SHORT FESTIVAL TE DEUM and PSALM 148
Gustav Holst's (1874 - 1934) Psalm 148 and Short Festival Te Deum were written shortly before and shortly after he composed his best known work, the Planets. Psalm 148 is a brilliantly constructed setting of a well-known hymn which first presents the unison melody before harmonizing the alleluias. The men then sing a harmonization of the famous melody, followed by the women, before Holst brings in all the forces, including the organ, in full registration. The Short Festival Te Deum was written after Holst’s return from Salonika and Constantinople, where he worked as a music teacher and organizer and for British troops during WWI for the YMCA. The work was performed at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester upon his return. The Te Deum begins with an extravagant organ arpeggio underneath a powerful unison line—the head motive of an A section that returns after the lyrical middle section which appears at the line “when thou took it up on thee to deliver man.”
-Patrick Gardner

REJOICE IN THE LAMB
Rejoice in the Lamb was written in 1943 shortly after Benjamin Britten’s (1913- 1976) return to Great Britain following a three-year stay in America. This work was preceded by the composition of two of Britten’s most popular and substantial choral compositions, the Hymn to St. Cecilia and the Ceremony of Carols. Those two works were written on Britten's journey home from the States. Musicologist Phillip Brett suggests that it was almost “as if to think of England were to think of choral music,” and his return might have been Britten’s impetus for the writing of some of his greatest works for chorus. The work was commissioned by the Rev. Walter Hussey, who also commissioned the Chichester Psalms from Leonard Bernstein twenty-two years later.  Jubilate Agno or “Rejoice in the Lamb” is a long poem written by Christopher Smart, an eighteenth-century poet known during his lifetime for his translations of some of the odes of Alexander Pope and his contributions to several literary magazines in London. His commitment late in his life to several mental asylums is often commented upon, though it is not clear to what degree he might have been unstable. What today might be called religious zealotry could have been an excuse for his wife’s stepfather to have Smart put away. Given the serious attacks made on Smart by his father-in-law in the press and through some other publishing ventures, one cannot be too sure of the nature or seriousness of Smart’s supposed mental illness. What is known is that Smart produced much of Jubilate Agno after being confined to St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics on May 6, 1757, as a “Curable Patient.” In “Rejoice in the Lamb,” he abandons the norms of eighteenth-century literary style for a personal poetic style. The composition of thirty-two pages of lines of poetry which start with the word “let” or “for” created a litany nearly ecstatic in its presentation of a theme of worship and praise. Britten carefully organized the excerpts he set to music. They are described in the preface to the score by Walter Hussey, as presented below:
“The cantata is made up of ten short sections. The first sets the theme. The second gives a few examples of one person after another being summoned from the pages of the Old Testament to join with some creature in praising and rejoicing in God. The third is a quiet and ecstatic Hallelujah. In the fourth section Smart uses his beloved cat as an example of nature praising God by being simply what the Creator intended it to be. The same thought is carried on in the fifth section with the illustration of the mouse. The sixth section speaks of the flowers—“the poetry of Christ.” In the seventh section Smart refers to his troubles and suffering, but even these are an occasion for praising God, for it is through Christ that he will find his deliverance. The eighth section gives four letters from an alphabet, leading to a full chorus in section nine which speaks of the musical instruments and music’s praise of God. The final section repeats the Hallelujah.”
-Patrick Gardner

THERE WILL BE REST
Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) is regarded as one of the great American lyric poets. Her lyric style has its roots in the works of Sappho, Christina Rossetti, and A.E. Housman. Haunted by depression in her later years, Teasdale took her own life at the age of 48. Many of her poems address the pain that tormented her spirit, but to the end she seemed to draw strength and hope from the stars and their permanent radiance. “There Will Be Rest,” one of her last poems, is a perfect summary of her lifelong concern for the stars and their ancient promise of peace. This choral setting is designed to capture the poem’s purity of spirit and delicate lyricism.
-notes by the composer

CHICHESTER PSALMS
Thoroughly American in his musical sensibilities, yet consistently and publicly committed to humanitarian ideals that transcended national boundaries and cultural lines, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) created in this composition a very real reflection of his ideals. American in musical content, yet international in its genesis and lyric intent, the Chichester Psalms, written for the 1965 Chichester Festival in England, challenges us to live in unity as we recognize our inability to ignore the vanity of “national” rage. After a jubilant first movement entreating all to “make a joyful noise” (Psalms 108 and 100), Bernstein sets two opposing ideas which never truly resolve. First the treble soloist, joined later by the sopranos and altos, presents Psalm 23— “The Lord is my shepherd…” As they sing of traversing the valley of the shadow of death, the second sopranos sing softly in canon with the first sopranos, echoing the same melody several beats behind the firsts. The men violently interrupt Psalm 23 with shouts of “Lamah rag’shu goyim” (Why do the nations rage?). The dichotomous nature of mankind, wishing for peace but preparing for war, is explicitly depicted as the women, “blissfully unaware of threat” (Bernstein’s marking in the score), sing their peaceful music concurrent with the tenors’ and basses’ belligerent phrases. Anyone who has read Bernstein’s literary musings, from his various essays to his letters to the New York Times, knows and expects of him an unregenerate idealism. Those expectations are certainly fulfilled in this piece, with the triumphantly peaceful third movement. While the second movement presents the reality of man’s contentiousness, this last movement progresses from the calm and quiet of Psalm 131 to the chorus’ idealistic unison resolution as they sing Psalm 133—“Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.”
-Patrick Gardner

POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE MARCH NO. 1 IN D MAJOR
Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), that most quintessential of English composers from the late Victorian period, composed a total of five Pomp and Circumstance orchestral marches between 1901 and 1930. Their title is drawn from the third act of Shakespeare’s Othello: Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, th'ear-piercing fife, The royal banner, and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war! The style is typical of nationalistic “battle songs” from the period, although the first four marches were composed before World War I put a firm end to the romanticization of warfare. The tune, famous at graduation ceremonies throughout the United States, is framed by energetic material that allows for good demonstration of the pipe organ’s ability to play orchestral works. The arrangement was made by Edwin Lemare, who enjoyed great success in the United Kingdom, and, later, in the United States, as a concert organist and composer.
-James Kennerley