Earthly Musings

V. Ruwanpura

Swirls of muted golden colour entwine with asymmetric lines of pure white on a canvas. The painting is titled Sunset in the Jungle. As with all of Preethi Hapuwatte’s work, there’s no direct representation of a sunset here. No, her work is based on the abstract form of expression.

Yet looking at this painting with its whirls and circles of earth toned colour, you can sense the image of the sun casting its golden rays over the darkening jungle landscape. Essentially this is what Preethi’s paintings are, abstract representations of a world that exists in this artist’s mind.

This will be her ninth solo exhibition at the Barefoot Gallery. The exhibits are all oil on canvas and range from two large pieces spanning 60 inches by 42 inches to much more compact pieces spanning 12 by 10 Preethi’s painting style seems to transform with each new exhibition. She has titled this latest one Life on Earth.

‘I have painted humans and animals and the environment. It’s my life’s experience of living on this earth for 51 years,’ she explained.

Over the past few years Preethi has also experimented with various mediums such as acrylics, etchings, water colours and oils colours. Oil seems to be her favoured medium of late. With oils she is able to create multiple layers and give a unique sense of depth and definition in a painting.

Those familia with Preethi’s previous work may be surprised by the departure from the use of bright colours in this exhibition. Colour was a characteristic of her work for many years. This time she has restricted herself to the use of an earth tone palette of mainly white, ochre, red earth and black.

She said, ‘it gives me the limitation of a boundary line where I cannot over do freely (unlike with a more colourful palette) but brings out the best in me with great discipline’.

Certainly it’s clear, after viewing her current paintings, that the limitation in colour has in no way diminished her artistic expression or the quality of the paintings. If at all the muted tones have pushed her to hone her painting technique even further.

Despite the change in Preethi’s choice of colours, a closer examination of this new work reveals, her style is still based on the use of obstruct geometry. Take the painting titled Snake Charmer - the angular form of the snake charmer playing a flute is surrounded by an oversized snake twice his size.

Again the image leans heavily towards the abstract, the lines are closer to graphic art in a sense but the use of oil colours give it’s much greater depth and texture. This kind of painting style leaves it to the viewer to imagine the story behind the painting.

Another painting of interest is Jungle at Night. It’s almost a counterpoint to the previously mentioned Sunset in the Jungle. Jungle at Night has much darker hues depicting the shadowy quality of nightfall in the wild.

‘This exhibition is about my experience of living in different parts of Ceylon and outside in different countries’, Preethi elaborated. She has lived and travelled in areas such as Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Trincomalee and Habarana. Her current work draws inspiration from the landscape, animals and people that live in these remote and beautiful areas of the island.

Her travels in other countries have also had an influence. The new paintings draw a lot from primitive art forms. Her intricate painting technique brings to mind the painting style of Australian aboriginal artists depicting the Dreamtime.

Also the work of the late Swiss artist Paul Klee has always been an inspiration for Preethi. But the unusual merging of graphic forms, earthy colours, detailing style and overall composition is uniquely hers. Her work as a designer at Barefoot (Pvt) Ltd is also a constant source of inspiration.

Not all the paintings are about the bright side of life. There are two titled Lost Children and After the Tsunami. Individual viewers may read these paintings differently but they do appear to be making a silent plea to the public conscience.

For the artist this exhibition is as much about encouraging people to appreciate the simple things in life as it is about her personal journey at this point in time.

‘We live in a world on the surface. The current fashion is to become rich and famous as fast as possible, and by trying to do this many people miss out on the simple beautiful ways of living a full life,’ Preethi said in explanation of her latest work.

With each exhibition Preethi Hapuwatte explores a new path. Her work is always evolving and this new exhibition is but a step along a continuous artistic journey.

Her present collection which opened for public viewing today at the Barefoot Gallery, 704, Galle Road, Colombo 3, will be an until the September 3 (Sunday) weekdays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

High Mass in B Minor - the Bach paradox

Satyajith Andradi

MUSIC: ”The greatest musical art work of all time and all nations,” is how the Zurich musician and publisher Hans Georg Naegali described Johann Sebastian Bach’s High Mass in B (Hohe Messe in h-Moll, BWV 232) in 1818, almost 70 years after the great master’s death.

The B minor Mass is certainly one of Bach’s greatest masterpieces. It is generally recognized as one of the two greatest masses of all time - ranking on par with Beethoven’s Mass in D, the Missa Solemnis.

The Mass is B minor is a musical setting of the complete Ordinary of the Mass (Ordinarium Missae) of the Catholic Church. Hence it consists of the five major parts, viz. Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. The text of the Mass is in Latin.

German Protestant Music

As a direct result of the Protestant Reformation in Germany, the musical setting of the Latin mass was replaced by musical compositions such as motets and church cantatas, which were based on German texts. Further, it became customary to conduct the German church service in the native German language instead of Latin.

The chorales, the German congregational hymns of the Lutheran Protestant Church, gained great importance in public worship. The chorales featured prominently in church cantatas, motets and passions.

Further, the familiar chorale melodies appeared in numerous organ compositions such as chorale preludes. As far as the Latin mass was concerned, only parts of it (e.g. Gloria) continued to be sung in the great protestant churches during high feast days

The Bach Image

The religious music of Johann Sebastian Bach is inseparable from the Protestant Reformation and the music of the Lutheran Church to which he belonged.

Bach, whom Albert Schweitzer describes as the musical father of the Lutheran Church, and who, according to Sanford Terry, was “brought up in the purest milk of Lutheran orthodoxy”, composed numerous cantatas, motets, passions and oratorios for his Church. He composed more than two hundred church cantatas. All these vocal musical works were based on German texts.

The chorale, for which he had a deep affection throughout his life, featured prominently in his German church music - both vocal and instrumental. He adored it. In fact, his last composition, which he dictated from his death-bed, was a great fantasia on the Lutheran chorale “ Wenn wir in hoechsten Noeten sind” (When we are in greatest need).

His cantatas, motets, passions and oratorios are adorned with numerous adaptations of the chorales. Bach also composed hundreds of pieces for the organ based on chorales.

Paradox

In comparison to his German compositions, the number of Bach’s Latin works is insignificant. He wrote only six compositions based on Latin texts, four of which are poorly composed short masses. He seems to have disliked setting the standard Latin texts of the Catholic Mass to music.

Hence, Bach’s High Mass in B Minor, which is an astounding musical setting of the Catholic Mass, is indeed a great paradox - a great Latin mass by Germany’s greatest protestant composer! It has continued to puzzle Bach scholars to this day, sometimes to the point of embarrassment and exasperation.

The German Lutheran chorale is nowhere to be found in the Mass. The Gregorian chant of the Catholic Church, which is in Latin, has been introduced in several sections.

Genesis

In 1733 Augustus III became the prince-elector of Saxony and king of Poland. He became Bach’s new sovereign. Bach sent the first two parts of the B minor Mass to Augustus in 1733 as a token of his loyalty.

The first two parts of the mass consisted of the Kyrie and the Gloria. Bach would have thought that the Mass would be of interest to his new sovereign, who had converted to Catholicism from Protestantism and married a Catholic royal princess.

In his letter to Augustus III, which accompanied the Kyrie and the Gloria, Bach complained of the harassment he had to suffer in the hands of his superiors in Leipzig, and sought his sovereign’s intervention on his behalf. He also requested a post in the musical establishment of Augustus’ royal electoral court at Dresden, which was Catholic.

The first two parts of the Mass, as already mentioned, was completed in 1733.The other three parts of the Mass, viz. the Credo, Sanctus and the Agnus Dei, were added on during the last years of his life, probably in 1748-9.

The Mass in its entirety was certainly not performed or published during the Bach’s lifetime. Most probably, he would have performed sections of it in Leipzig. The first performance of the entire Mass took place in Berlin in 1835, i.e. 85 years after Bach’s death.

Opus Summum

The epic character of the great Mass rests primarily on its great choruses (such as Gratias agimus tibi) and its gigantic proportions - the performance of the entire Mass takes more than two hours! Its deeply felt lyricism is provided by the arias - solos and duets. The dramatic element of the Mass is found mainly in the Credo.

At least two thirds of the music of the Mass has been adopted from Bach’s cantatas.

The music derives from diverse styles - the Italian operatic aria, the concerto, the church style of Palestrina, the country-dance, the folk song, etc. The music also brilliantly represents a galaxy of diverse soul states such as awe, sorrow, joy, jubilant exhilaration, despair, fear, devotion, tenderness and affection. It is a marvelous synthesis of the spiritual, the sensuous and the cerebral!

Symbolum Nicaenum

The centre piece of the Mass is the Credo, which Bach named “ Symbolum Nicaenum”(Nicene Creed). In the words of Albert Schweitzer, the text of the Symbolum Nicaenum is “ woefully unmusical” and is a “hard nut for a composer to crack”. Bach’s setting of this section is indeed a tour de force.

Bach discovered the inherent dramatic possibilities of the Credo, especially from the Et incarnatus (Incarnation ; descent to mortality) through Crucifixus (death by crucifixion, and burial) to Et Resurrexit (Resurrection; ascent to heaven). The jubilant exhilaration of the Et Resurrexit brilliantly contrast with the utter despair of the Crucifixus.

The theme of resurrection dominates the entire credo section, or for that matter, the entire Mass. Bach once again brings to life the spirit of resurrection in the Et expecto resurrectionem of the Credo. Here the jubilant spirit is more exhilarating, confidant and sublime than in the Et Resurrexit.

Radicalism

A distinguishing quality of the Mass is its radical defiance. In this sense, it shows some affinity to Bach’s other important Latin work, the Magnificat in D (BWV 243). The beat and the liberal use of trumpets and drums have given the Mass a distinct martial character.

The Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis (And peace in the world for men of goodwill) of the Gloria is a brilliant case in point. It is unmistakably a demand for peace and dignity instead of a hymn of the angels.

It echoes the ‘ Swabian Articles’ of 1525, the manifesto of the German peasants who defiantly demanded peace with dignity and freedom from feudal tyranny, on the basis of Christian principles brought to life by the Protestant Reformation. It also mirrors Bach’s own desire for freedom from harassment by his superiors at St Thomas School and the Leipzig town council, which he bluntly articulated in his letter to Augustus III.

Bach, who was of German peasant stock, would have certainly known about the Peasant War which raged in his native Thuringia (Muelhausan, where he worked as a young organist, was an important centre of the German Peasant War, which was ruthlessly crushed by the feudal princes) two hundred years before he penned the Gloria.

Does not the spirit of resurrection of the Et Resurrexit and the Et expecto resurrectionem anticipate the great posthumous revival of Bach’s music ? - a resurrection with vengeance more than half-a-century after the death of the great master!

The Latin mass seems to have provided Bach the private space and the artistic freedom, that was necessary for the sublime expression of his life experiences and aspirations. In the case of the High Mass in B minor, there seems to have been no worldly authority - religious or otherwise, to censor his deeply humanistic spiritual thoughts. It was safely beyond the imagination and reach of his superiors in Leipzig!

Message

The most endearing characteristic of the B minor Mass is its universal humanism. It mirrors a whole world of human experiences and aspirations. In this sense, it contrasts sharply with Bach’s supreme masterpiece, the St Matthew Passion, which belongs more to the realm of the superhuman.

The great Mass is first and foremost a celebration of Life - life with peace and happiness here on earth. It epitomizes the indomitable zest for life. Its humanity permeates beyond the boundaries of religion, race, space and time.