Category Archives: Music

Sibyls, Witches, and A Wandering Mind

Posted on by

I woke up with part of the “Dies Irae” from the Mozart Requiem going through my head. Which is not inappropriate, given the portion of the liturgical year that the western church is currently in. Except … the specific phrase was “teste David cum Sybilla.” As [King] David and the Sibyl revealed/testified to. David is mentioned in Christian and Jewish scripture. The Tiburtine Sibyl is not, in fact, she was pagan. So why is she in the liturgy?

The Tiburtine – or Tiber – Sibyl may or may not have been one of the prophetesses of the Classical world. No one knows. The story comes from the Golden Legend, and Christian tradition. Augustus asked the Sibyl if he should be OK with the Senate worshiping him as a god. She said “No,” and pointed to a vision of a woman and child. And so the tale grew, and can be found loitering in the no-longer-official (as in it is now optional for the most part) liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.

The early church, and the medieval church especially, had a sort of awkward relationship with Classical antiquity. Rome had accepted Christianity (or at least legalized it) in the mid 300s, and protected the church. But the imperial governments had also persecuted believers (and Jews), and tolerated pagans of many kinds. Then there was the question about pagans who seemed to have been decent sorts, or whose teachings might incline towards an understanding of godhead not all that far from Christianity, but who lived before Jesus. What about them? Should their writings be taught and preserved? Were they in perdition? Certainly not in heaven, because they hadn’t known Jesus, and so per Scripture couldn’t be saved. But they had been good people, and if they’d known about Jesus, they probably would have believed Him (or so it was thought). Oh dear.

Dante put them in a place not in Hell, but not where they could see G-d. The Church seemed to agree, or vice versa. Now we don’t worry so much about it.

My wandering mind then drifted from “What’s a sibyl doing in the liturgy anyway?” to the Witch of Endor. “Medium” or “spirit summoner” of En-Dor might be more accurate. She called up the spirits of the dead to answer questions, or explain why they needed to be propitiated, or to help lay them. This was very, very illegal in the Mosaic law, and the Most High had prophets remind people of this multiple times. Which of course means that the Children of Israel were, indeed, calling up ghosts and asking them things, like their neighbors did.

King Saul had persecuted (executed) most of the spirit-speakers. Thus the witch had very good reason not to be thrilled when he showed up, even in disguise and promising to protect her. She was very, very unhappy when Samuel’s ghost really did appear! The ghost then made Saul equally unhappy. It might be one of the best examples of “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answered” that come to mind.

Sibyls, witches, Augustus as a good non-believer … there are all sorts of odd things hiding in Christian tradition and the Scriptures.

It’s Not Stealing, It’s Inspiration

Posted on by

I’d sung it but not in German. Which made absolutely no sense, because I’ve never done Brahms in English. Except …

OK, to back up, rewind, and so on. One of the groups I sing with was working on the first movement of the Brahms German Requiem. It is not a true Roman Catholic requiem, but was inspired by the ideas and sense of the Roman Catholic Mass setting. So the first movement begins with (in German), “Blessed are those who mourn.” The second movement begins with “All flesh is as grass and our days are cut off as flowers of the field,” but becomes more lively and cheerful as it describes how the mourners will be comforted, until they come with rejoicing to the blessed place (which is described in the fourth movement). The ending is a fugue, a fancy round, focusing on the words “come with rejoicing,” or “kommen mit Jauchtzen.” It dances and bounces back and forth among the voices before resolving into a big Brahmsian chord. Start at 9:45.

As I’m studying the music, and listening to two other voice parts “woodshedding” the section, I kept thinking, “I’ve sung this, in English.” Except I have only done this composition in German. What was I hearing in my head? Something about dancing, and coming into the presence of the-

Ah hah! Randall Thompson’s Peaceable Kingdom, the end of the final movement. “As when one goeth with a pipe/ to come before the mountain of the Lord.” It is a close parallel, not stolen but inspired by, using a slightly different text, and a capella.

And the Thompson, at 3:10.

Thompson borrowed from Brahms, Renaissance motets, and perhaps others. Just like other composers borrowed themes, or chord patterns, or “put fugue here,” and still do. After all, when you have eight notes, plus sharps/flats, well, there’s going to be overlap.

Bagpipe vs. Harp

Posted on by

What musical instrument do we associate with Scotland? Wales? Ireland? Ireland is easy – the harp is on their currency. They also have the uillan pipes, the ones played seated and pumped with the elbow. Scotland is bagpipes, played by a dude in a tartan kilt, sporran, and possibly white spats and a tartan over his shoulder for good measure. Wales … harp again, triple-strung (three wires per note) because they have to be different.

Scotland actually had the harp as well, and there are a number of harp songs that come from Scotland. But who carries a harp to war? OK, besides “The Minstrel Boy” in the song (written in the 1800s, but don’t worry about that.) Harps are relatively quiet instruments compared to trumpets and bagpipes, and are fragile. At any given time, a box harp is trying to pull itself apart because of the differing tensions and twists on the neck and box. Strings and wires snap, especially wires. You pluck a gut-strung folk harp, and brush a wire strung with your finger nails, or pluck with the nails very gently. Harps love to go out of tune when the weather changes, and need to be detuned (tension released from strings) when not in use.

A clarsach. Source: https://artsphere.org/clarsach/

Bagpipes? All jokes aside, they don’t lose tune as easily as do harps. You stand to play the Scottish pipes, rather than sitting. Pipes cut through other sounds because of their harmonics and the volume one can achieve. Harps are indoor instruments most of the time. Pipes indoors … are loud. Very loud. Painfully loud. You can play bagpipes quietly, but quiet is relative.

A piper in semi-formal dress. Source: http://www.scottishpipers.net/wp/photo-gallery/

The harp in Scotland goes back thousands of years. So why do we associate Scotland with the pipes? War. Bagpipes are unusual, distinctive, and were used on the battlefield to announce who was there, to inspire confidence, and to signal in some cases. Nobles had their pipers, and pipers were protected (usually. There were rare and notable exceptions, which is why they are notable.) Harpers sang the praise of the nobles, back in the day, and entertained. Harp players do not stand beside a battlefield commander at the edge of the fighting, playing to inspire the troops. The importance of the harp got overwritten over the course of Scotland’s history, just as the harp of Wales disappeared for the most part, to be revived in the 1700s-1800s and especially the 1900s.

Tuathal is a harp player (clarsach), a wire-strung instrument. He sings songs of praise and satire, inspiring or shaming, passing on information and news, giving advice, occasionally settling disputes because he is a neutral outsider in most places, and knows the law. He is also blessed, or cursed, with awan, the power of inspiration. When that moves through him, his words have true power, even more than most bards’ songs or recitations.

Well, I Feel better …

Posted on by

I was watching a new-to-me music video by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It cuts from a recording session to locations mentioned in the song. The conductor is doing the vehement arm circles that translate “pick it up, you’re starting to drag! Keep moving, keep moving, quiet isn’t slower!”

If they do it, then I’m not alone. They’re one of the great professional choirs of the world, known for excellent pacing and tempi and diction. And yet, during a recording session (not early rehearsal), the conductor is fighting them and vice versa. Emphatic arm swirl means the choir is starting to lag. Or orchestra. I’ve done that when I substitute for band or orchestra at Day Job. When the music gets quiet, the musicians try to slow down unless otherwise motivated. Especially when the piece is not fast to begin with.

Sometimes, watching experienced pros have the same problem that we do helps. Not that it is an excuse, because I know better, and so do they, but they’re human. They are dragging, or inclined to, just like my choir and chorus. Likewise dealing with a piece of equipment, or trying to understand a text, or dealing with plants. “I’m not alone” can be very comforting and helpful.

PS: If you speed up the tune, and change the melody in the third line, you may recognize “Scotland the Brave.” AKA Malcolm.

Classical, Baroque, and Rock

Posted on by

Why does classical music (and baroque) work so well in rock settings? I’ve heard Romantic pieces as well, but Bach, Orff, Mozart, Beethoven, and a few others show up over and over in rock and metal compositions. I’m sure that part of it has to do with the pieces being in the public domain, so that no one has to pay royalties to Bach’s estate, for example. Certain melodies, such as the “Dies Irae” chant, have been encoded in western music, and make easy audience cues for musicians to tap if they want a certain mood or sense in the music (and in the listener).

Baroque music, and some classical, has a very firm structure. There is a constant pulse, one that remains steady even though the music may seem to race or plod as the text (or composer’s desire) demands. This makes it easy to fit into similar genres, including metal. The “bright” sound of baroque also fits with metal. A lot of the “warmer” instruments, and the true bass instruments, were just coming into use, so a great deal of the instrumental pieces are bright and somewhat harsh sounding on period instruments. That translates very well into rock guitar, and the rock vocal registers.

Many early rock and metal musicians had classical training. A goodly number still do, or have been exposed to classical and baroque music as part of their regular education. This gives them technical chops (the trained) and a broad base of melodic and harmonic sounds to draw from in their own compositions. Some are more obvious about it than others (Sabaton, TSO, Black Sabbath, Serenity, Connor Gallagher), others incorporate ideas without drawing attention to them.

I’m enough of a music nerd that I enjoy catching bits of classical and folk music in other genres. Sometimes it is obvious, like Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Sabaton. Other times I have to go back and listen very hard to be certain that I heard what I thought I heard. On occasion it is a nod, a quick few notes from a well-known theme that then passes without further musical comment. Sort of a musical Easter egg, as if were. If you know, you know. If not, it is still a good song.

But It’s Not Christmas Music

Posted on by

No, but that is the feast I came to associate the songs with, and so that’s where my mental calendar pegs them. And in truth, they fall on the last day of the liturgical calendar, the feast that focuses on the end of time and the return of the Messiah.

The second version is the original, four-part mixed choir.

I first heard it as an instrumental on the Windham Hill Winter Solstice II album (which remains one of my favorites).

I also think of “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” as an advent hymn, even though, again, it fits with the liturgy of Christ the King.

“Gaudete” is appropriate, except … Erasure used the imagery from Caspar David Friedrich’s paintings.

And December 26 is the Feast of St. Stephen, which I suspect most Protestants recall because of the martyred Duke of Bohemia, not because of Stephen the first deacon. Back in 2009, rather than go to a museum, I attended the festival mass at Stephansdom, in Vienna. The mass setting was Hayden, the cardinal-archbishop presided, and it was amazing. And cold as all get out, but that’s a stone church in winter in Central Europe.

Like this, but darker, and full of people. I was in one of the pew boxes, above the draft, sitting with young nuns and elderly Viennese. Source: https://kr.pinterest.com/pin/814518282579154072/

One interesting observation is that from the winter solstice to Christmas Day, no sunlight gets into the windows behind the altar. Only on Christmas Day does a sliver of color and glow return. Christmas Eve midnight all the bells in Vienna ring, led by Pummerin.

Album Review: Legends

Posted on by

Sabaton Legends (2025)

After the series of themed albums focusing on the First World War, Sabaton has gone back to a more eclectic mix of stories for their new album. This one focuses on great leaders, or notable warriors, from all across history and all over the world.

The album opens with “Templars,” then the Mongols and stays in Asia with “A Tiger Among Dragons.” Each song has a different sound, as befits the varying stories. Julius Caesar, Hannibal Barca, Napoleon, Joan of Arc, and others get their time, and the work concludes with “Till Sieger.” The title threw me, because I associate “Til” with “Til Eulenspiegel,” not the Swedish word for until. The warriors are mostly familiar, although I’m not as familiar with Lu Bu and Senusret III.

The sound is classic Sabaton, but each song has a different flavor, from the more thoughtful to dramatic. I especially like “Templars,” “Tiger Among Dragons” and “The Cycle of Songs.” “I, Emperor” feels almost over the top bombastic, which fits the topic of the piece. There are no truly slow ballads, something I miss a little, but several of the pieces do have a bit of an elegaic undertone to them.

The sound quality on the CD is crisper than on the MP3. I’m looking forward to hearing the live versions, since Sabaton is touring the US in late winter.

I’d recommend the album to Sabaton fans, power metal fans, and people interested in hearing and learning more about warrior personalities of the past. (Not just generals, although they do predominate.)

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased this album with my own money, and received no remuneration for this review.

Hearing the Future – Kamelot Then

Posted on by

The goth-metal band Kamelot released remasters of their first three albums this summer. The albums date from 1995-1998, and you can hear the glam-metal, hair-metal sound in the arrangements and vocals. They sound a bit like Europe, Scorpion, and similar groups, with the infusion of some orchestral lines (similar to Europe’s “Final Countdown” and the brass opening.) Having listened to all their more recent work, I can also hear where they will go, the stronger melodic metal elements, and the shift in vocal style.

Sometimes listening to the early work – or reading early work – of an artist is painful. Not all experiments are successful, and there’s one song in particular (not Kamelot) that I have on “always skip,” because not everyone should do vocals, or at least not that kind of vocals. I destroyed hundreds of thousands of words of fiction and poetry because it was horrible, gloomy, and made me cringe ten years later. It also got that out of my system and let me practice telling stories on paper.

At other times, you can hear the start of greatness. I have played some of Bach’s first organ pieces. Already, a listener or performer can nod and say, “Yes, this is Bach, not Buxtehude, not others.” Likewise Nightwish, or Kamelot, or Ola Gjello’s compositions. There will be growth and change over time, but you hear where the specific sound began, and can appreciate the effects of experience and further refinement and training. With moderns, not everyone cares for that style. Oh goodness, Kamelot’s first album is so very 1980s-90s glam metal, a bit like Scorpion without the smoothness of the later group, and the vocals are a bit like some Journey. But … there’s something else there. By the third album, the difference becomes apparent. The group is going in a different direction. The lyrics are more complex and darker, melodic lines clearer, instrumentals starting to move into what I think of when I pick up a later Kamelot album.

It’s fun, reading or listening to early work, or seeing the first attempts by a visual artist. Jackson Pollock began as a Regionalist, depicting farmers and others in the Midwestern US, like Thomas H. Benton but with looser lines. That’s not what we remember him for. He changed, markedly. Why I leave for the art historians and cultural historians to argue over, but watching the change is intriguing.

Orchestrating Metal

Posted on by

I wonder if anyone makes a living doing orchestrations for rock and metal groups? I know that several bands thank orchestrators in the credits on their CD notes. Even someone like Tuomas Holopainen, who is an amazing composer and keyboardist, might not know all the abilities and limits for various orchestral parts, and know precisely how to get the sound he hears in his head onto paper for various violins, clarinets, and so on.

The thought bubbled up because a fellow chorus member composed a piece for choir and (large) organ. She had never done a work with organ before, and has been describing the challenges of learning organ notation (three staves), as well as trying to fit the sound of the choir with that of the instrument, and having to modify both as she translates what she hears in her mind onto paper, then voices and organ. It is not easy, and I admire her greatly for challenging herself.

How do you fit rock sounds into an orchestra, or vice versa? What do you have to take into consideration as far as harmonics and tone, as well as volume? How do you cue the orchestra for guitar or drum [shudder] solos? The same way you do in “normal” orchestral music, with the understanding that the soloist has control until he gives a certain signal? What orchestral instruments don’t play well with metal and rock?

Symphonic metal, or metal with orchestra, can be very complex musically. The art of working the different expectations into one piece demands a wide range of musical skill and familiarity, leading me to wonder if there are a few people who do nothing but that, or if orchestrating for one instrument or style can cross over to others.