Brubeck's 'Pange Lingua Variations'

Synopsis

In the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas penned a Latin hymn in praise of the holy sacrament of the last supper in which bread and wine are mystically changed into the body and blood of Christ. Aquinas’ text begins, “Pange lingua, gloriosi” or “Sing, my tongue, the Savior’s Glory.” Aquinas’ words have been set to a melody much older than his text, possibly derived from a Roman marching song or an even earlier Hebrew chant.

On May 21, 1983, this ancient text and tune underwent yet another transformation at the hands of American composer and jazzman Dave Brubeck, when his Pange Lingua Variations for chorus, jazz ensemble and orchestra had its premiere at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California.

In Brubeck’s setting, each stanza is sung first in original Gregorian chant style, followed by a variation. He said, “I searched for the meaning of each stanza, and tried to convey that thought musically, so that each variation is a miniature meditation.” The third variation, taking its cue from the music’s possible origin as a Roman marching tune, is given an appropriately martial treatment by both the chorus and jazz ensemble.

While jazz fans associate Brubeck with the sophisticated jazz he developed in the 50s and 60s, church musicians also know him as the composer of many oratorios on sacred themes, which often incorporate jazz elements into their scoring.

Music Played in Today's Program

Dave Brubeck (1920-2012): Pange Lingua Variations; Brubeck Quartet; London Voices; London Symphony; Russell Gloyd, conductor; Telarc 80621

On This Day

Births

• 1904 - American composer and jazz pianist Thomas “Fats” Waller, in New York City

Deaths

• 1895 - Austrian composer Franz von Suppé, 76, in Vienna

Premieres

• 1739 - Rameau: opera-ballet Les Fêtes d’Hébé, in Paris

• 1892 - Leoncavallo: opera Pagliacci, in Milan at Teatro dal Verme, with Arturo Toscanini conducting

• 1925 - Busoni: Doctor Faust, posthumously, in Dresden (completed by Philip Jarnach)

• 1956 - Perischetti: Piano Sonata No. 7, at the Philadelphia Conservatory, by pianist Robert Smith

• 1962 - Stockhausen: Momente for soprano, choruses, and instruments, in Cologne

• 1980 - Jacob Druckman: Prism for orchestra, by the Baltimore Symphony, Sergiu Commissiona conducting

• 1983 - Dave Brubeck: Pange Lingua Variations for chorus, jazz quartet, and orchestra, at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California, with Russell Gloyd conducting

• 1987 - Harrison Birtwistle: opera The Mask of Orpheus, at the London Coliseum by the English National Opera, Elgar Howarth and Paul Daniel conducting

• 2000 - Bruce Adolphe: Tyrannosaurus Sue (A Cretaceous Concerto), at the Field Museum in Chicago, by the Chicago Chamber Players