MAGNIFY THE LORD Music for December 11, 2022 + Advent III

Vocal Music

• How Lovely Are the Messengers – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Instrumental Music

• Magnificat in G Major – Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
• Of the Father’s love begotten – Rebecca Groom te Velde (b. 1956)
• Once He Came in Blessing - John Leavitt (b. 1956)
• Blest Be the King Whose Coming – Alexandre Guilmant

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

• Hymn 76 On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry (WINCHESTER NEW)
• Hymn S 242 Canticle 15: The Song of Mary - Tonus Peregrinus
• Hymn 615 “Thy kingdom come!” on bended knee (ST. FLAVIAN)
• Hymn 59 Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding (MERTON)
• Hymn R278 Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
• Hymn 74 Blest be the King whose coming (VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN)

How Lovely Are the Messengers

How lovely are the messengers is a movement from St. Paul, the first oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn, composed in 1836. In 1831 Mendelssohn was commissioned by Johann Schelble, conductor of the Cecilia Choir and Orchestra of Frankfurt, to compose an oratorio. Mendelssohn knew his Bible extremely well and invariably turned to it for inspiration when considering a new choral piece. 

The text of the oratorio is based very largely on the Acts of the Apostles. After a lengthy overture, Part I opens with the martyrdom of Stephen and Saul’s persecution of the Christians. This is followed by the conversion of Paul, his baptism and ordination as a minister by Ananias. Part II finds Paul and Barnabas becoming the ambassadors of the Church. Their duet is followed by one of the oratorio’s best-loved choruses, ‘How lovely are the messengers.' The text comes from Romans 10:15,18 (paraphrased)

15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

During the austere post-war period there was a considerable reaction against Mendelssohn’s music. To what extent this was an after-effect of the rampant German anti-Semitism of the 1930s and 40s is difficult to determine, but the generally held view, particularly in some sections of the musical establishment, was that his life had been too easy and too comfortable, and that as a consequence his music, with its classical elegance and understated emotion, was superficial and distinctly inferior. Thankfully, in recent years there has been a more balanced attitude to Mendelssohn, avoiding both the excessive adulation which surrounded him during his lifetime and the equally absurd denigration that he suffered later.

Magnificat

The lectionary provides two options to be used for the psalm this Sunday. One is the usual Psalm, while the other is canticle The Magnificat, or The Song of Mary. The prelude this morning is three versets from an interpretation of Mary's Magnificat, composed by 19th-century French organist Alexandre Guilmant. These versets were probably composed to be played in alternatim with verses of the chant, as was typical in French churches. I am playing the first, third, and fifth variations, Allegro, Duo Pastorale, and Fugue. These organ miniatures are very baroque in their form and style, especially  the fugue

Félix-Alexandre Guilmant was the organist of La Trinité  in Paris from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Cantorum de Paris. He was appointed as Professor of Organ at the Paris Conservatoire in 1896.

Valet will ich

The closing voluntary is also a work by Guilmant. You know the tune because of its association with the text :"All glory laud and honor," which we sing on Palm Sunday, but the tune, VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN, was composed by Melchior Teschner in 1615 for "Valet will ich dir geben," Valerius Herberger's hymn for the dying. Here is the original text:

Valet will ich dir geben

Du arge, falsche Welt;

Dein sündlich böses Leben

Durchaus mir nicht gefällt.

Im Himmel ist gut wohnen,

Hinauf zieht mein Begier;

Da wird Gott herrlich lohnen

Dem, der ihm dient allhier.

I want to bid you farewell,

You evil, false world

Your sinful, wicked life

It is not all pleasing to me.

In heaven it is good to dwell,

My longing is set on what is above

There God will reward forever

The person who serve him here.

Since the tune is also used in our hymnal for Advent hymn 74, Blest be the King whose coming, which we are singing as our closing hymn, I will also use it as the closing voluntary.

Communion music

The two short organ voluntaries during communion are by two contemporary composers (both born in 1956) which are based on two hymns - first is the hymn Of the Father's Love Begotten, a doctrinal hymn based on the Latin poem "Corde natus" by the Fourth Century Roman poet Aurelius Prudentius, from his Liber Cathemerinon. It is generally considered more of a Christmas hymn (it is No. 82 in the Christmas section of our hymnal), but I wanted to play it because the second voluntary, a setting of the Advent hymn (no. 53) Once He came in blessing, includes the melody DIVINUM MYSTERIUM, the melody to Of the Father's love begotten, in the accompaniment to the tune GOTTES SOHN IST KOMMEN. 

A NEW SONG: Music for October 23, 2022 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Oh, Sing to the Lord a New Song – John Leavitt (b. 1956)

Instrumental Music

• Chorale Prelude on a Melody by Orlando Gibbons – Healey Willan (1880-1968)
• Sonata IV: Andante – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Finale in D Minor – Eric H. Thiman (1900-1975)

Congregational Music (all hymns from The Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 680 O God, our help in ages past (ST. ANNE)
• Hymn 686 Come, thou fount of every blessing (NETTLETON)
• Hymn 424 For the fruit of all creation (EAST ACKLAM)
• Hymn 693 Just as I am (WOODWORTH)
• Hymn 636 How firm a foundation (FOUNDATION)
• Psalm 84:1-6 – Tone VIIIa

Oh, Sing to the Lord a New Song

This anthem is a departure from our usually sedate, organ-based fare. It is a contemporary setting of a contemporary paraphrase of Psalm 96. The composer of the piece is John Leavitt, a Kansas native who devotes himself full-time to composing and conducting. He is the artistic director and conductor of a professionally trained vocal ensemble known as The Master Arts Chorale and an associated children's choir, The Master Arts Youth Chorale, both in Wichita.

Born and raised in Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavitt did his undergraduate work is in Music Education at Emporia State University. After graduation, Leavitt moved to Wichita, Kansas where he worked in television for five years. At Wichita State University he pursued a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance with significant study in composition. While in Wichita he directed the parish music program at Immanuel Lutheran Church and served on the faculty at Friends University where he won the faculty award for teaching excellence in 1989.

He completed doctoral work in Choral Conducting at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. 

Chorale Prelude on a Melody by Orland Gibbons

The melody by Orlando Gibbons, an English composer who lived in last half of the 16th century and the first quarter of the 17th century, can be found in our hymnal at hymn 670. In addition to his instrumental and choral works, Gibbons also wrote many hymn tunes, 17 of which were included in George Withers' 'Hymnes and Songs of the Church', published in 1623.

It is arranged by Healey Willan, the Canadian organist, who spent most of his professional career at St. Mary the Virgin in Toronto. Though born in England, Willan moved to Canada in in13, when he was 33, and spent the rest of his life there, becoming known as "the Dean of Canadian composers." 

He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and piano, but his best known works are his church music.

Sonata in E Minor: II. Andante

The communion voluntary is the second movement of a Trio Sonata by J. S. Bach. Bach compiled six “sonatas” for organ, reworking and expanding upon various earlier pieces. The fourth of these is designated as a “Trio sonata” in E minor, BWV 528, which simply describes three-part music written for two manuals and pedal.

The middle Andante movement in B minor features imitative interplay between the two voices in the manuals, while the pedal provides the bass line.

Finale in D Minor

The closing voluntary is by one of the leading organ composers from England of the 20th century. Eric Thiman was born in 1900 in Ashford, Kent, and spent his life in or around London.

Though largely self-taught, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at twenty-one, and a Doctor of Music of London University at twenty-seven – at the time the youngest person ever to achieve that qualification.

From 1931 he was Professor of Harmony at the Royal Academy of Music and was appointed Dean of the Music Faculty at London University in 1956. He was warmly respected and a gifted and patient teacher.

Unlike many of the well known organists in Great Britain, Thiman was not an Anglican. He was organist and Choir Director at two big non-conformist churches, Park Chapel, Hornsey (England) and City Temple in London. 

Music for December 15, 2019 + Advent III

Vocal Music

• O Jesus, Grant Me Hope and Comfort – Johann Wolfgang Franck (1644-1710)

Instrumental Music

• Aria (The Goldberg Variations) – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
• Once He Came in Blessing – John Leavitt (b. 1956)
• Magnificat on the Ninth Tone – Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)

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

• Hymn 59 - Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding (Merton)
• Hymn S 242 - Canticle: The Song of Mary (Magnificat) – Tonus Peregrinus
• Hymn 493 - O for a thousand tongues to sing (Azmon)
• Hymn 60 -  Creator of the stars of night (Conditor alme siderum)
• Hymn 615 - “Thy kingdom come!” on bended knee (St. Flavian)
• Hymn R 278 - Wait for the Lord (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 76 - On Jordan’s banks the Baptist’s cry (Winchester New)

You could call all the music this Sunday basically Baroque . All but one of the choral and organ music is written by composers of the Baroque period, that period of music from 1600-1750 characterized by the music of such composers as J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, and Antonio Vivaldi. The one lone stand-out is by contemporary American composer John Leavitt, and even his organ setting of the Advent Chorale Gottes Sohn ist kommen ("Once He Came in Blessing" in our hymnal) is imitative of an organ chorale of Bach, with a long, solo melodic line which is highly ornamented, contrasted against an almost metronomic eighth-note accompaniment grouped into two-beat, sighing motives. So all the music sounds Baroque in spite of the century in which it was written. (Which leads me to say, If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it.)

A native of Kansas, John Leavitt received the Kansas Artist Fellowship Award from the Kansas Arts in 2003 and in 2010 he was the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Masterpieces to commission a new choral work in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the State of Kansas.  His music has been performed in 30 countries across the globe and his recordings have been featured nationally on many public radio stations. His compositions are represented by nearly every major music publisher in this country. In addition to his academic posts, he has served Lutheran churches in the Wichita area.

The choir's anthem is a beautiful little motet by the German composer Johann Wolfgang Franck, who was better known during his time as a composer for theatre. He began his career, however, in the service of the Margrave of Ansbach where he composed a considerable body of sacred music for the court chapel. In 1677 he was made court chaplain, but this came to an end in January 1679 when he was forced to flee after murdering one of the chapel musicians and wounding his own wife in a fit of jealousy.

No wonder he turned to opera.

I guess 17th century Bavaria did not possess "the long arm of the law," as he found asylum in Hamburg, becoming musical director of the The Oper am Gänsemarkt, the first public (not court supported) opera in Germany. Here he produced 14 operas between 1679 and 1686. From 1690 to 1695 he was in London, in whose concert life he was an active participant.

Music for April 3, 2016 + The Second Sunday after Easter

Vocal Music

• Most Glorious Lord of Life – W. H. Harris (1883-1973)
• Ave Verum Corpus - Camille Saint-Saens

Instrumental Music

• O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing – Wilbur Held (1914-2015)
• Rejoice, beloved Christians, BWV 755 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
• Good Christians all, rejoice and sing – John Leavitt (b. 1956)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982)

• Hymn 494 - Crown him with many crowns (Diademata)
• Hymn 205 - Good Christians all, rejoice and sing (Gelobt sei Gott) 
• Hymn 206 - Alleluia! O songs and daughters, let us sing (O filii et filiae)
• Hymn 193 - That Easter day with joy was bright (Puer Natus)
• Hymn 178 - Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks (Alleluia No. 1)
• Hymn 492 - Sing, ye faithful, sing with gladness (Finnian)

The offertory for the second Sunday after Easter is a smaller work by the English organist and choir master, W. H. Harris. From 1933 to 1961, William Henry Harris served British royalty as organist at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, and he composed a large amount of organ and choral music for the many services under his direction. Later knighted, but known affectionately to his choristers as "Doc H," Harris acquired a reputation for composing solidly crafted and conservative anthems. Harris' music is consistently devotional and quite gentle in character; and there is an unexpected intimacy to these sacred pieces that seems better suited to quiet Anglican services than to the official ceremonies for which they were used. Harris felt a particular fondness for the Tudor period, and this setting of a poem by one of that period's great poets, Edmund Spenser, follows that gentle description, even though it is a triumphant Easter text.

The congregation is singing the quintessential Second Sunday of Easter hymn, O Sons and Daughters, let us sing. It's suitable for this day because of the reference to the disciple Thomas, who was not present when Christ first appeared to the other apostles.

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas - Caravaggio, c. 1601–1602

The Gospel for this Sunday is John 20:19-31, which narrates the story of Thomas wanting proof that Christ was alive. The hymn includes these verses: 

When Thomas first the tidings heard,
how they had seen the risen Lord,
he doubted the disciples' word.
Alleluia!
"My piercèd side, O Thomas, see;
my hands, my feet, I show to thee;
not faithless but believing be."
Alleluia!
How blest are they who have not seen,
and yet whose faith has constant been;
for they eternal life shall win.

The tune name, O filii et filiae, comes from the opening line in its original language, Latin.

The opening voluntary is a set of variations on that ancient hymn. Wilbur Held, composer of the voluntary, died on March 24, 2015 in Claremont, California, a few months shy of his 101th birthday. He was born  in Des Plaines, Illinois. He studied piano as a youngster and became serious about the organ in high school, going on to attend the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago where he studied organ and began to develop his compositional voice.

A conscientious objector, Held spent the final years of World War II cooking food without vitamins for a path-breaking project on nutrition now known as the Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment. Its findings were later published as The Biology of Human Starvation.

In 1946 Held was named professor of organ at The Ohio State University for what became a 30-year tenure. His organ studio grew quickly. Held was also able to significantly expand the church music program at OSU. Sadly, both the organ and church music degrees were phased out after his retirement.

The Bach setting of Nun fruet euch ("Rejoice, beloved Christians"), is a three-part fughetta (not the perpetual motion trio version) that is not reliably attributed to Bach. As Hermann Keller says, it is

a neatly worked-out piece that would do credit to any of Bach's contemporaries, but without reasonably clear traces of Bach's style.

Music for December 6, 2015 + The Second Sunday of Advent

Vocal Music

• By All Your Saints – arr. Joel Martinson (b. 1962)

Instrumental Music

• Once He Came in Blessing – John Leavitt (b. 1956)
• Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah – Wayne L. Wold (b. 1954)
• Prepare the Way, O Zion – Paul Manz (1919-2009)

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

• Hymn 67 - Comfort, comfort ye my people (Psalm 42)
• Hymn R128 - Blessed be the God of Israel (Forest Green)
• Hymn 53 - Once he came in blessing (Gottes Sohn ist kommen)
• Hymn 657 - Love divine, all loves excelling (Hyfrydol)
• Hymn R92 - Prepare the way of the Lord (Taizé)
• Hymn 65 - Prepare the way, O Zion (Berenden vag for Herran)

In the Gospel reading today, we learn that somewhere near the year 29 A.D., John the Baptist began proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, 

The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’

You will hear (and sing) those words several times this Sunday as we remember that prophecy.

St John the Baptist Preaching - Anastasio Fontebuoni

The only piece of music that does not directly tie into the theme of today's Gospel is the organ voluntary at communion by Wayne L. Wold. Wold is professor, organist, and chair of the music department at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, and also director of music ministry at First Lutheran Church of Ellicott City, Maryland.  In 1984 Wold wrote an Advent hymn using the Yiddish tune Tif in Veldele (Deep in the Forest)as the melody. It's in A Minor, as typical of many Jewish folk tunes, and has a lovely, haunting quality about it. The hymn and this tune have since been included in 4 hymnals, two Lutheran hymnals, one Catholic, and the newest Presbyterian Hymnal, Glory to God. Each line begins with this simple statement.  

Light one (two, three, four) candle(s) to watch for Messiah: let the light banish darkness. 

What I find charming about this organ prelude based on the Yiddish melody is that Wold has written it in the style of César Franck's lyrical Prelude, Fugue, and Variation. I will be playing just the first (prelude) and last (variation) movements of the piece. 

Hymn Spotlight - Hymn R128 - Blessed be the God of Israel (Forest Green)

The Prayerbook suggests a canticle as an alternative to the usual Psalm for the second Sunday of Advent. The Song of Zechariah (father to John the Baptist) is found at Luke 1:68-79. Carl Daw, an Episcopal priest now located at Boston University, wrote a hymn based on this canticle in 1989, and it is included in our Renew hymnal to the tune “Forest Green”  by the famous English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Music for October 18, 2015 + Choir Dedication Sunday + The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Jubilate Deo – Michael Bedford (b. 1949)
• Oh, Sing to the Lord a New Song – John Leavitt (b. 1956)
• Bless, O Lord, Us Thy Servants – John Harper (b. 1947)

Instrumental Music

• Andantino – Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
• Fugue in C Major, BWV 846 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Scherzo – Alan Ridout (1934-1996)

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

• Hymn 420 - When in our music God is glorified (ENGLEBERG)
• Hymn R 112 - You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord (ON EAGLES WINGS)
• Hymn 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus (IN BABILONE)
• Hymn R 289 - Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love (CHEREPONI)
• Hymn 492 - Sing, ye faithful, sing with gladness (FINNIAN)

Sunday, October 18 has been designated as Music Sunday by RSCM America. RSCM America is the branch of the Royal School of Church Music in the United States, whose goal is to uplift the spiritual life of religious communities through high quality choral music. On this day, we celebrate the music and musicianship that are a vital and beloved part of church life. On this day we will dedicate new choristers into our choir and reaffirm the ministries of those who have already been singing in the choir. Music Sunday is also a time when we offer a special prayer for our music and musicians--the young and old, professional and amateur, singer and instrumentalist, administrator and practitioner--most of whom work without expectation of recognition but who nonetheless deserve our awareness and thanks.

One of the anthems we will sing is a setting of The Chorister's Prayer.

Bless, O Lord, us Thy servants,
who minister in Thy temple.
Grant that what we sing with our lips,
we may believe in our hearts,
and what we believe in our hearts,
we may show forth in our lives.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Chorister's Prayer in its most common form was first published by the School of English Church Music (as the RSCM was then called) in 1934 in the Choristers' Pocket Book. It has origins which extend back at least to the 4th century, for the tenth canon of the fourth council of Carthage (c 398 AD) decrees that cantors should be blessed with the words Vide, ut quod ore cantas, corde credas, et quod corde credis, operibus comprobes (“See that what thou singest with thy lips thou dost believe in thine heart, and that what thou believest in thine heart thou dost show forth in thy works”)

John Harper

This prayer is used each week at the beginning of our Children's Choirs. We who pray these words weekly carry on a tradition of many centuries and hopefully we both ‘steadfastly fulfil’ and also ‘show forth’ the tenets of our faith in our lives and music.

John Harper composed this setting of The Chorister's Prayer for the 80th anniversary of the RSCM. It was sung at St Paul's Cathedral, London on Easter Monday 2007, to mark the beginning of the RSCM's 80th anniversary celebrations. Harper is RSCM Research Professor of Music and Liturgy, and Director of the new International Centre for Sacred Music Studies (ICSMuS) at Bangor University in Wales. He is Emeritus Director of The Royal School of Church Music.

John Leavitt

The other anthem the Good Shepherd sings this day is a contemporary setting of Psalm 96 with a rippling piano accompaniment with violin obbligato. It is by the American composer, choral director and teacher John Leavitt. A native of Kansas, Dr. Leavitt received the Kansas Artist Fellowship Award from the Kansas Arts in 2003 and in 2010 he was the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Masterpieces to commission a new choral work in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the State of Kansas.  His music has been performed in 30 countries across the globe and his recordings have been featured nationally on many public radio stations. His compositions are represented by nearly every major music publisher in this country. In addition to his academic posts, he has served Lutheran churches in the Wichita area.

The St. Gregory Choir will sing an anthem by the Oklahoma composer and church music Michael Bedford. Bedford retired last year from St. John's Episcopal Church in Tulsa after a twenty-five year tenure as director of music and organist. This anthem, Jubilate Deo, is a setting of Psalm 100 in both Latin and in contemporary English.