MUSIC BOX
Melinda Coffey Armstead, piano & organ
Prelude to Worship
Variation VII from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini . . .Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2 . . . S. Rachmaninoff
Berceuse Op. 58 . . . Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Musical Interlude
Etude in A-flat major Op. 25 No. 1 “Aeolian Harp” . . . F. Chopin
Postlude
Sinfonia in B-flat major . . . J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Today’s Memorial Day program takes us on a musical journey from Judgement Day to heavenly peace, gently suggesting death and eternal rest. (If musicology doesn’t interest you skip to the last line.)
The “Dies Irae” (Day of Wrath) was a poem written to be used in the Requiem Mass of the Roman Catholic Church and comes from a Latin hymn dating from the thirteenth century. It has been quoted extensively by many composers, including in Haydn’s Symphony 103, Liszt’s Totentanz, and Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The famous Prelude in C-sharp minor is a kind of free improvisation on the melodic patterns of the Dies irae chant. The entire eight note phrase of the chant melody finally appears, hiding in the alto line, in the final ten measures.
Chopin’s Berceuse (lullaby), a miracle of right hand melodic invention and variation over a static bass, is a sublime experience of resting in peace for the listener. (The pianist, however, is kept pretty busy.)
The Etude in A-flat major Op. 25 No. 1, known as the “Aeolian Harp”, is one of Chopin’s most beloved and exalted works. After hearing Chopin play it, Robert Schumann wrote: “Imagine an Aeolian harp that had all the scales, and that these were jumbled together by the hand of an artist into all sorts of fantastic ornaments, but in such a manner that a deeper fundamental tone and a softly singing higher part were always audible, and you have an approximate idea of his playing . . . rather a poem than a Study.”
“Heaven is by favor; if it were by merit your dog would go in and you would stay out.” – Mark Twain
MCA
