The Great Canon
More than a year ago, I discovered John Tavener's setting of The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete on a CD borrowed from the public library. Follow the link for the rendition by the Tallis Scholars, featuring the hypnotic, compelling chanting of baritone Jeremy White (which sadly is not heard on the sound file excerpt). If you want to Google for more information, I must warn you this piece is sometimes called an "Ode" instead of a Canon, particularly by the publisher.
Perhaps that word needs scare quotes: "publisher." I ordered a copy of the score, having fallen in love with the idea of performing the work during a Holy Week service at my church. I found it to be a boar's nest. It was nothing but a faint photocopy of Tavener's manuscript. We're talking here about something that came out of the pre-desktop publishing era. Quotes of ancient Greek and Russian texts appear in the score in the composer's el crapito handwriting spelled in Greek or Russian alphabet without any transliteration to Latin script.
How could I possibly get this ... this ... near-random scattering of toner blotches on paper into shape? I would have had to transcribe the whole 15-minute work into Finale, then research the foreign text and provide phonetic help in the score to my singers. But what singers? Seeing the score made me realize how difficult the thing would be to perform. I always underestimate the difficulty, so if I say it is difficult, it is difficult. I could hire eight professional singers, but most of them would have come from outside the congregation, which a lot of people would view as a waste.
So I gave up the idea of performing The Canon. Then, a funny thing happened. My boss at St. Luke asked me to write music for the Maundy Thursday service. The Canon was reborn through its influence on my piece.
Still, I can't get the power of The Canon out of my head. The cantor sings the gut-churning words of repentance, pausing only to allow the full chorus to sing "Lord have mercy" in multiple languages. There's no effete fussing over anyone's precious self-esteem here. One's self-esteem is about to get its backside tanned:
1. Where shall I begin to lament the deeds of my wretched life? What first-fruit shall I offer, O Christ, for my present lamentation? But in Thy compassion grant me release from my falls.To those without the right temperament or training, it may seem strange that anyone could read these words with a sense of liberating joy. Yet I can confirm it. The surrender of all pretense, the confession of one's utter spiritual poverty, is something I dread, and something I cherish as precious.
2. Come, wretched soul, with your flesh, confess to the Creator of all. In future refrain from your former brutishness, and offer to God tears in repentance.
3. Having rivalled the first-created Adam by my transgression, I realize that I am stripped naked of God and of the everlasting kingdom and bliss through my sins. (Genesis 3)
4. Alas, wretched soul! Why are you like the first Eve? For you have wickedly looked and been bitterly wounded, and you have touched the tree and rashly tasted the forbidden food.[...]
7. I have willfully incurred the guilt of Cain's murder, since by invigorating my flesh I am the murderer of my soul's awareness, and
have warred against it by my evil deeds. (Genesis 4:8) [...]
20. From my youth, O Christ, I have rejected Thy commandments. I have passed my whole life without caring or thinking as a slave of my passions. Therefore, O Saviour, I cry to Thee: At least in the end save me.
21. I have squandered in profligacy my substance, O Saviour, and I am barren of virtues and piety; but famished I cry: O Father of mercies, forestall and have compassion on me. (Luke 15:13,17)
22. I fall prostrate before Thee, O Jesus. I have sinned against Thee, be merciful to me. Take from me the heavy yoke of sin, and in Thy compassion grant me tears of compunction.[...]
Ooookay, I scared you all away, didn't I. Come back please. Forgive me -- for I have rivalled the first-created Adam by my transgression -- oops! Sorry. Oh well, here's a peace offering: a David Hasselhoff video. (Hat tip to The Corner.) Kinda embarrassing for the old guy, what with that dead fish in his mouth and everything, but the tune sure is catchy. I wonder if he wrote it himself.
Umie the Umlaut says, "ask your doctor about the Fredösphere!"
1 Comments:
Tavener's music is indeed very friendly to the liturgy and some of it is quite devotion-inspiring. I also feel your pain about Chester's publishing quality. The larger works' reprints are indeed hard to read. Makes one wonder what they did before the Industrial Revolution. This work (The Andrew of Crete Kanon)as well as many other Tavener pieces are quite unwieldly and not performable by the average church choir. Tavener has had the luxury of many professional choirs in London premiering his works. There ARE, however, several smaller works that lend themselves to execution by really good volunteer choirs or those with paid section leaders. My two reccomendations are "Funeral Ikos" and "Today the Virgin". The Funeral Ikos works well on All Saints day; with some editing it can be used during the Necrology. Today the Virgin is an exuberant piece for Christmas. Both are acappella.
Finally, "canon" in the sometimes title of the work refers to the liturgical/literary genre of a eucharistic prayer rather than a musical form or device.
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