Blasorchester MTV Salzhausen - Kumbaya Variations

Topic: Instrumental Versions
The unification of text and tune into an indivisible whole is a relatively recent concept, perhaps influenced by copyright laws. Early Protestants sang psalms to several tunes, and tunes were used for a number of texts. The psalter used by the Separatist Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620 had 39 melodies for 150 psalms. [1]

Once the linkage existed between melody and lyric, the Protestant emphasis on words as the vehicle for salvation meant composers’ treatments of songs with religious associations risked being labeled blasphemous if their settings did not honor the intent of the writer. As a result, most instrumental versions of "Kumbaya" and "Come by Here" uploaded to YouTube repeated the melody with the variations limited to dynamics and orchestral texture.

This differed from the symphonic theme and variation form that assumed it was the melody that was to be varied. The only version of "Kumbaya" uploaded to YouTube I heard that altered the melody was an arrangement performed in a German church in 2012 by the brass orchestra of a local sports club, the Blasorchester MTV Salzhausen.

The beginning of the performance where the melody would have been clearly played was not recorded. When the video began, the music was slow with minor or eastern harmonies. The brass played parts of the melody, but the unaccompanied oboe solos made no reference to it. Then, without a break, the pace increased with horns and flutes, and a rhythm of a hora was discernable.

The orchestra stopped to begin the next movement which was a Viennese waltz. Parts of the common melody, which originally was published in 3/4 time, were clearly heard. The statements (someone’s singing Lord) were recognizable, while the refrains (kumbaya) were replaced by generic waltz patterns.

The roles of the two line parts were reversed in the third variation. The movement, in the style of Glenn Miller’s "In the Mood," [2] emphasized the refrain on the line while the beginnings of lines were played in swing rhythms.

The final movement returned to the complete melody, but still in the style of pre-rock-and-roll American popular music. The whole group played the tune, with breaks for drum solos. It concluded by repeating a two-note phrase four times, each time beginning on a higher note, before a final sustained chord underlaid by the drums.

One can speculate on the reasons why this particular brass band enjoyed more musical freedom than the others. The same Friedrich Wilhelm III who demanded all his military bands play the same music, [3] also merged the Lutheran and Reformed traditions into a single form of service in 1817. [4] Salzhausen was a Hanoverian holding [5, 6] that was not taken over by Prussia until 1866. It remained Lutheran. [7]

The church where the group performed had a high raised pulpit to the congregation’s right at the boundary between them and the sanctuary. A cloth-covered altar and ornate backdrop was in the rear. The congregation sat in wooden pews on the main floor and in a balcony.

While the expectations of the audience are important, it is often the seeming random occurrence of artistic talent that is more significant. The audience simply sets the parameters for what is acceptable. The musicians must be both willing and able to play unconventional parts.

The name of the arranger was not given, and I could find nothing about the man who founded the group, Christof Koert, or the conductor, Raphaela Backhaus-Olbrich, other than she played saxophone. [8] One of them was they key person.

My description of this arrangement may have destroyed your ability to experience the same mystification I felt when the slow variation slowly turned into a hora and then a waltz. My first reaction was surprise. Then, once it became apparent the arranger was challenging prevailing conventions, I wondered, during each pause, what could follow, how far would the arranger go. Finally, I felt delight that so many of the variations were successful.

If anyone can identify the source of the last movement more precisely, I would love to hear from you. Please, leave a comment or send an email.

Performers
Instruments: these are the ones I recognized in the video. Sometimes nothing more was visible than the mouthpiece or the bell. The list may not be accurate or complete.

Wind: oboes, flutes, clarinets, saxophones

Brass: trumpets, French horns, baritone horns, trombones, tubas

Percussion: snare drum set, lower pitched drum or drums played with both plain and padded sticks

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: the opening theme was not recorded
Tempo: varied
Basic Structure: theme and variations

Notes on Performance
Occasion: Kirchenkonzert (church concert), 2012, in Salzhausen, Lower Saxony.

Location: The brass-and-wind band sat in the sanctuary behind low wooden partitions and before the altar table.

Microphone: none

Clothing: the band wore black pants and shirts, often with colorful ties or scarves. The conductor wore black slacks and tails

Notes on Movement
The band was seated and the conductor stood. She used a baton in her right hand, and both hands to conduct with contained movements. She sometimes bent forward or faced to a diagonal to signal particular instrumental sections, but otherwise did not move her body.

Notes on Performers
The MTV Salzhausen sports club was founded the same year Prussia laid claim to the area, 1866. [9] Christof Koert organized amateur musicians into the brass orchestra in 1994. [10]

There appeared to be more women than men in the group. While the usual gender division existed, based partly on physical abilities and the sizes of mouthpieces (for instance, men were the ones who played tubas), women played trumpets, baritones, and saxophones in this group, while one man was in the clarinet section.

Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Blasorchester MTV Salzhausen, 9 December 2012.

End Notes
1. Percy A. Scholes. The Puritans and Music in England and New England. New York: Russell and C Russell, Inc., 1962 edition. 258. Their psalm book was edited by Henry Ainsworth in 1612. (Wikipedia. "Ainsworth Psalter."

2. Duke Ellington. "In the Mood." Bluebird B-10416-A. 1 August 1939. Released September 1939.

3. See post for 13 September 2017 for more on Friedrich Wilhelm III.

4. Wikipedia. "Prussian Union of Churches."

5. Wikipedia. "Salzhausen."

6. Wikipedia. "Lower Saxony."

7 Wikipedia. "Kingdom of Hanover."

8 . Blashorchester website.

9. MTV Salzhausen website.

10. Blashorchester website.