Music for February 28, 2016 + The Third Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music

• Lord, for Thy Tender Mercy’s Sake - – Richard Farrant (c.1530-1580) or John Hilton (1565-1708?)

Instrumental Music

• Prelude in Classic Style – Gordon Young (1919-1998)
• Aria (Op. 51) - Flor Peeters (1902-1986)
• My Shepherd Shall Supply My Need - Jessie S Irvine (1836 – 1887)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 143 - The glory of these forty days (Erhalt uns, Herr)
• Hymn 648 - When Israel was in Egypt’s land (Go Down, Moses)
• Hymn 142 - Lord, who throughout these forty days (St. Flavian)
• Hymn 685 - Rock of ages, cleft for me (Toplady)
• Hymn 344 - Lord dismiss us with thy blessing (Sicilian Mariners)

I'm out of town for the weekend, and in my absence, Jill Kirkonis will be playing the organ, and Mac Jones will direct the choir. The choir's anthem will be a choral setting of a sixteenth century prayer by Henry Bull, set to music by either Richard Farrant or John Hilton, both English composers of sacred music. Farrant was organist at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in the middle of the sixteenth century, while Hilton was known as a counter-tenor and organist, most notably at Trinity College, Cambridge. In the beginning, the music is in a simple, a capella, hymn-like style which befits the reflective and restful mood of the text, but at the words "that we may walk in a perfect heart" the choir has a chance to play around with the rhythms of the words and sing much more independently of each other, finally ending with a contrapuntal "amen."

During communion you'll hear Aria by Belgian organist Flor Peeters. Peeters was one of the most renowned organists and composers for organ of the twentieth century. He attended the Lemmens Institute in Mechelen where he won the highest award, the Lemmens-Tinel Prize and at the age of twenty  was appointed a professor at the Institute. In addition, in 1923, he became assistant organist at the Cathedral of St. Rombout in Mechelen. In 1925, Peeters was appointed to succeed his former teacher at the Lemmens Institute as professor of organ.

He began to write what would become a large catalog of organ music and sacred choral works. He was particularly masterful in his use of the variation forms. Hi interest in Gregorian chant often influenced his slower music and sometimes forms the basis of longer compositions. In 1943, he completed his Practical Method for Accompanying Gregorian Chant.

Germany attacked and occupied both Belgium and the Netherlands in 1940. Peeters refused to perform for the German occupiers. As a result, his passport was confiscated. Nevertheless, he was permitted to travel regularly across the border between Belgium and the Netherlands in order to continue his teaching at Tilburg, and, in the course of doing this, he carried secret messages between the authorities of the cathedrals of these two countries.

Flor Peeters

The Aria dates from the War years; it originated in 1943 as the slow movement of a Sonata for trumpet and piano, and it is still a permanent fixture on exam syllabuses for aspiring young trumpeters. Peeters also arranged it for violin, for cello, and for solo organ, and it is in this form that we hear today. The expressive melody unfolds above an accompaniment of soft repeated chords—a technique that Peeters used to equally telling effect in the slow movement of the Organ Concerto. As in so much of his finest work, there is a simplicity and sincerity in this music that speaks directly to the heart.

Music for February 21, 2016 + The Second Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music-

• Lead Me, Lord – Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)

Instrumental Music

• A piano prelude by Dominic Marchado
• O man, bemoan thy grievous sin, BWV 622 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

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

• Hymn 401 - The God of Abraham praise (Leoni)
• Hymn 147 - Now let us all with one accord (Bourbon)
• Hymn 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus (In Babilone)
• Hymn R243 - You shall cross the barren desert (Be Not Afraid)
• Hymn 598 - Lord Christ, when first thou cam’st to earth (Mit Freuden zart)

This is one of those Sunday mornings which has been suddenly changed because of Wednesday night. Due to school, sickness, work, and family matters, I had almost half the choir absent at our weekly rehearsal. (You do realize, don't you, that your choir members spend at least four hours each week at church, either rehearsing or singing in services as part of their service to God?) We were scheduled to sing on of the movements from Antonín Dvořák's Mass in D, but since we missed last week's rehearsal due to Ash Wednesday, we were behind in our preparation. I called for a substitution mid-rehearsal, because I don't want my choir members to fret over something that can be changed. 

Samuel Sebastian Wesley
before he lost his hair.

SO: we are singing Lead Me, Lord, which is part of a longer anthem by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Praise the Lord, O My Soul, written in 1861. Wesley was the grandson of hymn-writer Charles Wesley, and the son of Samuel Wesley, another English musician, but it was Samuel Sebastian that became famous as one of his country's leading organists and choirmasters. He composed almost exclusively for the Church of England, writing some exquisite music, including the hymn-tune AURELIA (The Church's One Foundation). 

Since Samuel Sebastian Wesley was named after his father's favorite musician, Johann Sebastian Bach, it is only fitting that our music includes one of Bach's miniature masterpieces, his chorale-prelude on the choral, O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß (O man, bewail thy sins so great). It is a great hymn for the season of Lent. Read the first stanza, upon which our communion voluntary is based:

O mankind, mourn your great sins,

for which Christ left His Father's bosom

and came to earth;

from a virgin pure and tender

He was born here for us,

He wished to become our Intercessor,

He gave life to the dead

and laid aside all sickness

until the time approached

that He would be sacrificed for us,

bearing the heavy burden of our sins

indeed for a long time on the Cross.

It is a Lutheran Passion hymn with a text written by Sebald Heyden in 1530 on a melody, STRASBORG, around 1524. The author reflects the Passion, based on the Four Evangelists, originally in 23 stanzas. though most modern hymnals only include the first and last stanzas.

What makes this a favorite organ piece among Bach enthusiasts is his use of ornaments, or improvisatory decorations, on the original melody. In fact, the original melody is only clearly laid out in two places: at the place in the tune that sets the words that He would be sacrificed for us and for a long time on the Cross. These two places in the chorale-prelude stand out by their stark simplicity. Capturing the Affect (or sense) of a text in both composition and performance was indeed one of the foundational premises that Bach fully embraced.  

The prelude today is a piano piece by Dominic Marchado, a home-schooled sixth grader in the St. Gregory Choir. In addition to piano and choir, Dominic is also learning to play the violin. We welcome him to the piano this morning and encourage him in his music.

Music for February 14, 2016 + Lent I

Vocal Music

• Jesu, Grant Me This I Pray – C. H. Kitson (1874-1944)
• God be in my Head – John Rutter (b. 1945)

Instrumental Music

• Jesus, All My Gladness – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

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

• Psalm 91:9-15 – Tone II.a
• Hymn 529 - In Christ there is no East or West (McKee)
• Hymn 150 - Forty days and forty nights (Aus der Tiefe rufe ich)
• Hymn R112 - You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord (On Eagles Wings)
• Hymn 559 - Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us (Dulce Carmen)

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when our liturgical actions change to reflect the meaning and purpose of Lent. This means the music changes, too. A time of penitence and quiet reflection cannot embrace music that jumps for joy and is all “happy-clappy!” The organ becomes quieter (or drops out altogether, such as the closing voluntary, which we omit during Lent), the service music changes to include a Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy) and Agnus Dei (Jesus, Lamb of God.) And on the first Sunday of Lent, we'll dispense with the opening voluntary and hymn, and begin the service singing The Great Litany, an intercessory prayer of various petitions that are sung by the priest, with fixed responses by the congregation. It is sung in procession, and because we take a longer, circuitous route through the nave to give us time to sing the entire thing, it is often called "The Holy Pretzel."

Later in the service the choirs will sing a setting of a Lenten hymn by English poet and priest, Sir Henry W. Baker. Baker may be best known to us as the writer of the hymn setting of Psalm 23, "The King of Love my Shepherd Is," and "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven," as well as his translation of "O Sacred Head, Once Wounded." He was editor of the premier English hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1859.

C. H. Kitson combined Baker's hymn, Jesu, Grant me this I pray, with Orlando Gibbons' Song 13 to create a calm litany in today's anthem. It is simply set, with stanza one and three sung in a unison setting, and stanza four, the final stanza, presented as a simple, a capella hymn. The second stanza is the most intricate, with the lower three voice parts (alto, tenor, and bass) singing a flowing accompaniment in 12/8 time while the trebles sing the Gibbons melody.

Charles Herbert Kitson was an English organist and teacher, author of several books on harmony and counterpoint. He was better known as a educator than as a composer. He was born in Yorkshire, and attended school in Ripon. Intending originally to take holy orders, he took his BA and MA  at Cambridge, where he was also the organ scholar of Selwyn College. Between those dates, he also took the BMus and DMus degrees at Oxford.

His first important post was as organist at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, in 1913 – a post which he combined with the post of Professor of Theory at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. In 1920, he resigned both posts and returned to England, settling in London, where he joined the staff of the Royal College of Music.

a contemporary reconstruction of Bach's face based
on research of Scottish forensic experts.

During communion I am playing two short organ settings of the chorale, Jesu, Meine Freude, as written by the great Johann Sebastian Bach. Unlike his other great organ chorales, these short pieces are very simply set. The first one, BWV 1105, is from a relatively recent discovery (or re-discovery) of 31 of Bach's organ chorales in The Neumeister Collection,  a compilation of chorale preludes for organ assembled by Johann Gottfried Neumeister sometime after 1790. This handwritten manuscript included 31 compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1090–1120) that were uncatalogued until scholars rediscovered the manuscript in the 1980s. It has been suggested that the collection may have been copied from a single source, possibly a Bach family album put together in J.S. Bach's early years.  Some time after 1807 the manuscript passed to Christian Heinrich Rinck, whose library was bought by Lowell Mason in 1852. After Mason's death in 1873, his collection was acquired by Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut,  where it was rediscovered "early in 1984" by musicologists.

The other setting, BWV 753, is from an unfinished arrangement which has been completed by Charles Callahan. It is for hands alone (no feet)

Music for February 7 + The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Gospel Adoramus – Mark Hayes
• Round the Lord in Glory Seated – David McCarthy
• "Circle" Sanctus - Sheldon Curry
• The Storm is Passing Over – Barbara Baker

Instrumental Music

• I’m Goin’ to live So God Can Use Me – Paul Taylor
• Come, We That Love the Lord – Timothy Shaw
• Toccata Brilliante on We Will Glorify – Twila Paris, arr. Fred Bock

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

• Hymn 7 - Christ, whose glory fills the skies (Ratisbon)
• Hymn 383 - Fairest Lord Jesus (St. Elizabeth)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of thankfulness and praise (Salzburg)
• Hymn R201 - Be still, for the Spirit of the Lord (Be Still)
• Hymn R247 - Lord, the light of your love is shining (Shine, Jesus, Shine)

It's Gospel Sunday!

After I first arrived at Good Shepherd, I would schedule music that had not been in the typical rotation of an Episcopal Congregation. Things such as spirituals, old hymns and gospel songs from my youth would find their way onto my music lists. I never thought anything of it until I overheard a choir member remark to another singer, "It must be his Methodist upbringing."

"Pardon Me, your Methodist is showing."

It's going to show with all it's Protestant glory this Sunday, the last Sunday before Lent begins. Since Lent brings with it a quieter, more subdued set list, we're going to leave Epiphany with a bang. 

The service will start with an organ arrangement of the spiritual, I'm Gonna Live So God Can Use Me. 

I'm gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I'm gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

Then instead of the Gloria in Excelsis, we will sing Mark Hayes' setting of Gospel Adoramus, written in a contemporary Rock-Gospel style, using both the Latin and English texts of the Adoramus Te. In the Hayes inserts a quasi-baroque style five-part round. It's fun to sing!

I'll use the piano again for the offertory, a Gospel-inspired setting of an Anglican hymn by a Canadian-born composer! David McCarthy was born in Winnipeg, Canada with degrees in music from McGill University, the Eastman School of Music, and Houghton College. He is the organist and choir director at Incarnation Episcopal church in Penfield, NY, and also teaches at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.

David wraps the text Round the Lord in Glory Seated in a tune that sounds like it came right out of a Black Baptist Church in South Carolina. (Or Georgia. Or Alabama. Or Detroit, for that matter.) The three stanzas feature the choir in unison, then the men with three part treble descant, then a four-part setting of the tune with a clever descant of "Holy, Holy, Holy" sung above. With a modulation to a higher key on each stanza, do not be surprised if you feel transfigured after hearing it!

For over 30 years, in Texas, Tennessee, and Arizona, Sheldon Curry has conducted church choirs – some in large Episcopal Cathedrals; others in rural Baptist communities. (He was, for a short time, director of music at St Stephens Episcopal Church here in Houston.) During that time, he has taught off and on – mostly poor, at-risk minority students. He teaches at Imago Dei Middle School in Tuscon where he also serves as Director of Music at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church as well music editor for Alfred Music Company.  He has used the old tune, May the Circle Be Unbroken for the Rev. Susan Anderson-Smith's setting of the Sanctus for use at chapel services at Imago Dei.