Music for January 23, 2022 + The Third Sunday after Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Christ, Whose Glory – Rachel Aarons (b. 1984)

Instrumental Music

• Psalm XIX: The Heavens Declare the Glory of God – Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739)
• In Viam Pacis – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Intrada on “Abbot’s Leigh” – Rebecca Groom te Velde (b. 1956)

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

• Hymn 475 - God himself is with us (TYSK)
• Hymn 576 - God is love, and where true love is (MANDATUM)
• Hymn 632 - O Christ, the Word Incarnate (MUNICH)
• Hymn R-226 - Ubi Caritas (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 539 - O Zion, haste (TIDINGS)
• Psalm 19 – Tone Va

This Sunday is a bit unusual in that of all the composers featured, only one is a dead white guy, and 50% of the composers are women!

Rachel Aarons

Let me start with telling you about the anthem. The familiar hymn Christ, whose glory fills the skies (no. 7 in our hymnal) has been given a new tune by Virginia composer Rachel Aarons. A native of Laramie, Wyoming, Aarons has played piano since the age of four. While in college, she studied piano, voice, and composition while pursuing a B.A. in French Language and Literature. Aarons composes for her church choir where she is happy to be a "Back Row Alto." She lives in Virginia with her husband, and her two dogs, and stays busy as a real estate agent.

In this setting, there are actually two different tunes. The first verse, sung by the trebles, is set to a jaunty tune in 6/8 time, one that would be easy to skip to. Verse two is totally different, in a restrained 4/4 meter, sung by the men. Then on the final stanza, the original tune reappears, this time in canon between the trebles and the basses. It is a refreshing take on these old words.

Rebecca Groom
te Velde

The other work by a female composer is the closing voluntary by Rebecca Groom te Velde. She is a third-generation professional organist, following both parents and her grandfather. She graduated summa cum laude from Seattle Pacific University where she studied organ and composition with her father, Lester H. Groom. In 1982, she received the M.Mus in organ literature and performance from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. For the academic year 1980-81 she received a full grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to study with Michael Schneider at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany. In 1991 she assumed her present position as organist of First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater, OK. She is an active performer, composer, clinician, and adjunct instructor of music at Oklahoma State University.

te Velde has published several collections of works based on hymn tunes, including this "Intrada" or introduction to the tune ABBOT'S LEIGH (which we sing with the words "God is here, and we his people," "Lord, you give the great commission," and "God is Love, let heaven adore him," which we will sing at 10:15 next week.