Organ Symphony No. 2 - on Gregorian Easter Chants

A preface by the composer.

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 This latest installment in the development of single-movement sonata forms has most of its thematic material in common with the tenth, and last, of Charles Marie Widor's great organ symphonies, the "Symphonie Romane", op. 73. However, as is generally the case with the late romantic French organ symphonies, Widor's piece is more akin to the Baroque suite than to the symphonic formal principles of the Classical age and beyond, as there is little connection across its four movements (Moderato; Choral; Cantilène; Finale), nor are these movements in any way related to the traditional symphonic arrangement (Sonata Allegro; Andante/Adagio; Minuet/Scherzo; Finale).

The author's Organ Symphony No. 2 on Gregorian Easter Chants, on the other hand, can be understood as a four movement symphony (Sonata movement; Scherzo; Slow movement; Rondo-Finale) which is contained within a traditional sonata form (Exposition with 1st & 2nd Subject groups; Development; Recapitulation and Coda), and it should be relatively easy to perceive this duality when listening to the work.[1]

The Gregorian chorales chosen as the main thematic material in this Organ Symphony No. 2, as well as in Widor's "Symphonie Romane" - and amongst numerous other works from the Middle Ages until today -, are some of the most popular tunes indeed which formed part of the monastic liturgies of both the Holy Week and the Easter Holidays.[2] Here, in the Organ Symphony No. 2, they are initially being presented in the following, distinct manners:

 •        Victimae Paschalis Laudes

appears in the style of a Siciliano:

* * *

•        Haec Dies

as a Ricercare:

* * *

•      Alleluia Pascha Nostrum

as a Fuga:

 

* * *

•        Vexilla Regis

as an Arioso (in the Tenor):

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The diagram below serves to illustrate - in place of a full verbal analysis - the formal sections of the Organ Symphony No. 2 and how the themes fit into its general scheme: [3]

 

*Motto: The first six notes of Victimae Paschalis (beginning of the first phrase), followed by a cadential figure (end of the second phrase).[4]

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The Organ Symphony No. 2 shows much improvement in respect of the overall flow and coherence of the individual sections, as well as the way the themes are being juxtaposed and combined. With just under 20 minutes of performing time, or 479 bars of music, it is also a fair bit shorter than its predecessor.

For a colour-coded explanation of the contrapuntal connections throughout all of this work, which are quintessential to the thematic development on one side, and the understanding of the formal logic on the other, the author has prepared this YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJVHfzrnYXUDcc7uXwbYbiA

 

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[1] For a more detailed essay on the genesis - and the problematic - of the single-movement sonata form, past and present, visit this blog post by the author: Developing the Single-movement Sonata Form

[2] Several of the Gregorian chants have been, following the Reformation, incorporated into the Protestant Hymn books, such as Victimae Paschalis Laudes which has become, albeit in a much altered form, Christ lag in Todesbanden, by Martin Luther in 1524.

[3] see above footnote ¹; also the preface to the Organ Symphony No.1 - on Lutheran Christmas Chorales

[4] Interestingly, notes 1-3 form at the same time their retrograde; notes 4-6 the inversion, as well as the retrograde inversion, of notes 1-3. This matter is being of some importance throughout the polyphonic settings of the Organ Symphony No. 2.