Aug

3

A Celebration of Arvo Pärt

Filed Under Part: Vale of Glamorgan | 1 Comment 

Arvo Part

“I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or silent beat, or a moment of silence, comforts me. . . . Silence is the pause in me when I am near to God.”—Arvo Pärt

This September marks the 75th birthday of Arvo Pärt, and to honor this esteemed Estonian composer, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales is offering a major celebration of his work. SDG has been invited to co-sponsor the 2010 Festival in what will be the most extensive celebration in Great Britain, programming no fewer than 14 of his compositions during the space of a week.

A highlight of the Festival—with an appearance by the composer himself—will be the September 9, 2010, premiere of In Spe (“In Hope”), to be performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Tõnu Kaljuste conducting, at the BBC Hoddinott Hall, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay.

Wales Millennium Centre

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Wales, where the premiere of Arvo Pärt’s In Spe will be performed. (Photo: Alex Skibinski)

When John Metcalf, Artistic Director of the Festival, approached Pärt about a new work, Pärt chose to reset his An den Wessern Zu Babel (“By the Waters of Babylon”—originally for chorus and instrumental ensemble) in a new rendering for brass quintet and string orchestra he titled In Spe.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept, for there they that carried us away captive required of us a song: and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion! How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. (Psalm 137)

These lines from Psalm 137 originally inspired Pärt to write a choral “Kyrie Eleison.” If you listen to the clip [click on the Audio Excerpts play button] of this An den Wessern on his publisher’s website, you’ll hear only the three vowels of the “Kyrie Eleison”—i, e, o—but you’ll certainly get a taste of the haunting beauty of this work.

Mark Swed of the LA Times has described Arvo Pärt as an “otherworldly composer and spiritually wholesome presence on the musical scene.” NPR has called him a “mystic minimalist.” Pärt himself says he found his musical voice by letting everything unimportant fall away.

Given his reclusiveness, he’s also been called “the Howard Hughes of classical music” (Simon Russell Beale, BBC). Yet Björk was able to record this very interesting interview with him in the 1990s [note: the Pärt video segment begins at 2:24]:

Earlier this year Simon Broughton was also able to entice Pärt into a BBC radio interview. On TheArtsDesk.com, the resulting article appeared under the heading “How Sacred Music Scooped an Interview.” One of the areas the interview touched on was Pärt’s shift in style, from his early period of a Shostakovich-Prokofiev-Bartok style, to his radically different “tintinnabulation” style, which he likens to the ringing of bells. Broughton tells the story of trying to engage Pärt in a discussion of his work:

“He still doesn’t talk specifically about his work, but he does talk about the personal crisis that brought about the radical simplification of his style which has brought him international fame:  ‘It was like crawling through a narrow tunnel,’ he says, looking pained. ‘I had to get rid of everything unnecessary and, in order to save myself, I had to emerge naked.’ ”

“I too emerged from making this programme with a real admiration of Pärt’s work. He doesn’t compromise and doesn’t write to please his audience. But there’s a truth and a profundity at the heart of his music which speaks to people, whether they are religious or not.”

Arvo Pärt’s contribution to the future of sacred music is wonderfully summed up on the Vale of Glamorgan’s website:

 “Possibly the world’s most celebrated living composer, Arvo Pärt is at the centre of the movement which has become known as New Spirituality—a musical philosophy which, for Pärt at least, came out of a long period of creative silence and introspection, and emerged from under the aggressively secular cloud of the Soviet state. This is a pared-down, purified music, which delights in a halo of bell-like sonorities surrounding perfect single notes; and yet this simplicity sustains some of the most hauntingly beautiful and profoundly moving pieces.”

On the evening of September 9th, SDG Composer-in-Association, Peter Bannister, has been invited to give a pre-concert lecture on Pärt’s music. SDG is proud to be a part of this celebration of Arvo Pärt and, in the words of Peter Bannister, “to contribute to the renaissance of sacred music in a world which arguably needs it more than ever.” We welcome your donations in support of this important work.

donate-now-button.jpgClick here for further reflections from Peter Bannister on the Vale of Glamorgan Festival’s celebration of Arvo Pärt.

Aug

2

Project Uplift in Hungary

Filed Under Project Uplift Hungary 2010 | Leave a Comment 

August 2-16, 2010

crescendo-summer-institute-logo-for-web-2.jpgOne of the exciting avenues of Soli Deo Gloria’s mission to promote sacred music takes shape in the work of Project Uplift. In these international projects, we usually seek to bring great works of sacred music to regions of the world where, for social, political, or economic reasons, they are seldom heard. This summer, however, Project Uplift goes to Hungary, where there is already an abundance of music and arts in this center of Eastern European culture.  We have a unique opportunity to support the work of Crescendo International at their Crescendo Summer Institute of the Arts, August 2-16, 2010, in Sárospatak, just outside of Budapest. This two-week Institute is an opportunity for aspiring young musicians to work with master musicians, but it is more than just a great music workshop and performance opportunity. Crescendo is a faith-based organization designed to encourage young musicians both musically and spiritually.

Crescendo Institute students

“The Institute is organized by Crescendo, an international Christian movement working together with many churches. In addition to courses and private lessons, students may participate in chapels and small discussion groups concerning challenges that artists face today as well as issues of a Christian worldview. Crescendo also offers personal mentoring.”

Two SDG board members are actively participating in this year’s Institute. Conductor David Delta Gier is joining the Crescendo faculty to prepare students and conduct the “Galaconcert” on Thursday, August 15, 2010. The program will feature a new SDG-commissioned work by SDG’s Composer-in-Association, Peter Bannister—Hermosura de Dios, a song cycle for soprano, choir and chamber orchestra based on the poetry of Saint Teresa of Avila—and Daniel Kellogg’s Mozart’s Hymn. This culminating concert will be part of the renowned Zemplen Festival, a two-week cultural event featuring classical and contemporary music by first-class Hungarian and international musicians.

David GierDelta David Gier, on the Crescendo Institute
David Gier, conductor of the South Dakota Symphony, is no stranger to Eastern Europe. As a Fulbright Scholar in the late 1980s, David led critically acclaimed performances with many orchestras of Eastern Europe. He was invited to the former Czechoslovakia to conduct Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony in celebration of the 100th anniversary of its premiere. Gier took this opportunity to introduce Eastern European audiences to many American masterworks, such as Barber’s Violin Concerto with the Presidential Symphony of Ankara, and Copland’s Appalachian Spring with the Bucharest Philharmonic.

In recent weeks, David completed a tour of Bach for the Romanian ministry Oratorium  (another two-week European program that focuses on teaching and mentoring young musicians), and en route to the Crescendo Institute, he checked in:

“By all accounts, the week was a huge success. The performances were well attended, and the spiritual focus of the music was unmistakable. Relationships among the musicians confirmed that the mission of the project was brought to fruition, both encouraging and emboldening the believers in the group and challenging those who are searching spiritually to examine their lives and careers in light of the gospel. It was a privilege to once again be a part of this project.

“Next week I travel to Sárospatak, Hungary, for the annual Crescendo Institute. I look forward to working with these students and bringing not only musical but spiritual challenge during the two weeks I’m there conducting rehearsals of the orchestra. Peter Bannister will join me the last few days of the Institute to participate in the rehearsal process and to speak about his work. I greatly look forward to this collaboration as, while I have known Peter for several years through our work with SDG, this is the first time we have had opportunity to work together musically.”

Peter BannisterPeter Bannister, on Hermosura de Dios
Hermosura de Dios is not the first time Peter Bannister has drawn on poetry from St. Teresa. His interest in the sixteenth-century Spanish Christian mystics began many years ago. One of his first publicly performed compositions, the suite for organ Aunque es de Noche (“Although it is night,” 1989/91), took its title from the poetry of Saint John of the Cross. In that work Peter also referred to Teresa of Avila in the title of the second movement: No hay paz en la tierra (“There is no peace on earth”), words taken from the poem Ya no durmais (“Sleep no longer”).

“I discovered the poetry of John and Teresa largely through my acquaintance with the meditative songs of the Taizé community, not least on account of my close friendship with Dorothy Jones (1927-2009), a US/Canadian French literature professor who, for twenty years, divided her time between North America and France. Dorothy, to whom Hermosura de Dios is dedicated, died last year after a long illness. A postcard with the text of the Taizé song Nada te turbe to words by Teresa of Avila was one of the items that I recall most vividly from the small room in which she lived when in Paris, in which I spent many memorable hours in conversation about all things imaginable.

“I continue to be challenged by the Carmelite spirituality expressed so unforgettably in this literature, which stands as testimony to the power of art to evoke what cannot be articulated on the level of discursive logic: a burning, often anguished desire for encounter with the living God of infinite mystery, the Beauty (hermosura) exceeding all earthly beauties.

“The texts of the Spanish mystics are alive with a passionate flame to which I hope Christian believers of all traditions can relate, reminding me of a quote from a twentieth-century martyr, the Orthodox nun Mother Maria Skobtsova, related recently by Archbishop Rowan Williams (himself the author of a monograph on Teresa of Avila) at a remarkable conference entitled the ‘Holy Spirit in today’s world’: ‘Either Christianity is fire, or there is no such thing.’ ”

For Soli Deo Gloria, the two weeks at Crescendo represent an opportunity to ignite the “fire” not only in Hungary, but among Institute students who represent more than 20 countries. SDG is grateful for the donations that make this ministry possible. As Beat Rink, Crescendo’s General Director, writes, “I am very thankful for all the support of Soli Deo Gloria. Thank you so much!”

Jul

23

Renaissance Man Bequeaths SDG

Filed Under Donations, Interviews | 2 Comments 

Bob Jones with Jean-Pierre Rampal

Flight instructor. Flutist. Physician. Not your ordinary resume. But, then, Bob Jones is not your ordinary guy. And, to SDG, he is an extraordinary gift. You see, Bob has decided to bequeath a gift to Soli Deo Gloria.
Bob Jones (left) with Jean-Pierre Rampal in the mid-1900s. 

The Chairman of SDG’s Board of Directors, Richard Gieser, interviewed Bob, and we’d like to share his inspiring story with you.

AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. ROBERT JONES BY DR. RICHARD GIESER

RG: What was your first career?
BJ: While attending Northwestern University, I was studying the flute with Ernest Liegl, principal flutist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and was later offered a contract to join the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I had spent three summers in the home of Frederick Stock, the conductor of the Chicago Symphony, at Bass Lake in Michigan.

RG: How did your hobby of flying change your life?
BJ:  I learned to fly when I was 16 years old in 1936. When World War II started, I entered the Air Force and have flown continuously until lately, a total of 70 years in all. My first plane was a Piper Cub, and the last plane that I piloted was heavy six-engine bomber plane that I was demonstrating, many years after I had been a test pilot on the same type of aircraft.

RG: How did you meet Jean-Pierre Rampal?
BJ: I had flown a Lockheed 18A dive-bomber from San Diego, California, to England and was to demonstrate it to the Royal Air Force. The flight over the Atlantic Ocean was particularly difficult because of storms. Very tired from the flight, I was walking through the barracks to go to bed when I heard the most beautiful flute sound through a door and sat on the floor to listen. Eventually, I knocked on the door to find who was playing this beautiful music. It turned out to be Jean-Pierre Rampal, who was scheduled to perform the next day at the RAF airport. He invited me into his room, and we played flute duets throughout the night. He was just beginning his long life as a concert artist, and we became long-time corresponding buddies.

RG: How did you become a trauma surgeon?
BJ: I was wounded during the war, and while my wounds were being cared for by the surgeons in Chicago, I became interested in the medical profession. Following discharge from active duty, my position with the Chicago Symphony had been filled, so I matriculated into Northwestern University and continued on to medical school there. I enjoyed a full career as a surgeon and physician in Aurora, Illinois, for 47 years, and then five years in Elgin, Illinois, in the Emergency and Trauma Department—all the while enjoying flying and continuing my flute playing.

RG: Why have you included SDG in your estate planning?
BJ: I am anxious to leave something that will inspire future generations. It is a joy to do something that will speak of peace today and in the future.

RG: You are the second person to include SDG in your estate planning. Do you know who the first person is?
BJ: I would guess that you are.

RG: That is correct.

“I think of sacred music as I do the very flowers of the garden:
‘Consider the lilies … Solomon in all his glory
hath not the raiment of but one of these.’
We must support the finest that great poets and musicians
have given us in praise of what we believe.”
—Robert V. Jones, M.D.

Jun

30

New Arvo Pärt Work

Filed Under Part: Vale of Glamorgan | Leave a Comment 

vog-logo-web.jpg

SDG joins in sponsoring this year’s
Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales,
in celebration of Arvo Pärt’s 75th birthday

 

 Arvo Pärt - (c) Universal EditionThe Vale of Glamorgan Festival has “frequently programmed music that focuses on the spiritual in what seems to be an increasingly secular society,” says John Metcalf, Artistic Director of the Festival. It is especially fitting, then, that this year’s Festival will feature the work of Estonian composer Pärt—and that SDG is partnering to sponsor the Festival. We are particularly excited about the September 9th premiere of Pärt’s In Spe (“In Hope”), based on Psalm 137.

Please take the time to read Peter Bannister’s thoughtful letter about how you can participate in this special event. And if you’re interested in traveling to Wales for the Festival, please let us know!

Peter Bannister speaks from the heart:

Summer 2010, Paris, France

Dear Friends of SDG,

It has often been remarked that the twentieth century was something of a baleful time for sacred music. Writing from a European perspective, it is certainly the case that gone are the days when, to quote the conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt in his discussion of the age of Haydn and Beethoven, “the Sunday Mass in Latin was at the heart of every musician’s professional life.” A return to Bach’s Leipzig, when each new week would see a new cantata for worship, seems like an impossible dream. Of course the modern era can point to isolated heroic figures such as Olivier Messiaen, intent on keeping the sacred at the heart of the musical mainstream, but the evidence suggests that religious works were assigned a marginal place in the history of twentieth century composition.

On closer inspection, however, there have been remarkable signs of a renewal in musical spirituality over the last forty years or so, much of it stemming from unexpected quarters. One intriguing example is the powerfully expressive “new Jewish music” of figures such as Steve Reich, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Osvaldo Golijov. Another is the spiritual creativity that has emerged from the former Soviet bloc, as shown by the Polish composer Henryk Gorecki (whose Miserere was SDG’s first recording project) and the Estonian Arvo Pärt (whose Da Pacem won a Grammy Award in 2007). Their brand of what is sometimes referred to as “holy minimalism,” a radically simple, purified idiom, has clearly attracted a mass audience. Their work seems to be a precious beacon of hope, a timely reminder of values that our frenetic Western society has forgotten—contemplation, humility, and the search for inner peace—against a background of turbulent political history and oppression.

In September 2010 the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales will be celebrating Arvo Pärt’s 75th birthday with a major retrospective, programming no fewer than 14 of his compositions during the space of a week, of which the centerpiece will be the first British performance of Pärt’s Symphony No. 4 ‘Los Angeles’ (commissioned by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic). Two of the concerts will be broadcast nationally and on the internet by the BBC.

Under the visionary leadership of artistic director and composer John Metcalf, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival is in its 41st year and has a unique profile with its exclusive programming of works by living composers. It is an annual event of genuine international significance that has survived against all the odds on a budget no greater than that of some local choral societies.

SDG has the honour of having been solicited to participate in Arvo Pärt’s 75th birthday celebration, at which the composer will be present in person, by co-sponsoring the commission of a new arrangement by Pärt, made specially for the festival, In Spe (“In Hope”) to be performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Donors will be invited to a reception with the composer after the premiere, where they will receive signed copies of the score.

The board of SDG has made a commitment to support the 2010 Vale of Glamorgan Festival, and every donation will help us reach our goal. SDG would also be delighted to discuss the possibility of travel to the Festival in September with anyone who, like myself, sees this as an event not to be missed. But for those who can only “follow at a distance,” a donation, however modest, would provide a unique opportunity not only to engage with one of the greatest contemporary composers, but also to contribute personally to the renaissance of sacred music in a world which arguably needs it more than ever.

Peter Bannister
Composer-in-Association,
Associate Artistic Director
Soli Deo Gloria

Network for GoodAs Peter speaks from his heart, we urge you to respond from your heart. Click here to contribute to SDG’s renaissance of sacred music and the Arvo Pārt work. Every donation matters!

 

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