"The Little Church Around the Corner"
One East 29th Street, New York
MUSIC NOTES:
Christ the King - November 25, 2001
by David Henry
with acknowledgment to the Rev. Dr. Warren Platt
The Feast of Christ the King was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI as an attempt to counterbalance the Protestant (particularly Lutheran) celebration of Reformation Sunday. Initially the two events co-incided on the last Sunday of October, and in 1970 Pope Paul VI translated the feast to the last Sunday of the liturgical year, on the premise that this was an appropriate time to reflect upon the kingship of Christ over all creation. From the outset, this feast has been controversial, with Anglican dissenters making the interesting argument that the kingship of Christ is already amply affirmed in the feasts of the Epiphany and the Ascension. More recently, liturgical scholars have questioned whether the association of Christ with a crowned monarch resonates with Christians of the 21st century. The Anglican Communion has been particularly hesitant to embrace this feast day, not least of the reasons being that its translation to the last Sunday of the liturgical year would supplant the centuries-old and much-loved observance of the "Sunday Next Before Advent."
Perhaps reflecting the problematic nature of this feast day, there is little music that can be linked to its theme, with some notable exceptions in hymnody, such as Diademata. Despite its title, the Collegium Regale Service setting of Herbert Howells (1892-1983) was a commission of the Dean of York and has no particular royal association, though its echoes of Elgar make it eminently suitable for today's observance. The organ postlude Crown Imperial by William Walton (1902-1983) was a commission of the BBC for the 1937 coronation of King George VI in Westminster Abbey, and the expansive, majestic spirit of Elgar is again apparent, and in even greater measure.
Although they were contemporaries, Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988) had little in common with Howells and Walton, and he acted fervently on his impulse to depart from the musical tradition they so steadfastly maintained. Let All the World in Every Corner Sing was written in 1965 for St. Matthew's Church Northampton. It is an energetic, tightly organized piece reflecting Leighton's lifelong interest in new forms of composition and the use of sustained musical tension as a means of heightening expressive force. In this, the work effectively invokes the spirit of the Collect of the Sunday Next Before Advent: "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded."
Go to "Music Notes" List
with acknowledgment to the Rev. Dr. Warren Platt
Perhaps reflecting the problematic nature of this feast day, there is little music that can be linked to its theme, with some notable exceptions in hymnody, such as Diademata. Despite its title, the Collegium Regale Service setting of Herbert Howells (1892-1983) was a commission of the Dean of York and has no particular royal association, though its echoes of Elgar make it eminently suitable for today's observance. The organ postlude Crown Imperial by William Walton (1902-1983) was a commission of the BBC for the 1937 coronation of King George VI in Westminster Abbey, and the expansive, majestic spirit of Elgar is again apparent, and in even greater measure.
Although they were contemporaries, Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988) had little in common with Howells and Walton, and he acted fervently on his impulse to depart from the musical tradition they so steadfastly maintained. Let All the World in Every Corner Sing was written in 1965 for St. Matthew's Church Northampton. It is an energetic, tightly organized piece reflecting Leighton's lifelong interest in new forms of composition and the use of sustained musical tension as a means of heightening expressive force. In this, the work effectively invokes the spirit of the Collect of the Sunday Next Before Advent: "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded."