An Anthology of American Organ Music, Volumes 1 & 2 Liner Notes

The 18th Century

AN ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN ORGAN MUSIC

The 19th Century

JANICE BECK

playing the Noebren organ in the First Baptist Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan

NOTES:

During the 18th century, little music was written in America specifically for organ. It is clear, nevertheless, that most keyboard music was intended to be played on any keyboard instrument Even 3 and 4 part hymns and anthems, although written for voice, were often accompanied by the organ, duplicating the voice parts.

Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791), James Lyon (1735-1794) and William Billings (1746-1800) were America's first native born composers Each was self-trained in music which was, at least initially, only an avocation. Hopkinson, a friend of George

Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, may have composed the first piece of music in the American colonies (My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free). His Seven Songs for Harpsichord was dedicated to Washington and a copy sent to Jefferson Two pieces from this work, "Beneath a Weeping Willow’s Shade” and "Come Fair Rosina, Come Away, ” are included in this recording.

Lyon and Billings, and nearly all other native-born American composers of the 18th century, wrote, primarily, hymns, fuguing tunes, and anthems for the church service. Whereas the music of Hopkinson is primarily of historical interest, that of Lyon, and especially Billings, is of greater importance because of the influence it has had on later American composers. Since neither Lyon nor Billings had any formal musical training, they were

unfettered by the restrictions and rules of formal composition developed by European composers.

While their music is in some ways very awkward, it has, nevertheless, a freshness and vigor and

individuality that is both surprising and striking

Good examples are Lyon's setting of the 19th psalm, and the hymns of Billings’ most popular hymns, Chester and Conquest were among Billings' most popular hymns, and during the Revolution Chester achieved the status of a national patriotic song. The remarkable dissonances of Billings’ Jargon, employed to portray the discord and thunder proclaimed in the text, would probably be more offensive to the average church congregation of today than to that of Billings' day who not only accepted his music, but accepted it enthusiastically. The contrast between Jargon and When Jesus Wept provides insight into the depth of feeling and the sensitivity and great innate musical ability of this most significant of the early American composers. Such individuality and innovation in musical composition is not met with again in America until the advent of Charles Ives in the latter part of the 19th century. A major part of the art music composed in America during the 18th century was the work of immigrants from Europe. Among the more important of these composers were James Bremner (d. 1780), James Hewitt (1770-1827), Alexander Reinagle (1756-1809), and William Selby (1738-1798) of British origin, John Christopher Moller (d 1803) from Germany, and

Pierre Landrin Duport and Victor Pellissier from

France. Some of the best compositions of these composers have been selected for this recording. Although derivative and largely unimaginative, this spritely music, performed both in concert and at social gatherings, is exceptionally pleasant to the ear

Of these composers, Alexander Reinagle and James Hewitt were among the most influential, Reinagle is best known today for his four piano sonatas, and Hewitt for his episodic sonata for piano, The Battle of Trenton, The short works included herein, Reinagle's Minuet and Gavotte and Hewitt's Nahant Waltz, bear testimony to the artistic skill and craftsmanship of these early American composers.

Like Hewitt, William Selby was an organist. Nevertheless, his Voluntary performed in this record, like many other 18th century keyboard compositions, was written to be played on organ, harpsichord or pianoforte.

With the exception of The President's March, the authorship of none of the marches included is known with certainty, but Washington’s March, performed at the inauguration of President Washington, is attributed to Francis Hopkinson by O. G. Sonneck.

and Billings, and the rousing military and patriotic marches, reflects the ebullient spirit in the

colonies, and in the young nation following the Revolution.

THE PERFORMANCES -- Every effort has been made to retain the style and character of the period. Registrations reflect, as neatly as possible, stops available on the 18th century organs used in America. In the Billings hymns, Chester, Conquest and Jargon, the melody is retained in the tenor following the practice of the period, and When Jesus Wept is performed as a simple round as it was designed to be sung

FUTURE RECORDINGS IN THIS SERIES – This is the first of five recordings by Janice Beck that, together, will survey American music for organ from the 18th century to the present.

The gay, light-hearted music of Hopkinson and the immigrant composers, the hearty songs of Lyon

THE INSTRUMENT -- The 57 rank Noehren organ in the First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan is used in this recording. Specifications are as follows: Great: Quintadena 16’ , Principal 8' , Rohrfloete 8’ , Flute Harmonique 8’ , Octave 4’ , Spitzfloete 4’ , Octave 2’ , Waldfloete 2’ , Mixture III-V, Cymbel III, Cornet IV, Bombarde 16’ , Trompette 8, Clairon 4. Positiv: Gedeckt 8' , Principal 4’ , Rohrfloete 4’ , Octave 2' , Scharf III-V, Sesquialtera III, Cromhorne 8' , Trompette 8’ , Clairon 4’ ,

Choir: Bourdon 8' , Gemshorn 8’ , Unda Maris 8' , Flute 4’ , Nazard 2-2/3' , Piccolo 2' , Tierce 1-3/5' , Tremulant, Flageolet 1' , Larigot 1-1/3’

Swell: Bourdon 8' , Gamba 8' , Voix Celeste 8' , Flute Octavían 4, Octavín 2' , Plein Jeu III-V, Trompette 8' , Hautbois 8' , Clairon 4, Tremulant.

Pedal: Subbass 16, Principal 8' , Gedecktbass 8, Octave 4, Octave 2' , Mixture V, Posaune 16’ , Bombarde 16’ , Trompette 8' , Clairon 4.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS- Professor Charles Beck of the University of Michigan has contributed significantly to this project through his assistance in the selection and acquisition of the music performed and in the preparation of the liner notes. Others whose assistance is acknowledged with appreciation are Mr. William Lichtenwanger, Music Division, Library of Congress and Associate Dean A. P. Britton of the University of Michigan School of Music.

PROFESSOR CHARLES B. BECK

NOTES: VOLUME 2

Most Americans, even those possessed of a knowledge of the music world, were, on the whole, inclined to discount the possibility that a composer of American origin could produce anything of importance. " Compound Roger Sessions' sentiments with the general disinclination of the 19th-century composers to deal seriously with the organ as a medium of expression, then witness the incredulous surprise that marks one's discovery of a tiny but flourishing organ culture in the United States during the last four decades of that century.

Statistics demonstrate that the country was rather liberally supplied with organs prior to the Civil War, but in the main these instruments suffered only transcriptions plus the original works of minor European hacks. Indeed, one can safely say that almost nothing of consequence was written in this country for the organ before the works of John Knowles Paine (18391906). During the 40's,50’s, and 60's publishers in Boston and New York did issue organ literature by emigrant mediocrities like John Zundel, Charles Zeuner, and George Washbourne Morgan,

, but this is almost embarrassingly simpleminded (if pretentious) music, despite the fact that it is the sort of thing that must have nourished the young Paine. Its very shallowness makes evermore impressive the solid construction and sound craftsmanship (to say nothing of the imagination) manifested in the 21-year-old Paine's CONCERT VARIATIONS ON THE AUSTRIAN HYMN, Opus 3, No. 1 (the earliest work represented on this recording). The piece was written during Paine's apprenticeship to Carl August Haupt, one of the reigning German pedagogues of the day, this marking one of the realities of the time: the necessity of technical training and maturation in Europe. The value of an incubation period abroad was seldom questioned: “Europe was thought of as the only place in which to complete an artist's education. It was not only a question of teaching, but of atmosphere and background. Only in the surroundings of an older culture -- mellower than American of 1880 could a young talent properly mature. ” (Isabel Parker Semnler writing of father Horatio)

Parker (1863-1919) studied with

Rheinberger; Chadwick (1854 1937) with Haupt, Jadassohn, and Rheinberger. Bristow (1825 1898) and Foote (18531937) did not enjoy the advantages of foreign training, but reaped its benefits second-hand, Bristow through emigre teachers and Foote as a student of Paine at Harvard (where he received not only a BA, but also the country's first MA in music, this in 1875).

Thus one can speak of "American'" music with these men only as a matter of convenience, so European is their orientation and training (Bristow is a slightly special case to be dealt with shortly). Yet the curious paradox that they were concerned with achieving a sense of national dignity and self-reliance in the field of composition. For example 1900 Parker lamented that “it is inconceivable that this great country of ours shall always be an artistic parasite.. . If we are to have an American school of music, and we must have one, we must make it ourselves. . . ”

In their search for some sort of identity they assumed a stance that has become

widespread since. They categorically rejected what Daniel Gregory Mason was later to call "'spread-eagle chauvinism, " referring to the superficial nationalism represented by the overt borrowing of native and folk material. In rejecting such willful Americanism Foote represents a common view in proposing that "if music takes a national form, it must do so unconsciously and without forethought on the part of the composer.

Critic Rupert Hughes enunciated their credo clearly:

The true hope for a national spirit in American music surely lies, not in the arbitrary seizure of some musical dialect, but in the development of just such a quality as gives us an individuality among the nations of the world in respect to our character as a people; and that is a Cosmopolitanism made up elements from all the world, and yet, in its inbred qualities any one element.

Thus, theirs was an art which fully mirrored their time: a conservative, eclectic idiom with a gamut of influences extending from

Bachian counterpoint to the studied elegance of a Mendelssohn and (later in

the century) tortuous Wagnerian chromaticism. This is not to imply that they slavishly aped any specific manner, past Or contemporaneous. Their purpose was to write within the established principles of their time, leading hopefully to an art distinguished by clarity, good taste, and skillful workmanship. Yet, it is possible to discern in some of their scores an almost intangible quality that many commentators tend to see as nationalistic in the work of later composers such as Copland, Harris, and Schuman: what Mason labels as a kind of "American hustle. ” This amounts to a strength, vitality, and forthrightness of rhythm that gives the final result a sense of liveliness and good cheer.

Brooklyn-born Bristow has long been celebrated for his championing of American music, manifested in his temporary resignation from his violin desk in the New York Philharmonic Society in protest over the policies of an institution

"as anti-American as if it had been located in London during the Revolutionary War, and composed of naive-born British tories

Yet inspection reveals that his concern was primarily for the presentation of made.inAmerica music (his in particular). The only tangible Americanism one finds in his style is the borrowing of subject material, e.g., the NIAGARA Symphony and the opera RIP VAN WINKLE, Yet his symphonic idiom is decidedly Germanic and the opera obviously Italianate (in the Donizetti vein).

These men produced relatively little for the organ despite the fact that the instrument was the prime means of performance for all but Bristow. At least Parker seemed fully aware of the knotty problem of reconciling his intent with the fundamental nature of the instrument:

The intense Romanticism of the present day is, to my mind, incompatible with the cold nobility of the instrument at its best. Yet the best of the repertory fully deserves performance today, for it has about it a certain straightforward integrity and solidity which makes it viable and attractive.

William Osborne

Janice Beck studied with Jean Langlais in Paris as a Fulbright scholar following five years of work with Catherine Crozier. She performs frequently as a recitalist in the

United State, and has gained recognition in Europe through performances at L' Ecole des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris, over Radiodifusion Francaise, at the Reading Festival in England, and others.

A Musical Heritage Society recording produced under the direction of Professor

CHARLES B. BECK