Unger M.P. Historical Dictionary of Choral Music

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112 • EDLUND, LARS

in 1972 as the Mikaeli Chamber Choir, a group with which he has

toured and recorded. Throughout his career he has served as a church

musician in Stockholm. In 1994 he became a professor of choral con-

ducting at the city’s Royal Academy of Music.

EDLUND, LARS (6 NOVEMBER 1922– ). Swedish composer and

teacher. After studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, he worked

as a church organist in Sweden (1948–60). Subsequently converting

to Catholicism, he taught at the Royal University College of Music

in Stockholm, during which time he wrote Modus Novus (a book

of exercises for learning sight-reading of atonal music) and Modus

Vetus (a book of graded exercises for learning sight-singing, figured

bass, and keyboard harmony). In 1971 he began composing full time,

while living on the Swedish island province of Gotland. His music

is strongly influenced by Gregorian chant and Baroque polyphony.

Many of the choral works (which constitute the bulk of his output)

are for unaccompanied chorus. Examples of his compositions include

Gloria (1969), notable for its quarter-note clusters; Elegi (1971, rev.

1972), which requires the choir to act; Saligprisningarna [The Be-

atitudes], for youth/children’s chorus, chorus, fl., elec. gui., vc., db.,

and org. (1971); Missa Sancti Nicolai, for solo vv., chorus, and perc.

(1979); and a Magnificat, for S and chorus (1980).

EFFINGER, CECIL (22 JULY 1914–22 DECEMBER 1990). Amer-

ican composer. From 1948 to 1981 he taught at the University of

Colorado in Boulder. Best known for his choral works, he employed

a style that he called “atonal tonality.” Among his large-scale choral

compositions are The St. Luke Christmas Story, for solo vv., SATB,

org., and chbr. orch. (1953); and the oratorios The Invisible Fire, for

solo vv., SATB, and orch. (1957), and Paul of Tarsus, for SATB,

str., and org. (1968). Smaller works include sacred pieces, as well as

secular works that often reflect his Colorado roots, the latter no doubt

influenced by his lifelong friendship with Roy Harris. Among these

are settings of texts by Colorado laureate Thomas Hornsby Ferril

(e.g., Set of Three, for chorus and brass [1961] and Four Pastorales,

for chorus and ob. [1962]).

EHLY, EPH (17 SEPTEMBER 1936– ). American choral director

and educator. He taught at the University of New Mexico (1969–72)

and the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas

ELGAR, EDWARD • 113

City (1972–2001). Highly sought after as a guest conductor and clini-

cian, he has conducted more than 500 festival ensembles and all-state

choruses.

EHMANN, WILHELM (5 DECEMBER 1904–16 APRIL 1989).

German musicologist, choral conductor, pedagogue, writer, and edi-

tor. Interested in merging scholarship with practice, he was active

in Nazi organizations, particularly in the areas of choral and brass

performance. After the war, he worked for the Protestant Church of

Westphalia, founding an institute of church music in Herford (after

1971 called the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik), which grew to be-

come one of the most influential of its kind in Germany. He directed

the school until retiring in 1972. He also founded the Westfälische

Kantorei, conducting the choir on international tours and making

many recordings. His influence in North America was consider-

able. Of particular note are two textbooks on choral conducting and

voice building, respectively, both of which have appeared in English

translation.

ELGAR, [SIR] EDWARD (2 JUNE 1857–23 FEBRUARY 1934).

English composer. Largely self-taught in music (with the exception

of violin lessons), he grew up in Worchester, the site of the triennial

Three Choirs Festival. In the late 1870s he began traveling regularly

to London to hear concerts. He availed himself of local opportunities

to play the violin, and served as organist at St. George’s Church (suc-

ceeding his father), while composing in his spare time.

During the 1890s, after a failed attempt to establish himself in

London, Elgar began writing music for various festivals, and his

reputation grew. The Black Knight, a choral symphony, for chorus

and orchestra was performed in 1893. The Light of Life (Lux Christi),

a short oratorio for S, A, T, B, chorus, and orchestra, followed in

1896. Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, a cantata for S, T, B,

chorus, and orchestra, was premiered in 1896; and a large-scale can-

tata, Caractacus, for S, T, Bar., B, chorus, and orchestra, in 1898.

Widespread fame eventually came with the Enigma Variations for

orchestra (1899). Commissioned to write the major choral work for

the Birmingham Festival of 1900, Elgar produced The Dream of Ge-

rontius, op. 38, an oratorio for Mez., T, B, chorus, and orch. (1900).

A through-composed work in two parts, it is based on the visionary

114 • ELMER ISELER SINGERS

Catholic poem of John Henry Cardinal Newman, which tells the

story of a dying man’s journey into the afterlife. Although the first

performance was not particularly successful, later ones (in England

and abroad) began to establish its reputation.

Academic honors followed for the composer, including a doctorate

from Yale University in 1905. He subsequently projected a series of

three oratorios, two of which were completed: The Apostles (1903)

and The Kingdom (1906). The third, The Last Judgment, remained

unfinished. In these oratorios an opulent instrumentation combines

with chromatic harmonies and the pervasive use of lyric leitmotifs to

produce expressions of great emotional intensity that are reminiscent

of Richard Wagner.

Elgar’s later works for chorus and orchestra include The Music Mak-

ers, op. 69, a secular ode for A, chorus, and orch. (1912); and The Spirit

of England, op. 80, a three-movement, patriotic work for S/T, chorus,

and orch. (1917).

Among Elgar’s smaller choral works are some 30 secular pieces,

most of them unaccompanied partsongs, including Five Partsongs

from the Greek Anthology, op. 45, for male chorus, (1902); and ap-

proximately 18 sacred works, most of them unaccompanied or with

organ. Works available in two versions (one with orchestra, the other

with organ alone) include Te Deum and Benedictus, op. 34 (1897),

O Hearken Thou, op. 64 (for the coronation of King George V on

June 22, 1911), and Give unto the Lord, op. 74 (1914).

During his final years Elgar composed little, apparently convinced

that changing postwar tastes had made his music appear outmoded.

ELMER ISELER SINGERS. See ISELER, ELMER.

EMMANUEL MUSIC. Ensemble-in-residence at Emmanuel Episco-

pal Church, Boston. It was founded in 1970 by Craig Smith to per-

form Johann Sebastian Bach’s complete cantata cycles in liturgical

context. It has also had a long-standing association with composer

John Harbison.

ENGLISH CATHEDRAL MUSIC OF THE REFORMATION

AND RESTORATION. Until the 16th century, English churches

practiced the Sarum Rite (more properly, Sarum Use)—a compila-

tion of local and Norman rites apparently introduced by St. Osmund,

a Norman nobleman, who was appointed Bishop of Sarum (Salis-

ENGLISH CATHEDRAL MUSIC OF THE REFORMATION AND RESTORATION • 115

bury) in 1078 by his uncle, William the Conqueror. Most of the codi-

fication and systemization of the rite was probably done by Richard

le Poore, dean of Salisbury from 1197/98 to 1215 and bishop of the

diocese from 1217 to 1228. Although the Sarum Rite was never com-

pletely standardized, it gradually spread across England.

The subsequent development of English church music during the

16th and 17th centuries was heavily influenced by political events—

in particular, by the English Reformation, whose impetus was largely

political. Catharine of Aragon, Queen consort of King Henry VIII (r.

1509–47), had borne the king several daughters (one of whom was

Mary) but no sons. Desperate for an heir, Henry asked the pope for

an annulment of the marriage. The pope refused, however, being at

the mercy of the German emperor Charles V, a nephew of Catherine.

In 1534 the English parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, estab-

lishing the English monarch as the head of the Church of England.

The act effectively made it a treasonous offense to support the pope

over the English monarch. It also gave the English monarch control

over the Church’s assets. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries

(1536–41), monasteries were dissolved, organs and priceless manu-

scripts destroyed, and musicians placed out of work. Monastic prop-

erty was sold, and the wealth appropriated for the royal treasury.

By this time the first complete English Bible had been printed by

Myles Coverdale (1535). In 1539 Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop

of Canterbury, commissioned Coverdale at the bequest of Henry VIII

to publish a large pulpit Bible (known as the “Great Bible”), which

was distributed to every church. This was the first English Bible au-

thorized for public use.

After the death of Henry VIII in 1547, Edward VI (son of Henry

VIII by Jane Seymour, his third wife) assumed the throne at the age

of nine. He was a sickly boy, and died in 1553. During his reign

(which, because of his minority, was mediated by a Council of Re-

gency, established by Henry and led by two successive Lord Protec-

tors), Cranmer pushed ahead with reforms. In 1549, under Cranmer’s

guidance, the First Act of Uniformity was passed, establishing the

Book of Common Prayer (BCP) as the compulsory standard for litur-

gical language and practice. In effect, the act established Protestant

doctrine in the Church of England, and English as the official lan-

guage of worship (although Latin, Greek, and Hebrew were allowed

in the Chapel Royal and Collegiate churches). The BCP represented

116 • ENGLISH CATHEDRAL MUSIC OF THE REFORMATION AND RESTORATION

Thomas Cranmer’s aim to provide in one volume a common standard

(i.e., a book in the vernacular, used uniformly), which would play a

role equivalent to that of Roman Catholic liturgical books.

The monastic offices (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None,

Vespers, and Compline) were consolidated into Matins and Even-

song: the early morning offices became Matins, the three day offices

were omitted, and Vespers and Compline became Evensong. The

old Sarum Rite with its Latin music was swept away, and composers

such as Thomas Tallis, John Sheppard, and Robert Parsons were

called upon to produce a whole new body of liturgical music in Eng-

lish that would compare in splendor to that of Roman Catholic cathe-

drals. At the center of the movement was the Chapel Royal, which

was expected to show the way. However, some English service

music predated the new rite. For example, the Wanley Partbooks of

1546/1547 (named after a later owner and the donor of these books)

include approximately 90 pieces of English service music by Tallis,

Sheppard, John Taverner, Robert Johnson, among others.

In 1552 Cranmer revised the BCP to reflect a more Protestant view

of the Mass; in particular, the traditional Catholic doctrine of the

“real presence of Christ in the elements” was deemphasized in favor

of the “remembrance of Christ.” The Agnus Dei was dropped and the

Gloria moved to the end.

In 1553, following Edward’s death that year, Mary I (Mary Tudor,

daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon) came to the throne

(r. 1553–58). A staunch Catholic, she repealed the Protestant legisla-

tion of her half-brother, reestablishing Roman practice (including the

use of Latin). Nearly 300 Protestants were burned at the stake for

heresy, among them, Archbishop Cranmer, earning her the nickname

“Bloody Mary.” She married Philip II of Spain in 1555, but had no

children.

Her successor was Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603), a Protestant

daughter of Henry VIII by Anne Boleyn. Some Church of England

reformers who had fled to the Continent returned. Called Puritans

by their opponents for their obsession with “purifying” the church,

these clergy were heavily influenced by the writings of John Calvin.

They insisted that church authority should ultimately reside with the

church’s own officers and that worship should be marked by sim-

plicity rather than elaborate ornamentation and ritual. Despite their

campaign, Elizabeth I refused to give up her ecclesiastical authority.

ENGLISH CATHEDRAL MUSIC OF THE REFORMATION AND RESTORATION • 117

In 1559 she forced passage of a second Act of Supremacy (Henry

VIII’s Act of Supremacy had been repealed by Mary in 1554), which

again established the monarch as the head of the Church of England.

That year she also forced passage of the Act of Uniformity, which

required all Englishmen to give religious obedience to the Church of

England, accepting its governmental structures and forms of worship.

The act reintroduced the English rite but with several amendments

aimed at nudging liturgical practice in a Roman Catholic direction, a

move that caused many Puritans to defect.

While Elizabeth repealed Mary’s Catholic legislation, she stressed

a spirit of compromise between Catholics and Protestants, in what

came to be called the Elizabethan Settlement. Nevertheless, the pope

excommunicated her in 1570, forbade allegiance to her, and declared

the English throne vacant. Since many English nobles were Catho-

lics, this had the effect of encouraging plots against her life. These

finally came to an end in 1587 when she executed her cousin, Mary,

Queen of Scots. In 1588, supported by the pope, Philip II of Spain

unsuccessfully attacked England with the Spanish Armada, hoping to

restore the Catholic Church in England.

During Elizabeth’s reign, endowed choral music existed in the

main cathedrals, but the Chapel Royal was exalted above all oth-

ers. This foundation, which supported 32 male singers (“Gentle-

men”) and 12 boy choristers (under a choirmaster), organists, and

a dean—moving with the monarch from one royal residence to the

other—remained the focal point for the development of English litur-

gical music in England for 200 years.

Composers writing service music set English texts for three regular

liturgical “events”: Matins, Communion, and Evensong. After 1552

(when the order of Holy Communion was changed) a complete mu-

sical service therefore included settings of the canticles for Matins,

Communion, and Evensong as specified below (alternative canticles

were used during Advent and Lent):

For Matins: Venite, Te Deum or, alternatively, Benedicite (an

apocryphal canticle sung by Daniel’s three friends after surviving

Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace), and Benedictus (a text different

from the familiar mass text) or, alternatively, Jubilate (Psalm 100).

For Communion (some or all of the texts): Kyrie responses (which

were now embedded in a recitation of the Ten Commandments—

pre-Reformation mass settings in England had often omitted the

118 • ENGLISH CATHEDRAL MUSIC OF THE REFORMATION AND RESTORATION

Kyrie entirely), Creed, Sanctus, and Gloria (which now came at the

end).

For Evensong: Magnificat (Mary’s song from Luke 1:46–55) or,

alternatively, Cantate Domino (Psalm 98), and Nunc Dimittis (Zach-

arias’s song from Luke 2:29–32) or, alternatively, Deus misereatur

(Psalm 67).

Seven sentences were specified for burial services: “I am the resur-

rection,” “I know that my redeemer liveth,” “We brought nothing,”

“Man that is born of woman,” “In the midst of life,” “Thou knowest

Lord,” and “I heard a voice.”

Service settings were designated “great” if they were elaborate

with melismatic choral writing and “short” if they were simpler with

syllabic writing (recommended by Cranmer). They were called “full

services” if they used choir only, and “verse services” if they used

soloists, choir, and instruments. English service music was often per-

formed antiphonally, the choir being split into a group called decani

(positioned on the congregation’s right, or dean’s side of the chancel,

i.e., the south side) and a group called cantoris (positioned on the left,

or cantor’s side of the chancel, i.e., south side). Composers of ser-

vices include William Byrd, Thomas Morley, Thomas Tomkins,

Thomas Weelkes, and Orlando Gibbons, among others. Anthems,

too, were part of the liturgy. Explicit mention of them in the BCP is

not made until 1662, however, when they are prescribed for Matins

and Evensong after the third collect (near the end) with the phrase “In

quires and places where they sing here followeth the Anthem.”

After Elizabeth I died in 1603, unmarried and childless, James VI

of Scotland (a direct descendant of Henry VII) reigned as James I

of England (1603–25), the first king of the Stuart dynasty, and the

first to unite England and Scotland under one monarch. He was an

intellectual and a supporter of the arts, but was unable or unwilling

to work effectively with the English parliament, the relationship

having been soured by his lavish spending and his autocratic ways

(which arose from his strong belief in the divine right of Kings). His

high-handed ways were also directed toward ecclesiastical matters,

and included the commissioning of the “Authorized Version” of the

Bible, which was printed in English in 1611.

James VI was succeeded by his son, Charles I (r. 1625–49). Charles

mismanaged governmental affairs, which culminated in a showdown

with Parliament, and ultimately led to a civil war between supporters

ENGLISH CATHEDRAL MUSIC OF THE REFORMATION AND RESTORATION • 119

of the monarchy (known as Cavaliers, who were represented by the

House of Lords, many of whom were Roman Catholics or belonged

to the Church of England) and supporters of Parliament (known as

Roundheads, who were represented by the House of Commons, many

of whom were middle-class Puritans). Parliamentary troops defaced

churches, burned books, and destroyed statues, stained glass, and

organs. In 1644 Parliament abolished the Book of Common Prayer,

introducing a Presbyterian-informed “Directory,” which prohibited

much ritual and established general guidelines regarding services of

worship. Choral services ceased.

Charles’s supporters were ultimately defeated, and the king was

put on trial for treason and found guilty, though only by the narrow-

est of margins. His execution in 1649 was followed by an interreg-

num (1649–60). During most of these years, Oliver Cromwell ruled

as Lord Protector of the newly formed English republic—the Com-

monwealth. The new political and social climate allowed the Puritans

to press their reforms. They enforced strict rules regarding Sunday

observance, closed down theaters, outlawed maypole dancing, and

continued to campaign against many symbols of liturgical worship,

because they considered them idolatrous and “popish.”

When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, his son Richard, who had little

interest in ruling, took power, but he proved to be a weak successor,

and was soon defeated by his opponents. In 1660 the monarchy was

restored. Charles II (son of Charles I) was summoned from France to

take the throne. His love of the theater, music, and entertainment of

all kinds led him to abolish the laws passed by Cromwell forbidding

music and dancing. This earned him the nickname “Merry Monarch.”

Theaters were reopened, the Chapel Royal was reestablished with the

help of musicians such as William Child, and the BCP was reintro-

duced, and choral services were resumed. A new Act of Uniformity

(1662) ratified a slightly revised version of the BCP, making it the

legal standard of Anglican observance. At the Chapel Royal Henry

Cooke and Matthew Locke, both of whom had been abroad during

the Commonwealth, introduced French and Italian influences. Under

the influence of Charles II, the pre-Civil War violin ensemble of the

court was enlarged to 24 members (in imitation of the French Vingt-

quatre Violons du Roi), and large-scale verse anthems with string ac-

companiment began to be popular, the chief composers being Pelham

Humfrey, John Blow, and especially Henry Purcell.

120 • ENGLISH MADRIGAL SCHOOL

In 1685 James II (son of Charles I and brother of Charles II) came to

the throne. A staunch Catholic, he disdained democracy, like his father,

and attempted to force a return to Catholicism. He soon alienated most

of his subjects and was deposed in the “Glorious Revolution,” in which

his Protestant daughter (by his first wife) and his son-in-law, Mary II

and William III, assumed the throne in 1689 as joint monarchs, while

James II fled to France. There Louis XIV recognized James Francis

Edward (James II’s son by Mary Modena, his second wife, a Catholic)

as the rightful heir to the English throne. His supporters, known as Ja-

cobites, were never successful in restoring the Stuart line to the English

throne however, and the country remained Protestant.

The Chapel Royal had lost its string ensemble after the death of

Charles II, and the practice of mounting regular performances of

anthems with orchestral accompaniment had begun to wane. Now,

during the reign of William and Mary, it declined further. One positive

development was the establishment in 1700 of a new position, namely

that of official composer; it was held first by Blow and later by George

Frideric Handel. A second such position was added subsequently.

After William’s death in 1702 (Mary had died already in 1694),

the throne was taken by Anne, the younger daughter of James. She

was the last of the Stuart dynasty, reigning from 1664 until 1714.

According to the provisions of the 1701 Act of Settlement, the crown

then passed to the House of Hanover in the person of George I, by-

passing James Francis Edward, the “old Pretender.”

The decline of the Chapel Royal continued under Anne I, and espe-

cially under George I and his successors. This decline was mirrored

in the provincial cathedrals. Nevertheless, the choral foundations

(especially those of the Chapel Royal, Westminster Abbey, and St.

Paul’s Cathedral) helped ensure the continuation of a distinctively

English cathedral choral tradition. See also ANTHEM.

ENGLISH MADRIGAL SCHOOL. See MADRIGAL.

ERICSON, ERIC (26 OCTOBER 1918– ). Swedish choral conduc-

tor and teacher. In 1945 he founded the Stockholm Chamber Choir

(renamed the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir in 1988). He conducted

the Swedish Radio Choir from its founding in 1951 until 1982, and

the Orphei Dränger, a male chorus based in Uppsala, from 1951 to

1991. Known for a controlled, perfectly homogenous sound, and a

wide-ranging repertoire (including much challenging music of the

20th century), Ericson’s choirs have become models for choral con-

FALLA, MANUEL DE • 121

ductors around the world. He has further extended his influence as

a professor of choral conducting at the Royal University College of

Music in Stockholm, and through international master classes.

ESCOBAR, PEDRO (C. 1465–AFTER 1535). Portuguese composer,

active in Spain. From 1507 until 1514 he was Master of the Choir-

boys at Seville Cathedral. His extant works include 2 four-voice

masses (one a requiem) plus some individual mass movements, a

Magnificat for three voices, 7 motets for three and four voices, and

18 villancicos, among a few other works.

ESTONIAN PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER CHOIR. Professional

choir based in Tallinn, Estonia. It was founded in 1981 by Tõnu

Kaljuste, who served as artistic director until 2001. He was suc-

ceeded by Paul Hillier (2001–2007). The choir has toured and re-

corded extensively, earning international acclaim. While performing

a broad repertoire, it has especially emphasized the music of Arvo

Pärt and Veljo Tormis.

ETON CHOIRBOOK. An important source of Latin sacred music in

England, compiled just before 1500, containing 64 (of 93 original)

pieces, including a Passion, 9 Magnificats and 54 motets.

EVENSONG (EVENING PRAYER). An Anglican service in the late

afternoon or evening, more or less equivalent to Vespers. The can-

ticles usually sung are the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis.

EXTENDED VOCAL TECHNIQUES. Nontraditional methods of

vocal production, used mainly in 20th-century avant-garde music.

Their origins may be traced back to Arnold Schoenberg’s use of

Sprechstimme in Pierrot Lunaire (1912), where the solo singer is

asked to present the text in a half-singing, half-speaking voice. Ex-

amples of extended vocal techniques, which often require specialized

notation, include talking, shouting, whispering, grunting, hissing,

clucking, overtone singing, and vocal percussion.

– F –

FALLA, MANUEL DE (23 NOVEMBER 1876–14 NOVEMBER

1946). Leading Spanish composer of the 20th century, who had a

fondness for French style. His few choral works include Con afectos

de jubilo y gozo, for S, women’s chorus, and pf. (1908); Balada de