FOLLOWING JESUS: Music for January 15, 2023 + The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• What Wondrous Love – Steven Pilkington (21st C.)

Instrumental Music

• Chorale Prelude on “Salzburg” – Aaron David Miller (b. 1972)
• Air on “Kelvingrove” – Matthew C. Corl (b. 1965)
• Premiere Suite: III. Fanfares – Jean Joseph Mouret (1682-1738)

Congregational Music (all hymns from The Hymnal 1982 with the exception of the communion hymn which is from Lift Every Voice and Sing II.)

• Hymn 494 - Crown him with many crowns (Diademata)
• Hymn 533 - How wondrous and great thy works (Lyons)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of thankfulness and praise (Salzburg)
• Hymn - I have decided to follow Jesus (Assam)
• Hymn 550 - Jesus calls us; o’er the tumult (Galilee)
• Psalm 40:1-12 - Expectans, expectavi (simplified Anglican chant by Jerome Meachan)

Wondrous Love

Steve Pilkington

Sometimes nothing can beat a simple, plaintive melody for its beauty. Such is my opinion of the Southern folk hymn, What wondrous Love Is This? In the version the choir sings this week, you never hear the voices in more than two-part harmony, and that is when they are singing in canon (The men echoing the women four beats later.) Their singing is accompanied on the piano with a flowing, eighth-note piano part.

 

As we read the Gospel lesson about Jesus beginning his ministry, I thought this anthem raised some valid questions to stimulate thought about why Jesus  would "lay aside his crown for (our) soul."

The arranger, Steve Pilkington, serves on the faculty of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. as Associate Professor of Sacred Music. He also oversees all the music ministries at Christ Church United Methodist in  New York City, where he has been Director of Music and Organist since 1994. 

Chorale Prelude on "Salzburg"

Aaron David Miller

Aaron David Miller serves as the Director of Music and Organist at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota and maintains an active recital schedule. He has been a featured performer at four National Conventions for the American Guild of Organists since 1996, the most recent being the 2016 convention here in Houston. He also is a prolific composer, and Dr. Miller’s many solo organ, choral, and orchestral compositions are published by Augsburg Fortress, Oxford University Press, Paraclete Press, ECS, Morning Star and Kjos Publishing House. 

One of his shorter compositions is the opening voluntary. It is a setting of our presentation hymn, Songs of thankfulness and praise. The tune in our hymnal is set in 4/4, or common time. In this setting, Miller sets the tune in 6/8 time, which gives it a lilting, dance-like feel. The melody is played with the left hand on the trumpet stop, while the right hand and pedal provide the flowing accompaniment.

Air on Kelvingrove

KELVINGROVE is a Scottish tune which has been used in recent years for the hymn "Will you come and follow me?" (also known as "The Summons.") Neither the text nor tune is in our hymnals, and when the text was included in the supplement to the Episcopal hymnal, Wonder, Love, and Praise, it was unfortunately set to another tune. Even the Renew Hymnal (which Good Shepherd bought before the publication of

Wonder, Love, and Praise) does not include the great hymn.

The text is by John Bell, a hymn writer and pastor in the Church of Scotland, who focuses on the renewal of the church’s worship. His approach is to compose songs within the identifiable traditions of hymnody that began to address concerns missing from the current Scottish hymnal:

I discovered that seldom did our hymns represent the plight of poor people to God. There was nothing that dealt with unemployment, nothing that dealt with living in a multicultural society and feeling disenfranchised. There was nothing about child abuse…,that reflected concern for the developing world, nothing that helped see ourselves as brothers and sisters to those who are suffering from poverty or persecution.

This hymn is prophetic, using many words not usually found in traditional hymns. “The Summons” of Christ is to a radical Christianity. We are challenged to “leave yourself behind” and to “risk the hostile stare” (stanza two), “set the prisoner free” and “kiss the leper clean” (stanza three), and “use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around” (stanza four).

The organ arrangement is by Matthew Corl, Associate Director of Music and Organist at First United Methodist Church in Lakeland, Florida where he is principal organist and directs several ensembles.

He is a graduate of Westminster Choir College,