Forum on Music and Christian Scholarship

Almost the Same But Not Quite: Schnittke and his Hymn no. 4
Maria Emilia Ismael Simental, Universidad de las Américas Puebla

Alfred Schnittke’s Hymn no. 4 (1979) for cello and chamber ensemble uses musical material from the religious tradition of the Znamenny Rospev. This tradition is evident in the piece’s melodic construction, rhythmic articulation of phrases, pulse, local structure, and modal ambiguity. This form of reference is not exclusive to this work; Schnittke’s second string quartet and the first and third hymns of this same collection also directly quote Znamenny chants. However, what is striking in this particular work is how he articulates the religious source with elementary materials that seem to evoke the performance style of Rock music, to negotiate the formal limits of the musical discourse.

Before composing this hymn, Schnittke had already started to experiment with popular music genres like Jazz, Rock and Tango. For example, in his Requiem (1972-1975), he used the basic power trio of Rock music, electric bass, guitar and drums, as a substitute for the Baroque basso continuo. In the case of the fourth hymn the experience seems to go the other way around, using the rhythmic-harmonic instruments of the baroque ensemble as sections of a popular group.

The hymn is constructed following the Sonata Form. As a paradigm of the Enlightenment movement and colonial expansionism that gave origin to Modern Western thought, the Sonata Form supports a specific temporal and spatial approach. It is temporal because it represents an idea, its rationalization and affirmation; a linear development of time. It is spatial because it localizes a subject (I) and its other (V). Nevertheless, the modal ambiguity of the Znamenny tradition – combined with elements of repetition and orchestration that are found in various styles of popular music such as Rock – disarticulates the linearity of the Sonata Form. The form of the discourse seems similar to this classical figure, but it is really a mockery of the temporal and spatial excesses of Modernity, presented in the context of the incongruence of the pedagogic and normalizing aspects of the Sonata Form.

Recognizing the allusion, quotation and construction of the chants of the Russian Orthodox Church in this type of repertory, and identifying the effect of the rudiments of popular music, allows us to analyze the way in which a new discourse of ambivalence is built and produces new knowledge about the temporality of the musical discourse.

In the Beginning of Penderecki’s Paradise Lost
Scott Murphy, University of Kansas

Although Krzysztof Penderecki adopted a “neo-Romantic” style in the late 1970s, this music also features a melodic language both idiosyncratic and modernist in its limited intervallic vocabulary and its saturation of the aggregate. However, despite its avant-garde austerity and tonal ambiguity, this language engenders a rich array of expectations that are analogous to those of traditional tonality. Thus, this melodic language facilitates a communication of familiar messages—such as “this melody implies that continuation” or “this melody is finished”–through a modernist medium.1

Christopher Fry’s libretto for Penderecki’s neo-Romantic opera Paradise Lost begins with a prologue spoken by Milton himself that is drawn from the invocation that opens Book III. These few lines tease out the personal narrative of Milton’s authorship, but, given their prefatory placement in the opera, this human creation story can also be read as symbolic of the divine creation story that predates the action of the poem. The rest of the Book III invocation supports this interpretation, as it generously invokes the imagery of Genesis’ opening verses.

Of the 111 “Penderecki neo-Romantic melodies,” only three are “paradoxical,” since they create the simultaneous sensations of “this melody is finished” (representing finitude through closure) and “this melody points back to its first note” (representing infinitude through cyclicity). Two such paradoxical melodies exclusively open the opera. One may interpret their presence and placement in at least two ways. First, their dual displays of finitude and infinitude accords with theological (and/or scientific) views of the “beginning.” Second, their paradoxical nature resonates with the notion of the incarnate Christ as the “Absolute Paradox,” following S?ren Kierkegaard. Indeed, in the libretto, Christ all but replaces Satan as the hero; the conspicuous use of paradoxical melodies at the opera’s outset prefigures Fry’s and Penderecki’s substantial reworking of Milton’s epic.

1Scott Murphy, “A Model of Melodic Expectation for Some Neo-Romantic Music of Penderecki,” Perspectives of New Music 25/1 (Winter 2007): 184-222.

The Sound Image of the Virgin: Marian Repertoire in the Polish Art Music of the 20th Century
Bogumila Mika, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

The Virgin Mary plays a central role in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. The Mother of God who is at the same time considered as a Mother of the Church is known among common people by many titles. The titles are connected to the different roles represented by the Virgin Mary, such as protector, compassionate intercessor, assistant of mankind, our mother.

The key role fulfills the image of Mary named “Black Madonna of Jasna Góra,” who is considered to be the image of the spiritual Polish Queen, and is particularly praised.

Devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary, strongly developed by some Polish cardinals like August Hlond and Stefan Wyszynski and especially by Pope John Paul II, also made a huge impact on the musical output of important Polish 20th-century composers. Many of them, beginning with Karol Szymanowski, composed special musical works dedicated to the Virgin. During the whole age the amount of compositions of that kind is more than few hundreds.

Musical compositions are differently rooted in Marian musical traditions, and are based on Marian antiphons such as Alma Redemptoris, Ave Regina, Regina coeli, Salve Regina, on the sequence Stabat Mater, on the first Polish national anthem, Bogurodzica (Mother of God), and on religious songs. Some were written to important texts of Polish poems and dedicated by their authors to the Madonna. Among the compositions are elaborate masses as well as simple songs.

The aim of my paper is to present some precisely chosen Marian compositions written in the 20th century, to explain how they were composed, how they were rooted in the Marian tradition in Poland, and how they were theologically inspired. I will illustrate my paper with some excerpts of music.