Video Discription |
“Put aside any prejudice you may have about the accordion, and carefully listen to this compilation of Marian music assembled by master accordionist Henry Doktorski. With the skill of a poet, Doktorski has arranged 25 hymns and presented them with varied textures, in every imaginable genre from simple melodic chant, to melody with accompaniment, to all out accordion panache. In the fingers and hands of Doktorski, the cherished melodies soar with lyric fluidity, all the time keeping sight of the reason for their existence—to honor the Mother of God.”—Kenneth G. Danchik, Associate Organist, Saint Paul Cathedral, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Track 23 The Magnificat (also known as the Song of Mary) is a canticle from the Gospel of Luke (1:46-55). This canticle also appears in the Book of Odes, a liturgical collection drawn mainly from the Old Testament.
According to the Bible, after the annunciation by which Mary is informed by the archangel Gabriel that she is pregnant with Jesus, Mary responded by visiting her cousin Elizabeth. In the narrative, after Mary greeted Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s unborn child (the future John the Baptist) moved in her womb, and when this was noticed, she sang the Magnificat in response (scholars, ancient manuscripts, and English translations of the Bible, differ on whether it was Mary who sung it, or whether it was Elizabeth).
In Nicaragua, the Magnificat is a favorite prayer among many peasants and is often carried as an amulet. During the 1980s, the dictators of Guatemala outlawed the public reading of the Magnificat because of its revolutionary tones.
The Magnificat has been a popular text for many composers. Perhaps the best known Magnificats are that from Vespers of 1610 composed by Claudio Monteverdi, those composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, and Charles Villiers Stanford who wrote a Magnificat in every major key. Many other classical composers (from Vivaldi to Rachmaninoff) have set extended versions for orchestra, chorus, and solos. Nearly every composer in the 19th- and 20th-century Anglican choral tradition has composed one or more settings of the Magnificat. Herbert Howells published twenty settings of the Magnificat during his career. More recently, an extended Magnificat setting was composed by John Rutter in 1990.
This setting of the Magnificat was composed in 1980 by James. J. Chepponis (b. 1956), a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, ordained in 1985. He received his B. A. in music from St. Fidelis College/Slippery Rock University with a major in organ and a minor in voice, and his M. Div. and M. A. in systematic theology from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Since 1996, Father Chepponis has served the Pittsburgh Diocese as Director of the Office for Music Ministry, and his work includes providing music for all Diocesan liturgies, directing the Diocesan Choir and Schola Cantorum, and serving as music resource person for parishes throughout the Pittsburgh Diocese.
He has led workshops on pastoral music throughout the country, and his published articles on liturgy and music have appeared in Pastoral Music, The Hymn, and GIA Quarterly. Father Chepponis has over 75 published compositions. His publishers include MorningStar, GIA Publications and World Library Publications. This recording of Chepponis’ Magnificat is performed with an accordion sextet.
On this CD Henry Doktorski performs beautiful and artistic arrangements of 25 beloved Marian hymns from the 11th through the 20th centuries, including five different settings of Ave Maria. Truly a treasure for lovers of the classical accordion, connoisseurs of sacred music, and devotees of our Blessed Mother.
For program notes, see http://henrydoktorski.com/recordings/cdmarianhymnsnotes.html
To listen to all 25 tracks, go to this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy9CI0idY74qnqIfr2wXgyW53XB1cQyXe. |