CMP Teaching Plan

Nathan Blaser

Salvation is Created
Pavel Chesnokov, Michael Brown, Arranged by John Stewart
Hal Leonard Corporation – Grade 2 / 1 minutes, 15 seconds

Broad Description
• Originally composed in 1912, this was a piece in the sacred tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church. It has been
arranged for band and transposed to a more comfortable key for amateur musicians.

Composer Biography
Pavel Chesnokov was a devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church and one of the largest composers of it’s sacred music.
Out of the five hundred choral works he wrote, four hundred of them were sacred pieces. He was bets known by his
contemporaries as a choral conductor first and a composer second. For his education, he went to the Moscow School of Church
Music and later studied at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating from it in 1917. During this time he also taught choral
conducting, was a choirmaster, and composed his most well-known work, Salvation is Created.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, Chesnokov was force to abandon his work in the sacred realm and composed for secular choral
music, but still headed the choral conducting program at the Moscow Conservatory and became the choir master at Christ the
Savior Cathedral. However in 1933, Stalin would order the cathedral to be demolished for a skyscraper that would never be
built. Chesnokov’s feeling of sheer distraught would make the man give up composing all-together. He would continue
teaching and conducting in Moscow till his death in 1944.

Background Information
Salvation is Created was the fifth piece is a cycle of his Ten Communion Hymns. So therefore, this piece would have been
intended to be performed during the rite when humanity would consume the flesh of God and be saved by becoming one with
God. The lyrics translate roughly to “Salvation is Created, in the midst of the Earth, O God, Our God, Alleluia”.

Elements of Music
Measure Meter Form Melody Rhythm Harmony Timbre Texture Expression
and
Tempo
Clarinet 1 Dotted C minor, Dark, organ Starts Auspicious,
and 2, Alto half notes, like in the dense and something
Sax 1, quarter lower gets lighter coming,
English notes, half voices. as the resolute or
4/4
22 A Horn notes, lower even
72bmp
eighth voices drop absolute,
notes out before cannot be
the forestalled
modulation.
Flute, Half notes, E-flat major Brighter, Thicker as Joy and
Clarinet 1, quarter but still the voices hope as the
Clarinet 2, notes, relatively enter back event has
Alto Sax whole dark, a in and start arrived.
notes, solid to blend The strong
eighth foundation. together base is still
notes they there to
approach remind of
31 Same B
the ending the serious
nature of
the work in
that it is
about the
salvation of
humanity’s
souls.

Element Summaries:

2
Form: AB (The original Michael Brown arrangement has an additional A and B section prior to where the Stewart
arrangement begins)

Rhythm: Half notes, quarter notes, whole notes, eighth notes, and whole notes.

Melody: Melody starts in the Clarinets, Alto Sax, and English Horn and in the B section is passed to the Flutes and stays in
the Clarinets and Alto Sax.

Harmony: The piece begins in C minor and modulates to E-flat major at the B section.

Timbre: The piece maintains a relatively dark timbre, opening up the frequency range we reach the B section, thematically
when we find salvation. In a literal sense, our frequencies of the notes we play and overtones we activate reach higher towards
God.

Texture: The texture starts off lighter and less dense, and gets thicker as we approach the B section similarly, if I’ve done
my transposition right, the first note of the A section isn’t a chord, but an open fifth, so as the piece progressed and more
voices enter and we move to having full chords, it would be like God coming and in this way making things full.

Expression: The A part could be described as auspicious, something coming, resolute or even absolute, and cannot be
forestalled. It is approaching God. The B part is joy and hope as the event has arrived. The strong base is still there to remind of
the serious nature of the work in that it is about the salvation of humanity’s souls. It is the receiving of the communion and
humanity merging with God.

Text: “Salvation is Created, in the midst of the Earth, O God, Our God, Alleluia”. While not completely applicable given the
instrumental nature, it still might good to be aware and if one has time, one could superimpose the original text over the notes.

3
The Heart Statement: The piece is about approaching and becoming one with God through the sacrament of
communion, and expresses this primarily through the key change from the minor to major, symbolizing humanity’s merge
with God and subsequent salvation.

Music Selection

Introducing the Piece (strategies)

It is thought that back in the early days of Christianity, when monks and temples were more common, that during mass when
monks would sing together that they could hear the voice of God. Music and the concept of salvation have long been
inextricably linked in Western culture. This goes all the way to more modern artists, reaching through to rock, R&B, and jazz.
With Salvation is Created we will explore some of the ways in which musicians have represented the concept of salvation, a
concept that is not necessarily always attached to religion, as we dissect and learn this piece by Pavel Chesnokov.

Affective Outcome:
Students will be able to differentiate different ways people peace, salvation, or healing within music.
Strategies
Students will compare different artist and composer quotes on the healing nature of music.
Students will research music therapy and share their findings in small groups.

Assessment
Students will record a short video discussing a piece of music they like gives them some of these feeling, and talk about why
using musical language pointing out specific elements.

Skill Outcome:
Students will use appropriate phrasing when performing.

Strategies

4
Students will examine and listen the piece to listen for tension and release. They will then use those markings to help
determine when appropriate places to breathe are.

Assessment:
In lessons students will play an excerpt for me and we’ll examine together where they are breathing if there are any odd
choices that disrupt the phrasing of the piece.

Knowledge Outcome:
When given a major key signature, students will be able to produce the name of the relative minor key.

Strategies
Students will identify the names of major key signatures based on the sharps or flats in the key, and the notes that are in that
key signature. They will match each note to it’s scale degree and then be able to find the sixth scale degree and identify it as the
first note of the relative minor scale.

Assessment
In lessons I will give students three key signatures and ask them to think aloud their thought process as they figure out what
the relative minor of the key signature is.

Recommended Recordings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IycZ5-_mso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8BwsZqTyr0

References
Burns, Alex. “Pavel Chesnokov ‘Salvation is Created’: Communion Hymn.” Classic Alex Burns, published January 31, 2021.
https://classicalexburns.com/2021/01/31/pavel-chesnokov-salvation-is-created-communion-hymn/
Cummings, Robert. “Pavel Chesnokov.” Allmusic, Netaktion LLC, Accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pavel-
chesnokov-mn0001610579/biography

Works for Winds

5
Glossary of Terms

Sang through, studied, and marked parts (check off as completed)

Piccolo Cornets/Trumpets 1st Violins

Flutes Horns 2nd Violins
Oboes Trombones Violas
English Horn Euphoniums Celli
Bassoons Tubas String Bass
Eb Clarinet Harp
Clarinets Timpani
Alto Clarinets Snare Drum Sopranos
Bass Clarinets Mallet Percussion Altos
Contra Bass/Alto Clarinet Remaining Percussion Tenors
Saxophones Piano Basses