Matthew starts with movement from one of the sonatas of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), the third of five sons of J. S. Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. Know by his initials, C. P. E., he took the fine training [one presumes] from his Father and forged a style and a career all his own. Along with other transitional composers, this style, which links the Late Baroque with the more refined and less ornate Classical period, is called ‘Rococo,’ a term derived also from the visual and decorative arts which is rather difficult to describe, but easy to frame: at best: highly refined and overtly stylish – at worst: fussy and pretentious and shallow. Where do you think this piece lies?

I think the ancient and awesome rallying cry of the Sanctus, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy…’ is perfectly apt for use as an Introit. This setting, composed for my Folk Group at Holy Innocents’ Church in Atlanta by one of its members, Meredith Stephenson, is a nice pop/classical hybrid: Like Schubert on vacation in Jamaica…

Our two new Staff singers, soprano Stacey Weber and baritone Gabe Preisser assume the roles of ‘The Widow,’ and ‘Elijah’ in this excerpt from Felix Mendelssohn’s grandiose oratorio, ELIJAH. We pick up the drama at a high point: Elijah has just urged God [successfully] to restore the life of the Widow’s son. It is by this sign that we know that Elijah is a Holy man. The duet recitative spills into one of the finest choruses in the piece: ‘Blessed are the men who fear Him,’ a translucent and limpid choral ‘spinning-song’ of gratitude and grace…

For the Offertory, the choir sings one of the deeply satisfying little anthems of American composer Gerald Near, lately of Santa Fe, NM. Using simple imitation and gently undulating, off-beat figures, Gerald creates a mood that quietly lifts off and then never seems to land. This piece dates from his years in Dallas in the 1970’s.

Randall Thompson’s ‘Mirror of St. Anne,’ is an exercise in Music Theory. It is antiphonal in nature, but with a twist: one chorus answering another, but with the second chorus [played by Matthew on the organ] answering in what is called ‘inverse, contrary imitation.’ In other words – the choir sings one phrase of the hymn and the organ answers with the VERY SAME NOTES, only upside-down and backwards. Hence the ‘mirror.’ Aurally speaking, each phrase is the acoustical opposite [though with the same notes and intervals] of the other… And it’s always nice when such a rarefied and intellectual exercise as this sounds good as well!!

-Keith Weber