Laudis Corona (2004)
Three songs for high voice and piano on texts from the Laudis Corona Hymnal of 1885, 10 minutes.
Written for soprano Rachel Evangeline Barham, these songs were premiered at the The Church of the Epiphany in 2004 with Deke Polifka at the piano. The set went on to win both first prizes–art song and sacred song–at the 2005 Diana Barnhart American Song Conference.
Movements:
I. Glorious Mother
II. Christians! To the War!
III. Oh Beautiful Thou Art
Score and recording
Program Notes:
The preface to the 1885 Catholic hymnal called Laudis Corona reads:
The tunes in this collection were selected by a lady in Baltimore. They have been arranged for the press by Prof. Francis A. Harkins, M.A., of Boston College. The object has been to give to Sunday Schools and Sodalities of youth something that ALL can sing. For this end the Christmas Carols and the May Hymns will prove particularly useful.
Boston: Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 4, 1880
The challenge of setting these texts to new music was to respect the piety and devotion of the authors but at the same time to recognize the way that Christianity has changed and with it, the language used to express religious devotion. "And thou, dark fiend, six thousand years / The bride of Christ in vain tormenting, / Shall find our hate and scorn of thee / Deep as thine own, and unrelenting…" Give that to your first-grade Sunday School class!
These hymn texts were written at a time when lofty language was the tradition. The composer has striven for settings which revel in the archaic phrases which sound purple to our ears but at the same time can be deeply moving. From the 146 hymns in Laudis Corona, five were painstakingly chosen; so far, three have been set. "Glorious Mother" was irresistible for the line, "Earth is darksome, we are weary, /Satan setteth snares for all."
Many of the major religious denominations published new hymnals in the 1980s and 1990s. Gender-exclusive language was revised, obsolete words and usages were updated to modern English, and some hymns with controversial subjects were taken out altogether. Such was the fate, for example, of "Onward, Christian Soldiers" in the Methodist hymnal, whose chorus reads: "Onward, Christian soldiers, /Marching as to war, /With the cross of Jesus /Going on before." Compared with "Christians! To the War!", those words are quite tame.
The text "Oh Beautiful Thou Art" is not attributed to an author; it seems to be a poetic English rendition of the traditional "Ave Maria" text. The new setting reflects the heartfelt devotion intended by the author.
–Rachel Barham and Maurice Saylor
Text
I. Glorious Mother (Cull)
Glorious Mother! From high heaven,
Down upon thy children gaze,
Gathered in thy own loved season,
Thee to bless and thee to praise.
See, sweet Mary, on thy altars
Bloom the fairest buds of May;
Oh! May we, earth’s sons and daughters,
Grow by grace, as pure as they;
Earth is darksome, we are weary,
Satan setteth snares for all,
Pray for us, O tender Mary,
Pray to Jesus, lest we fall.
II. Christians: To the War! (anonymous)
Note: The verse in italics is left out of Maurice Saylor's setting.
Christians! To the War! Gather from afar;
Hark! Hark! The word is given;
Jesus bids us fight “for God and the right,”
And for Mary, the queen of heav’n,
Now first for thee, thou wicked world,
Puffed up with godless pomp and pageant,
Avenging grace, to humble thee,
Can make the weakest arm its agent.
And thou, dark fiend, six thousand years
The bride of Christ in vain tormenting,
Shall find our hate and scorn of thee
Deep as thine own, and unrelenting.
Ah, self! so oft forgiven, thou
Canst play no part but that of traitor;
We spare thy life, but thou must bear
The felon's brand, the captive's fetter.
But worse than devil, flesh, or world,
Human respect* like poison creeping,
Chills and unnerves the host of Christ,
When weary war-worn hearts are sleeping.
* consideration
III. Oh, Beautiful Thou Art! (anonymous)
Oh, beautiful thou art,
Our sweet Virgin Queen,
Come reign within each heart,
Peaceful and serene.
See, with love now thrilling all thy children’s hearts,
Joy each breast is filling,
Sadness now departs.
Ah! When we’re sad and weary:
Tired of life and sin,
And when the way looks dreary
Haste thy child and win.
When death lays his finger
On our icy brow,
Oh, then near us linger,
Linger then as now.
