Compositions

This work was is part of a series of compositions I wrote for period instruments, including my two cantatas "I am Content" and "O Come, O Come," my "Concerto after Vivaldi" and Harpsichord and Organ Concerto No. 3. This sonata is inspired by the Six Violin and Harpsichord Sonatas by Bach.

I. Overture

II. Allegro

III. Aria

IV. Allegro

In this solo cantata for soprano and period ensemble, I have used English translations of several of Bach's Easter cantata texts. It is also a chorale cantata, based on Ahle's "I am Content" chorale that prompted the whole tone harmonic language of the piece. I am particularly fond of the "Rejoice" movement that poses plenty of virtuosic passages for the soprano. Addy Sterret's agile and expressive voice gave me the inspiration to write this work for Saint Peter's 2021 Easter service. I scored the work for baroque strings, oboe, and continuo. The video recording was shot and edited by me at St Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greenwich, CT.

I. Recit (BWV 67 Erschienen ist der herrliche Tag)
The glorious day has appeared,
over which no one can rejoice enough:
Christ, our Lord, triumphs today,
He leads all His enemies captive.
Alleluia!

II. Aria (BWV 145/1)
Arise, my heart, the Lord's day
has driven off the night of fear:
Christ, who lay in the grave,
He has not remained in death.
From now on I am truly comforted,
Jesus has redeemed the world.

III. Recit (BWV 249/1)
Come, hasten and run, you fugitive feet,
Find the cave that hides Jesus!
Laughing and jesting
Accompany our hearts,
For our salvation has arisen!

IV. Chorale (Hymn Vs. 1)
I am content! My Jesus ever lives,
In whom my heart is pleased.
He has fulfilled the Law of God for me,
God's wrath He has appeased.
Since He in death could perish never,
I also shall not die forever.
I am content! I am content!

V. Aria (BWV 84/1)
I am content with the fortune
that my dear Lord bestows on me.
If I am not to have the comfort of riches,
then I thank God for little gifts
and am also not worthy of these.

VI. Recit (BWV 134/2)
Rise up believers! sing lovely songs;
A splendid, renewed Light shines in you.
The living Savior causes blessed times,
Rise, souls! You must prepare an offering,
Pay your duty to the Most High with thanksgiving.

VII. Aria (BW 66/1)
Rejoice, you hearts,
fade away, you sorrows,
the Savior lives and rules within you.
You can drive away
mourning, fear, anxious despair,
the Savior revives his spiritual kingdom.

VIII. Recit (BWV 145/4)
My Jesus lives,
no one can take this from me,
therefore I die without grieving.
I am certain
and I have assurance,
that the darkness of the grave
will raise me up to heavenly glory;
my Jesus lives,
now I have enough.
My heart and mind
will be in heaven even today,
to behold the Redeemer Himself.

IX. Chorale (Hymn Vs. 3)

I am content! My Jesus is my light,
My radiant sun of grace.
His cheering rays beam blessings forth for all,
Sweet comfort, hope, and peace.
This Easter sun has brought salvation
And everlasting exultation.
I am content! I am content!

I used English translations of Bach cantata texts and the words of the "O Antiphons" in my Advent Cantata. It is set for a Bach-style (period or not) orchestra: two oboes, strings and continuo. I dedicated it to our retiring Senior Pastor at Saint Peter's Church, the Rev. Amandus Derr. The Saint Peter's Bach Collegium premiered it for his ordination anniversary concert on January 25, 2020.

The design of my cantata follows closely that of Bach's Chorale Cantatas, in which  every movement has an unmistakable reference to its chorale tune or text, in my case the Advent Hymn "O Come, O come Emmanuel."  It is hard to miss the reference to BWV 140 in the concerto-style opening chorale fantasy, but I included some more subtle Bach techniques from his later period. The aria (No. 5) is interrupted by the choir (like in some arias in the St Matthew Passion), the Chorale fantasy (No. 9), in the oboes play the cantus firmus with three ornate vocal lines around it (like Suscepit in the Magnificat) and the arioso is a recit that sometimes becomes an arioso with the choir commenting on it. I chose the texts carefully, to be consistent with the Advent message of the O Antiphons. (My favorite is probably the bass aria No. 5 that has a poignant Lutheran text.)

1. Chorus

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Hymn “O come, O come,” Vs. 1

2. Recit (T)

Marvel, o humanity, at this great mystery:
the Supreme Ruler appears to the world.
Here the treasures of heaven are uncovered,
here a divine manna is presented to us,
O miracle! The purity will be entirely unblemished

3. Aria (S)

Prepare the ways, prepare the path!
Prepare the ways
and make the footpaths
in faith and in life
smooth before the Highest.
The Messiah is coming!
Da capo
Text: BWV 132 No. 1, translation by Alfred Dürr

4. Recit (T)

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
Text: O Antiphons (O Sapientia)

5. Aria (B) with Choir

Who are you? Ask your conscience,
then you must hear without hypocrisy whether you,
O human, are false or true.
Who are you? Ask the law,
it will tell you who you are,
a child of wrath in Satan's net,
A false and hypocritical Christian

Choir:
A false Christian, a child of wrath!
Da capo

Text: BWV 132 No. 1, translation by Alfred Dürr

6. Chorale (SSA)

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.
Text: O Antiphons (O Adonai)

7. Arioso (T) with Choir

I would freely confess to you God, I have not rightly acknowledged you before.
Though mouth and lips call you Lord and Father, yet my heart has turned away from you.

Choir:
I have denied you in my living.

Tenor:
How can you give me good testimony?
When Jesus your spirit and baptismal water cleansed me of my misdeeds,
I indeed promised to keep constant firm
faithfulness with you. Ahh, but alas the baptismal
Covenant is broken, I repent the unfaithfulness.

Choir:
O God have mercy on me!

Tenor:
O help me with unswerving loyalty
I may constantly renew in Faith the covenant of Grace.

Text: BWV 132 translation by Alfred Dürr

8. Aria (S)

Members of Christ consider what the savior has given to you
through baptism’s purifying bath!
With his blood and water fountain your garments become bright,
Which were stained with misdeeds.
Christ gave you as new garments scarlet, purple, white silk: these are the Christian’s splendor.

Members of Christ consider what the savior has given to you
through baptism’s purifying bath!

9. Chorale

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Hymn “O come, O come,” Vs. 2

Organ Book No. 1 is a tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach, following the blueprints of his most typical genres for the organ: the Italian concerto, Chorale Prelude, Prelude and Fugue, Passacaglia and Trio Sonata. I conceived these works for historic organs; however, they can be equally well performed on any organ with a quick, responsive action and lively voicing.

The choices of registrations are up to the performer and is expected to vary depending on the instrument. My indications are not to be taken more than suggestions. I personally prefer combination of stops that are fewer in number but rich in color and have a singing quality. These pieces should be played with a lively, speech-like articulation and appropriate tempi to fit the instrument and room.

A three-movement concerto mixing schemata from Vivaldi and contemporary harmonic language for two violins. It is an arrangement of the opening piece in my Organ Book No. 1 that I arranged for baroque strings and harpsichord.

A three-movement concerto for harpsichord and baroque string ensemble. The first movement is inspired by Bach's D Minor Harpsichord Concerto BWV 1052 The second movement is based on the Chorale "Es ist Genug" and the third movement has a rhythmic drive reminiscent of Vivaldi.

A three movement concertino for organ and baroque ensemble. It might be played on a small organ without pedals, even on a positive organ. The inspiration came from Handel's brilliant organ concerti. The third movement is Bartokian, quoting the Microcosmos' "Bulgarian Rhythm" No. 6
I. Vivace
II. Air
III. Prestissimo

I composed this piece for the Yale Baroque Ensemble for a concert entitled "Reflections on Bach," a performance of works by J. S. Bach side by side with works by contemporary composers. I picked the trio in G Major BWV 1039 for its wide range of expressive qualities: a calm peaceful first movement, a highly chromatic third and a powerful last movement.

In my first movement called "A place to stay" I emphasize the peaceful, almost folk -like character of the Bach

In the second movement "Harmonic Landscape" I use the harmonic spectrum of the third movement of the Bach as successions of tetrachords.

The last movement the fugue subject is derived from the last movement of the Bach, emphasizing the rhythmic drive by the extensive use of pizzicato strings and the harpsichordist's use of the conga drums.

I commissioned poet Audrey Fernandez-Fraser to write a poem that reflects on the Funeral Cantata by Georg Melchior Hoffmann (formerly attributed to J. S. Bach as BWV 53). I expanded on the use of bells in my piece, making it integral to the expression of the text. The original piece was for a baroque trio (2vln, vcl., hrpsch.) but I added a baroque viola for a 2018 performance by Daniel Moody and members of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra at Stamford University.

In “The Final Wait,” I express the progression of feelings and afterlife imaginings that beset my heart and mind when I ponder the fateful bell-strikes that sound throughout the poignantly joyful alto aria, BWV 53.

When Balint asked me to base my poem on this aria, he suggested a ritornello form. This form lends itself naturally to the speaker’s vacillation between impressions of her present state – on a sickbed, perhaps – and visions of what death might bring. But the speaker does not stagnate in her ruminations. She journeys through territories of memory and imagination, beholding alternately fearsome and beautiful inventions of her mind, or perhaps premonitions of a life to come. Through the poem, she moves from anxious waiting, into a mysterious light, then back to her lonely, deadening surroundings. Then, more vividly, she sees angels, demons, friends, and heaven’s landscapes. By the end of the aria, she is “ready”. Perhaps her diverse musings have satisfied her curious mind, perhaps she is simply exhausted; or maybe she has glimpsed truth in places as yet uncharted by us, and there found comfort."

The Final Wait

Waiting, in my final hours, anxious and alone,
Clock ticking, unforgiving. What will come with the striking bell?
My heart-beats come faster, wishing time would come slower
Closer and closer I’m coming to the unknown hour

What is this illuminating light, in my ruminating mind—
Is it from the sun that warmed my childhood walks?
Is it of the Son, that humble holy one?
Sun or Son, Lux aeterna, will my shortening candle’s flame became you?

Angels, I can see you! Will you lift this heavy body?
Share your feathered wings with me,
Lift me flying to a perpetual place
Of growing life, where strong hearts beat

My heart-beats hasten. I fear.
Evil spirits! Dead spirits!
Wailing in my frightened ears, biting at my skin.
Night grows darker, my mind is dim.

Yet – I see a table, set with delights,
And people whose hearts have struggled and laughed with mine
My beloved ones gather to sing and feast, faces lit with life.
Is it Heaven I’m seeing, or only Earth?

Heaven! In heaven are there pastures? I see verdant pastures,
They are irrigated with waters from rivers of life, flowing from tears of love.
Lavender and jades, grains and bushes, forests!
And beyond them, flocks of creatures, strange and kind

I wait, I wait for my end to come, an answer to my questions:
I cannot resist the pulse of time, the final beat and bell
My heart hopes, heavy and hoping.
I’m ready for the rest