Sigma Alpha Iota

sound bites Additional Kuhnau Editions Produced, Published S ince the article in the Winter 2006 issue of PAN PIPES ("Located Kuhnau Mass Gets a U.S. Premier"), three more editions of Kuhnau vocal works have been produced by Dr. Evangeline Rimbach and published. The first of these compositions was the cantata Lobe den Herrn for alto and bass soloists with accompaniment of violin, oboe and continuo. It was published by Ionian Arts, Inc. in 2008 and received its premier performances in the Netherlands by the early music group AD MOSAM in the cities of Maastricht and Utrecht. The second publication was the "Four Christmas Laudes" for mixed choir and orchestra printed in 2010 by Ionian Arts, Inc. and premiered this past Christmas in Honolulu. The third composition edited this past fall and published earlier this year by Concordia Publishing House is the funeral aria Ach Gott, wie lästu mich verstarren (Bereft, O God, I Stand Forsaken). This was edited in the Fall of 2010 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the birth of Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722). The aria was originally written for the funeral of Erhard Titius, the director of music at the Gymnasium in Zittau, Germany, which took place on May 19, 1681. It is the earliest known vocal work by Kuhnau, J. S. Bach's predecessor at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig and former colleague of Titius at the Kreuzschule in Dresden. The aria was printed in Zittau by Michael Hartmann. Microfilm of this work was obtained from the Stadtbibliothek in Zittau. Dr. Madeleine Forell Marshall translated the text into English for this edition. Lost and Found Recent Discoveries Enrich Musical Universe D iscoveries of old manuscripts are cause for excitement and celebration by the musical community, and two recent discoveries have enriched our understanding of both the composers and the creative process. One piece was heard in the United States for the first time, although it was composed about three centuries ago; the other revealed a composer's passionate will to "get it right." Read about the "lost" Kuhnau short mass and the discovery and subsequent sale of Beethoven's Grosse Fuge manuscript. Located Kuhnau Mass Gets a U.S. Premier T he first performance in the United States of Johann Kuhnau's Mass in F – long believed to be lost – took place on May 1, 2005, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City in a concert titled "The Leipzig Mass." Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722) was Bach's predecessor at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. In 1682 he entered the University of Leipzig and was licensed to practice law upon his dissertation in 1688. He was elected in 1683 as the organist at the St. Thomas Church and later as Cantor, a position he held until his death in 1722. All his keyboard compositions were written and published during his tenure as organist, including the six Biblical Sonatas. His sacred choral music (cantatas, Magnificat, and Passion) was composed while he served as Cantor. Kuhnau was also known as an author, having written both musical treatises and novels. His most famous literary work was The Musical Charlatan (Der musikalische Quacksalber). Kuhnau was a man of many talents; he was a classical scholar, a linguist, a jurist, a writer, as well as a musician. The Bach Vespers series at Holy Trinity had performed Kuhnau's Magnificat at a Vespers service in December 2004, and at that time Rick Erickson, Cantor and Organist at Holy Trinity, asked me if there was any 10 | Winter 2006 Beta Lambda initiate Evangeline Rimbach received a Bachelor's Degree in public school music from Valparaiso University.  She earned her Master's Degree and Doctorate in Musicology from the Eastman School of Music.  She received an American Association of University Women Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 1969-70 for research work in Berlin and a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst in l980 for further research in teaching, gaining enough of a reputation to be asked to serve as a leader in both Lafayette Music Teachers Association and Louisiana Music Teachers Association and to be named the Louisiana Music Teachers Association (LMTA) Outstanding Teacher in 1999. During these years I added student awards and successes and leadership experience to my credentials — and another daughter. When Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, I was the LMTA President. Almost 100 of our LMTA teachers were affected by Katrina. With the help of MTNA and colleagues all over the United States, we were able to raise approximately $40,000 in funding and $150,000 in music and materials for our members, as well as for several public schools and symphony musicians. With this catastrophe came the flowering of my life — the giving back to the profession and to the community. In addition to my teaching, I began volunteering with a local charity, Communities PAN PIPES FALL 2011 sai-national.org PAN PIPES working on my dissertation in the 1960s, but it was often impossible to get materials from East Germany in the days of the DDR government. One of the extant masses was said to be in the church archives in Mügeln, a small town near Leipzig. To the surprise of everyone, we www.sai-national.org At left, the frontspiece for the aria written for the 1861 funeral of Erhard Titius. Above, the original Kuhnau Mass article as it appeared in the Winter 2006 PAN PIPES. TEACHER continued from page 7 8 motet by Kuhnau available for a performance in the spring. I told him there were no extant motets by Kuhnau, but information dating before World War II noted that there were two or three masses in church archives in eastern Germany. I had tried to procure the manuscripts of the masses when I was Munich.  From 1964-1997 she was professor of music at Concordia University Chicago, in River Forest, IL. Since her retirement in 1997, she has been editor of Grace Notes, the newsletter of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians.  She is currently a member of the Tacoma Alumnae Chapter and holds a Sword of Honor, Rose of Honor, and Rose of Dedication. Dr. Rimbach was recently honored by the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians at their national biennial conference in Seattle, July 31-August 3, with the "Faithful Servant Award" for her 13 years as editor of the association's newsletter Grace Notes. Uniting in Prayer and Service (CUPS), which grew out of Katrina relief efforts. CUPS collects unwanted household items and gives them to people in need. I chair their Basket Ministry, which uses like-new donations to create Christmas and Easter baskets that are given to the needy. In the past three years, we have given away almost 3,000 baskets. So what's the point of this discourse of my life? While I was busy blooming and loving my life in music, I was reaping experience, credentials, and successes — all necessary attributes MTNA requires for their Teacher of the Year Award. A word of wisdom for young SAIs entering the teaching — or any musical — field: Life may not be easy or what you anticipated. You may find yourself where you don't want to be. Plant your roots and bloom where you are planted. And for us long-standing SAIs: Nurture the young teachers and musicians as I was nurtured. Help them to bloom. They, too, may become a Teacher of the Year!

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