Music Notes 9-29-24

Andrew Lloyd Webber has become an icon in the world of theatrical music, writing his first pieces, a suite of 6 pieces, at the age of nine. Over the years he has written 21 musicals (several of which have run for over a decade both on the West End of London and on Broadway), a song cycle, a set of variations, 2 film scores and a Latin Requiem Mass. The Requiem was written during 1984 in memory of his father, William Lloyd Webber, a composer and organist. It was premiered in 1985, conducted by Lorin Maazel, with soloists Placido Domingo, Sarah Brightman (Webber’s wife at the time) and boy soprano Paul Miles-Kingston. It contained elements of his melodic, pop-oriented style with more angular, austere musical environments. The recording proved to be quite popular, although the piece is seldom performed live, partially due to the large forces needed and the fact that the vocal writing is very tricky and demanding. The Requiem debuted in Los Angeles in 1986 at the Shrine Theatre. It was the backdrop for the American Ballet Theatre, under the leadership of Mikhael Baryshnikov. I was singing with the Roger Wagner Chorale at the time, and we were hired to be the pit choir for the performance. It turned out that the iconic Pie Jesu was choreographed and danced by Baryshnikov himself, and subsequently, none of us were paying much attention to the conductor (our eyes were glued to the stage – we had, after all, the best seats in the house). The Pie Jesu features both the soprano soloist, the boy soprano (although this week we’re substituting a real soprano) and the choir. Probably the most popular piece in the Requiem, the Pie Jesu is, for my money, also the best piece of music in the work.

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah comes to us from Wales and their great tradition of singing. The tune, Cwm Rhondda, was written by composer/organist John Hughes. Hughes wrote the first version of the tune, which he called "Rhondda", for the Cymanfa Ganu (hymn festival) in Pontypridd in 1905, when the enthusiasm of the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival still remained. The present form was developed for the inauguration of the organ at Capel Rhondda, in Hopkinstown in the Rhondda Valley, in 1907. Hughes himself played the organ at this performance. The name was changed from "Rhondda" to "Cwm Rhondda" by Harry Evans, of Dowlais, to avoid confusion with another tune, by M. O. Jones. The lyrics came from the pen of William Williams Pantycelyn (named, in the Welsh style, "Pantycelyn" after the farm which his wife inherited), who is generally acknowledged as the greatest Welsh hymnwriter. The Welsh original of this hymn was first published as Hymn 10 in Mor o Wydr (Sea of Glass) in 1762. It comprised six verses. (References to a five-verse version in Pantycelyn's Alleluia of 1745 appear to be incorrect.) It was originally titled Gweddi am Nerth i fyned trwy anialwch y Byd (Prayer for strength for the journey through the world's wilderness). Peter Williams (1722–1796) translated part of the hymn into the English version we’re familiar with, with the title Prayer for Strength. It was published in Hymns on various subjects, 1771. This translation is the only Welsh hymn to have gained widespread circulation in the English-speaking world. The present-day Welsh version is essentially a redaction of the original to parallel Peter Williams's English version. A result of the translation process is that the now-familiar phrase "Bread of heaven" does not actually occur in the original - it is a paraphrase of the original Welsh references to manna.

Hank Williams’ song I Saw The Light was inspired in 1947 when, during a road trip with his mother at the wheel, she woke him up to tell him “I just saw the light”, referring to the lights of Dannelly Field Airport, meaning they were close to Montgomery. It was written in 1947, recorded and released in 1948 and, while it didn’t enjoy great success during his lifetime, it became a gospel standard and also became the closing song for all of his shows.