MUSICAL POLITICS: Motets of Influence

MUSICAL POLITICS

William Byrd (1540–1623) - Ne irascaris Domine
Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962) - To Morning (2008)
Thomas Tallis (1505–1585) - Gaude gloriosa

Intermission

Gregorio Allegri (1582–1652) - Miserere mei, Deus
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) - The Woman with the Alabaster Box (1997)
Byrd - Tribue Domine

SACRED MUSIC OFTEN SERVED NOT ONLY A LITURGICAL PURPOSE, but also a political one. The program explores music written for political gain and how politics of the time affected the music.

Thomas Tallis and William Byrd were among Queen Elizabeth I’s most highly favored musicians. In 1575 she granted Tallis and Byrd, the two best English composers at the time, sole rights to the printing of music. The monopoly rewarded them with extra income but also generally supported the English music business, as the grant banned the importation of music printed abroad. Tallis and Byrd took advantage of this monopoly to produce a major printed music anthology for liturgical use in 1575—Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur, a collection of 34 Latin motets dedicated to the Queen herself. The collection contains 17 motets, each by Tallis and Byrd, one for each year of the Queen’s reign.

Unfortunately, the Cantiones was a financial failure. In 1577 Byrd and Tallis were forced to petition Queen Elizabeth for financial help, pleading that the publication had “fallen oute to oure greate losse” and that Tallis was now “verie aged.” The Queen subsequently granted them a leasehold on various lands in East Anglia and the West Country for a period of 21 years, the length of the patent and essentially an artist’s typical royal subsidy.

In 1589 Byrd published another collection of Latin motets, Cantiones Sacrae I. This collection was dedicated to Edward Somerset, Earl of Worcester, and contains many of his greatest motets, including Ne irascaris, Domine. Although the music was mostly non-liturgical and intended as chamber music, many of these pieces may have been written for England’s oppressed Roman Catholic community, as evidenced by the references to Jerusalem lying desolate and the pleas to God to remember his people in the lyrics.

Byrd obtained the prestigious post of Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1572. He was not required to write in as many styles as Tallis, since the political and religious situation in England had settled somewhat by Byrd’s tenure. Byrd’s musical challenges were more personal. He spent his life composing for a Protestant church as a devout Catholic. The new Protestant service required a compositional style that prioritized communicating the meaning of the text to the congregation, which amounted to primarily chordal textures in the vernacular. The Catholic tradition still favored Latin texts and a more elaborate musical style. Byrd’s music was a compromise and sat right in the middle—simpler than contemporary Catholic music but more complex than the Protestant aesthetic. Many believe that his music reflects his desire for the return of Catholicism in veiled terms, particularly in Ne irascaris Domine. It may have been this inner conflict that allowed Byrd to produce some of the most beautiful compositions of Renaissance vocal music ever written.

Byrd’s greatest piece, Tribue Domine, concludes the program. Unlike most of the other pieces in the 1575 Cantiones, the text is from a medieval collection of Meditationes (Meditations on the Life of Christ) attributed to St. Augustine. In this twelve-minute masterpiece, Byrd pulls out his full arsenal, contrasting polyphonic and homophonic textures as well as polychoral writing.

Tallis, teacher of Byrd, is regarded as perhaps the most important composer of the Tudor period. Not only did Tallis compose under four successive monarchs (Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I), but he was capable of writing brilliantly in whatever musical style England required at the time. Henry VIII wanted to divorce the Queen so he broke away from the Catholic church in 1534, paving the way for the formation of the Anglican church, which favored simpler forms of writing. The Anglican liturgy during Edward VI’s reign introduced sacred music in the vernacular. At Mary’s accession in 1553, the Roman Rite was restored and the compositional style reverted back to the more elaborate and florid aesthetic style prevalent earlier in the century.

Tallis’s most epic composition, Gaude gloriosa, is one of the greatest motets ever dedicated to the Virgin Mary. At first listen, it sounds representative of the pre-Reformation style with its rather rambly and occasionally aimless nature. However, there is a sense of structure. Contrasting the relentless and demanding full sections are elegantly composed solo sections filled with imitation that is developed throughout—all indicative of the work of a mature composer in Counter-Reformation England. It is reasonable to think Tallis wrote it under Mary Tudor who might have enjoyed this fusion of old and new—a throwback to her youth with its deeply Catholic text, with a vision for the new Catholic church through the execution of the composition.

We learned in 1978 that Gaude gloriosa served another purpose. The monumental votive antiphon returned to the limelight when it was discovered during a renovation, hidden in a wall cavity at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1978. Unlike the Gaude gloriosa we know, this version was set to English text attributed to Katherine Parr. Parr, Henry VIII’s last queen, published anonymously in 1544 a book, Psalms or Prayers which included 15 psalm-collages translated into English. It is the Ninth Psalm from this book that appears on the manuscript set to Tallis’s music. Katherine’s translation is followed by a prayer for the King, and another ‘for men to saie entryng into battaile.’ The text was written at a time when England was at war with Scotland and France and it could have been used as a performative rallying cry to garner support for that conflict.

“Se lord and behold, how many they be, which trouble me, how manie, which make rebellion against me. They saie among themselues of my soul: there is no helpe of god for it to trust upon. O lorde god, in the haue I put my hope and trust: saue me from them which doe perse- cute me, and deliuer me. Lest peraduenture at one time or an other take my life from me.”

Musicologist David Skinner suggests that Katherine Parr and Tallis knew one another and worked together as part of Henry’s public relations machine for the King’s political cause. More personally, it demonstrates Katherine’s passion for reform and Henry’s growing conservatism in the final years of his reign.

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) is the “world’s most performed living composer” according to Estonian World. After some time experimenting in neoclassical styles, Pärt decided to use Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique and serialism in his compositions, displeasing the Soviet establishment enough that they banned his early works. The Soviet Union’s restrictions on artistic expression, along with Pärt’s dissatisfaction with his own work, sent him into several periods of contemplative silence, during which he studied choral music from the 14th through the 16th centuries. His biographer, Paul Hillier, says, “He had reached a position of complete despair in which the composition of music appeared to be the most futile of gestures, and he lacked the musical faith and will-power to write even a single note.” Out of this period of musical soul-searching emerged a unique compositional style that informed his music beginning in the 1970s—tintinnabuli (bell-like). The tintinnabuli style is a simple compositional technique that restricts the number of possible harmonies. The diocese at Karistad, Sweden, commissioned The Woman with the Alabaster Box (1997) for its 350th anniversary celebration. The text is from Matthew chapter 26, recounting an incident in which the disciples reprimand a woman for anointing Jesus's head with expensive ointment instead of selling the ointment and giving the proceeds to the poor.

Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962) is one of Britain’s most popular contemporary composers, especially among cathedral and collegiate choirs. He evokes a variety of styles to create a distinctly modern sound, parts of his music referencing Josquin, Tavener, and even Stravinsky. Jackson, the son of a clergyman and former chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, grew up in the Anglican church; however, he doesn’t consider himself to be a conventional believer—this is somewhat unexpected, considering his liturgical music output. To Morning (2008) demonstrates Jackson’s sensitivity to text by capturing the rhythmic nature of poetry for a timeless, yet effective, expression. The short motet was included in the Choirbook for the Queen in 2011 in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee.

Gregorio Allegri was an Italian composer who sang in the Papal choir in 1629. His setting of Psalm 51, Miserere mei, Deus, is easily the most famous vocal work of the Renaissance, largely because of an edition from the early 20th century which includes a high C for the soprano in the odd-numbered verses sung by a quartet. Composed during the reign of Pope Urban VII, probably during the 1630s, the Pope forbade anyone from transcribing it by threat of excommunication. Legend says a 14-year-old Mozart visited Rome in 1770 and wrote out the piece perfectly from memory after one hearing at the Sistine Chapel, releasing the Vatican’s guarded secret into the world. Mozart was summoned to Rome and, to his surprise, praised for his musical genius. (Some theorize that Mozart’s father, Leopold, fabricated the legend to boost Mozart’s fame in Austria.)

Miserere has evolved since its inception. Originally the work was simply a succession of chords to which the psalm was chanted. Through the years of performance by the Papal choir, embellishments were added by the singers and the piece became a legendary work. In the spirit of this tradition, Joshua Haberman has developed further embellishments for this performance.

Audition for Vox16's 2017-2018 Season!

We are pleased to announce auditions for our upcoming 2017-2018 season. We are looking for singers of all voice parts. Interested singers must sign up by June 28th. 

2017-2018 SCHEDULE More information about repertoire here

#1: MARIAN MOTETS

Sat Oct 7 at 7:30pm

Trinity Parish Church 

609 8th Ave

Seattle, WA 98104

Renaissance and contemporary settings of Marian motets. Featuring England's finest composers Cornysh, Tallis, Tavener, and Jackson.

Rehearsals

Mon Sept 25 at 7pm-10pm

Tues Oct 3 at 7pm-10pm

Wed Oct 4 at 7pm-10pm

#2 POSSIBLE RECORDING PROJECT (Pending funding)

January 2018

I would like to record a CD of new choral music in January featuring the selected compositions for the April 7 concert (to be released at that concert). A fundraising effort will be announced in the next few weeks to raise money for the project. 

Interested composers should contact Markdavin at markdavin@vox16.com 

#3: LOCALLY SOURCED

Sat April 7 at 7:30pm

Trinity Parish Church 

609 8th Ave

Seattle, WA 98104

New music from local composers

We are looking for composers to submit new compositions for this program. Compositions will be included in the CD project in January (pending funding) which will be released at this concert.

Rehearsals

Mon March 26 7pm-10pm 

*This rehearsal will be canceled if we record in January 2018

Wed April 4 at 7pm-10pm

Fri April 6 at 7pm-10pm

AUDITIONS

Interested singers are required to sign up for a 10-minute audition slot on one of the following dates:

Saturday, July 1, 2017, 2pm-6pm

Saturday, July 8, 2017, 2pm-6pm

Location:

Trinity Parish Church 

609 8th Ave

Seattle, WA 98104

Sign up for an audition slot here

Interested singers must sign up by June 28th. 

Singers are required to learn a part of their choice on Lobo's Versa est in luctum and will sing their part with five other singers on the other parts. There will also be a short sight-singing component. 

Singers will be evaluated on the following skills:

1. Execution of Assignment  (25%)

2. Tone Quality (25%)

3. Intonation (20%)

4. Ensemble skills (singing with others) (20%)

5. Sight-singing (10%)

COMMITMENT 

Singers are expected to attend all rehearsals and concerts during the 2017-2018 season. 

FEES

Singers pay no fees and are paid a small honorarium. Singers will be entitled to 1/20 of net revenues (ticket sales minus expenses - (sheet music, program printing, building use fee, etc.) This has typically amounted to about $40-$50 per concert and is paid two weeks after each concert. 

If the recording project is funded, singers will receive a fee for each recording session.

ABOUT VOX16

Vox16 is a professional chamber ensemble of sixteen singers dedicated to performing unaccompanied choral music from the Renaissance period to the 21st century. An exciting new presence in Seattle’s vibrant choral community, Vox16 was founded in 2015 by director Markdavin Obenza and is part of the Byrd Ensemble's Professional Choral Affiliates Program.

DIRECTOR MARKDAVIN OBENZA has dedicated his career to music. In addition to Vox16, Markdavin is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Byrd Ensemble, a Seattle-based early music vocal group, and Producer for Scribe Records, an independent record label. He is an active singer and has performed with the Tudor Choir (US) and members of the Tallis Scholars (UK), in addition to the Byrd Ensemble. He is currently the Director of Choral Music at Trinity Parish Church (Seattle, WA). 

Early music afficionados, a must-have greatest hits disc

MUSIC OF THE RENAISSANCE: Italy, England & France

ALLEGRI: Miserere mei, Deus
TAVERNER: Quemadmodum
WHITE: Exaudiat te Dominus
TALLIS: Lamentations II

BYRD: Domine, quis habitabit
BRUMEL: Lamentations
PALESTRINA: Magnificat
PALESTRINA: Nunc dimittis

Purchase CD at Scribe Records

The music on this disc spans the late-15th century to the early-17th century and represents the Italian, English, and Franco-Flemish schools of polyphony. From the singular phenomenon that is the Allegri Miserere to the gleaming architecture of Palestrina’s double-choir canticles, the works of the Italian school bookend a brief, chronological survey of the 16th-century English psalm motet as well as two sets of Lamentations, one English, the other Franco-Flemish. In the span of 70 minutes, we are vividly reminded of the remarkable diversity of the late-Renaissance polyphonic repertory.

Gregorio Allegri was an Italian composer and singer who joined the Papal choir in 1629. His setting of Psalm 51, Miserere mei, Deus, is easily the most famous vocal work of the Renaissance, largely due to a somewhat spurious edition dating from the early-20th century, which included a soaring high C for the soprano in the odd-numbered verses sung by a quartet. The history and evolution of Allegri’s setting is now well-known and well-documented.[i] It was composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for use in the Sistine Chapel during Matins, as part of the Tenebrae services on Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week. The service usually would start around 3:00 AM, and during the ritual, candles would be extinguished, one by one, until only one remained alight and hidden.

Originally, the work was simply a succession of chords to which the psalm was chanted (the tone has been identified as tonus peregrinus), but over decades of exclusive performance by the Papal choir, embellishments were added by singers and the piece evolved into a legendary work. A heightened sense of mystery surrounded the piece as the Papal choir jealously guarded it from others. Occasionally, a copy of the music would make its way out into the world, once via a young Mozart, who copied the work from memory after hearing a performance. For this recording, the now-traditional setting serves as the basis for further embellishments developed by Joshua Haberman in the spirit of the abbellimenti tradition.

The English school is represented by a selection of three psalm motets, a genre that developed out of the late-medieval votive antiphon in the 1540s, at a time when, in the climate of reform, prayers addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary and other saints fell out of favor. Composers of psalm motets sometimes adopted the structure of the old votive antiphons, beginning in triple time and changing to duple at the midway point. Passages for a reduced number of voices in any variety of combinations alternated with sections for full choir. Other examples of psalm motets were built solely on structural imitation, a technique developed on the continent during the late Renaissance, but which the English were slow to adopt. Psalm motets also continued the use of the five voice-types employed in large-scale votive antiphons: treble (soprano), mean (alto), tenor, baritone, and bass, although a number of examples (including those on this disc) omit the treble.

John Taverner was the most important English composer of the first half the 16th century. He was the first director of music at the newly established Cardinall College from 1525 to 1530. Taverner’s music bridges the gap between the complex, florid style of the Eton Choirbook composers of the late-15th century and the simpler, imitative style of the later mid-16th century composers, including Thomas Tallis and John Sheppard. His work is characterized above all by a sweeping melodic lyricism.

Quemadmodum probably dates from Taverner’s later years. The motet survives in a wordless source, likely used for recreational purposes by musical Elizabethans, but editor Haberman joins his predecessors in taking the lead from the title and fitting the first two verses of Psalm 42 to Taverner’s notes. Quemadmodum, although an early example of the psalm motet, nevertheless more closely resembles a Flemish motet than an English antiphon. The piece is in duple meter throughout, for full choir throughout, and employs structural imitation. The six-voice scoring also follows the Flemish preference for lower voices, creating a dense, compact texture that Tallis would later adopt in his seven-voice works, such as Loquebantur variis linguis, Suscipe quaeso, Domine, and the canon Miserere nostri. Upward transposition of the edition recorded here matches the voices more closely with the traditional English ranges of this period. Yet, despite all that seems un-English about the motet, the giveaway is Taverner’s supreme melodic gift. So beautifully developed in his large-scale Masses and antiphons, his sense of line also lends itself to the shorter melodic statements of imitation, thoroughly worked among the six voices.

Robert White was a leading musical figure in mid-16th century England during this period of continuing turmoil. He was a chorister at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later succeeded his father-in-law Christopher Tye as Master of the Choristers at nearby Ely Cathedral. He next worked at Westminster Abbey, but died of the plague in 1574. White wrote very little music in English, choosing to set Latin texts in an individual style that was at once old-fashioned and modern for its time—the sprawling musical structures of an earlier era were informed with the modern technique of imitative polyphony, with voice after voice repeating similar melodies in patterns that generate genuine urgency and drive.

White’s Exaudiat te Domine is composed using the old antiphon format, alternating full and reduced sections. He employs mean, tenor, baritone, and bass voices, omitting the trebles. Here, the edition is transposed up a minor third, resulting in ranges for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone. The baritone voice is split into a gimell from the beginning. (The gimell is an English device wherein a voice part is divided into two separate lines.) The piece begins with an extended trio for SABar. Imitation dissolves into extended melisma, leading into the first full section for SATBar1Bar2. Changing to duple meter, the motet continues with a double-gimell quartet for sopranos and baritones, followed by a second double gimell for altos and tenors, a passage featuring the false relation—the clash created by the raised leading tone in one voice sounding against the minor seventh in another. The expertly crafted final full section begins with the gradual addition of the other voices—the second baritone, followed by the soprano and first baritone. The resulting seven-voice texture provides White the means for an extended, thoroughly worked point of imitation at “Amen,” filled with cascading parallel thirds and sixths.

Thomas Tallis was unique in working under no fewer than four monarchs during his long life spanning most of the 16th century. He was able to adapt his musical style to meet virtually any requirements. He joined the Chapel Royal in 1543. Tallis’s two settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah are among the most beloved works of Tudor polyphony. They are settings of readings for the Maundy Thursday liturgy, but because the music survives only in manuscript we can’t be certain if Tallis intended them for liturgical performance or private, devotional use. The musical style suggests they were composed during Elizabeth I’s reign. Tallis’s compositional triumph here is his ability to imbue an overall feeling of restraint with a powerful emotional undercurrent.

“Tallis is dead and music dies.” So lamented William Byrd, who was once Tallis’s pupil and later his colleague. Byrd was one of the greatest of all English composers. He remained a Catholic in Protestant England, serving in the court of Elizabeth I for many years before moving out of London to a Catholic community toward the end of his life.

Like Taverner and White before him, Byrd’s voicing for the psalm motet Domine, quis habitabit omits the treble. The nine-voice texture (again, transposed up a minor third for this recording) includes pairs of sopranos, altos, and tenors over triple basses. Byrd eschews the antiphon structure, opting for full scoring throughout, save for a central section omitting two of the bass voices. The thorough working of White’s imitation at the end of Exaudiat te is brought to new heights by Byrd. Following a tutti rest, the final section begins with strong homophony. The texture quickly becomes polyphonic as Byrd introduces his final tour de force: canonic imitative points in each pair of the three upper voice parts as three basses pass motives back and forth, sometimes in literal imitation, sometimes inverse, sometimes abandoning the point altogether for a free polyphonic phrase. With the final text, “in aeternum” (substituting for an “Amen”), Byrd brings us to a rousing and seemingly inevitable final cadence.

French composer Antoine Brumel was a pupil of Josquin Desprez. Among his numerous posts, he was a singer at Chartres Cathedral and Master of the Boys at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. Brumel’s only surviving set of Lamentations is one of the most beautiful in the repertory. Composing for four voices in a chordal style, Brumel strikes a somber and contemplative mood. Following tradition (as did Tallis), he provides musical settings for the names of the Hebrew letters (here, Heth and Caph) that divide the text.

The outstanding composer of the Counter-Reformation years was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. He was probably a choirboy at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and later served there as maestro di cappella for ten years from 1561. The influence of his conservative and harmonically pure style was strongly felt throughout the latter years of the Renaissance and well into the Baroque era. Much of his music was performed by the Papal choir in Rome. Listening to Palestrina’s double-choir settings of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis back to back on this disc, one must remember they were not composed as a pair for Anglican Evensong, but rather for use separately in the Catholic offices of Vespers (Magnificat) and Compline (Nunc dimittis). Each stands on its own as a powerful expression Palestrina’s lasting achievements.

-Doug Fullington, 2016

Doug Fullington is founder and director of the Tudor Choir, based in Seattle, Washington. As a countertenor, he has performed with the Tallis Scholars as well as the Tudor Choir, Byrd Ensemble, and Cappella Romana. Trained as a musicologist, Doug is also a dance historian, with a focus on 19th-century French and Russian ballet.

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[i] See, for example, http://ancientgroove.co.uk/essays/allegri.html.

Vox16 sings Venetian Polyphony: Setting the Stage

VOX16 sings Venetian Polyphony: Music from St. Mark's Basilica

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10th at 7:30pm
Trinity Parish Church
609 8th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104

St. Mark’s Basilica employed some of the most innovative Renaissance composers who led the stylistic charge into the Baroque period. This program features polychoral music by Monteverdi, Croce, Gabrieli and Willaert.

PROGRAM
CROCE - Laudans exultet gaudio
MONTEVERDI - Missa in illo tempore
GABRIELI - Angelus ad pastores
MONTEVERDI - Adoramus te, Christe
MONTEVERDI - Memento
GABRIELI - O Jesu, mi dulcissime
WILLAERT - Ave Maria
GABRIELI - Magnificat for triple choir

TICKETS Save $3 by purchasing your tickets in advance here
General Admission: $20
Seniors (65+): $15
Students: $10

Renaissance vocal music hit its stride in the 16th and 17th century as composers mastered the art of expression. The previous writing style of the 15th and 16th centuries of long endless phrases evolved into an expressive style that focused on communicating the text. In Italy, the development of this new expressive style can be traced to one church, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. St. Mark’s—one of the most famous churches in the world—was a home to some of the most innovative Renaissance composers who were largely responsible for the musical shift into the Baroque period.

St. Mark’s—a fine example of Byzantine architecture—was built in 828 and has withstood many structural and decorative changes through the centuries. During the 14th century, it was common for people returning from the Orient to bring columns, capitals, statues or friezes to add to the basilica— effectively covering it in plunder. The exterior brickwork became covered with various marbles and carvings—some much older than the building itself—and the interior filled with gilded Byzantine mosaics. From the 11th century on, the building has been known as the Church of Gold.

Claudio Monteverdi—the most well known composer at St. Mark’s—grew up in Cremona, Northern Italy, singing in the cathedral choir. Monteverdi moved to Venice in 1613 to work at St. Mark’s and allegedly restored the falling musical standard. Monteverdi's predecessor's poor financial management skills was to blame for the subpar musical reputation at St. Mark’s. During Monteverdi's time at St. Mark's, he laid the stylistic foundation for the early Baroque style. The development of Basso Continuo was key in the transition to the baroque period. The Basso continuo is the doubling of the bass vocal part by an instrument and functioned to strengthen the harmonic structure over which a group of instrumentalists or "continuo" would improvise. St. Mark’s is very large and musicians were often split up into groups and placed at different parts of the church to perform call and response type music. Having instruments double singers improved clarity in such a large space. The Basso Continuo was logistically necessary. The practice of "doubling" was not new. 16th century sources comment on the deteriorating quality of church choirs who used the organ to double the substandard choirs.

Hence, it was legitimate to have the organ double the choir in Monteverdi's In illo tempore, though we will perform it unaccompanied. Monteverdi composed the mass to present to Pope Paul V in 1610 in hopes to receive a scholarship for his son and for some self notoriety. Because church music at the Sistine Chapel was always sung unaccompanied, the edition for the Sistine Chapel did not include an organ part. For no obvious reason, Monteverdi's In illo tempore is modeled on Franco-Flemish composer Nicholas Gombert's motet by the same name. It's possible Monteverdi wanted to look beyond the preceding generation of Italian composers to Flemish sources. Monteverdi extracts 10 themes from Gombert's motet to construct a 6 voice mass 30 minutes in length. Monteverdi's Adoramus te, Christe was published in Giulio Bianchi's—a colleague of his— book of motets in 1620. Memento was sung at Vespers on important feast days during the year. For these occasions, the high altar retable was opened and the choir sang double-choir psalms. Monteverdi composed Memento in a similar double-choir psalm chant style.

St. Mark’s acoustic presented another challenge—the distance between opposing choir lofts causes a sound delay. Composers used this acoustic peculiarity to their advantage. Instead of trying to coordinate widely separated choirs to sing the same music simultaneously in such an expansive space, composers such as Adrian Willaert—choirmaster of St. Mark’s in the 1540s—solved the problem by writing polychoral (multi choir) music. Opposing choirs would sing successive, often contrasting phrases of the music. The stereo effect grew in popularity and soon other composers were writing music for the same effect—not only in St. Mark’s— but in other large cathedrals in Italy. St. Mark's architecture caused the development of the Venetian Polychoral Style which spread throughout Europe.

St. Mark's Basilica (choir lofts)

The peak of the development of the Venetian Polychoral style was in the late 1500s while Giovanni Gabrieli was organist at St. Mark’s. Giovanni Gabrieli—nephew of Andrea Gabrieli—used large choirs of brass and began to specify dynamics for the echo effects. The spectacular sonorous music in St. Mark’s during Gabrieli’s years was soon exported across Europe by visiting composers and musicians.

Giovanni Croce’s affiliation with St. Mark’s was minimal at best—records show he might have been a member of the boys choir at St. Mark’s around 1585. Croce is most famous for his madrigals, but he did write a few polychoral pieces in the style of Giovanni Gabrieli such as Laudans exultet gaudio. Polychoral music is fun to sing, it feels like you are in competition with the other choir—seeing who can be the loudest.

Adrian Willaert—Flemish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School—was one of the most representative members of the northern generation of composers who moved to Italy bringing the polyphonic Franco-Flemish style with him. In contrast to the bombastic polychoral music, Willaert’s setting of Ave Maria is simple. Scored for only 4 voices the motet captures a beautiful somber mood.

One year with the Trinity Choir

Photo by Willimark Obenza

Trinity Sunday (May 22, 2016) marked the end of my first season with the Trinity Choir.

I remember my first day at Trinity very clearly. I sat alone in the dark sanctuary and stared at the illuminated stained glass windows, feeling incredibly fortunate to have the job of filling this space with glorious choral music.

Over the last 10 years, I have immersed myself in Renaissance polyphony and more generally sacred choral music. I have performed and recorded sacred choral music from all periods of music, particularly the Renaissance, and grew fascinated with the lifestyle of the Renaissance composer. These composers spent their days working with the best musicians composing and performing choral music in great cathedrals. A life dedicated to making beautiful music in a beautiful space? Yes, please. Sign me up!

Cue Trinity. It was my opportunity to be the modern day William Byrd working at the Chapel Royal or Josquin at the Sistine Chapel. The music I was making, at least temporarily, was going to avoid the conference room sanctuaries bestowed on us via modern architecture and instead make its way through the transcepts, arches and halls of the historic Trinity Parish Church. Beautiful music for a beautiful building, like yin and yang.

Upon my arrival, we introduced a monthly Evensong service. It was too easy. A historic building with choir stalls is practically begging for an Evensong service. We sang music by Renaissance greats William Byrd and Thomas Tallis and early 20th century British masters of Herbert Howells and Charles V. Stanford. The acoustics made the music sound sublime. (Hear the choir in action at 1:29 in the video below) 

It was not long until I learned of the Trinity Development Project. Trinity, like many other churches, is looking for ways to remain financially sustainable in a changing world and is considering development on its property. Ideally, the sale of air rights above the north half of our property will provide Trinity with brand new facilities, a much-needed cushion to its endowment, and greater capacity for outreach. The sanctuary would remain as is, but the offices, Parish Hall and other spaces will be redeveloped. As with any church, this level of change has caused some anxiety among parishioners. Trinity is blessed with decade-long members who are tied to the current buildings as they are, understandably so.

I did not put myself in that category, until I came across this facebook post:

I realized I too had my own attachments to the building. My obsession with making music in a beautiful church convinced me on some level that the building itself gave the music meaning. The building through its stunning acoustics and beautiful architecture enhances the musical experience, but it is the people themselves that are actually making the music.

I'm impressed with their dedication to the music ministry at Trinity: the commitment of each choir member after a long work day to attend Thursday rehearsals and Sunday morning services, the fellowship, the post-rehearsal drinking and the various small and significant ways they help each other. Real friendships have formed.  It is this community that gives the music meaning.

So, instead of marveling at the stained glass windows, I will be spending my Sunday mornings enchanted by the glorious sounds these people are making and forever humbled by the opportunity to be a part of it.

Markdavin Obenza and tenor Robert Foley

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Love to sing? Join the Trinity Choir and sing beautiful choral music from all eras. We are looking for singers of all voice types and skill levels to join the choir beginning this September 2016. The Trinity Choir rehearses Thursdays 7:30pm-9:15pm and sings for the Sunday 10:30am and monthly Evensong services. If you are interested, please contact Markdavin Obenza at markdavin@trinityseattle.org or register online here.

Want to try it out first? You are welcome to join the pick up choir this on these Sundays: 6/12, 7/10, 8/7. We meet at 9:30am and prepare a simple anthem along with the hymns for the 10:30am Sunday service.

Professional Choirs in the Seattle Area

Byrd Ensemble
Ensemble of 10-12 singers that perform mostly Renaissance polyphony. Directed by Markdavin Obenza www.byrdensemble.com

Canonici
Consort of about 6-8 voices that performs music from the medieval and renaissance eras, focusing primarily on music composed from 1350–1550. Directed by Anne Lyman. www.canonici.org

Chorosynthesis
A project-based ensemble that collaborates with musicians and composers to connect art with community. Directed by Jeremiah Selvey and Wendy K. Moy. chorosynthesis.org

The Emerald Ensemble
Coming soon. Directed by Gary Cannon.

Mägi Ensemble
Ensemble of 8 singers (SSAA) that perform music from the Baltic region. Directed by Heather MacLaughlin Garbes. www.magiensemble.com

The Tudor Choir
Choir of 10-16 that perform Renaissance polyphony and early American music. Directed by Doug Fullington. www.tudorchoir.org

Vox16
Chamber Choir of 16 singers that performs unaccompanied choral music. Directed by Markdavin Obenza. www.vox16.com

A new chamber choir, you interested?

UPDATE: Sign up for auditions here!

Adding another choir to the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium's phonebook of a list sounds ludicrous, indeed. Seattle feels plenty saturated with all kinds of choirs, specializing in medieval to avant-garde music in various sizes and configurations. One would think there is a choir for every singer no matter their skill or musical taste. Unfortunately, this is not the case and there is a type of singer that I believe is under-served: the very good amateur singer.

I audition singers regularly that are interested in singing with the Byrd Ensemble. I'm impressed with their courage to audition in front of someone they've never met in an unfamiliar place, no doubt with nerves that are preventing them from putting their best foot forward. No matter where they come from, the vast majority of them express a desire to perform at a higher level than they currently do in their respective choirs.

Unfortunately, Byrd Ensemble normally performs with 8-12 singers and the number of interested singers makes each position competitive. Having all this great talent to choose from is great from an artistic standpoint, but perhaps not so much for developing the talent pool for the future. At some point, especially in professional groups, we'll have to replace singers with new talent, and we must be ready for that moment.

When I was in school, I met new musicians and singers all the time, some with whom I still sing with. Now that I'm out of school, I'm no longer in touch with the current prospects. In an effort to get in touch with talented singers interested in professional ensemble singing and develop the talent pool, I would like to start a new chamber choir.

A 16-voice choir (SATB, 4 on each part) seems like the perfect size. It's a small enough group where each singer's contributions are really important and depended on. The group would have an early music focus, but more of an opportunity to explore vocal chamber choral music outside the Renaissance. [Perhaps also a great opportunity to perform music by composers in the group!] The choir would focus on developing the musical skill-set required in professional chamber singing.

I'm trying to gauge interest in this choir to see if it's worth organizing, so if you are interested please sign up below! If you are REALLY interested, please share this post with others that might want to sign up! [And no, this isn't for "young" singers, it's for all ages!].

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Purpose
The chamber choir would simulate a professional environment.
*Limited rehearsals.
*Musical expectations.
*Exposure to basic arts administration
*Possible recording projects

The chamber choir will focus on developing the desirable musical skills in a professional environment.
*Ensemble singing
*Tuning
*Contextual singing
*Singing with a partner

Requirements
*Interested singers will be expected to audition.
*Participants will be expected to attend all concerts and rehearsals (4 per concert)
*Participants will learn all the music.

Compensation
*Participants will not be paid a fee, but instead, will receive a share of revenue from ticket sales after expenses are paid.

Fees
*There are no fees!

Choral blend, a better way to get it (with AUDIO SAMPLES)

If you’ve ever sung in a choir, you probably have been told to “blend with your neighbor” or “blend with your section.” How do we go about achieving that? I think we need to first understand what a blended sound is and what it isn't. Let's listen to a few examples.

Here is Margaret singing an “oo” vowel on one note.

Example 1:

Let’s hear an example of that exact same clip doubled. I’ve created a second track, an exact copy of Example 1. Here is what they sound like together.

Example 2:

As you would expect, there is little difference between Example 1 and 2. We can hear that Example 2 is a perfectly blended sound. Everything is perfectly matched – pitch, vowels and timbre. It sounds like one person singing.

Let’s pitch shift one of the tracks down exactly 20 cents (there are 100 cents in a half step). In the real world of choral singing, 20 cents is a very a small difference, just 1/5 of a half step. This is what we get.

Example 3:



As you can hear, even with only a small 20 cent difference, we can hear many more “beats” in the sound.

To compare, let's hear Margaret singing two very different vowels, “oo” and “ee,” on the same note (tuned manually) at the same time.

Example 4:

Example 4 isn’t perfect, but combining two vastly different vowel sounds together results in a much more blended sound than in Example 3 where the same vowel is sung only 20 cents apart. What about when we combine two different voices, a male and female singing different vowels? In Example 5, Margaret is singing “oo” and I’m singing “ee” (in my falsetto for better contrast of tone). Two very different timbres and very different vowel sounds singing the same note.

Example 5:

Again, Example 5 is not perfect, but more blended than Example 3. Even with the two very different timbres and vowels, it's clear that Example 3 sounds most unblended.

Good blending is mostly about matching pitch and directors need to address pitch matching more directly. Too many times in rehearsal I have watched directors bring up vowel, vowel placement, or even timbre obscuring the real issue. Some directors use vowel modification as a way to correct pitch, as a way of tricking the singer into singing a higher note. Singing "ee" instead of "ih" may cause the singer to sing higher, but ideally, the singer should be able to sing both vowel shades on the same pitch. It would be disastrous if a singer starting mapping brighter vowels to higher pitches as all languages require singers to sing both bright and dark vowels, and all shades in between.
We need to treat pitch and vowel as separate musical entities.

[I personally don’t like the word “blend.” Most singers, when asked to “blend,” will sing quieter with a breathy unfocused tone quality trying to “match” their neighbor. I sometimes use "unified" instead.]