Music for February 13, 2022 + The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Blessed Is the Man – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Instrumental Music

• If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee – Georg Böhm (1661–1733)
• Hymn 635 in The Hymnal 1982
• Holy Manna – arr.Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Hymn 580 in The Hymnal 1982
• Erhalt Uns, Herr – Gerald Near (b. 1942)
• Hymn 191 in Renew

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 R191 - O Christ, the healer, we have come (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Hymn 635 - If thou but trust in God to guide thee (WER NUR DEN LIEBEN GOTT)
• Hymn R127 - Blest are they, the poor in spirit (BLEST ARE THEY)
• Hymn 493 - O for a thousand tongues to sing (AZMON)
• Psalm 1 – Tone Va

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was arguably, one of Russia's greatest composers. After his triumphant tour of America in 1891, and being awarded an honorary doctorate at Cambridge University in 1893, he was accepted as a world figure, not a merely national composer but one of universal significance. In 1891 the Carnegie Hall program booklet proclaimed him, together with Brahms and Saint-Saëns, to be one of the three greatest living musicians, while music critics praised him as "a modern music lord".

He wrote several works which still enjoy popularity, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin. But he also wrote many smaller works, including an Album for the Young, op. 39. Robert Schumann wrote a similar book some years earlier, under the same title. Schumann wrote his collection because there wasn’t much good piano material at an easier level, and Tchaikovsky likely wrote his own collection for the same reasons.

In this collection, Tchaikovsky wrote pieces inspired by Russia, his travels, dances, and various children’s concepts (like "The Sick Doll"). It’s a really diverse collection both in emotion and content.

Today's anthem is an adaptation of one of those pieces, titled "In Church." The text comes from different scripture sources, including the psalm appointed for today, Psalm 1.

All of the organ music today is based on hymn tunes, two of which are being sung in the service today. The opening voluntary is a set of two variations of the tune WER NUR DEN LIEBEN GOTT, which we will sing at the presentation of the offering. The hymn in our hymnal is in 3/4 time, while the setting by the German composer Georg Böhm, is in 4/4 time.

Georg Böhm was one of the leading organists and organ composers in North Germany in the years around 1700. He is notable for his development of the chorale partita and for his influence on the young J. S. Bach. The opening voluntary is from one of his chorale partitas, large-scale compositions consisting of several variations on a particular chorale melody. He effectively invented the genre, writing several partitas of varying lengths and on diverse tunes. Later composers also took up the genre, most notably 

Bach. Böhm's chorale partitas feature sophisticated figuration in several voices over the harmonic structure of the chorale. His partitas generally have a rustic character and can be successfully performed on either the organ or the harpsichord.