Vocal Music
- When Jesus Wept – William Billings (1746-1800), arr. by A. F. Schultz (b. 1942)
- Fantasy in C Major: Poco Lento - César Franck (1822-1890)
- Fantasy in C Major: Adagio - César Franck
- God of Grace and God of Glory - Paul Manz (1919-2009)
- Hymn 400 - All creatures of our God and King (Laast uns erfreuen)
- Hymn 675 - Take up your cross, the Savior said (Bourbon)
- Hymn 707 - Take my life and let it be (Hollingside)
- Hymn - I have decided to follow Jesus (Indian Folk melody)
- Hymn 594 - God of grace and God of glory (Cwm Rhondda)
- Psalm 1 - Beatus vir qui non abiit (Tone V)
The musical term of today is Canon (as in Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.) The Oxford Dictionary defines canon as
A piece in which the same melody is begun in different parts successively, so that the imitations overlap.
A piece of music in canon is written with different parts successively beginning the same melody.
Today we have two musical selections which use this form. One is a true canon, the other includes a section in canon. First the canon.
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| William Billings - an incredibly flattering portrait of the early American composer. |
Those keen on Bible Trivia know that "Jesus Wept" is the shortest verse in the King James Version of the Bible. (Can you cite chapter and verse? Answer below.) Something so short and simple requires a short, simple and elegant musical setting. William Billings - the first American Master Musician from Revolutionary War days - presents us with this short canon based on this scripture. Now, even the music of Taizé would require more words than just the two syllables of Jesus Wept, so Billings added his own text to give us 16 bars of what John Lienhardt of the University of Houston called "one of the most exquisite short canons we've ever heard." (Read his highly entertaining and informative piece about Billings here.)
The setting we are singing today presents the original text along with two verses from the hymn which we sing this Sunday as the Gospel hymn, Take Up Your Cross. We sing the second verse as a two-part canon, trebles followed by the tenors and basses. This is an arrangement by Alan Schultz, American organist, composer and conductor who is also past conductor and music director of The Southern Arizona Symphony and the Tucson Masterworks Chorale
Both the opening voluntary and the communion voluntary are excerpts from a large-scale organ work by the Belgian/French composer César Franck. The work, the Fantasy in C Major, is in three large parts separated by short transitional passages. I'm playing the first section, Poco Lento, for the opening and the last section, Adagio, for communion. It is in the opening voluntary that we find the other canon in today's music.
This selection is itself in three parts. The opening theme (or melody) is presented on the swell manual alone using all the 8' stops (save the trumpet stop). Then the pedal introduces a secondary theme which is echoed two measures later by the left hand (the canon). After the full exposition of the secondary theme, this theme is again presented but with the addition of a counter-melody in the right hand over the canon between the pedal and the left hand. At the end of this section, the original theme reappears with a fuller sound including the trumpet and the pedals.
The service ends with a congregational favorite, Paul Manz's improvisation on the equally loved Welsh hymn-tune, Cwm Rhondda. I think people like it because the opening bars of the piece sound like the opening phrase of the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah. Whatever the reason, it's a great way to leave the service!
* John 11:35 - Jesus Wept.
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