compositions
compositions
BENEDICTUS (Hommage a Monteverdi)
BENEDICTUS
(Hommage a Monteverdi)
- excerpt
Organ: David Palmer
CD
includes:
- Benedictus (Hommage a Monteverdi)
Organ: David Palmer
Publisher: Centrediscs
SKU: CMCCD 12106
Duration: 16 minutes
Written: 1992
Premiered: August 18, 1992
National Convention of the Royal Canadian College of Organists
Organ: Sylvian Barrette
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
Ottawa, Canada
National Convention of the Royal Canadian College of Organists
Organ: Sylvian Barrette
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
Ottawa, Canada
- Organ Solo
Background
Benedictus was written to commemorate the 425th anniversary of the birth of Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) – a composer of great stylistic diversity, whose works often served as models in the teaching of Nadia Boulanger. While the central berceuse of Benedictus is designed to reflect upon the operatic side of Monteverdi, the preceding section is based on a “Benedictus” from one of Monteverdi’s Masses, unfolding to include a three-measure quotation. The toccata-like writing alludes to the 17th century organ repertoire, here embodied within chromatic and bi-tonal harmonies, thus setting a dissonant contrast to the rather plaintive central sections.
The registration, as notated in the score, serves as a suggestion only. Several markings are optional and may be omitted altogether. Likewise, several markings calling for a change in voicing may be omitted at the discretion of the interpreter. In fact, the registration can be quite simple, much simpler then that marked in the score or used in the premiere performance.
While my first organ composition, Triscenza, written in Poland in 1967 focussed in great measure on the extensive use of registration, Benedictus, written some 25 years later, is deliberately moderate in every respect. Both works, however, would have presented me with a task much more difficult to accomplish, had it not been for the opportunity in my youth to play as an auxiliary organist at one of the churches in Poland. This experience provided me with a hands-on exposure to the instrument, its acoustical properties, and the repertoire of the past and present, thus allowing me to confront the listener with the challenge of modernism superimposed on the background fabric of the past.