John Burge

Commissioner:  St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica, Toronto, ON

Premiere: September 29, 2016

Duration: 5' 30"

Program Notes: John Burge was particularly excited to be invited to compose a festive work for organ, brass and timpani for the inaugural concert of the new Casavant organ at St. Michael’s Catholic Cathedral in downtown Toronto in the fall of 2016.  This church is connected to St. Michael’s Choir School, an organization that has produced some exceptional musicians over the years.  John had worked many times in the past with Jerzy Cichocki, Faculty and Choir Director at St. Michaels, and William O’Meara, Faculty and Church Organist and both were very kind in providing quite concise constraints for the work.  Specifically, it was to be performed for the first time at the Thursday, September 29th at a Mass of Rededication, and played immediately following the Ad Missam plainchant for this date. 

As the plainchant was to be sung by unaccompanied male voices, it was suggested that my work could ideally draw upon this plainchant material for inspiration.  The opening two phrases of the plainchant thus form much of the melodic backbone of new composition (these plainchant notes are printed at the beginning of the full score).  Titled, St. Michael and All Angels, the plainchant begins clearly in solo organ but thereafter is often hidden in the texture but eventually becomes prominently played as a fast sixteenth-note figure in dialogue between the organ and brass.  In the service, the men sang the plainchant down a tone in B flat Major from its original key of C, thus providing a perfect opportunity for the new organ and brass work to begin in B flat and modulate at the end up to the more brilliant key of C Major, taking full advantage of the glorious new 32 foot pedal notes.

Video: Below is the YouTube posting of the Concert of Sacred Music that took place on September 30, 2016 at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica in the presence of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.  St. Michael and All Angels was repeated on this program and the video is cued to start.  Please note that the microphones, being positioned to record the choir at the front of the church, do not really capture the sound of the organ and brass coming from the organ loft at the rear.  To really hear all the lower brass, the MIDI recording has been provided at the side (but please make allowances for the digital short-comings of MIDI).

To hear the choir first sing the plain chant on which St. Michael and All Angels is based, try this video: