A  Triptych  of     Advent Hymns





Settings  for Carillon
of  Three Seasonal Hymn Tunes 

I.  Rounded Variations on St. Stephen
II.  Three Verses on Herald, Sound (with Mirror)
III.  Canon, Air and Coda on Psalm 42

Individual 8 1/2 x 11 PDF scores will be featured below
in the course of FMP's 2022-23 complimentary postings

Binder ~ including front cover, inside jacket illustration, notes & back cover
                [4 pages]      click for →        PDF Score   

Rounded Variations  on                  Available in October 2022            Saint Stephen                  [4 pages]     click for →        PDF Score

Three Verses  on      An In Memoriam  Availaable in February 2023          Herald Sound                  [5 pages]      click for →       PDF Score

.Canon, Air & Fugue  on               Available in July 2023            Psalm 42                  [5 pages]      click for →       PDF Score

Notes

      A Triptych of Advent Hymns for Carillon was prepared at the request of John Bordley, Carillonneur of The University of The South, to celebrate A Festival of  Lessons and Carols marking Advent 2010  in Sewannee's All Saints‘ Chapel. These three extended hymn tune settings exploit the full range of the Paccard 56-bell Leonidas  Polk  Memorial  Carillon in Shapard Tower.
         
       Rounded Variations on St. Stephen opens (in G major) with an expansive and broadly paced presentation of a traditional Advent hymn tune in tenor bells, followed in a new and contrasting key (B major) by an upbeat verse in treble registers, with its melody displaced by half a measure and set over a syncopated tonic pedalpoint.  In the third variation (in C major), a pedalled alto melody statement is ornamented by hand-played treble passaggio counterpoint. The fourth variation returns (in A-flat major) with the upbeat treatment heard in the second verse, again over a syncopated but migrating pedalpoint; St. Stephen's melody is tonally altered and extend into a retransition, followed by a full restatement of the opening variation.  An eloquent codetta rings out the hymn tune's third and fourth phrases with pealings of Advent tidings. Overall, Rounded Variations offers a palindromic structure; with sections represented by letters, it can be charted as ABCB'A, plus  a codetta.

       Three Verses on Herald, Sound the Note (with Mirror) offers what the title suggests: a melodically mirrored and tonally adjusted version of the original hymn tune. Following an introduction (in C minor) that explores Robert Powell's 'watchman' motiv, Herald's distinctive melody sounds out in alto range bells, lightly accompanied above and below; the final phrases migrate down an octave and are played in the pedal. The second verse presents a mirrored version of the tune in F major, played in treble bells, and set over syncopated pedalpoints.  A bridge based on the 'watchman' motiv leads back to the original tonic key for a somber but dramatic restatement of the hymn tune in low pedal bells, topped by arpeggiated figurations of exotically contrasted chords and harmonies.  A brief codetta hints at the mirrored tune and concludes in quiet affirmation.

      Canon, Air and Coda on Psalm 42 offers a motivic introduction and  half of a canon, then an intervening lilting hymn tune sounded in its entirety, followed by resumption of canonic treatment, a dramatic cadence, and finally an extended coda.  The setting opens (in F major) with an introduction based on the first line of the melody – an antecedent and consequent phrase that is repeated for the second line of Psalm 42. The first phrase is presented boldly in canon between pedal and manual at the time interval of a half measure, then pauses as all four phrases of the hymn emerge for the first time as a treble lilt (in C major), lightly accompanied by pedal; the fourth phrase is extended eloquently. A canonic presentation of the third and fourth lines of the hymn returns, then an extended coda further develops the closing phrases, hints briefly at a bold pedal reemergence, and ends with an echo of the introduction's first phrase.

         [Reference data  is drawn from:  Hymnal Companion  to The Lutheran Book of Worship,  Philadelphia, 1981.]

      N.B. The 2010 comission for this work came from Sewanee: The University of the South. The full score will continue to be available — by mutual agreement — from Fruhauf Music Publications online, and it is scheduled (as listed above) for inclusion in FMP's 2022-23 season of complimentary PDF booklet downloads.

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