Music for May 30, 2021 + Trinity Sunday

Vocal Music

• Round the Lord in Glory Seated – C. Hubert H. Parry (1848-1918)
• Christ, be with Me – Noel Rawsthorne (1929-2019)

Instrumental Music

• Suite for Organ – John Stanley (1712-1786)
• I. Introduction and Allegro
  
• II. (Slow with expression)
• III. Trumpet Voluntary
• Allein Gott in der Höh – Andreas Nicholas Vetter (1666 – 1734)
• Allein Gott in der Höh - Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau (1663 - 1712

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 362 Holy, holy, holy (NICEA)
• Hymn 295 Sing praise to our Creator (CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN)
• Hymn 371 Thou, whose almighty word (MOSCOW)
• Canticle 13 Glory to You (John Rutter)

"And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, the only day in the Liturgical calendar to commemorate a doctrine rather than a person or event. As the name suggests, Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It's always the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity.

Musically, we observe the day by singing hymns praising the Trinity. One of the most familiar, and a personal favorite, is the opening hymn Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. One that is not as well known, but equally as beautiful and powerful, is the hymn Round the Lord in Glory Seated.

Our hymnal pairs a text by the 19th century Anglican Bishop Richard Mant with a tune by C. Hubert H. Parry, an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Parry is best known for the choral song Jerusalem, the coronation anthem I was glad and the hymn tune REPTON, which sets the words "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind". 

Hubert Parry earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford at the age of 18.  Although an accomplished organist, pianist, and violinist, he initially worked for three years as a clerk at Lloyd’s of London before leaving to further his musical studies.  Parry published his first orchestral work in 1878 (Piano Concerto in F# Minor) and then went on to compose a wide variety of works including oratorios, librettos, chamber pieces, cantatas, choral works and solo songs.

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry

In 1883 he joined the Royal College of Music as a teacher and became its director in 1894, a position he held until his death.  He was knighted in 1898 and made a baronet in 1903.  Probably his most notable pupils were Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.  Parry was not a distant man and inspired others through his kindness, warmth and enthusiasm.  From 1900-1908, he served as a Professor of Music at Oxford and received three honorary doctorate degrees from Cambridge, Oxford and Dublin.  Most music critics in recent years consider him to be one of the most underrated of the late Romantic composers and a number believe he was one of the most influential English composers since Henry Purcell.

RUSTINGTON was first published in the Westminster Abbey Hymn Book (1897) as a setting for Benjamin Webb's "Praise the Rock of Our Salvation." The tune is named for the village in Sussex, England, where Parry lived for some years and where he died.

St. Patrick's Breastplate is a poem that is often used on Trinity Sunday. This great Trinitarian text belongs to a Celtic style of hymn known as a lorica, from the Latin word for “armor” or “breastplate.” In effect, it serves as both a statement of faith and a prayer for God’s protection. The most familiar part of this poem is the prayer "Christ be with me," which has been set to a new tune by the British organist Noel Rawsthorne. He was organist of Liverpool Cathedral for 25 years and City Organist and Artistic Director at St George’s Hall, Liverpool.

Another lesser known British Composer is John Stanley, a contemporary and friend of George Fredrick Handel. He was completely blind from the age of two, but in spite of this he was greatly admired both as a composer and as a performer, and Handel himself was often seen, along with other famous musicians of the day, listening to Stanley's performances on the organ of the Temple Church, London, where he was organist for more than 50 years.

The opening voluntary is a group of pieces taken from a collection of voluntaries which have been grouped together by Henry Coleman to form a suite , and have been freely transcribed for the modern organ. The organ of 18th century England did not have the full pedalboard that organs now have, so the music has been arranged to accommodate that.