Category Archives: Themes

Toplady

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Toplady
The hymn tune Toplady was written by Thomas Hastings. It was written for the text “Rock of Ages” by Reverend Augustus Montague Toplady. While Thomas Hastings wrote over 50 hymn tunes, this remains his most popular today by far.

Rev. Toplady is believed to have written the hymn after taking shelter in a gorge during a thunderstorm in the Mendip Hills in England. The fissure that is believed to have sheltered Rev. Toplady is now marked as the “Rock of Ages”, both on the rock and on some maps.

Other hymn and chorale themes may be found here.

Lasst uns erfreuen

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LasstUnsErfreuen
The melody for LASST UNS ERFREUEN is named for the Easter text “Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr” in the Jesuit hymnal Ausserlesene Catlwlische Geistliche Kirchengesänge where it was first published in Cologne in 1623. The setting by Ralph Vaughan Williams first published in The English Hymnal in 1906 has become the most popular version of the tune paired with the text “Ye watchers and ye holy ones” by Athelstan Riley. Other texts often paired with the melody include “All Creatures of our God and King” and “From All That Dwell Below the Skies.”

See a list of other chorale and hymn themes here.

Videos:
DRJFK1986 – Improvisation ‘Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr’
Healey Willan – Hymn and Improvisation – St Mary Magdalene, Toronto

Judas Maccabeus

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JudasMaccabeus
Originally written by George F. Handel in 1747, this melody was later added to the oratorio Judas Maccabaeus with the lyrics “See, the Conqu’ring hero comes.” In 1884, Edmond L. Bundry wrote new words in French “A Toi la gloire.” This hymn was first translated from French into English by Richard B. Hoyle in 1923, becoming “Thine be the glory.” Other texts for this melody include a wedding hymn in the Netherlands (“Praised Be the Father” and an Advent hymn in Germany (“Tochter Zion, freue dich”).

See a list of other hymn and chorale themes here.

Video:
Naji Hakim – Improvisation A Toi la gloire – Trinité, Paris

In Paradisum

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InParadisumSm

May the angels escort you into paradise; at your coming, may the martyrs receive you and bring you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the chorus of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once a poor man, may you have eternal rest.

In Paradisum is the Gregorian chant antiphon sung at the end of the traditional Roman Catholic Requiem Mass as the body is being taken out of the church. The chant is in the mixolydian mode.

Find a list of other chant themes here.

The Haarlem Essays

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HaarlemEssays

The Haarlem Essays
Edited by Paul Peeters
published by J. Butz Verlag (Bonn)
ISBN 978-3-928412-15-5
Available through OHS.

Published to celebrate fifty international organ festivals held in Haarlem, this book is a treasure trove of information about the Haarlem competition, the organs, and the themes. With over 400 pages of interviews, articles and reflections by such luminaries as Peter Planyavsky, Hans Haselböck, André Isoir, Jan Jongepier, Piet Kee, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Jos van der Kooy, Zsigmond Szathmáry, and Anton Heiller (to name only some), I look forward to spending many months exploring the valuable content provided here.

One of the unique features of the Haarlem competition is the possibility for a winner to enter again. Most competitions bar the winner from entering again, but Haarlem actually has given out special prizes to those who were able to win the competition three times: Piet Kee, Hans Haselböck, André Isoir, Jan Jongepier, Jan Raas. Included with the book is a CD that includes some of the prize winning performances of these five threefold winners. Also included on the CD are performances from the 2010 winners Sebastian Bartmann and Samuel Liégeon.

While not a method book, I believe there is plenty of material here for the student of improvisation to consider and practice. Many of the essays concern not only the philosophical considerations of how to improvise, but also issues of style, form, language and determining how to evaluate an improvisation. With just a quick glance through the text, the difference between improvising and fantasizing is highlighted numerous times. How many of us understand and practice that distinction?

As the Haarlem competition has always been centered on more contemporary musical language, one of the greatest assets for the student in this book is the compilation of themes. The theme for every final round of the competition from 1951 to 2012 is included. Spending a week exploring the possibilities of each theme would provide a year’s worth of practice material. While there is the occasional hymn or chant, many of the themes were written specifically for the competition. For anyone desiring to enter the competition in the future or simply wishing to improve their “contemporary style” improvisations, this collection of themes alone is an invaluable resource.

I look forward to exploring this tome further and practicing with the themes.

Kingsfold

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KingsfoldPerhaps dating back to the Middle Ages, the melody ‘Kingsfold’ was first published in English Country Songs in 1893, an anthology compiled by Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. Fuller Maitland. Named for Kingsfold, Sussex, England, where he first heard the tune, Ralph Vaughan Williams introduced it as a hymn tune in The English Hymnal (1906) as a setting for Horatius Bonar’s “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”.

See a list of other hymn and chorale themes here.

Videos:
Timothy Howard – Improvisation on ‘Kingsfold’ – Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Puer Natus Est

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PuerNatusEst

Puer natus est is the introit chant for the Third Mass of Christmas Day (Mass of the Day). The chant is in the mixolydian mode.

Find a list of other chant themes here.

Videos:
Olivier Messiaen – Improvisation “Puer Natus Est” – La Trinité
Tobias Schmid – Improvisation ‘Puer natus est’ – Rottenburger Dom
Jonathan Wessler – Fantasy-improvisation on Puer natus est nobis – Christ Church Episcopal, Rochester, New York

Jerusalem

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Jerusalem
Composed by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry in 1916, Jerusalem is probably one of his best known works. Originally composed for “And did those feet in ancient time” by William Blake, in the US, it is often used for the text “O day of peace that dimly shines” by Carl P. Daw. The song was used by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies until they won the right for women to vote, and it is now sung every year at the end of the “Last Night of the Proms” in the Royal Albert Hall. It is considered to be England’s most popular patriotic song.

Find a list of other hymn tune themes here.

Videos:
Kerry Beaumont – Free improvisation on the hymn tune ‘Jerusalem’ – Coventry Cathedral

Dies Irae

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DiesIrae
Dies Irae is the Gregorian chant Latin sequence sung at the Roman Catholic Requiem mass. It dates from at least the thirteenth century and is often attributed to Thomas of Celano of the Franciscan Order or the Dominican Latino Malabranca Orsini. In some sources its origin is ascribed to St. Gregory the Great, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, or St. Bonaventure. The text describes the day of judgment, the last trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered and the unsaved cast into eternal flames.

Dies Irae is in the Dorian mode. See a list of other chant themes here.

Videos:
László Fassang – Improvisation on ‘Dies Irae’ – Biserica Reformată de pe Ulița Lupilor
János Pálúr – Dies Irae – Improvisation – Palace of Arts, Budapest

Christ lag in Todesbanden

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Christ lag in Todesbanden
The chorale Christ lag in Todesbanden is an adaptation of the chant Victimae Paschali laudes. The arrangement is credited to Johann Walther who published it his Geystliche Gesangk Buchleyn in 1524, but it is possible that Martin Luther may have assisted in the adaptation.

See a list of other chorale and hymn tune themes here.

Videos:
Robert Descombes – Improvisation on ‘Christ lag in Todesbanden’ – Orgelet
Morten Ladehoff – Partita in baroque style on ‘Christ lag in Todesbanden’ – Symphonic Hall Aarhus
Morten Ladehoff – Symphonic movement in romantic style on ‘Christ lag in Todesbanden’ – Symphonic Hall Aarhus
Morten Ladehoff – Free modern style improvisation on ‘Christ lag in Todesbanden’ – Symphonic Hall Aarhus
Rudolf Lutz – Improvisation sur “Christ lag in Todesbanden” – l’église Saint François, Lausanne