Canterbury Chorale

By: Jan Van der Roost

Grade: 4

The goals for this unit are:

- To have the students be able to identify simple chord progressions, such as I-V-IV-I, in classical and pop musical literature by singing and listening to example of music. (Standards 1, 6, and 7)

- To have the students be able to improvise and compose simple melodies based on the chord progressions they have learned. (Standards 2, 3, 4, and 5)

- To be able to associate music with art and architecture and be able to identify relationships between art, architecture, and the music presented here. (Standards 7, 8, and 9)

- To learn better musicianship by performing, understanding, and listening to Canterbury Chorale

The Time Period:

The 20^th century has seen a dramatic change in the way music is interpreted, composed, and written. Whereas pervious centuries and time periods have always followed strict rules regarding how compositions should be, the 20^th century has been that of no rules in music. Composers are freer than ever to do what they wish and only provide enough information to the performer so that the composer’s wishes can be understood. Currently with music, the composer is free to take such extreme lengths as John Cage’s 4:33 or can take a more traditional approach and follow what has already been established such as those works of Prokofiev and others. Many composers may choose to revisit previous styles of music with a 20^th century interpretation as is the case with this piece. Canterbury Chorale is written in a neo-baroque style which takes elements of Baroque music and infuses it with new harmonic paths, as well as modern textures and instruments. Even in the more traditional style of composing new horizons are constantly explored. The 20^th century period of music, which encompasses 1900 to the present day is that of complete compositional freedom and exploration.

The Composer:

Jan Van der Roost was born in Duffel, Belgium in 1956. His instrument is the trombone and he went on to study Music History and Music Education at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven, Belgium. Van der Roost received degrees in conducting and composition at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent in Antwerp, Belgium and currently teaches at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven and is also a guest professor at the Shobi Institute of Music in Tokyo, Japan and at the Nagoya University of Art in Nagoya, Japan. He is currently an abjudicator, clinician, guest lecturer, and most importantly a composer. There are numerous CD recordings of his works, and he strives to compose in a wide variety of styles. Some examples of his compositions include two oratorios, a symphony, numerous concerti, a cycle of Lieder, string works, chamber works, and many others. Jan Van der Roost exclusively composes commissioned works coming from all over the world.

The Composition:

A chorale is defined as a hymn of the Lutheran Church which is usually written in four voice harmony. Some five hundred chorales were written by JS Bach during his time as the choral director at Wiemar and Cothen. Chorales are marked by their rich harmonies, slow moving passages, and polyphonic nature. This work achieves exactly that same richness through various instrumentation and scoring. The work is filled with slow moving passages and is often written with in a polyphonic style. The composer originally wrote it for brass band as a commission. The inspiration behind the composition of the work was a visit to the cathedral in the English city of Canterbury. Jan Van der Roost rescored this commission for full symphonic wind band, exploring the richness of colors available to him. There are solo phrases, small ensemble sections, and massive tutti passages making the wind orchestra reminiscent of a majestic organ.

Rhythm and the art of Vincent Van Gogh:

Most of the rhythms in this piece are slow moving a lyrical. Occasionally we find rhythms like those mentioned above that propel the piece along. Look at the painting below titled: Flower Beds in Holland. As your eyes scan over the picture try to find how the painting represents the relaxed, slow-moving rhythms found throughout the piece. Is the piece calm and serene or is it bold and exciting? How does the art shown below represent this?

The Melody and the art of Vincent Van Gogh:

Post-Impressionism sought to portray the world with blended, but vibrant colors as the impressionists often did. Post-impression led the way to expressionism where artists such as Edvard Munch flourished. Often, leisure activities or landscape would be portrayed as found in Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings. Take a look at the picture below titled: Wheat Field with Rising Sun. Draw connections with the melodic shape and the scene portrayed. Also, how does the texture of the music represent the texture of the painting?

The Form:

The form of this work can be described very generally as having two sections, an A and a B, with a coda. The A section consists of the woodwinds and low brass, and the B section adds the trumpets and contains the final drive to the climaxes of this work. For a complete analysis please see the attached analysis at the end of this packet.

The Terminology:

There are only three musical instructions besides dynamic markings that the conductor needs to know. The first is the tempo marking at the top of the page, “Ben tenuto e espressivo (quasi legato sempre)” A translation of this means, “With sustain and expression (somewhat connected always)”. This is a very clear instruction as to how the piece should sound. Another musical term is the term “sonore” found at the trombones entrance of the melody in measure 35. Sonore means to play with sound and here the composer is indicating a well-balanced and big sound. Morendo is the final term found in the tail end of the piece at measure 76. It means to perform in a manner that dies away, and here the composer is intending the music to die away into nothing.

Student Activities:

1) As discussed in class, Canterbury Chorale has an overall harmonic progression of I->V->IV-> I. Find a piece of modern music that has this same chord progression to share with the class. Make sure that the music is appropriate for a school setting.

2) Research different art styles such as impressionism, baroque, renaissance, expressionism, etc. and come up with your own conclusions as to which style best represents this music. A short presentation will be made to share ideas with the rest of the class.

3) Compose a melody based on the following chord progression: I-IV-V-I

4) Take part in the webquest found at www.bsu.edu/web/cmomeni/webquest.html

Warm-up & Practice Exercises:

Because of the slow and legato nature of this work warm-ups will be an important part of making sure that you are performing with good sound and style. A few suggestions for warm-ups are as follows:

- Begin by playing long tones on any single pitch

Listen for good sound quality, intonation, and tone

- Continue by increasing the rhythmic complexity at a slow tempo while maintaining a legato sound.

As the piece continues, the rhythms in the piece become smaller and smaller. Practice the following example to help you get used to the feel of the rhythms. Make sure you use a metronome.

- While doing this listen for clarity of the rhythms, proper articulation, good tone quality in varying note values, etc.

Any variation of the above may be used and the incorporation of dotted rhythms will help as well.