Mysticism and music 11: Music for St. Francis of Assisi (free post)
Medieval, Renaissance, Liszt, Gounod, and Messiaen
October 4th — the date today as I write this — is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (c. 1181 - 1226) in the Western Church, a saint beloved of Catholics, Protestants, not a few Orthodox, and many non-Christians alike. His story is well-known, and so I won’t retell it here. Numerous biographies are available, as are some passable documentaries on YouTube, and a few dramatic films — of varying quality — based on his life (my favorite is Roberto Rossellini’s The Flowers of St. Francis, released in 1950). My intention with this post is merely to draw attention to some of the more outstanding pieces of music composed over the centuries that celebrate him and tonally portray stories and legends recounted about him.
(Giotto, San Francesco predica agli uccelli, fresco, Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Assisi, Italy, 1297 - 1299)
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The first is a video of a live concert that was beautifully performed in 2013 at St. Olaf’s College in Minnesota, featuring Medieval and Renaissance music, and interspersed with readings about Francis, entitled Il Poverello: The Life and Legacy of St. Francis of Assisi. It’s about 85 minutes in length.
Included are:
Trotto (instrumental) Anonymous, 14th-century Italian
Sia Laudato San Francesco Cortona laudario (13th-century Italian Ms)
In Paupertatis Predio Anonymous, 13th-century conductus
Ghaetta (instrumental) Anonymous, 14th-century Italian
Fidelis Servus plainchant, mode VII
Sancte Francisce Propera Padre Costanzo Porta, OFM (1529? - 1601)
Saltarello (instrumental) Anonymous, 14th-century Italian
Beatus Franciscus Jerónimo de Aliseda (1548 - 1591)
Os Justi plainchant, mode I
Dum Seminudo Corpore Tomaso Graziani, OFM (ca. 1550 - 1634)
Radiante Lumera Magliabechiano laudario (14th-century Italian Ms)
Salve, Sancte Pater Patriae Guillaume Dufay (ca. 1397 - 1474)
Plaudat Frater Padre Costanzo Porta, OFM (1529? - 1601)
Petit Riense (instrumental) Anonymous, 15th-century Ballo Francese
Stabat Mater plainchant, mode II
Ut te per Omnes/Ingens Alumnus Padue Johannes Ciconia (ca. 1370 - 1412)
La Manfredina (instrumental) Anonymous, 14th-century Italian
Voce Mea Padre Costanzo Porta, OFM (1529? - 1601)
Laudar Vollio Cortona laudario (13th-century Italian Ms)
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The second video is a recording of Franz Liszt’s (1811 - 1886) St. François d'Assise: La prédication aux oiseaux (St. Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds), the first of his Deux légendes (Two Legends) for solo piano. Wikipedia describes the 10-minute work this way:
St. François d'Assise: La prédication aux oiseaux, S.175/1 is based on a story of St. Francis of Assisi. It is said that, one day, while Francis was travelling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds." The birds surrounded him, intrigued by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. The key of the piece is A Major, often associated by Liszt with religious sentiment. The piece contains representations of birdsong, one of the few examples in Liszt's works of onomatopoeia. (The entire article can be seen here.)
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The younger contemporary of Liszt, Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893) composed an oratorio in 1891, entitled simply Saint Francois d'Assise. It was considered lost, but a manuscript was found in a convent in Auvers-sur-Oise. The 12-minute piece was recorded in 2016, and this is the premier recording:
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Finally, Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992) composed an entire opera in three acts and eight scenes about St. Francis. It was first performed in 1983. The extensive article about the opera in Wikipedia (which can be read here) contains the following synopsis:
“Place: Italy.
Time: 13th century.
The subject of each scene is borrowed from the Fioretti and the Reflexions on the Stigmata, books written by anonymous Franciscans of the 14th century. There are seven characters: Saint Francis, the Leper, the Angel, Brother Elias, and three Brothers especially beloved of Saint Francis—Brother Leo, Brother Masseo, and Brother Bernard. Throughout the work one can see the progress of grace in the soul of Saint Francis.
Act 1
Scene 1: The Cross
After a short instrumental introduction, Saint Francis explains to Brother Leo that for the love of Christ he must patiently endure all contradictions, all suffering. This is the "Perfect joy."
Scene 2: Lauds
After the recitation of Matins by the Brothers, Saint Francis, remaining alone, prays that he might meet a leper and be capable of loving him.
Scene 3: The Kissing of the Leper
At a leper-hospital, a leper, horribly blood-stained and covered in pustules, rails against his disease. Saint Francis enters and, sitting close to him, speaks gently. An angel appears behind a window and says: "Leper, your heart accuses you, but God is greater than your heart." Troubled by the voice and by the goodness of Saint Francis, the leper is stricken with remorse. Saint Francis embraces him and, miraculously, the leper is cured and dances for joy. More important than the cure of the leper is the growth of grace in the soul of Saint Francis and his exultation at having triumphed over himself.
Act 2
Scene 4: The Journeying Angel
On a forest road on La Verna an angel appears, disguised as a traveler. His knocking on the door of the monastery makes a terrific sound, symbolising the inrush of Grace. Brother Masseo opens the door. The Angel asks Brother Elias, the vicar of the Order, a question about predestination. Brother Elias refuses to answer and pushes the Angel outside. The Angel knocks on the door again and puts the same question to Brother Bernard, who replies with much wisdom. The Angel having gone, Brother Bernard and Brother Masseo look at each other, Bernard remarking, "Perhaps it was an angel..."
Scene 5: The Angel-Musician
The Angel appears to Saint Francis and, to give him a foretaste of celestial bliss, plays him a solo on his viol. This solo is so glorious that Francis swoons.
Scene 6: The Sermon to the Birds
Set at Assisi, at the Carceri, with a large green oak tree in spring with many birds singing. Saint Francis, followed by Brother Masseo, preaches a sermon to the birds and solemnly blesses them. The birds reply with a great chorus in which are heard not only birds of Umbria, especially the blackcap, but also birds of other countries, of distant lands, notably the Isle of Pines, close to New Caledonia.
Act 3
Scene 7: The Stigmata
On La Verna at night in a cave beneath an overhanging rock, Saint Francis is alone. A great Cross appears. The voice of Christ, symbolized by a choir, is heard almost continuously. Five luminous beams dart from the Cross and successively strike the two hands, the two feet, and the right side of Saint Francis, with the same terrific sound that accompanied the Angel's knocking. These five wounds, which resemble the five wounds of Christ, are the divine confirmation of Saint Francis's holiness.
(Franciscan friar [probably Francis] embracing Death, fragment from a choir book with an illuminated initial D, Lewis E M 29:2, 1460, Free Library of Philadelphia)
Scene 8: Death and the New Life
Saint Francis is dying, stretched out at full length on the ground. All the Brothers are around him. He bids farewell to all those he has loved, and sings the last verse of his Canticle of the Sun, the verse of "our sister bodily Death". The Brothers sing Psalm 141. The Angel and the Leper appear to Saint Francis to comfort him. Saint Francis utters his last words: "Lord! Music and poetry have led me to Thee [...] in default of Truth [...] dazzle me for ever by Thy excess of Truth..." He dies. Bells ring. Everything disappears. While the choir hymns the Resurrection, a patch of light illuminates the spot where the body of Saint Francis previously lay. The light increases until it becomes blinding; the choir altogether singing the word "joy". The curtain falls.”
The YouTube video below includes, along with the musical text, a complete English translation of the libretto.