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ANTONIO DE SALAZAR (c. 1650–1715)
Salve Regina
For many years, historians and musicologists have assumed that Salazar
was born in Spain, perhaps in Seville, but there are no records of his early
life and training. What is sure is this: in
, at age , he began his ten-
ure as
maestro de capilla
at the Puebla Cathedral, located halfway between
Veracruz and Mexico City. Puebla Cathedral was the wealthiest and most
prominent cathedral in the NewWorld, with a large choir of boys and
men and numerous instrumentalists. In
, he was then appointed to the
same position at the Mexico City Cathedral. Salazar was a great master of
contrapuntal technique, unifying his works with recurring motives rather
than with imitation. His style is unusually conservative, with transparent
textures, subtle contrast, and very few touches of word painting.
Salazar’s
Salve Regina
, scored for eight voices in two choruses, begins in an
unhurried, leisurely fashion with the unmistakable reference to the
Salve
Regina
chant melody from the Roman rite. Only gradually picking up in
momentum, the excitement begins at the words “spes nostra” (“our hope”)
with more orid writing for the voices, followed by back-and-forth excla-
mations of “ad te clamamus” (“to ee we cry!”). Breathless, broken phras-
es characterize “ad te suspiramus” (“to
ee we sigh”), while descending
motives and harmonic suspensions help to paint a picture of weeping and
mourning (or, in Latin, “gementes et entes.”)
e most joyous section is
also the most orid in terms of movement: at the mention of Jesus, the
composer begins to throw all sorts of rapid-note runs about. In the closing
moments of the composition, Salazar turns to gentle, slow sonorities and
unhurried, consonant (as opposed to chromatic) descents on each word of
tenderness, “Oh compassionate, loving, sweet Virgin Mary.” Furthermore,
he takes his time, separating each exclamation from the next by inserting
long, expansive rests. e silence becomes as powerful as the singing.
Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, Salve!
Ad te clamamus, exsules lii Hevae,
ad te suspiramus, gementes et entes,
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eja ergo, advocata nostra,
illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos
converte.
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis, post hoc exsilium, ostende,
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope!
To you we cry, poor banished children of Eve,
to you we send up our sighs, mourning and
weeping in this vale of tears.
en, most gracious advocate,
turn your eyes of mercy toward us.
And a er this, our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Oh compassionate, loving, sweet Virgin Mary.
STEVEN SAMETZ (b. 1954)
I Have Had Singing
Steven Sametz is Professor of Music
and Director of Choral Activities at
Lehigh University, in Bethlehem,
PA. A er completing his under-
graduate studies at Yale University
and the Hochschule für Musik in
Frankfurt, Germany, he received his
Masters of Music and Doctor of Mu-
sical Arts degrees from the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin–Madison. Sametz
is active as a conductor, editor, and
composer whose works have been
performed all over the world.
Originally written for the Berkshire
Choral Festival, a summer amateur music festival,
I Have Had Singing
para-
phrases lines taken from Ronald Blythe’s
Aken eld, Portrait of an English
Village
. In
, Blythe traveled to the north of England interviewing farm-
ers, plowmen, blacksmiths—people whose stories dated back to the early
th century. One subject, given the name Fred Mitchell in the book, was
an -year-old horseman who told his story of working a bleak, infertile
land in a life lled with little joy. In the midst of his story, he stopped and
said, “But there was always singing; the boys in the eld, the chapels were
full of singing. I have had pleasure enough; I have had singing.”
e singing. ere was so much singing then and this was my pleasure, too.
We all sang: the boys in the eld, the chapels were full of singing, always singing.
Here I lie. I have had pleasure enough. I have had singing.
GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898–1937)
“Summertime” from
Porgy and Bess
(arranged by Kirby Shaw)
George Gershwin was born in
Brooklyn, the son of Russian-Jew-
ish immigrants, and grew up in
Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where
he was exposed to in uences from
Yiddish, Eastern European, Rus-
sian, and African-American cul-
tures. His musical career began at
, when he got a job as a “plugger,”
a pianist who sat in the music pub-
lisher’s shop and banged out the lat-
est tunes to encourage passersby to
come in and buy. By the time he was
, Gershwin was already writing
songs, and in less than years, he
had contributed music to nearly three dozen musicals and revues. His last
show of
,
Lady, Be Good
, with its jazzy, pulsating music set to lyrics by
his brother, Ira, helped shoot him to stardom at the age of just .
His only full-length opera,
Porgy and Bess
, had its beginnings in a nov-
el called
Porgy
by American author DuBose Heyward, in which the title
character is a beggar in Cat sh Row, a slum in Charleston, SC. In
,
Gershwin read the novel and was inspired to collaborate with Heyward to
create a truly American opera that would cross musical lines. In order to
write
Porgy and Bess
, Gershwin lived for several weeks with the Gullah Ne-
groes on the waterfront in Charleston. Finally, in
, just two years before
Gershwin’s untimely death at age , the opera premiered, receiving mixed
reviews. e initial run lasted only
performances—not even enough to
recoup its original investment—and has remained somewhat controversial,
even through a lm version and several revivals.
Easily the most famous number from
Porgy and Bess
,
“Summertime” takes
place at the opening of the opera, sung by the character Clara as a languid
lullaby to her baby. In Kirby Shaw’s arrangement, the arching solo vocal
line is accompanied by a jazzy choral underpinning with frequent interjec-
tions. Between the two verses, an extended improvisational section recalls
the rhapsodical skat stylings reminiscent of jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald.
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy’s rich and your mama’s good-lookin’
So hush, little baby, don’t you cry.
One of these mornin’s you’re gonna rise up singing
then you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to the sky
But till that morning, there’s a nothin’ can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin’ by.
Steven Sametz
George Gershwin
JULY 30 – AUGUST 5, 2018 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE
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