Music for May 29, 2016 + The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• I Love You, O My God Most High – David Hogan (1949-1996)

Instrumental Music

• Aria – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Andante in D Major (Variations on a Theme) – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Fanfare– Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens (1823-1881)

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

• Hymn 372 - Praise to the living God! (Leoni)
• Hymn 421 - All glory be to God on high (Allein Gott in der Hoh)
• Hymn R74 - Cantad al Señor (Cantad al Señor)
• Hymn 533 - How wondrous and great thy works, God of praise! (Lyons)
• Hymn 408 - Sing praise to God who reigns above (Mit Freuden zart)
• Hymn R191 - O Christ, the healer (Erhalt uns, herr)
• Hymn 522 - Glorious things of thee are spoken (Austria)

H. David Hogan and his baby daughter
Hilary taken in the early '80s

I’m always moved by stories of talented people who are cut down in the prime of life. Such is the story of David Hogan, the composer of today’s anthem. Hogan was an American composer, teacher, and performer with ties to both the East and West Coasts. He had moved to France to teach at the American Conservatory at the Palace of Fontainebleau in Paris, and was flying back to Paris on July 17, 1996 on TWA Flight 800, when it suddenly crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York. Thus ended a life dedicated to music.

A native of Virginia, Hogan graduated from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor's degree in 1971, and would go on to earn a master's degree in voice in 1975. He enjoyed enormous success both as a composer and teacher and still found time to perform internationally as a concert tenor and pianist. For three years in a row, his students won first place in the Student Composers Competition of the Music Teachers National Association.

Dedicated to God as well as his craft, he had the distinction of being one of the two composers chosen to write new works for the Consecration of the Washington National Cathedral in 1989. Our kids choir learned his Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis a few years ago for the Diocesan Youth Choral Festival. But he also wrote simple sacred music too, such as today’s anthem, written for his small choir at St. Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco.  It’s a simple setting of a traditional Irish melody, Daniel, arranged for two-part mixed choir. Simple but elegant, it uses the text by St Ignatius of Loyola, as translated by Edward Caswall.

I love you, O my Lord most high,
for first your love has captured me;
I seek no other liberty:
bound by your love, I shall be free.

May memory no thought suggest
but shall to your pure glory tend,
may understanding find no rest,
except in you, its only end.

All mine is yours: say but the word,
say what you will, it shall be done;
I know your love, most gracious Lord,
I know you seek my good alone.

Apart from you, nothing can be,
so grant me this, my only wish,
to love you, Lord, eternally,
you give me all in giving this.

The closing voluntary is by Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens, a Belgian organist and composer who renewed the organ-player's art in Belgium. He went to Germany to learn Johann Sebastian Bach's tradition, (at the time Bach's organ works were not at all well known in France) and in 1852 he gave organ recitals in Saint Vincent de Paul, La Madeleine and Saint Eustache churches in Paris, where he stunned audiences with his technique. Particularly notable was his brilliant pedal-playing, which owed a good deal to his studies of Bach's music .

He had been appointed organ teacher at the Royal Brussels Conservatoire at the young age of 26, where he trained numerous young musicians, including two eminent Frenchmen, Alexandre Guilmant and Charles-Marie Widor. He wrote several volumes of organ music, including a two-volume set called École d'orgue basée sur le plain-chant romain (Organ Method based on the Roman Chant), published in 1862 (and still in print!). It includes this Fanfare.

Music for May 22, 2016 + Trinity Sunday

Vocal Music

• Father of Heaven, whose love profound – Healey Willan (1888-1968)

Instrumental Music

• Come, Christians, Join to Sing (Madrid and Holy Manna) - Don Schlosser (21st C.)
• Reflections on "The Valley of Peace" - Albin C. Whitworth (b. 1938)
• Intermezzo - Gordon Young (1919-1998)
• Praise! - Gilbert M. Martin (b. 1941)

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

• Hymn 362 - Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! (Nicea)
• Hymn 421 - All glory be to God on high (Allein Gott in der Hoh)
• Hymn 368 - Holy Father, great Creator (Regent Square)
• Hymn 295 - Sing praise to our Creator (Christus, der ist mein Leben)
• Hymn R37 - Father, we love you (Glorify Your Name)
• Hymn R206 - Holy, holy  (Jimmy Owens)
• Hymn 371 - Thou, whose almighty word (Moscow)

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, where we focus on the mystery of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The choir will be singing a setting of the hymn Father of Heaven, whose love profound by the Canadian composer Healey Willan. With over 800 published compositions to his name, Willan is considered to be the dean of Canadian composers, even though he was born in England. He moved to Canada when he was 33 to become the organist-choirmaster of Toronto's largest church, St. Paul's, Bloor Street. In 1914 Willan was appointed Lecturer and Examiner in music at the University of Toronto. But it was his royalties as a church music composer which allowed him to leave "low church" St. Paul's in 1921 and to become Precentor of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Toronto. He remained there until his death. St. Mary Magdalene, under Willan, became a North American mecca for choral and Anglican church musicians.

All the other music today is from American composers of our time, with all but one still alive and working in church music. The opening voluntary is by Nashville composer Don Schlosser, Minister of Music at Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville. He has had a career in both music ministry and in the music publishing industry in Nashville. After 17 years as a full-time church choral director in three states, Schlosser worked for ten years for a local church-based publisher, producing music demos, and leading conferences. Don is also currently music director of Nashville in Harmony, Music City’s first and only chorus for LGBT persons and their straight allies. Don has written, arranged, and published choral music for adults, students, and children, as well as keyboard arrangements. Fluent in Spanish, he has also taught seminars and conducted choirs in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Costa Rica. Schlosser holds both a Bachelor of Arts in piano performance and a Master of Church Music in composition

The first communion voluntary is by Kentuckian Albin C. Whitworth is our Minister of Music & Worship/Organist.  Albin holds a B.A. and the D.C.M from Asbury University and a M.Ed. and Ed.S. from the University of Louisville.  For decades he was organist and choir director at the First United Methodist Church in Lexington, KY, leading a 100 voice choir from a massive pipe organ. Today he is organist at Deer Park Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He and his wife, Katie, have two identical twin sons – Mark and Kent.  They also have 4 grandchildren – Tyler, Andrew, Mary Kathryn, and Margaret.  Albin and Katie enjoy traveling when they are not spending time with family and friends.

Many thanks to Jill Kirkonis for playing the organ this morning and Mac Jones for directing the choir in my absence. I am in Memphis for the wedding of my son, Paul, to Leigh Ann Battles. We covet your prayers for their joy and happiness!

Music for May 15, 2016 + Pentecost

Pentecost and Confirmation

Vocal Music

• Creator Spirit, by whose Aid - Carolyn Jennings (b. 1936)
• Come Thou, Holy Spirit, Opus 25, No. 10 – Pavel Tschesnokoff (1877-1944)

Instrumental Music

• Celebration and Grace – Michael Mazzatenta
• Deep River – Douglas E. Wagner
• Improvisation on Veni Creator Spiritus - Alfred V. Fedak

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

• Hymn 225 - Hail thee, festival day (Salva festa dies)
• Hymn 513 - Like the murmur of the dove’s song (Bridegroom)
• Hymn 511 - Holy Spirit, ever living (Abbot’s Leigh)
• Hymn R90 - Spirit of the Living God (Iverson)
• Hymn R168 - If you believe and I believe (Traditional, Zimbabwe)
• Hymn R248 - Oh, let the Son of God enfold you (Spirit Song)
• Hymn 506 - Praise the Spirit in creation (Finnian)

I've always loved Pentecost, AKA: “Birthday of the Church” It's the Sunday fifty days after Easter ( Pentecost literally means “50”) that celebrates the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, causing them to speak in tongues. (Here is a great article from PBS which is kind of a primer for Pentecost. Useful for explaining it to kids. Or Episcopalians.) The emphasis is on the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. Another name for the Holy Spirit is Paraclete, which the choir has had a good time singing "parakeet" for "Paraclete." (And I don't mean the kids choirs, either.) Paraclete appears in the Gospel of John (14:16, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7) where it may be translated into English as "counselor", "helper", encourager, advocate, or "comforter". The early church identified the Paraclete as the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5,1:8,2:4,2:38).

Carolyn Jennings

You'll hear that word in the choral acclamation that the choir will sing both before and after the Gospel reading. It is sort of like a choral fanfare. The acclamation/fanfare was written by Carolyn Jennings, a retired professor of music from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she taught for many years and also served in administrative roles, including being Chair of the Music Department and Associate Dean for the Fine Arts. She also recently retired from St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield where she served as a church musician for over thirty years. Her husband, Kenneth Jennings, was also on the faculty of St. Olaf, directing the famed St. Olaf Choir.

The work starts off with trumpet fanfares which punctuate the choral setting of the hymn-text, "Creator Spirit, by whose aid," which is based on a ninth-century Latin hymn "Veni, Creator Spiritus."

The other choral offering is the communion anthem, Come Thou, Holy Spirit, by the Russian composer, Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov (Anglicized, Tschesnokoff). If you've ever sung in a college or university choir, you've sung his great anthem, Salvation Is Created. This anthem, originally titled Duh Tvoj blagi (or Let Thy Good Spirit) is along the same line. It is set for seven-part chorus a capella, beginning with a four part men's choir singing in alternation with three-part treble choir. After a brief section sung by the sopranos and altos alone, the opening is repeated, ending with quiet "Alleluias."

Pavel Chesnokov

Primarily a composer, Chesnokov composed over five hundred choral works. By the age of 30, he had completed nearly four hundred sacred choral works, but his proliferation of church music came to a standstill at the time of the Russian revolution. Under Stalin, no one was permitted to produce any form of sacred art. So in response, he composed an additional hundred secular works, and conducted secular choirs like the Moscow Academy Choir and the Bolshoi Theater Choir. In 1933, the Soviets destroyed the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where Chesnokov had been the last choirmaster. This disturbed him so deeply that he stopped writing music altogether. Instead, he turned to writing, and in 1940 published, "Khor i upravlenie im" (The choir and how to direct it), which remains an encyclopedic handbook for Russian choral directors. 

You will also hear the last appearance of the Good Shepherd handbell Choir this Sunday, as they play the opening voluntary and the communion voluntary. The opening piece is in a Rondo form where the "Celebration" section -  a bright, lively, syncopated section -  forms the 'theme' of the piece which alternates with varying 'episodes' that contrast with the theme. That would be the "Grace" sections of this work. Listen for a quieter rhythm (not quite as perky) and the use of handchimes as well as the martellatto technique (rung on the table, producing a short, muffled sound). Celebration and Grace was composed by Michael Mazzatenta, an award-winning handbell composer who also performs as a concert organist, accompanist, and jazz pianist. He is an Adjunct Faculty member at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, AZ and Phoenix College, AZ. He resides with his wife Joan, also a musician, in Mesa, Arizona.

During Deep River, you'll hear our newest addition to the handbell ministry, our new octave of hand chimes which will give us three full octaves of chimes in addition to the five octaves of bells which we have. 

The closing voluntary is a little wild (much like the Holy Spirit herself!)  This improvisatory piece is from an oratorio by Alfred Fedak and Carl Daw. It begins with quick rolling, whole-tone scale patterns (depicting, I presume, the winds of the Spirit or perhaps the tongues of fire). This is followed by virtuosic, cadenza-like manual passages, interrupted by long held manual chords while each phrase of the ancient chant "Veni Creator Spiritus" (see the third paragraph above!) is played in the pedal. Each phrase takes an unexpected turn at the end, sending it to an unexpected resolution. It is NOT your usual organ postlude.

Music for the Sunday after Ascension Day + May 8, 2016

Vocal Music

• Communion Song – Barry McGuire (b. 1935), Mac Jones, arr. 
• The People that Walked in Darkness – G. F. Handel (1685-1759)

Instrumental Music

• Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 557 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
• Bryn Calfaria: Lord, Enthroned In Heavenly Splendor – William Haller (b. 1940)

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

• Hymn 214 - Hail the day that sees him rise (Llanfair)
• Hymn R168 - If you believe and I believe (Traditional Zimbabwe)
• Hymn R58 - Alleluia, sing to Jesus! (Hyfrydol)
• Hymn 325 - Let us break bread together (Let Us Break Bread)
• Hymn 450 - All hail the power of Jesus’ name! (Coronation)

Barry McGuire,  late 1960s

Today's anthem is an acapella choral setting of one first from the contemporary Christian genre, arranged by one of our choir members, Mac Jones. "Communion Song" is by Barry McGuire, an American singer-songwriter best known for the 1965 hit song "Eve of Destruction." His fascinating story detailing his rise as a folk-rock artist to a pioneering singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music can be found here on his web page.

The opening voluntary is from a volume that every beginning organist knows, owns, and plays, called Eight Little Preludes and Fugues (8 Kleine Präludien und Fugen) which may or may not have been written by Johann Sebastian Bach. People have debated his authorship for years, saying that, stylistically, it was not like any of Bach's other organ works. Some suggest they may be written by composed by one of Bach's pupils, possibly Johann Tobias Krebs or his son Johann Ludwig Krebs. Still others have suggested that the reason the compositional style of the Eight Little Preludes differ from Bach's other organ music is that this collection was conceived specifically for the pedal clavichord (a keyboard instrument similar to a very early piano), thereby making the stylistic claim of inauthenticity far less arguable.

Barry McGuire, today

Whatever the truth is, Bach scholar Philipp Spitta states that they bore the "stamp of commanding mastery."