God is our Refuge

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God is our Refuge
Motet by W. A. Mozart
God is our Refuge, K. 20.png
Manuscript housed in the British Library
Catalogue K. 20
Text Psalm 46
LanguageEnglish
Composed1765 (1765): London
Scoringfour voices

“God is our Refuge”, K. 20, is a motet for four voices in G minor, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Based on Psalm 46, it was composed in July 1765 during the Mozarts’ stay in London as a gift for the British Museum along with one other supposed work: a set of variations in A major, K. 21a. A brief note from a secretary at the British Museum regarding the two works still survives:

The Köchel catalogue is a chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, originally created by Ludwig von Köchel, in which the entries are abbreviated K. and KV. The numbers of the Köchel catalogue reflect the continuing establishment of a complete chronology of Mozart's works, and provide a shorthand reference to the compositions.

In western music, a motet is a mainly vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from the late medieval era to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margaret Bent, "a piece of music in several parts with words" is as precise a definition of the motet as will serve from the 13th to the late 16th century and beyond. The late 13th-century theorist Johannes de Grocheo believed that the motet was "not to be celebrated in the presence of common people, because they do not notice its subtlety, nor are they delighted in hearing it, but in the presence of the educated and of those who are seeking out subtleties in the arts".

G minor tonality

G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major.

Contents

“Sir: I am ordered by the Standing Committee of the Trustees of the British Museum, to signify to You, that they have received the present of the musical performances of your very ingenious Son which you were pleased lately to make them, and to return You their Thanks for the same.” [1]

Score

The 23-bar work is scored for four voices: soprano, alto, tenor and bass, and is written in 3
2 time.

Bar (music) time unit in rhythmic musical notation

In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beats in which each beat is represented by a particular note value and the boundaries of the bar are indicated by vertical bar lines. Dividing music into bars provides regular reference points to pinpoint locations within a musical composition. It also makes written music easier to follow, since each bar of staff symbols can be read and played as a batch. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the time signature. In simple time,, the top figure indicates the number of beats per bar, while the bottom number indicates the note value of the beat.

A soprano[soˈpraːno] is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) =880 Hz in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) =1046 Hz or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which often encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto, and dramatic soprano.

The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian, refers to the second highest part of a contrapuntal musical texture and is also applied to its associated vocal range, especially in choral music. It is also the root word of contralto, the lowest standard female voice type. When designating instruments, "alto" likewise can refer either to the corresponding vocal range or to musical role. The term "alto" is also used to designate a specific kind of musical clef; see alto clef.

Lyrics

God is our refuge,
our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble,
a present help in trouble.

Influence

As the manuscript for this work is still intact, one can find two separate, distinct handwritings: one, which was Wolfgang’s, and the other, as Leopold’s. It can be seen that Wolfgang most likely wrote the tempo markings, key signatures and clefs, as well as all of the notes. Leopold was suspected to have a hand in the written words after bar seven, as the young Wolfgang seemingly had trouble judging the amount of space necessary to fit in the written text (as can be seen by the wave pattern of the bar lines near measure 7). [1]

Leopold Mozart German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist

Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece and is usually measured in beats per minute. In modern classical compositions, a "metronome mark" in beats per minute may supplement or replace the normal tempo marking, while in modern genres like electronic dance music, tempo will typically simply be stated in bpm.

The work was possibly based on a given melody at the time of composition; perhaps stemming from a composition written in 1765 of similar character by Jonathan Battishill. “God is our Refuge” shows many stylistic similarities to that of 16th century English church music, which Mozart was undoubtedly exposed to whilst traveling London at the time. [2]

Jonathan Battishill was an English composer, keyboard player, and concert tenor. He began his career as a composer writing theatre music but later devoted himself to working as an organist and composer for the Church of England. He is considered one of the outstanding 18th century English composers of church music and is best remembered today for his seven-part anthem Call to Remembrance, which has long survived in the repertoires of cathedral choirs.

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References

  1. 1 2 Abert, Hermann, Stewart Spencer, and Cliff Eisen. W.A. Mozart (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2007), p.44-45. ISBN   9780300072235
  2. ↑ Zaslaw, Neal. The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. New York: Mozart Bicentennial at Lincoln Center: 1990. p.22. Print.
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe

The Neue Mozart-Ausgabe is the second complete works edition of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A longer and more formal title for the edition is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke.

International Music Score Library Project project for the creation of a virtual library of public domain music scores

The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based project for the creation of a virtual library of public-domain music scores. Since its launch on February 16, 2006, over 370,000 scores and 42,000 recordings for over 110,000 works by over 14,000 composers have been uploaded. Based on the wiki principle, the project uses MediaWiki software. Since June 6, 2010, the IMSLP has also included public domain and licensed recordings in its scope, to allow for study by ear.

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