical text grants the faithful the ability to speak in genuine, sacramental piety. Here is the prayer of the broken heart (Psalm 51) that joins with the penitent thief to cry, “Remember me, O Lord, in Thy kingdom” (St. Luke 23:42).
The music by Alexandre Gretchaninoff (1864–1956) is typical of the Russian Orthodox liturgical music of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries: “dark, lavishly layered music” and “big, sixteen-part pieces that reach for the effect of an orchestra” (Brian Newhouse, liner notes to Gothic CD 49252, p. 5). Here the DWS encountered a challenge, since a forty-voice ensemble might be stretched thin by too many textures. But they were certainly up to the task. Listen for their purity of tone, intonation, and legato sound, as befits music that accompanies the sacred feast.
| Of Thy mystical supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a partaker: for I will not speak of Thy mystery to Thine enemies, neither like Judas will I treat Thee, but like the thief I will confess Thee: “Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.” Alleluia! |
II.
“Salvation is Created” is another gem of Russian Orthodox church music, and probably more familiar than “Of Thy Mystical Supper.” The simple and straightforward text is adapted for the liturgy from Psalm 74:12, “Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.” Psalm 74 is headed “A Maskil of Asaph,” i.e., a cry for God to arise and vanquish Israel’s foes. The leap from a prayer for military might to a prayer for the Lord’s Supper may seem like a stretch at first, but consider the good news that God works salvation by His might and He does so in the midst of the earth. Thus God has worked salvation through Jesus’ incarnation, death, and resurrection—Divine power working through earthly means. In the Lord’s Supper, the same Divine power for salvation works hard for you, but through the earthly elements of bread and wine, united in, with, and under Jesus’ true body and blood.
The music by Pavel Chesnokov (1877–1944) is a remarkable combination of simplicity and beauty. The composer chose a binary (AB) musical form. The first line of the text comprises section A, followed by repetitions of “Alleluia” for section B. This structure might reflect the custom of repeating selected refrains (“Alleluia,” “Lamb of God,” “Grant us peace,” etc.) until the distribution of the Lord’s Supper is complete. Lyrically, the music gradually rises out of the depths, much like the human nature of Christ. Technically, the vocal range spans several octaves and reaches a distinct climax with a leap into the upper register, before settling to a peaceful cadence and repetition of the three-fold Alleluia. Notice the long phrases and the demand for superb breath support, which explain why this work is also played by wind ensembles as a warm-up for breath support. Theologically, here is a melodic portrait of Psalm 85:11, “Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.”
The music by Pavel Chesnokov (1877–1944) is a remarkable combination of simplicity and beauty. The composer chose a binary (AB) musical form. The first line of the text comprises section A, followed by repetitions of “Alleluia” for section B. This structure might reflect the custom of repeating selected refrains (“Alleluia,” “Lamb of God,” “Grant us peace,” etc.) until the distribution of the Lord’s Supper is complete. Lyrically, the music gradually rises out of the depths, much like the human nature of Christ. Technically, the vocal range spans several octaves and reaches a distinct climax with a leap into the upper register, before settling to a peaceful cadence and repetition of the three-fold Alleluia. Notice the long phrases and the demand for superb breath support, which explain why this work is also played by wind ensembles as a warm-up for breath support. Theologically, here is a melodic portrait of Psalm 85:11, “Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.”
| | Salvation is created in the midst of the earth, O God. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. |
III.
The text of “O Sacred Feast” dates from the last days of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274), who wrote several hymns on the Lord’s Supper, most for the Feast of Corpus Christi (“The Body of Christ”), which is celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. This Roman Catholic festival is perhaps best known for its processionals through the city streets, with the eucharistic Body of Christ displayed in a large monstrance. The text was originally sung before and after the Magnificat at Vespers the night before the Mass, but through the centuries it has understandably taken on a life of its own, and therefore inspired composers to set it independently. The primary biblical foundation is St. Luke 22:14-23, which unites the past (Christ’s Passion) with the present (the Lord’s Supper) and the eschatological future (the heavenly banquet) into one Christ-centered narrative.
The music by Lithuanian composer, Vytautas Miškinis (b. 1954), begins in the lower reaches, with clustered sounds and vague harmonies in the men’s voices. He then adds layers of simple chants in the women’s voices, which eventually soar into the upper registers with increasing joy and rhythmic animation. Warland said that the sopranos of DWS must be able to “sing freely and naturally . . . [and be] able to respond to the demands of the music and to be able to control their vibrato, depending on the style of music at hand” (Choral Journal 45:1, p. 38), and the sopranos obviously were up to the task. The men remain anchored in their native vocal range, finally arriving on a low D-flat, a note the composer has studiously avoided yet anticipated throughout the work. Brian Newhouse writes, “The unmistakable effect is one of coming home” (liner notes to Gothic CD 49252, p. 7). In theological terms, the communicant who has received the body and blood of Christ in remembrance of His Passion has also received a pledge of future glory. Thus the faithful communicant is at home with Christ, lacking nothing in the presence of the Good Shepherd.
The music by Lithuanian composer, Vytautas Miškinis (b. 1954), begins in the lower reaches, with clustered sounds and vague harmonies in the men’s voices. He then adds layers of simple chants in the women’s voices, which eventually soar into the upper registers with increasing joy and rhythmic animation. Warland said that the sopranos of DWS must be able to “sing freely and naturally . . . [and be] able to respond to the demands of the music and to be able to control their vibrato, depending on the style of music at hand” (Choral Journal 45:1, p. 38), and the sopranos obviously were up to the task. The men remain anchored in their native vocal range, finally arriving on a low D-flat, a note the composer has studiously avoided yet anticipated throughout the work. Brian Newhouse writes, “The unmistakable effect is one of coming home” (liner notes to Gothic CD 49252, p. 7). In theological terms, the communicant who has received the body and blood of Christ in remembrance of His Passion has also received a pledge of future glory. Thus the faithful communicant is at home with Christ, lacking nothing in the presence of the Good Shepherd.
| O sacrum convivium in quo Christus sumitur: recolitur memoria passionis ejus: mens impletur gratia et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur, alleluia. | O sacred banquet at which Christ is received: the memory of His Passion is recalled: our souls are filled with grace and [the pledge of] future glory is given to us, alleluia. |
Extra Choral Credit:
Building a Library of Sacred Music
with the Dale Warland Singers
Building a Library of Sacred Music
with the Dale Warland Singers
I rarely refer to Wikipedia since it is wildly inconsistent in its content, but the current entry on the Dale Warland Singers is an accurate and helpful overview of their history, heritage, and resources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Warland_Singers
The website of The Dale Warland Singers appears to be no longer functional, but the website for Dale Warland himself is current. It includes biography, press kits, recordings, and much more.
https://dalewarland.com/
More important than reading about the DWS, of course, is the opportunity to give their recordings a fair hearing. https://dalewarland.com/recordings/ contains a complete list of available CDs for purchase. Before spending too much of your latest “Biden Bucks,” be sure to check your online platforms for recordings that you have already paid for.
You will encounter some secular works that might be informally classified as “far out,” but I encourage you to give the DWS a fair hearing. You might agree with one reviewer’s comments on the CD, Lux Arumque, which is the source of all three selections explored in this issue of “Lifted Voice”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Warland_Singers
The website of The Dale Warland Singers appears to be no longer functional, but the website for Dale Warland himself is current. It includes biography, press kits, recordings, and much more.
https://dalewarland.com/
More important than reading about the DWS, of course, is the opportunity to give their recordings a fair hearing. https://dalewarland.com/recordings/ contains a complete list of available CDs for purchase. Before spending too much of your latest “Biden Bucks,” be sure to check your online platforms for recordings that you have already paid for.
You will encounter some secular works that might be informally classified as “far out,” but I encourage you to give the DWS a fair hearing. You might agree with one reviewer’s comments on the CD, Lux Arumque, which is the source of all three selections explored in this issue of “Lifted Voice”:
| | Each piece transports the listener into that special world reserved for the truly magical moments in music. The listener is enthralled, overcome with sound so magnificent that he does not desire to leave. Every selection is stunning and you will find yourself listening again and again. (Choral Journal 48:8, p. 99) |
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