Music for January 31, 2016 + The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Thy Perfect Love – John Rutter (b. 1945)

Instrumental Music

• Suite Brève: Cantilene – Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
• Variations on “Liebster Jesu” – Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748)
• Suite Brève: Dialogue sur les mixtures – Jean Langlais 

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “R” which are from Renew.)

• Hymn R49 - Let the whole creation cry (Llanfair)
• Hymn R155 - Though I may speak with bravest fire (Gift of Love)
• Hymn 440 - Blessed Jesus, at thy word (Liebster Jesu)
• Hymn 576 - God is love, and where true love is (Mandatum)
• Hymn R226 - Ubi Caritas (Taizé)
• Hymn 530 - Spread, O spread, thou mighty word (Gott Sei Dank)

The English composer John Rutter writes wonderfully approachable and finely crafted choral music. Christmas could hardly happen without his settings of both traditional and original carols. And for decades church choirs have been singing his lyrical anthems on religious texts. One such anthem is this Sunday's offertory, Thy Perfect Love. Based on a 15th century English prayer, the anthem begins with a soprano soloist who presents the poem in its entirety. Then the whole choir sings the prayer in four part harmony, without organ. The hymn sounds easy, but the descending chromatic chords are tricky to sing in tune and on pitch! Pray for the choir.

Jean Langlais

The organ music comes from the Suite Brève by Jean Langlais. Born in great poverty in rural Northwest France, he was blind by age two, and his musical talent became evident when he sang in the choir of the local church. At ten he was sent to the National Institute for Blind Children in Paris, where he began to study the organ. From there, he progressed to the Paris Conservatoire, obtaining prizes in organ and composition. By 1945 he was organist at one of Paris's great churches, St. Clotilde. It was here that he wrote today's voluntaries in 1947.

The opening voluntary, the lyrical "Cantilene," is based on an original modal theme heard on a reed stop in the pedal and accompanied by soft chords., which reinforce the modal character (neither Major nor Minor key) of the melody. The next section plays of the melody canonically between high and low registers, simultaneously using the two melodies in the pedal. The third section has the melody once again in the pedal, but with an add flute obbligato in the treble register. It's not easy. Pray for the organist.

The last piece, "Dialogue sur les mixtures," has fast, repeated chords moving rapidly from the neutral key of C Major to A-flat and back again, with lively echoings between the different manuals (keyboards) of the organ.