Ballade, Op. 30 - Marcel Dupre
Organ: Yoon-Mi Lim Piano: Hyeyoung Song
University Baptist Church (UBC) Fort Worth, Texas.
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Ballade, Op. 30 - Marcel Dupre
Organ: Yoon-Mi Lim Piano: Hyeyoung Song
University Baptist Church (UBC) Fort Worth, Texas.
Listening to a performance of Marcel Dupre's Le chemin de la Croix (The Stations of the Cross, Op. 29)
I 1931, tramp, tramp. Dupre the Frenchman, Hitler
Jesus is sentenced bestirs himself from the floor of
to death Europe. We have found ourselves wanting and
will adjudge ourselves the more harshly for it.
tramp, tramp
II it is not yet beyond saving
Jesus is given it can still turn out well
His cross we do not yet have to go along, not with all of it
“We must bear the cross before it bears us”
III Christ plays in the ten thousand places
Jesus falls in this one, too? The earth is hard as iron
the first time meant to extract our blood
must this be so? Human pheromones, save me;
disguise what is coming, hide my inner
self from what is to be
the hard stone of these steps, the hard
word of this cross
death approaches metronomically
all the chambers fill with the grandeur
of death, self-sacrifice
who am I to deny this
IV across Europe for millenia the stifled
Jesus meets wails of mothers for their bloody
his mother dying sons – how proud I was of him
how little I knew, how cleanly
this rips my heart, beating, from my chest
V who is this Cyrenean? How came he to
Simon of Cyrene this place? Whither will he go, after Jesus’
carries the cross blood has stained his robe and the rough
edge of this wood smoothed across his
shoulder? God forbid that there not be
a special seat in heaven for he who
deigned to hug that bloody wood
VI “his image made of blood,
Veronica wipes his tears, our spit”
the face of Jesus the cloth can do little to staunch the flow
of gore, the victim’s heart thundering
wildly. Behind, the Cyrenean’s forearm
is as bloody as the cross it embraces
VII Middle Passage. A former king,
Jesus falls fastened to a post with a ring
the second time of iron, falters, disease-ridden
and starving, beaten,
his throat aflame with thirst;
he slumps back into the
slime of his prison, while fast
and thickly staccatoes the lash.
“Lord save us from this second fall”
“If salvation is so hard
what about hell?
If they so treat green wood,
what will they do with the dead?”
VIII the women of the little Polish town
Jesus meets would try to see the children through the wire
the daughters and tried to believe, in their horror,
of Jerusalem that today was not just business as usual
God’s blessings on those who saw first-hand
the malignity, the coming wreck
IX third fall – save us from despair
Jesus falls in this cacaphony
the third time grind him the great maw of our machine
break him, break him
X all is taken but his blood
Jesus is stripped and they shall soon have that
of his garments take it – watch the cancer advance
take it – drink yourself to death
take it – as the bomb goes off
XI here is our hard bed of love
Jesus is nailed here is our place you coveted
to the cross here is the threshing floor of your unworldly love
see your creatures straining with the effort
to bind and kill you
see their effort and see their skill
oh so much more you have to do
to save such as these, as we
who macerate your flesh by the minute
XII If you do not know by now you never will
Jesus dies of the barrenness of this vessel -
on the cross a chimera, the promise of life,
of fullness: make the acquaintance
of this death you created for yourself, for me
meet the solitude, the emptiness
of these your slayers
each breath is agony as the body distends
prop yourself up so you can breathe once
more, twice
give up as you have been given up on
XIII I dreamt just moments ago
Jesus’ body my son was killed like any criminal
is removed from pulverized and hung
the cross like so much meat
But my boy did not die this way
these wounds did not so badly pain
him, his parting from me was never
such as this. He is now mine, I care
for him, I wash him with my tears
XIV Hide his wounds in this wound of the earth
Jesus is laid the latter lovingly made, the former all
in the tomb malice and spite
Clot this gore in gore’s receptacle
give him a place to catch his breath
to pick up speed for breaking through
O powerless death
be then his springboard, his signature
take the broken limbs, the ruptured ligature
the bloody brow, the pierced heart
quietly retire until his healing starts
Give over thy life, O death
In some on-line research using the Daily Princetonian Searchable Archives, I've discovered that Marcel Dupre, the famous French organist, performed in Proctor Hall several times in the 1920's. The performances I've found took place in February of 1923, 1924 (postponed until March because of the death of Woodrow Wilson) and 1925. Do you have any information about what pieces he performed on those programs? Thank you.
Thanks for reaching out to us. The archives of Daily Princetonian are a great start, but you’re right, they sometimes leave out information you might want.
There are several places to look for information about musical performances at Princeton University, but the programs for the Marcel Dupre organ concerts are found in the Historical Subject Files Collection (AC109), Box 277, Folder 5.
Have a question for the Princeton University Archives? Ask us anything.
Marcel Dupré, “Souvenir” from 7 Pieces, Op.27 (1931)
Music for November 3, 2013 + All Saints/All Souls Sunday
Vocal Music
Requiem - John Rutter (b. 1945)
Instrumental Music
O Christ, Forgive Thy Servants - Marcel Dupré (1886 – 1971)
Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “R” which are from Renew.)
Hymn 287 - For all the saints, who from their labor rest (SINE NOMINE)
Hymn 619 - Ye watchers and ye holy ones (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)
Regular readers (I know there are at least 3) of this blog will notice that there is very little music in the above list this Sunday. That is because the choir is singing most of John Rutter's Requiem at the 10:15 service this Sunday. As Louise Luegner said in her notes on the Requiem, the occasion of a Requiem is one for reflection and looking back, and that is true this Sunday, as we sing this work in memory of the three choir members who have passed away during my tenure here at Good Shepherd. (Here is a link to the notes published in this Sunday's service leaflet. You have to click on the Rutter Requiem in the listing) We will also take this Sunday as an occasion to look forward, as we welcome another child into this family of faith through baptism.
We are not presenting the Requiem in its entirety as we are leaving out the last movement (A victim of time and liturgical needs), and we are moving The Lord Is My Shepherd from it's place near the end to a position between the Epistle reading and the Gospel, corresponding with the other Psalm (Out of the Deep) sung between the Old Testament and Epistle readings.
The closing voluntary is an improvisation on a Gregorian Chant for All Saints by the famed French organist of the 20th century, Marcel Dupré. He followed Charles-Marie Widor as organist at St. Sulpice in Paris in 1934 and remained at that post until his death in 1971. He performed over 2000 recitals in American and Australia, where he was legendary for his ability to improvise complex, exciting organ pieces at his concerts and services. In this work, you will hear the chant in the low notes of the pedal while the hands literally dance as they play a rippling triplet accompaniment for the tune.
Marcel Dupre. This the piece that was considered unplayable for everyone but Marcel Dupre for several years after it was published.
The Paganini of the organ. Marcel Dupre lives for most of the 20th century, dying in 71. He was a child prodigy, and he was a virtuoso of the organ. He taught and composed music for the organ.
The article mentions that he is a giant among organ players, but outside of musicians who play the organ he is not well known. This Prelude and Fugue pieces are the most famous and his most played.