Journeying Into Mystery

Psalm Offering 4 Opus 2, like quite a few of the Psalm Offerings from Opus 2, began as musical sketches written in 1973 and later revised and/or rewritten in 1986. It was during the summer that I “re-composed” Psalm Offering 4. I was taking my Church Social Justice class at the St. Paul Seminary with Fr. Sean O’Rearden, and, had just finished reading the massive ode written by the late Penny Lernoux entitled  “People of God,” which described the courageous faith life of the Salvadoran and Guatemalan peasantry, many of whom lost their lives to the Right Wing Oligarchs of those countries. Archbishop Oscar Romero, along with Cardinal Arns, Bishop Helder Camara and other bishops who constantly faced threats of martyrdom at the hands of the same butchers who were disappearing people of faith. Archbishop Romero was the beloved shepherd of his sheep and willingly gave his life, like that of the Good Shepherd, for his flock. It is to him, and to the many untold and unnamed martyrs of El Salvador that this Psalm Offering is dedicated.

As to the music itself, it is written in a minor key. Note how the beginning measures and the ending measures are essentially the same, bookending, as it were, the music. The primary melody is introduced, and then repeated, with a development of the triplet figure as a bridge to the secondary melody which quickly evolves back into the triplet figure bringing the music to a recapitulation of the primary melody.

If listeners have not noticed it by now, I have a great fondness for the open, sounding diads of the Perfect 4th and the Perfect 5th. When studying music history as an undergraduate, I was drawn to the harmonies that made up the music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The major triad (chord) had not been yet discovered, in fact, the major chord was looked upon as a kind of dissonance. The preferred/acceptable harmonies of that period of music were octaves, Perfect 4ths and Perfect 5ths. I find this sort of harmony very appealing and can only surmise that it is a result of my musical gene pool inherited by my  great grandpap Marron, who was an Irish Traditional musician.  Much of Irish Traditional music closely resembles the song structures and harmonies of Medieval music which might explain its appeal to me.

In 1986, I was in the midst of my graduate studies at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. One of my graduate classes was on the Social Justice teachings of the Catholic Church. Fr. Sean O’Rearden, who taught in Rome during the academic year was my professor. Over the years, he taught theologians of the caliber of Gutierrez, Boff and the like. He knew well the atrocities perpetuated by the Oligarchies of Latin America on the people of Latin America. Many of these atrocities were encouraged by American business interests and our own American government either directly or indirectly. The men who tortured, disappeared, and murdered many innocent Latin American men and women during the late 70’s, and 80’s learned all their techniques of torture and oppressions at the United States School of America. My world was shaken to learn the culpability of the United States in the horrors taking place in Central and South America.

Shortly after having watched the film documentary, “Roses In December”, addressing the rape and murder of 4 American Catholic missionaries in El Salvador, I began work on this Psalm Offering.

I was influenced by the work of Krysztof Penderecki’s great work, “Threnody For the Victims of Hiroshima.” This is not a pleasant, tune-filled Psalm Offering. It begins with diminished chords and leads to a section of 12 tone music. It gradually moves from dissonance to a quiet resolution of consonance. The overarching scripture that influenced this composition is the question that St. Paul poses in his letter to the Romans. “What can separate us from the love of God?” Paul then talks about torture, imprisonment and many of the very things the School of America taught, and concludes that nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. Dissonance to consonance. Conflict to peaceful, quiet resolution.

For all the martyrs of Argentina, Chile, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Columbia, and so on, this Psalm Offering is for you and your families.

Psalm Offering 6 was composed in 1986 for Dr. Maurice A. Jones. Maurie Jones taught at the College of St. Catherine in St Paul, MN. Maurie directed the “Chorale” of St. Kates, taught voice practicums, and subbed for Dr. Al Biales teaching Music History. He was the finest professor I ever had, and the finest director I have ever had. When I graduated from the University of St. Thomas, Maurie became my mentor and over time a good friend. Along with his academic career, Maurie was also a thespian and at home on the stage, starring in a number of musical roles. He died on Holy Thursday, 1986.

Maurie’s doctoral thesis was the development of the American musical in the 19th century. His doctoral work centered around a piece written for American theater entitled, “The Haymakers.” In the Fall of 1986, Maurie planned on taking the Chorale to the State of Israel to sing at Christmas. There was a television news story about Maurie’s plans to tour with the Chorale. Maurie looked very ill, and Ruthie and I exchanged looks that said it all. By 1985, AIDS had reached pandemic levels among the Gay community. The tour of the Chorale was scrapped. One would never have guessed that Maurie was a homosexual. When he died, the College of St. Catherine announced the cause of death as Legionnaire’s Disease. The music community of the St. Paul and Minneapolis knew that Maurie had died from AIDS.

When I heard through the musical grapevine that Maurie was seriously ill, I began work on this composition. Shortly after Christmas of 1985, I finished the composition of this Psalm Offering for Maurie, recorded it and sent the recording and music to Maurie. On Holy Thursday, Maurie had died.

The music has elements of what I think is musical Americana. It has neo-classical/early romantic period elements, along with the music that is often associated as uniquely American. It is like the fusion of Rembrandt with Grandma Moses, or the German poet, Friedrich Schiller with American poet, Walt Whitman. The Classic period’s Alberti bass in the left hand, to the arpeggios of the Romantic period joined with a melody I consider Americana. The musical elements were such that I hoped that Maurie might appreciate.

A brief word about homosexuality. I have always believed that our sexual orientation is more about how God created us rather than some conscious choice that we make as individuals. In the Arts, in whatever form it may be, there has always been a number of artists who are homosexual. Over the years I have had the pleasure and honor of working with many men and women who are gay. There was only one time I made a disparaging remark about the gay community, and sadly, it was to Maurie. It was 1983 and there had been accusations about child sex abuse in Jordan, MN. A friend of mine lost his teaching position for having propositioned some high school students while drunk. I told Maurie that I was fine with the gay community, I just didn’t want anyone from the community hitting on me. I regretted my words before they left my mouth. It was an asinine thing to say, and the hurt look in Maurie’s eyes said it all. I have never forgiven myself for saying that to a man I so admired and loved. My words sinned against a fine community of men and women. Never will I ever do that again. God only creates good, not evil. We tend to forget this.

I composed this Psalm Offering in 1976 from musical sketches/assignments I composed in Music Theory 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the years 1970 and 1971. Dr. Callahan, my music theory professor gave us the assignment in the 2nd year of Musical Theory to compose music using changing meter. I took those assignment sketches and developed them 4 years later into this music, that I later revised in 1986 in its present form. I dedicated this music to Dr. Jim Callahan, my music theory prof. Dr. Callahan also was my piano professor. The man was an incredible composer and concert pianist. I am forever grateful to him for his patience and his commitment in developing me into the musician I am today.

As to the music, it has a saucy/sassy tangoesque quality about it. It is only 65 measures long and alternates from 5/4 meter to 6/4 to 3/4 back to 5/4 meter. There is even one measure of 4/4/ meter in it … only one. The left hand ostinatto pattern in 5/4 time, is reminiscent of what one hears in the Dave Brubeck’s quartet’s hit “Take Five” written by the quartet’s alto saxophone musician, Paul Desmond.  It begins in an F minor key and modulates to a C major key, ending in A minor. Playing it now is as much fun as it was composing it over 40 years ago.

The picture is of me, at the time I was composing this, with my two sons, Andy and Luke (the infant).

I composed this Psalm Offering in 1986 in the memory of Marian Hagen. Marian is the mother of the beautiful bride pictured at the left, Cheri DuCharme, Ruthie’s best friend. Note that the beautiful woman with the long, dark hair in the salmon color dress is Ruthie (we would be married the next year). Marian had struggled with diabetes her whole life and her body just wore out. Having heard that Marian had passed away, I composed this for Cheri who was grieving the death of her mother.

Stylistically, it is written in the style of the French Impressionists of the late 19th century and early 20th century, e.g. Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. The melody is constructed using a whole tone scale, which means that the melody does not have any half steps (most scales are constructed from a series of whole steps and half steps), only whole steps. This gives the music an ethereal, dream-like quality. The harmonies are constructed through a series of parallel dominant 7 chords (usually a dominant 7 chord resolves or leads to a tonic chord). I have a great fondness for the French Impressionists, who have largely influenced my own compositional style.

I composed this Psalm Offering in 1986 as a Christmas/12th anniversary present for my beautiful bride, Ruthie. I remember composing it on the rickety old upright piano in the music room of St. Wenceslaus School at which I was teaching music at the time. It is a bit like Johann Sebastian Bach meets Aaron Copland. It is essentially a fugue with variations. It starts out just like a typical two part fugue one might find in Bach’s “Well Tempered Clavier” collection of preludes and fugues, but evolves into a Coplanesque “Appalachian Spring-like” variation on the subject of the fugue. Along the way, a secondary melody develops in the upper voices while the subject is augmented in the lower voices (amazing how much I still remember of Music Theory, Years 1 and 2). At the time, I was practicing some of the composing skills I learned in Music Theory, e.g. fugue, at the same time adapting and experimenting with them in the styles of modern 20th century composer, like Aaron Copland.

I composed this Psalm Offering for Julianne Kerber in 1986. Julianne was struggling with cancer and died about 2 weeks before her son got married. I played it following communion at Julianne’ funeral. Two weeks later I played her son’s wedding. This piece of music concludes the Opus 2 collection of piano music. Note how unlike much music it doesn’t end on the tonic (the major key in which the music is written, not a concoction laced with gin) key. As we say in spirituality, death is not the end, but rather the doorway into a higher way of life. With this music not concluding in the tonic key, it doesn’t end but continues to be.

The Eighth Psalm Offering is a musical representation of Luke’s account of Mary and Joseph finding the 12 year old Jesus in the Temple. This Psalm Offering is dedicated to Blanche and Ivo Schutrop.