Introit (2024)
2. 2. 2. 2. / 4. 2. 3. 1. / timp. / str.
2. 2. 2. 2. / 4. 2. 3. 1. / timp. / str.
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Program Note
In its commission for the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner, the Peninsula Music Festival specifically asked me to compose a new piece that would lead directly into Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony without pause. I had my work cut out for me. After all, how does one introduce a seventy-minute symphony? The thought occurred to me that what was needed was not so much an introduction but a counterweight, a companion piece which would musically balance the Bruckner. I jotted down a list of techniques which Bruckner employs frequently in the Fifth Symphony and decided to deliberately withhold two of his favorites—pizzicato and long pauses—until the very end of my composition. (So, when pauses and pizzicati start to arise, we are nearing the point of “Beranek meets Bruckner.”) Additionally, it occurred to me that Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony can be characterized as one long crescendo whose single climax occurs in the very final bars. Therefore, as another means of balance, I decided to structure my composition as one long diminuendo.
Thundering, fortississimo chords for the full orchestra commence my piece, and, after each instrumental group takes turns boldly commenting on the opening thematic material, the strings lead with a lyrical second theme, now at the dynamic of forte. A buoyant diminution of the opening chords follows, which becomes the accompaniment to a chant-like third theme, intoned first by the woodwinds, then in a brass fugato with comments from the woodwinds and strings. By this point, mezzo-forte is giving way to mezzo-piano as the opening chords return, this time hushed, as fragments from the second and third themes continue to pepper the music. The lyrical second theme is reprised, now piano, before the piece gradually fades away, pianissimo, with remnants from the chant still floating in the air.
The musical material of my composition is entirely my own devising with three exceptions. First, a dissonant brass chord which Bruckner first employs in measure 20 of the Fifth Symphony’s first movement has always intrigued me; I use it throughout my composition as a motivic bridge between my piece and Bruckner’s. I have also occasionally sprinkled Bruckner’s memorable dotted motive from the Fifth Symphony (a rising third followed by a falling third with stepwise descent) in a few places. But, most significant of my quoted material is the chant melody introduced as the third theme of my piece, which leads me to the topic of my composition’s title: Introit.
Anton Bruckner, according to his student Fritz Kreisler, “had two coordinates: music and religion.” Certainly, by all existing accounts, it is clear Anton Bruckner’s devout Roman Catholic faith completely guided his life. As a Catholic myself, it was unimaginable to me to memorialize Bruckner without somehow acknowledging what he felt was both the Source and Purpose of his music—and all the more so when confronted with his Fifth Symphony, which has at various points been referred to as Bruckner’s Glaubenssinfonie (“Symphony of Faith”) or simply the Katholische (“Catholic”). As I was pondering how I might go about this, I was stunned to realize that my piece was slated to be premiered on one of the holiest days of the Church calendar: the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, August 15. The chant quoted in my piece is Signum magnum (“a great sign”), which is the introit, or entrance chant, for the Mass on that day. So, the title has a double meaning, reflecting both the piece’s function as the opening of a concert as well as the material it quotes.
And, as if a premiere on Assumption Day was not enough, you can imagine my astonishment when I discovered that the church (inside St. Florian Abbey) in which Bruckner is buried is consecrated to none other than the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Signum magnum, indeed!
Deo gratias.
—Jacob Beranek
In its commission for the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner, the Peninsula Music Festival specifically asked me to compose a new piece that would lead directly into Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony without pause. I had my work cut out for me. After all, how does one introduce a seventy-minute symphony? The thought occurred to me that what was needed was not so much an introduction but a counterweight, a companion piece which would musically balance the Bruckner. I jotted down a list of techniques which Bruckner employs frequently in the Fifth Symphony and decided to deliberately withhold two of his favorites—pizzicato and long pauses—until the very end of my composition. (So, when pauses and pizzicati start to arise, we are nearing the point of “Beranek meets Bruckner.”) Additionally, it occurred to me that Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony can be characterized as one long crescendo whose single climax occurs in the very final bars. Therefore, as another means of balance, I decided to structure my composition as one long diminuendo.
Thundering, fortississimo chords for the full orchestra commence my piece, and, after each instrumental group takes turns boldly commenting on the opening thematic material, the strings lead with a lyrical second theme, now at the dynamic of forte. A buoyant diminution of the opening chords follows, which becomes the accompaniment to a chant-like third theme, intoned first by the woodwinds, then in a brass fugato with comments from the woodwinds and strings. By this point, mezzo-forte is giving way to mezzo-piano as the opening chords return, this time hushed, as fragments from the second and third themes continue to pepper the music. The lyrical second theme is reprised, now piano, before the piece gradually fades away, pianissimo, with remnants from the chant still floating in the air.
The musical material of my composition is entirely my own devising with three exceptions. First, a dissonant brass chord which Bruckner first employs in measure 20 of the Fifth Symphony’s first movement has always intrigued me; I use it throughout my composition as a motivic bridge between my piece and Bruckner’s. I have also occasionally sprinkled Bruckner’s memorable dotted motive from the Fifth Symphony (a rising third followed by a falling third with stepwise descent) in a few places. But, most significant of my quoted material is the chant melody introduced as the third theme of my piece, which leads me to the topic of my composition’s title: Introit.
Anton Bruckner, according to his student Fritz Kreisler, “had two coordinates: music and religion.” Certainly, by all existing accounts, it is clear Anton Bruckner’s devout Roman Catholic faith completely guided his life. As a Catholic myself, it was unimaginable to me to memorialize Bruckner without somehow acknowledging what he felt was both the Source and Purpose of his music—and all the more so when confronted with his Fifth Symphony, which has at various points been referred to as Bruckner’s Glaubenssinfonie (“Symphony of Faith”) or simply the Katholische (“Catholic”). As I was pondering how I might go about this, I was stunned to realize that my piece was slated to be premiered on one of the holiest days of the Church calendar: the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, August 15. The chant quoted in my piece is Signum magnum (“a great sign”), which is the introit, or entrance chant, for the Mass on that day. So, the title has a double meaning, reflecting both the piece’s function as the opening of a concert as well as the material it quotes.
And, as if a premiere on Assumption Day was not enough, you can imagine my astonishment when I discovered that the church (inside St. Florian Abbey) in which Bruckner is buried is consecrated to none other than the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Signum magnum, indeed!
Deo gratias.
—Jacob Beranek