Music for September 2, 2018

Vocal Music

• I Give to You a New Commandment – Peter Nardone (b. 1965)

Instrumental Music

• Onse Vader in hemelrijck – Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
• Ayre in F – Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1757)
• Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise – arr. Michael Burkhardt (b. 1957)

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

• Hymn 423 - Immortal, invisible, God only wise (ST. DENIO)
• Hymn R122 - Surely it is God who saves me (FIRST SONG OF ISAIAH)
• Hymn 707 - Take my life and let it be (HOLLINGSIDE)
• Hymn R145 - Lord, I want to be a Christian (I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN)
• Hymn R172 - In our lives, Lord, be glorified (LORD, BE GLORIFIED)
• Hymn 556 - Rejoice, ye pure in heart (MARIAN)
• Psalm 15 - paraphrase by Christopher Webber, 1986 (ST. ANNE)

The choir sings a lyrical anthem by the Scottish composer Peter Nardone. He sets a text from John 13:34-35 (I give to you a new commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you) to a lovely melody, which is sung by the treble voices. He then combines that melody with the Latin chant Ubi caritas, sung by the gentlemen of the choir.

Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor. Exsultemus et in ipso jucundemur. Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum. Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
[Where charity is true, God is there. The love of Christ has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. Let us fear and love the living God. And from a sincere heart let us love one another.]

Peter Thomas Nardone is a Scottish countertenor, organist, choirmaster, and composer. He has sung with the Monteverdi Choir, the King's Consort, and the Tallis Scholars. He has been Director at Chelmsford Cathedral and is currently Organist and Director of Music at Worcester Cathedral, and Artistic Director of Three Choirs Festival.

Peter Nardone, conducting the Three Choirs Festival

From the 14th century on, The Netherlands were known for their organs, and organ builders from the Lowlands influenced organs built all across Europe. I find it strange, then, that Dutch organ playing failed to keep up with the innovative organs being built in the 15th and 16th century. Most local organists played transcriptions of vocal literature. When a few prominent English organists moved to the Lowlands as religious exiles, the Dutch were exposed to what the keyboards were capable of. In Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Netherlandish organ music found its first significant organist of native birth. He was able to combine the polyphonic heritage of Netherlandish choral composers with foreign keyboard traditions.

The two variations of the German chorale Vater Unser in Himmelreich (Our Father in Heaven), with which I open today's service, are examples of that. In the first, we hear a basic four-part setting, with the melody in longer, sustained notes on top. This is very much like a choral work of the period, though with more 16th note passages in the lower voices. (You can follow this melody by looking in our hymnal at hymn 575). The second variation changes key, and has the melody, or the cantus firmus, in the alto line. The organ of Sweelinck's time, as innovative as it was, still did not have much of a pedal division, and was used mainly to solo out the melody. Though this variation is not written specifically with that in mind, I will be playing the alto melody on the pedal reed, so you will hear it prominently featured in this arrangement.

There are several different variations on this chorale that are attributed to Sweelinck, and most of them are spurious compositions, with their authenticity in question. The volume in which these two variations are published feels as though these two, at least, are authentic. So I feel validated. (Smug grin.)

The communion voluntary is a transcription of an instrumental work by Georg Phillipe Telemann. Telemann was another Lutheran organist, living and working in Germany in the first half of the eighteenth century. But for a composer to have written over 3000 works in his lifetime, he is relatively unknown today.

a marmot. (Not Telemann)

Telemann became a composer in spite of his mother’s firm disapproval. She wanted him to become a priest, and when she discovered that young Telemann had been secretly
learning the violin, she confiscated the instrument, lest it inspire her son to trade in his ecclesiastical aspirations for some kind of low-class, show-biz job like "a clown, a tightrope walker or a marmot trainer."

A marmot trainer, no less.

But, she need not have worried. By his early 20s, Telemann's music had already established the composer as one of the most distinguished individuals in the city of Leipzig. Throughout the decades that followed, he was perhaps the greatest musical celebrity of his time. In his early 40s, he even turned down the most prestigious church music gig in Leipzig, which eventually went to the city council's third choice: Johann Sebastian Bach.

Music for August 26, 2018 + Rally Day

Vocal Music

• Jubilate Deo – Dale Wood (1934-2003)

Instrumental Music

• A Joyous Peal – Michael Bedford (b. 1949), Handbell Ensemble
• Lord, enthroned in Heavenly Splendor – Larry Shackley (b. 1956)
• Serenade for Organ - Derek Bourgeois (1941-2017)

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

• Hymn 440 - Blessed Jesus, at thy word (LIEBSTER JESU)
• Hymn 548 - Soldiers of Christ, arise (DIADEMATA)
• Hymn 301 - Bread of the world, in mercy broken (RENDEZ A DIEU)
• Hymn R195 - I come with joy to meet my Lord (LAND OF REST)
• Hymn R218 - Broken for me (Janet Lunt)
• Hymn 307 - Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor (BRYN CALFARIA)
• Psalm 34:15-22 – Tone VIIIa

We welcome the Good Shepherd Choir back to the loft this Sunday after their summer break. The choir celebrates Rally Day with the upbeat setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 100, Jubilate Deo, by the American composer Dale Wood. Wood was a highly respected composer of sacred music during the 20th century, with over 8 million copies of his music published in America and abroad. He was also an active organist-choirmaster, working in Lutheran and Episcopal churches in Hollywood, Riverside, and San Francisco, California.

Michael Bedford

A small ensemble from the Handbell Choir will be playing the opening voluntary. A Joyous Peal is by my friend Michael Bedford, Organist/Choirmaster Emeritus of St. John's Episcopal Church in Tulsa, where he served for over 25 years before retiring in 2015. He is now serving as national president of the American Guild of Organists. He has earned the BMus, BMusEd, and MMus degrees from Texas Christian University, and, in 1972-73, he studied organ with Michael Schneider at the Hochschule fur Musik in Cologne, Germany on a Fulbright scholarship. In 1998 he earned the DMA degree in organ performance from the University of North Texas.

A peal is a loud ringing of a bell or bells. Often it implies a repetitive pattern of bells. This piece builds on a repeated motif, adding layers and notes as it progresses.

The British Isles have provided us with some simple and often haunting folk melodies. Many of these tunes have been matched with hymn texts and become a treasured part of our hymnody. This is true with the tune SLANE which we sang last week to the words "Be thou my vision." On the other hand, composers such as the Welshman William Owens wrote original tunes which are so close to their "folk" roots that it's easy to assume they are traditional melodies. Such is the case of Owen's tune BRYN CALFARIA which we have been learning this month. Ralph Vaughan Williams, editor of The English Hymnal (1906) first paired this tune with the text "Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor," a pairing that has perdured the test of time. Larry Shackley, a free-lance composer from Columbia, South Carolina, has written a lovely piano meditation on BRYN CALFARIA that I'll be playing at communion.

Larry Shackley

A native of Chicago, Shackley attended Eastman School of Music (M.M) and the University of South Carolina (D.M.A). He has had a varied career, from teaching at Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina, to working at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, creating original music and producing radio programs for the Moody Broadcasting Network, to composing for over 30 films, videotapes, and radio dramas. He has also served churches such as Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois as well as several churches in South Carolina. Shackley is also an active studio musician, arranger, and orchestrator. Recently, he has devoted most of his composing to music for the church, writing over 450 keyboard arrangements and 250 choral pieces for a variety of publishers.

The closing voluntary is a fun piece by the English composer Derek Bourgeois. Bourgeois was born in Dulwich, South London, England, studied music at Cambridge, and lectured in music at Bristol University for some years before becoming Director of the National Youth Orchestra. As a composer his energy was directed into major forms such as the symphony, oratorio and sonata, but he also has time for a joke in the true Haydn tradition and a sense of joie de vivre. His less 'serious' works include a 'Wine' Symphony, a Cantata Gastronomica, and this work for organ.

Derek Bougeouis

Bourgeois wrote this Serenade for his own wedding, to be played by the organist as the Bridal party left the ceremony. Not wishing to allow them the luxury of proceeding in an orderly 2/4, the composer wrote the work in 11/8, and in case anyone felt too comfortable, he changed it to 13/8 in the middle! "As the number of beats in a bar becomes increasingly odd, the listener is left wondering whether the music was designed to amuse the composer's musical bride as she walked up the aisle, or confuse his eminent Director of Studies who was in the congregation. Certainly he would have been able to unravel a hint or two of a famous Bolero from the music." [1]
This piece has become very popular with brass bands.

[1] Ian Carson, liner notes to "Organ Fireworks, Vol. 2, Christopher Herrick," Hyperion, CDA66258, CD © 1988

Music for August 19, 2018

Instrumental Music

• Prelude on Bryn Calfaria – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
• Ornament of Grace – Bernard Wayne Sanders (b. 1957)
• Cantilena (Sonata in D Minor) – Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901)
• Trumpet Tune in D – Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767)

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

• Hymn 427 - When morning gilds the skies (LAUDES DOMINI)
• Hymn 488  - Be thou my vision (SLANE)
• Hymn 307 - Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor (BYRN CALFARIA)
• Hymn R288 - Eat this Bread (Taizé)
• Hymn 420 - When in our music God is glorified (ENGLEBERG)
• Psalm 34:9-14 – tone VIIIa

Grace Tice and I, after playing an Advent Recital
at Northwoods Presbyterian Church in Houston.
It looks like our prom photo.

This week I am delighted to welcome one of my best friends, oboist Grace Tice, to Good Shepherd. Grace has a Masters Degree in oboe from Rice University, and plays with the Houston Ballet Orchestra in addition to being a free-lance musician around Houston. She will play two pieces for us this Sunday.

Last week I played a piece by Bernard Sanders, and in the comments about his career, I mentioned that he had written a prize-winning composition. This week we will get to hear that work. Ornament of Grace was the first prize winner of an international competition sponsored by the American Guild of Organist in 2008 to promote An International Organ Celebration, a year-long global effort to promote the use of the organ within the church and concert hall. The contest was for a piece of music for organ and one other instrument. Part of the honor was that organists world-wide were encouraged to perform Ornament of Grace on the world's largest organ recital on October 19, 2008. I had the pleasure of performing the Houston premiere of this piece along with Grace at the Organ Spectacular held in Houston at Christ Church Cathedral.

The title comes from verses from scripture which refer to an “ornament of grace.” Proverbs 1:9 asserts: "For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck." The whole chapter refers to receiving instruction and having understanding. Verse eight speaks specifically of receiving the instruction of a father and the law of a mother. Again in Proverbs 4:9 we read: "She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee." Then in Proverbs 25:12 it states: "As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover [sic]upon an obedient ear." It becomes evident that obedience to instruction gives added beauty to the life of a Christian – an ornament; an embellishment.

Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
anon., prior to 1901

The other work, heard at communion, is an arrangement for oboe and organ of the second movement of the organ Sonata No. 11 in D minor, Op. 148 ("Cantilène") by Josef Rheinberger. It reminds me so much of the second movement from J. S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, the "Air." The bass line is a typical Baroque walking bass line, which is in constant motion. And like the Bach, Rheinberger's bass line is really just octave leaps or step-wise motion, as if moving through a scale. The melody, too, is much like the melody of the "Air," (had Bach written the melody to be played by one instrument, instead of first and second violins.) It's a long, intricate melody with graceful leaps and turns.

Josef Gabriel Rheinberger was an Catholic organist and composer, born in Liechtenstein but spending most of his life in Germany. He was a very talented boy, and by age nine was sent to Munich to study at the Munich Conservatorium. Here, his talents as organist were much admired, and he began to earn his living as an organist and private teacher. At the age of twenty, he began to teach theory and piano at the conservatory, and his first opus, four piano pieces, appeared.

We continue learning the hymn-tune BRYN CALFARIA. In addition to singing the hymn, I will play Ralph Vaughan William's organ setting of the tune for the opening voluntary. Unlike the pieces I played the last two weeks, which set out the tune quite plainly and simply, this one is a fantasia, a composition with a free form and in an improvisatory style. You'll hear bits and pieces of the melody, most notably the first four notes of the melody, and the "alleluia" portion of the hymn at the end.

Music for August 12, 2018

Vocal Music

• Steal Away – Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949) Bidkar Cajina, baritone

Instrumental Music

• Lord, enthroned in Heavenly Splendor – Bernard Wayne Sanders (b. 1957)
• Prelude on Adoro te devote - Charles Callahann (b. 1951)
• March in G – Henry Smart (1813-1879)

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

• Hymn 48  - O day of radiant gladness (ES FLOG EIN KLEINS WALDVOGELEIN)
• Hymn R37 - Father, we love you (GLORIFY YOUR NAME)
• Hymn R220 - Let the hungry come to me (ADORE TE DEVOTE)
• Hymn 301 - Bread of the world, in mercy broken (RENDEZ À DIEU)
• Hymn R246 - I am the bread of life (I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE)
• Hymn R226  - Ubi Caritas et amor (Taizé)
• Hymn 307 - Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor (BYRN CALFARIA)
• Psalm 34 - Taste and See (James E. Moore, Jr.)

Bernard Wayne Sanders

Henry Smart

We continue our journey toward familiarity with the Welsh tune BRYN CALFARIA this week with an organ prelude by Bernard Wayne Sanders. A native of DePere, Wisconsin, Sanders was educated at St. Norbert College, Wichita State University, and the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, Germany. Germany apparently agreed with him, as he currently serves as a full-time director of music at the parishes of St. Gallus and Mary Queen of Heaven in Tuttlingen, Germany, in addition to serving as a diocesan liaison and an official organ consultant for the Tuttlingen area. As a composer, he has published many works and composed the award‑winning piece Ornament of Grace, sponsored by the American Guild of Organists as part of a world-wide "Organ Spectacular" in 2008 to advance the use of the organ in church and concert settings. I was the organist for the Houston premier of this work at Christ Church Cathedral in October of 2008. (I think Sanders looks a lot like the composer of today's closing voluntary, Henry Smart, albeit without all the hair!)

Admittedly, the prelude is nothing terribly inspired. The melody is heard on the trumpet, played by the left hand, while the right hand accompanies on the principle stops of the Great. The melody, written by William Owen, is used as a setting for several hymns, most notably the English "Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor" (the text for which our hymnal uses this tune.) The tune is reputed to have been originally written by Owen on a piece of slate whilst on his way to work at the Dorothea Quarry in Gwynedd, North Wales. "Bryn Calfaria" is Welsh for "Hill of Calvary," reflecting the first words set to this tune, the famous Welsh hymn "Gwaed y Groes" (The blood of the Cross"). [1]

Harry T. Burleigh
by Maud Cuney-Hare,1936 [5]

The offertory solo is an arrangement of one of the "code songs" of the American Negro Slaves. Spirituals such as "Steal Away to Jesus", "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", and "Wade in the Water" are songs with hidden codes, not only about having faith in God, but containing hidden messages for slaves to run away on their own, or with the Underground Railroad.[2]

The arrangement is by Harry T. Burleigh, one of the first African-Americans to elevate the spiritual to an art form. He was highly influenced by Antonin Dvořák, who had been brought to America to head the the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. The Conservatory had been founded by Jeannette Thurber, a wealthy and philanthropic woman, who made it open to women and black students as well as white men, which was unusual for the times. Burleigh was accepted, with a scholarship, to the Conservatory at the age of 26.

Burleigh, who later became known worldwide for his excellent baritone voice, sang spirituals while cleaning the Conservatory's halls, which drew the attention of Dvořák, who asked Burleigh to sing for him. Burleigh said: "I sang our Negro songs for him very often, and before he wrote his own themes, he filled himself with the spirit of the old Spirituals."[3] Dvořák said: "In the negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music."[4]

[1] Glover, Raymond F. The Hymnal 1982 Companion. Vol. 3, Church Hymnal Corp., 1994.
[2] "New Jersey's Underground Railroad Heritage website also claims "Steal Away" as a song related to escape from slavery" (PDF). Slic.njstatelib.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-23. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
[3] Jean E. Snyder, "A great and noble school of music: Dvořák, Harry T. Burleigh, and the African American Spiritual". In Tibbetts, John C. (ed.), Dvořák in America: 1892-1895, Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1993, p. 131.
[4] Interviewed by James Creelman, New York Herald, May 21, 1893.
[5] Maud Cuney-Hare, 1874-1936 - Negro musicians and their music by Maud Cuney-Hare. Washington, D.C.: The Associated Publishers, Inc., 1936, p. 328. Copyright not renewed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41871028

Music for August 5, 2018

Instrumental Music

• Prelude on “Bryn Calfaria” – William Haller (b. 1940)
• Intermezzo in A, Op. 118, No.2 – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
• Improvisation on “Cwm Rhondda” – Paul Manz (1919-2009)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of “Taste and See,” which is from Wonder, Love, and Praise.)

• Hymn 522 - Glorious things of thee are spoken (AUSTRIA)
• Hymn 307 - Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor (BRYN CALFARIA)
• Hymn 302 - Father, we thank thee who hast planted (RENDEZ À DIEU)
• Hymn - Taste and See (James E. Moore, Jr.)
• Hymn 690 - Guide me, O thou great Jehovah (CWM RHONDDA)
• Psalm 78:23-29 - Tone VIII

The Land of Song - that is how Wales has traditionally been referred to since the 18th century, though the tradition of singing in parts has been around since the 12th century, when medieval chronicler Geraldus Cambrensis stated that the Welsh sang in as many parts as there were people, and even that quite small children could harmonize.[1]

The 18th century saw the rise of Methodism, and hymn singing was an important part of the movement. Congregational singing gained momentum in the early part of the 19th century, and annual festivals for singing were established.

Although there has been a decline in the number of people attending church, hymn singing remains popular in Wales, especially at rugby matches! Guide me, O thou great Jehovah is known as the Welsh National hymn, sung at many Welsh sporting occasions. Watch this clip here: and see Tom Jones, Max Boyce, and thousands ( I mean thousands) of happy Welshmen (read: drunk Welshmen) sing "Bread of Heaven."

Many Welsh hymn-tunes are favorites of American congregations, and that is true here at Good Shepherd. Here is a list of hymn-tunes from Wales that are in our hymnal, with many of them(+) sung here at Good Shepherd.

ABERYSTWYTH (349, 640, 699)
+BLAENHAFREN (610)
BRYN CALFARIA (307)
+CWM RHONDDA (594, 690)
+HYFRYDOL (460, 657)
+LLANFAIR (214)
LLANGLOFFAN (68, 607)
+ST. DENIO (423)
RHOSYMEDRE (587)
RHUDDLAN (621)
+TON-Y-BOTEL (381, 527)


Since hymn no. 307, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor, goes so well with the readings for the next four weeks, and our congregation, like so many, takes so well to the strong, vigorous tunes of Wales, I decided to focus on that hymn for the next four weeks. This Sunday, in addition to singing the hymn, I will play an opening voluntary composed by William Haller, the Professor of Organ and Organ Literature at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. He received his DMA from North Texas State University and both his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music. He is currently serving as Director of Music Ministry at Edgwood Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wheeling, WV.


For communion, I will play Johannes Brahms' beautiful  Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2. Written in 1893 during Brahms' late period, this piece pulls us into a world of dreamy nostalgia, quiet longing, and majestic, serene beauty.

Blogger Timothy Judd describes it this way:

Listen to the way those unlikely first three notes set the entire piece in motion. As it unfolds and develops, you may sense that the music is “searching” for a way forward, attempting to find just the “right” note. Around the 1:06 mark, you’ll hear the opening motive return in the bass. The expansive middle section offers new adventures. As this section fades away, listen to the magical way we find our way back home to the original music. [2]

[1]  Aubrey, Graham (2011). The Ingenious Cornish – Inventions, Enterprises and Exploits: The Ethnicity Factor in Cornish Music Both at Home and Abroad. Wallaroo Town Hall during Kernewek Lowender 2011 Biennial Seminar: Cornish Association of South Australia Est. 1890. p. 18.

[2] Judd, Timothy (2018, June 1) Brahms Intermezzo in a major Op.118 No. 2,(http://thelistenersclub.com)