Musical contribution – April 2022

Carillon prelude: “A Toi la Gloire” Henk van der Maten (Born 1962)

The song that we are featuring this month is in the “top 100” of hymns known around the world. The melody comes from Handel’s oratorio “Judas Maccabäus”, and the words are penned by Edmond Louis Budry. This poem, written by the Swiss preacher in 1884, has been translated into almost all of the world’s languages.

Henk van der Maten has produced this month’s arrangement. Henk is a versatile musician, working as a teacher, organist, pianist, conductor and arranger. His choral works in particular are widely sung in the Netherlands. A visit to his website serves not only as an introduction to his work, but to his likable personality.

The continuous eighth movement is what gives this prelude its “carillon” designation. The first four bars demonstrate very nicely how the melody is reduced little by little, ending up in the major third key of F major. This repeats, ending up in A major in bar nine. The clever application of the dominant seventh brings us to the dominant key of D major at the end. This prelude contains more of these moments.

The entire piece can be played on a single manual in a magnificent forte. However, the work benefits from even more variation if we switch here and there between manuals. For example, the bars without pedalboard can be played on the Swell division. When the pedalboard is included, the hands move to the Great division. If you are only using the prelude as an introduction for congregational singing, then you can start in bar 39.

We hope you have an Easter that’s as full of festivity as the “Carillon prelude”. “All glory to you, for you are the risen Lord”.

André van Vliet