Music for April 28, 2019 + The Second Sunday of Easter

Vocal Music

• Now the Green Blade Riseth – Ken Heitshusen (c. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• For the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord: O angelos evoa – Gerald Near (b. 1942)
• (The angel cried out to Lady of grace)
• O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing – Paul Manz (1919-2009)

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

• Hymn 494 - Crown him with many crowns (DIADEMATA)
• Hymn 206 - O sons and daughters, let us sing (O FILII ET FILIAE)
• Hymn 432 - O praise ye the Lord (LAUDATE DOMINUM)
• Hymn R271 - Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks  (ALLELUIA NO. 1)
• Hymn R91 - Open our eyes, Lord (OPEN OUR EYES)
• Hymn R258 - To God be the Glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY)
• Hymn R119 - Psalm 150: Hallelujah, praise the Lord (ORIENTIS PARTIBUS)

It's the second Sunday of Easter, traditionally called "Thomas Sunday." The day commemorates the appearance of Christ to his disciples eight days after Easter, when Thomas was present and proclaimed "My Lord and my God" upon seeing the hands and side of Christ. (Today is also called Quasimodo Sunday, having nothing to do with Hunchbacks nor Notre Dame, but coming from the Latin text of the traditional Introit for this day, which begins "Quasi modo geniti infantes..." from 1 Peter 2:2, roughly translated as "As newborn babes [desire the rational milk without guile]...". Literally, quasi modo means "as if in [this] manner".

To commemorate Thomas Sunday, we will sing the hymn O sons and daughters, let us sing, which contains the stanzas

4 When Thomas first the tidings heard
that some had seen the risen Lord,
he doubted the disciples' word.
Lord, have mercy! 

5 At night the apostles met in fear;
among them came their Master dear
and said, "My peace be with you here."
Alleluia! 

6 "My pierced side, O Thomas, see,
and look upon my hands, my feet;
not faithless but believing be."
Alleluia!  

7 No longer Thomas then denied;
he saw the feet, the hands, the side.
"You are my Lord and God!" he cried.
Alleluia! 

8 How blest are they who have not seen
and yet whose faith has constant been,
for they eternal life shall win.
Alleluia! 

Thomas Sunday is particularly important among Orthodox Christians. So the quirky thing is that today is NOT Thomas Sunday in the Orthodox Church, but, instead, is Easter Day! In observance of  that, I am playing a setting of a Paschal hymn from the Orthodox tradition, as found in the collection 

Meditations on Byzantine Hymns by Gerald Near. The melody is a chant, much like the Gregorian Chant of the Early Roman church. 

Music for Easter - April 21, 2019

Vocal Music

• Achieved Is the Glorious Work – Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
• Magdalena – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
• Most Glorious Lord of Life – William H. Harris (1883-1973)

Instrumental Music

• Prelude in D Major, BWV 532 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Fifth Symphony: Toccata  – Charles-Marie Widor (1844 –1937)
• Prière à Notre-Dame – Léon Böellmann (1862 – 1897)

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

• Hymn 179 - “Welcome, happy morning” (FORTUNATUS)
• Hymn 207 - Jesus Christ is risen today (EASTER HYMN)
• Hymn - Sing with all the saints in glory (HYMN TO JOY)
• Hymn - I come to the garden alone (IN THE GARDEN)
• Hymn 174 - At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (SALZBURG)
• Hymn 193 - That Easter day with joy was bright (PUER NOBIS)
• Hymn 210 - The day of resurrection (DIADEMATA)
• Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 - setting by Hal Hopson

Just a few notes about the music you will hear on Easter Sunday.

The first anthem is not really an Easter anthem. In fact, it is from Haydn's oratorio The Creation, found at the end of the third part, about the end of the sixth and final day of creation. It is a joyful and celebratory piece, and, as you can see from the text, not at all inappropriate for the service celebrating the Resurrection.

Achieved is the glorious work; The Lord beholds it and is pleased.
In lofty strains let us rejoice, Our song let be the praise of God.

The Offertory anthem is an English anthem by William H. Harris, who for years was organist and choirmaster at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. He  was involved in the musical education of the teenage Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, while they spent the wartime period at Windsor Castle. The story goes that every Monday he would direct madrigal practice in the Red Drawing Room at Windsor, where the two Princesses sang alongside four of the senior choristers with the lower voices augmented by Etonians, Grenadier Guards and members of the Windsor and Eton Choral Society.

The communion anthem is a four-part acapella setting of a German Folk song by the great Romantic composer Johannes Brahms. It is interesting in that it focuses on Mary Magdalena's part in the resurrection story.

My opening voluntary is the great Prelude in D Major by Johann Sebastion Bach. I like to play it on Easter because it (1) is in the bright, celebratory key of D Major, and (2) it opens with the ascending D major Scale in the pedal, symbolizing (for me) the rising of the Son of God.

I am playing an organ work during communion as a musical dedication to the indomitable spirit of the Notre-Dame de Paris, and the Paris people. Though the title refers not to the church of Notre Dame, and the composer, though French, was never on staff at the Cathedral (he worked down the street at St. Sulpice), I still wanted to do something to express my concern and relief that the fire was not as bad as it could have been.

Music for the Triduum + April 18-20, 2019

April 18, 2019 + Maundy Thursday (7 PM)

Vocal Music

• Ave Verum – Stephanie Martin (b. 1965)
• Ubi Caritas – Ola Gjielo (b. 1978)

Instrumental Music

• Récit du chant de l'hymne precedent: Pange, lingua, gloriosi  Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703)
• Ubi Caritas et Amor – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)

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

• Hymn R116 - What shall I render to the Lord? (ROCKINGHAM)
• Hymn 576 - God is Love, and where true love is (MANDATUM)
• Hymn R148 - Brother, let me be your servant (THE SERVANT SONG)
• Hymn R289 - Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love (CHEREPONI)
• Hymn R226 - Ubi caritas (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 439 - What wondrous love is this (WONDROUS LOVE)
• Hymn 171 - Go to dark Gethsemane (PETRA)
• Hymn R170 - Stay here and keep watch with me (Jacques Berthier)
• Psalm 116:1, 10-17 Tone IIa 

April 19, 2019 + Good Friday (NOON)

Vocal Music

• Were You There? - Spiritual, Richard Murray, soloist

Instrumental Music

• Ah, Holy Jesus – arr. John A. Behnke (b. 1953)
• Come, Sweet Death – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of that marked LEVAS which is from Lift Every Voice and Sing II.)

• Hymn 158 - Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended (HERZLIEBSTER JESU)
• Hymn 441 - In the cross of Christ I glory (RATHBUN)         
• Hymn LEVAS - On a hill far away (OLD RUGGED CROSS)

April 20, 2019 + Easter Vigil (7 PM)

Vocal Music

• Now the Green Blade Riseth – Ken Heitshusen (c. 1950)
• Psalm 122: I Was Glad – Peter Hallock (1924-2014)

Instrumental Music

• O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing – Paul Manz (1919-2009)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked LEVAS which are from Lift Every Voice and Sing II.)

• Hymn  - Within Our Darkest Night (Taize), 
• Hymn LEVAS - He’s Got the Whole World In his Hands (Whole World)
• Hymn LEVAS - Wade in the Water (Spiritual)
• Hymn 296 - We know that Christ is raised and dies no more (ENGLEBERG)
• Hymn 187 - Through the Red Sea brought at last (STRAF MICH NICHT)
• Hymn 174 - At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (SALZBURG)
• Hymn 199 - Come, ye faithful, raise the strain (ST. KEVIN)

Three holy days enfold us now
in washing feet and breaking bread,
in cross and font and life renewed:
in Christ, God’s firstborn from the dead. (1)

From early times Christians have observed the week before Easter as a time of special devotion. As an early Christian pilgrim, Egeria, recorded in the late fourth century, Jerusalem contained many sacred places that were sites for devotion and liturgy. Numerous pilgrims to the holy city followed the path of Jesus in his last days. They formed processions, worshipped where Christ suffered and died, and venerated relics. From this beginning evolved the rites we observe today on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. 

The three holy days, or Triduum, of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are at the heart of the Holy Week observance. We observe these days with three special services, which, in turn, call for seasonal music. (2)

The choir, cantors, and organist provide much of what supplements the hymns that the congregation sings. Of particular interest this year are the anthems to be sung at the Maundy Thursday service, the Handbell music at the Good Friday Service and Richard Murray's annual singing of "Were You There," and the spirituals that will accompany the readings on Saturday at the Vigil.

In mid-April, 2011, the Norwegian composer Ola Gielo spent 3 days on the Central Washington University Campus for a project in which he joined the choir in recording 3 of his compositions. Gjeilo would add an improvised accompaniment  to his a capella choral music. One particular improvisation, his setting of the Ubi Caritas text, garnered so much attention on YouTube  that he figured it would made sense to publish a score that was as close to the original performance as he could notate. We will be singing that collaboration during communion on Maundy Thursday.

(1) Three holy days enfold us now, Words by Delores Dufner, OSB (b. 1939) © 1995, Sisters of St. Benedict.

(2) from https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/holy-week, accessed April 17, 2019

Music for April 14, 2019 + Palm Sunday

Vocal Music

• Hosanna to the Son of David – David Halls (b. 1963)
• Surely He Bore Our Grief – Michel Guimont (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• My Song Is Love Unknown – Karl Osterland (b. 1956)

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

• Hymn R267 - The King of Glory (PROMISED ONE)
• Hymn 154 - All glory, laud, and honor (VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN)
• Hymn 435 - At the name of Jesus (KING’S WESTON)
• Hymn R235 - O sacred head, now wounded (HERZLICH TUT MICH VERLANGEN)
• Hymn R214 - Your only Son, no sin to hide (LAMB OF GOD)
• Hymn R233 - Glory be to Jesus (WEM IN LEIDENSTAGEN)
• Hymn R227 - Jesus, remember me (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 474 - When I survey the wondrous cross (ROCKINGHAM)

David Halls

The Children of the Coventry Choir join the Good Shepherd Choir to begin our service with the Liturgy of the Palms. This service will begin outside the church (weather permitting) and will include the distribution of the palm crosses. Both choirs will sing Hosanna to the Son of David by David Halls, the Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral in Great Britain. 

Michel Guimont

During the service, the Good Shepherd Choir will sing a contemporary setting of the Isaiah 53 text "He was despised and rejected" by the Canadian Composer Michel Guimont. Educated at Concordia University, University of Montreal, and Westminster Choir College, Guimont has been director of music at Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica in Ottawa since 1991 and director of music of the University of Ottawa Choir since 2010.

The only organ piece this week is a contemplative setting of the hymn My Song is Love Unknown (hymn 458) by the American organist Karl Osterland, director of music at Historic Trinity Lutheran Church in Detroit. He has his BA and MM in Organ Performance from the University of Michigan, studying with Robert Clark and Marilyn Mason.  He also studied composition with William Bolcom there.

Music for April 8, 2019 + The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music

• Let Nothing Ever Grieve Thee – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
• Ave Verum – Stephanie Martin (b. 1965)

Instrumental Music

• Herzlich tut mich verlangen, BWV 727 – Johann Sebastian Bach
• O Welt, ich muß dich lassen – Johannes Brahms, Op. 122, #10

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

• Hymn 398 - I sing the almighty power of God (FOREST GREEN)
• Hymn 474 - When I survey the wondrous cross (ROCKINGHAM)
• Hymn 678 - Surely it is God who saves me (THOMAS MERTON)
• Hymn 479 - Glory be to Jesus (WEM IN LEIDENSTAGEN)
• Hymn 344 - Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing (SICILIAN MARINERS)
• Hymn 610 - Lord, whose love through humble service (BLAENHAFREN)
• Psalm 126  - Tone IIa

Today the choir sings two lovely works which fit the solemn Lenten season.

First is Johannes Brahms' lovely anthem, Geistliches Lied (Sacred Song), often called by the first line of the text by Paul Flemming, "Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren," or "Let nothing ever grieve thee." It was one of Brahms' earlier works, written when he was only 23 years old. What began as an exercise became one of his most loved shorter choral works.

What is fascinating to me about this work is the marriage of a hopeful Christian message with Brahms' masterful handling of the compositional technique known as the canon. A canon is a melody with one or more imitations of that melody played after a given duration (e.g., quarter rest, one measure, etc.). "Row, row, row your boat is a simple canon (or 'round.')  Here though we have not one melody but two different melodies, sung not in the same key, but in two different keys at the same time. with the tenor part imitating the soprano part four beats later at the unusual interval of a ninth, and then the bass doing the same with the alto using a different melody that fits in with the first. The imaginative organ interludes also incorporate quasi-canons at the ninth.  While accompanying the voices, the organ moves to a secondary role, but becomes active in the middle section.  All of the compositional complexities somehow come together in a piece of exceptional beauty, most notably in the final “Amen,” where the basses lead the altos instead of following them.

The other anthem is a new setting of the ancient communion hymn Ave Verum Corpus (Hail, true body) by the Canadian composer Stephanie Martin. We have sung settings of this same text by Mozart, Elgar, and Saint-Saens, so we are happy to have this acapella setting by Martin.

Stephanie Martin

She is one of the leaders in vocal music in Canada today, and deserves a bigger place internationally. At present she is associate professor of music at York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design; director of Schola Magdalena (a women’s ensemble for chant, medieval and modern polyphony,) conductor emeritus of Pax Christi Chorale; and past director of music at the historic church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Toronto.

In addition to many shorter works for choir, she has written a Requiem for All Souls, which premiered in San Diego in November, 2017 and Missa Chicagoensis for St. John Cantius parish in Chicago, in June 2017. Her choral symphony Babel premièred at Wilfrid Laurier University in April 2016, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the WLU Faculty of Music. Martin’s current project with librettist Paul Ciufo is Llandovery Castle, an opera about the Canadian hospital ship torpedoed in the Atlantic in June 1918.