NOTES: This Psalm Offering was written in 1974 and dedicated to Pope John XXIII. I remember distinctly as a kid, the opening of the Second Vatican Council. While I experienced the transition from serving Mass in Latin to serving Mass in English, I didn’t fully appreciate the tremendous contribution Pope John XXIII made to the Church by convening the Council. Why did I pick a Fugue to compose for this Psalm Offering? How could such an old form of music from the Baroque Period represent such a dynamic man? This Fugue has a dynamic quality to it that truly characterizes the life of Pope John XIII. There is a relentless power in a Fugue. The subject of the Fugue, a short melody, gets introduced and repeated over and over in different key areas both major and minor, sometimes inverted, sometimes backward (called retrograde), sometimes slowed down (augmented) and sometimes sped up (diminished). Just as the subject of a Fugue dominates the music and continues through to the end of the Fugue, so the work begun by Pope John XXIII has not ended but continues to be implemented in spite of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It is with great relief and satisfaction that Pope Francis I is continuing to undo the harm done by the previous two Popes, and completing the implementation of the Second Vatican Council. The principle pitches from this Fugue subject I would take 12 years later and fashion a new melody dedicated to Archbishop Oscar Romero (Psalm Offering 6 Opus 2), an equally dynamic and inspiring man. The next time I would write a Fugue would be to celebrate the 12th anniversary of my marriage to Ruth (Psalm Offering 9 Opus 2).
THE MUSIC: This is a three part Fugue (three voices). Unlike most of the homophonic music of today (that is, a melody supported by chords), a Fugue is polyphonic music, that is the juxtaposition of melody upon melody upon melody. The interaction of these melodies with each other provides the harmonies. The Fugue begins with the Fugue subject introduced in the key of C minor. The subject gets passed off to the second voice in a different key, and then to the third voice in another key area. A musical bridge of short elements from the subject link the different incarnations of the fugue subject throughout the Fugue, with the subject changing from minor to major keys, the subject getting inverted (turned upside down), or being slowed down (augumented) or sped up (diminished) or played backward (retrograde). This basic structure, fugue subject, musical bridge, fugue subject, musical bridge is the form of the music, until there is a final coda, or conclusion. This Fugue beings in the key area of C minor and ends in the Coda with a resounding fortissississimo (fff) on the pitch of C in the three lowest octaves on the piano.
