Here is the commentary that goes along with my second collection of Psalm Offerings. The music can be bought either through iTunes or Amazon. You can also listen to the music for free on You Tube, Spotify, and other music streaming sites.
PSALM OFFERINGS
OPUS 2
Musical Prayer for the Pianoforte
by Robert Charles Wagner
(c) written text by Robert Charles Wagner
All photographs are from family albums or in the public domain.
PSALM OFFERINGS OPUS 2
These Psalm Offerings were composed between 1974 and 1986. Ruthie and I were busy growing our family. Andy was born in 1975, Luke in 1977, Meg in 1981, and Beth in 1984. During this time I taught Vocal/General music grades Kindergarten through 12th grade. Then moved to New Prague and taught general music at St. Wenceslaus School and directed liturgical music for the church. In 1984, I had moved from directing music and teaching music at St. Wenceslaus, to become the director of liturgy and music and music educator at St. Hubert, in Chanhassen. I was composing all sorts of music at this time. Junior High musicals for my students, choral anthems for my choirs, at the same time composing this music for piano.
Church employees are not paid very well, so as a family we were living below the poverty line, at times, selling our jewelry to keep bread and milk on the table, robbing Peter to pay Paul, holding down a couple of jobs. Eating out was often buying some frozen pizza and cooking it at home. Long work hours and work weeks at church meant not much time at home. After Beth was born, Ruthie had to get relicensed as a nurse and started working full-time night shifts as an R.N. at the local nursing home.
The one positive side to poverty is that there are scholarships for further education. It was during this time that I received enough scholarships from the College of St. Thomas, that I could begin pursuing a Masters Degree in Pastoral Studies for quite a reduced cost.
The wonderful thing about being young (besides better mobility and energy) is that there is always so much that is new to discover and learn. As I grew personally with Ruth and our children; as I grew professionally as an educator and as director of liturgy and music; I was also growing as a composer. Adversity can be quite a catalyst for creativity. As a composer I was starting to evolve and learn my craft. All the musical influences that were the basis of the first Opus of piano music continued on in this second Opus. What was different was that rather just copying the styles and technics of the composers I had studied, for better or for worse, I began to develop my own compositional style. This begins to be seen in these compositions.
It was also at this time that I conceived the idea of “Psalm Offerings”, and instrumental musical prayer for piano. There is a Catholic practice of lighting a candle as a visible manifestation of a prayer offered up for the intention of a person. These songs became an aural manifestation of a prayer offered up for someone, not only in live performance but in recorded performance. This is why each one is dedicated to some person or persons.
Psalm Offering 1: Prelude (For Dr. Gene Scapanski)
Psalm Offering 1 was written for Dr. Gene Scapanski. Back in 1979, in order to better understand my role as a liturgical music director, I took as an audit a class entitled “Music and Movement In Liturgy”, taught by this young, liturgical, upstart priest by the name Michael Joncas, who was finishing up his Masters in Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame. Mike’s class was offered through the College of St. Thomas, Masters in Pastoral Studies program, MAPS for short. Dr. Gene Scapanski approached me and asked me to officially enroll in the graduate school program. I was formally accepted in the MAPS program the following Summer. One of the first classes I took for graduate credit in the program was Gene’s “Introduction to Graduate Studies” class. I continue to be grateful to Gene in placing his trust in my abilities. By the time I graduated with a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies the summer of 1989 (classes were primarily held in the summer months), I grew intellectually and most importantly, spiritually … fides quae, fides qua. MAPS by that time had been officially merged into a graduate program within the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, University of St. Thomas.
As I did in Psalm Offering 8 Opus 1, I modeled this composition using much of the same chordal structures after the manner of the German composer, Paul Hindemith, lending a mysterious quality to the music. The brevity of the song is much in the musical form of a Prelude.
Psalm Offering 2: Nocturne for my children
Psalm Offering 2 was written for my four children, Andy, Luke, Meg and Beth. Andy was 10 years old, Luke, 8 years old, Meg, 4 years old, and Beth, not quite a year old. I first conceived this song as a lullaby for them, but it grew more into the form of a Nocturne. A nocturne is a short somewhat “dreamy” music associated with night, for piano.
My greatest contributions to the world, and my greatest legacy are my children. This music was composed in a neo-Romantic era style, based on the lullaby and a musical sketch I composed in 1973 for my children. I took the two melodies I wrote and reworked them into an entirely new composition. The musical form of the music is essentially three part, ABA form.
Psalm Offering 3: Lullaby for my Godson, Jordan
Psalm Offering 3 was written as a baptismal present for my godson, Jordan DuCharme, in 1985. Jordan is the son of Cheryl and Rob DuCharme, two very good friends of Ruthie and I. Ruthie and Cheryl have been Best Friends Forever from the time Ruthie’s dad moved her family out to the farm in Scandia, Minnesota. I felt so honored to be Jordan’s Godfather, that this melody just seemed to flow onto the staff paper. In between music classes I began to develop that melody. I started improvising on it, experimenting with the different elements of the music both in private and also in liturgies, where I would insert portions of it into that liturgical deadspot just following the reception of Holy Communion. Musically, this is composed in a neo-Romantic period style. The chromatic passages giving it a Chopinesque quality. It is essentially in two part, AB, form.
Psalm Offering 4 (For Archbishop Oscar Romero)
Psalm Offering 4 is dedicated to Archbishop Oscar Romero, a martyr of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. During my graduate studies, one of the most powerful classes I had was on Catholic Social Justice teachings, taught by Fr. Sean O’Riordan, C.SS.R., an Irish Redemptorist priest who was a professor of moral and pastoral theology at the Alphonsian Academy, Rome, during the academic year and taught during the Summer months at the St. Paul Seminary. Fr. O’Riordan introduced my class to the work of liberation theologians like Fr. Leonardo Boff, OFM, and Fr. Gustavo Guitierez, OP. He also introduced us to the work of Penny Lernoux who wrote exclusively about the heroic faith struggles of the people of El Salvador and Guatemala against the right-wing dictatorships of those countries in her book, The People of God. Archbishop Romero, challenged the right wing government of El Salvador at a time when the government was issuing statements like, “Be a patriot, kill a priest!” He received numerous death threats for being a shepherd to his flock. Receiving little to no support from Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, who supported the right wing governments of Central and South America, he was eventually martyred as he celebrated the Mass on March 24, 1980. He was officially declared a martyr of the Church by Pope Francis 1 in 2015 and canonized a saint on October 14, 2018.
This Psalm Offering is composed in the key of A minor. The primary melody quotes from the fugue subject used in Psalm Offering 7 Opus 1, which was written for another great hero of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John XXIII. The music begins and ends with the same open-ended chords. I have a propensity toward open sounding diads of Perfect 4th and Perfect 5ths, which was the favored harmonies of medieval and Renaissance period music. It is in three part, ABA, form.
Psalm Offering 5: Lamentation for the Latin American Martyrs
Psalm Offering 5 is dedicated to the martyrs of Central and South America during the late 1970’s and 1980’s, who were “disappeared” by the military of the right wing Oligarchies of Central and South America. Referenced earlier in Psalm Offering 4, Fr Sean O’Riordan, C. SS.R., moral and pastoral theologian taught a class in Catholic Social Justice teaching during the summer of 1985 at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. I was shocked and dismayed to find out of how implicated the United States was in the massive slaughter of humanity in Central and South America during this time.
The U.S. Army School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, taught the military of the right wing Oligarchies of Latin America how to terrorize, torture and execute anyone who opposed them. Many Latin American priests and women religious were tortured, raped, and executed during this bloody time. Many Latin American bishops received death threats. Four American women, three religious sisters and a lay Maryknoll missionary, were tortured, raped, and executed by a death squad of the El Salvadoran government (see the documentary Roses In December).
I was so disturbed by what my government was doing that I composed this Psalm Offering in memory of those who died for their faith.
Musically, I had been greatly influenced by the Polish composer, Kyrsztof Penderecki. Penderecki is a contemporary composer who uses extensively, atonal music in his compositions. Horrified by the dropping of the atomic bomb on the civilians of Hiroshima, he wrote a stirringly, haunting piece of music for orchestra entitled “Threnody For The Victims of Hiroshima.” This atonal orchestral work in which instruments are used in ways not originally intended, gives the listener an aural experience of the horror and the aftermath of the blast that leveled the Japanese city. It is not music for the faint of heart.
This Psalm Offering, starting with repeated diminished chords (melody A), evolves into a passage of atonal intensity (melody B) that gradually resolves from harsh dissonance to consonance (melody C). In a musical way, it expresses the horror of greed and its sin upon a victimized humanity but resolves into the grace of God that ultimately wins victory for those martyred for the faith.
Psalm Offering 6: Meditation on a Musical Life (For Dr. Maurice A. Jones)
I wrote this Psalm Offering for Dr. Maurice A Jones in 1986. Dr. Jones was the finest music professor I have ever had, a choral director par excellence, a mentor, a hero, and a good friend. Maurie was a professor at the College of St. Catherine. I had the honor of singing in the Chorale, which Maurie directed, at St. Kates. Maurie died from AIDS on Holy Thursday of 1986. Interacting with Maurie, you would never associate him with the typical stereotypes we construct about homosexuals. Being a musician and working with many artists, I have been around the homosexual community all of my life. Many of my best friends and colleagues whom I admire are homosexual. When his illness began to reveal itself, I sat down and wrote this Psalm Offering for him, recorded it on cassette tape, and sent it to him. It was reported back to me that he appreciated it. I continue to grieve his death even though 30 years have passed. The College of St. Catherine never acknowledged that Maurie died from AIDS, though the entire Twin City Music community was well aware of it. May this most beloved man and musician rest in the peace of God. The Psalm Offering is again composed in a neo-Romantic period style. It is in simple three part, ABA, form. At the time I composed it, it was one of my first really ambitious composition for piano, my love and utter respect for Maurie Jones pushing me to the next level of musical composition.
Psalm Offering 7: Danse Comique (For Dr. James Callahan)
This Psalm Offering is dedicated to Dr. James Callahan. Dr. Callahan was my professor of Music Theory and my piano professor in college. Though diminutive in stature, he was a musical genius as a composer and as a concert pianist in the Twin City area. Under his tutelage, Dr. Callahan took my very raw abilities and guided me to develop into a competent classical pianist. His abilities as a composer and as a teacher of composition inspired me to continue to pursue music composition. Music Theory is a very difficult class. It quickly weeds out those who are serious about music from those who are not. My beginning class of 35, dwindled down to about 20 within the time of a semester. I remember Dr. Callahan once stating that for some, it takes a while to understand what they learned in Music Theory. The concepts so seemingly abstract when first learned all of a sudden make sense much later. He said that the rules of music need to be learned so that when you break them you have a good reason for breaking them. While I never quite developed the relationship I had with Dr. Callahan that I had with Dr. Jones, I knew that with both of these great musicians, I had the best of teachers. This Psalm Offering began as an assignment in Dr. Callahan’s Music Theory class as an exercise in changing meter. The music moves from 5/4 time to 6/4 time back to 5/4 time to 3/4 time, and there is even one measure of 4/4 time. The harmonic structure and melody is reminiscent of Hungarian composer, Bela Bartok’s piano “Suite Opus 14” that I played in my graduation piano recital. I like to think of this music as Bela Barok meets Dave Brubeck, the famed American jazz pianist. It is in two part, AB, form. Of all the Psalm Offerings in Opus 2, it is one of the shortest and most whimsical in nature.
Psalm Offering 8: A Plaint for a Dead Mother (For Marian Hagan)
This Psalm Offering is dedicated to Marian Hagan. Marian is the mother of Ruthie’s BFF, Cheryl Ducharme. Marian had struggled and suffered throughout most of her life with Diabetes. After many years of carefully monitoring her diet and doing everything she could to maintain her health, Diabetes finally took its toll and Marian passed away in 1986. I wrote this Psalm Offering as a memorial to Marian, a woman of strength and integrity, and loving mom to Cheryl and her siblings.
The music is in the style of the Impressionistic Period, citing the influences of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel (and a hint of Sergei Rachmaninoff). The melody is constructed from the whole tone scale. With the exception of the Pentatonic scale, all scales or modes are a series of whole steps and half steps, arranged in a certain order. A whole tone scale has no half steps. As such, a melody constructed using only whole steps has a certain sound to it, quite different from most melodies. I like to call the sound “ethereal” almost dreamlike. It was for this “different” sound that the whole tone scale was favored by many of the Impressionistic composers. The music is in simple 3 part, ABA form.
Psalm Offering 9: Fugue Americana (On the occasion of my 12th year of marriage to Ruth)
This Psalm Offering was dedicated to Ruthie on the occasion of our 12th wedding anniversary. It is a fugue that is best described as Johann Sebastian Bach merged with Aaron Copland. I wanted to express in music the vibrant joy and the quiet tenderness that Ruthie had given my life over the 12 years we had been married. The Baroque Period form of the fugue seemed to be the best way to convey this musically. To be married to such a wonderful woman is a gift given every day. To be separate from her is the worst of pain. Such is the transformative power of sacramental marriage. I only feel whole when I am with her. I remember performing this for my general music classes at St. Wenceslaus School. I don’t know that they were impressed, but at least they were attentive. Musically, I had for a long time admired and enjoyed the musical compositions of the American composer, Aaron Copland, particularly his ballet, Appalachian Spring. In the ballet, there is a rousing section in which an Appalachian bride and groom get married. I wished to capture the vibrancy of Copland but work it into a fugue. The last time I composed a fugue was for Psalm Offering 7 Opus 1, dedicated to Pope John XXIII. Within this fugue, I abandon the polyphony of the traditional fugue to merge the subject (melody) of the fugue with a homophonic chordal structure used by Aaron Copland. It ends up as Fugue Americana.
This Psalm Offering is dedicated to Julianne Kerber. I started working as director of liturgy and music, nights and weekends at St. Hubert in Chanhassen the Fall of 1986, while teaching general music classes, grades 1 to 8, at St. Wenceslaus School during the day. In the Spring, on the evenings I had off from rehearsals and meetings, I liked to walk around New Prague. The Kerber family is a large relationship in the Chanhassen area. The pastor told me that Julianne was entering into the end stages of her battle with cancer. While not knowing Julianne personally, I knew many of her relatives, in particular her son, Ed, whose wedding music I would be playing in the summer. I found myself preoccupied with thoughts of Ed’s mother, Julianne. As I pondered on one of those walks, this melody began to form in my mind and when I got home I quickly jotted it down on staff paper. Over the ensuing weeks of spring and early summer, I continued to work on this music completing it prior to Julianne’s death. Directing the music for Julianne’s funeral Mass, I played it for the first time publically as a post-communion song. Two weeks following Julianne’s funeral, I played the wedding of Ed and his bride, Robin, as they began they journey together as husband and wife. This Psalm Offering is written in the style of the Romantic Period. It is in Rondo form, ABACAD. Unlike many songs, it does not conclude with a typical cadence in the tonic key. Rather the Coda is open ended, in an entirely different key area from the tonic key, as if it continues on and on (perhaps a musical, theological reflection of life not ending but growing beyond the confines of earthly life.).
