Music for February 5, 2023 + The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• The Mind of Christ – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Dialogue en trio du Cornet et de la Tierce – François Couperin (1668-1733)
• Sonata 51: Cantabile – Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
• Dialogue sur les Grands jeux – François Couperin

Congregational Music (all hymns from The Hymnal 1982 with the exception of "This Little Light" which is from Lift Every Voice and Sing II.)

• Hymn 7 Christ, whose glory fills the skies (RATISBON)
• Hymn 488 Be thou my vision (SLANE)
• Hymn 380 From all that dwell below the skies (OLD HUNDREDTH)
• Hymn This little light of mine (African-American Spiritual)
• Hymn 381 Thy strong word did cleave the darkness (TONY-Y-BOTEL)
• Psalm 112 Beatus vir - (simplified Anglican chant by Jerome Meachan)

The Mind of Christ

Birmingham, Alabama composer Lee Scott has taken the hymn "May the mind of Christ, my Savior" and set it to the tune BATTY for a lovely anthem.  The text is called a "catalog" hymn, which list different things the believer asks: "May the mind of Christ," the "word of God," the "peace of God," and the "love of Jesus." The hymn was first published in the London children's hymnbook Golden Bells (1925) and has gained popularity in recent hymnals.

This text is attributed to Kate Barclay Wilkinson, an English woman from the turn of the 20th century. Little is known about Wilkinson's life: a member of the Church of England, she was involved in a ministry to girls in London and a participant in the Keswick Convention Movement. She was married to Frederick Barclay Wilkinson.

The tune is a Moravian melody by the German composer Johann Christoph Kühnau

Organ Voluntaries

All the organ music for the morning comes from Messe pour les paroisses by the French Baroque composer François Couperin. This music was written to be performed during the Mass, alternating with the choir. In this so-called alternatim practice,  the organist plays when texts would otherwise have been sung. a term which indicates a type of liturgy where alternate sections of the Mass were performed by different forces. 

Today's movements all come from the second part of the mass, the Gloria. The titles have nothing to do with text, but with musical form; the Dialogue en trio du Cornet et de la Tierce is a three-part piece with the Cornet (Kor-nay) playing against the tierce, a mutation stop of 1-3/5' on the manuals, supporting the fifth harmonic, sounding approximately an E when played from a C key, seventeen scale steps higher. It is always played with a flute of the 8' pitch. The Dialogue sur les Grands jeux features each division of the organ (each different keyboard) in their full glory playing in dialogue with each other.

François Couperin, the most important member of the renowned Couperin dynasty, is the foremost composer of the French Baroque. A prodigiously talented keyboard player, he inherited the post of organist at the church of St Gervais in Paris when he was just eleven years old, subsequently dividing his time between the capital and Versailles upon becoming organiste du Roi in 1693. 

MID CENTURY MODERNS Music for January 29, 2023 + The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Servants of Peace – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Suite Liturgique Entrée: – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Suite Liturgique:Communion – Denis Bédard
• Suite Liturgique: Sortie – Denis Bédard

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

• Hymn 47 – On this day, the first of days (GOTT SEI DANK)
• Hymn 441 - In the cross of Christ I glory (RATHBUN)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of thankfulness and praise (SALZBURG)
• Hymn R127 – Blest are they (BLEST ARE THEY)
• Hymn R258 – To God be the glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY)
• Psalm 15 - Domine, quis habitabit? (simplified Anglican Chant)

Today I feature music by two North American composers both born in 1950

Servants of Peace

A contemporary setting of the traditional prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi is the text of the anthem this Sunday, which is a perfect match for the readings this week. (Micah 6:1-8 and the Beatitudes.) The  Prayer of St. Francis is a famous prayer which first appeared around the year 1915 A.D., and which embodies the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi's simplicity and poverty.

According to Father Kajetan Esser, OFM, the author of the critical edition of St. Francis's Writings, the Peace Prayer of St. Francis is most certainly not one of the writings of St. Francis. According to Father Schulz, this prayer first appeared during the First World War. It was found written on the back of a holy card of St. Francis. The prayer bore no name; but in the English speaking world, on account of this holy card, it came to be called the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.

The music is by Alabama native K. Lee Scott. He is widely known throughout the United States as a conductor and composer of choral music. His more than 250 published compositions, arrangements, and editions are represented in the catalogues of 15 publishing companies. In addition to many choral works, he has written an opera and has published works for organ, solo voice, and brass.

A graduate of the University of Alabama School of Music with two degrees in choral music under the tutelage of Frederick Prentice, Scott has served as an adjunct faculty member at both the University of Alabama School of Music and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Music. His appearances as guest conductor and clinician have taken him throughout the United States, to Canada, and Africa. 

Suite Liturgique 

All of today's organ music is from a Suite by the Canadian composer Denis Bédard. He has composed more than 170 works, including chamber music, orchestral and vocal music and many organ works. He has received commissions from Radio-Canada, the CBC, the Québec Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Canadian College of Organists and various professional musicians in Canada, England, France, Switzerland and the U.S. 

He studied first at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in his hometown of Québec, before going to Europe to pursue studies in Paris with André Isoir (organ) and Laurence Boulay (harpsichord) and in the Netherlands to study piano, harpsichord, and organ with Gustav Leonhardt.

For 20 years he was organist and music director of Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, B.C. until his retirement in 2021.

The three movements I have chosen from the suite include the opening (Entrée), the commion voluntary (Communion) and the closing piece (Sortie)

Music for Sunday, September 12, 2021 + The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• The Mind of Christ – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now – Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
• God Extends an Invitation – Anne Krentz Organ (b. 1960)
• Trumpet Tune – Georg Philipp Telemann

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of  "I have decided" which is from Lift Every Voice and Sing.)

• Hymn 525 - The church’s one foundation (AURELIA)
• Hymn 675 - Take up your cross, the Savior said (BOURBON)
• Hymn - I have decided to follow Jesus (ASSAM)
• Hymn 473 - Lift high the cross (CRUCIFER)
• Psalm 116:1-8

K. Lee Scott

Birmingham, Alabama composer Lee Scott has taken the hymn "May the mind of Christ, my Savior" and set it to the tune BATTY for a lovely anthem.  The text is called a "catalog" hymn, which list different things the believer asks: "May the mind of Christ," the "word of God," the "peace of God," and the "love of Jesus." The hymn was first published in the London children's hymnbook Golden Bells (1925) and has gained popularity in recent hymnals.

This text is attributed to Kate Barclay Wilkinson, an English woman from the turn of the 20th century. Little is known about Wilkinson's life: a member of the Church of England, she was involved in a ministry to girls in London and a participant in the Keswick Convention Movement. She was married to Frederick Barclay Wilkinson.

The tune is a Moravian melody by the German composer Johann Christoph Kühnau

Anne Krentz Organ

The communion voluntary is a setting of a Brazilian hymn, Nuestro padre nos invita,  arranged for the piano by the Lutheran composer Anne Krentz Organ, the Director of Music Ministries at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, IL.  She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Valparaiso University, a Master of Music degree in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Illinois, and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Church Music from Concordia University in River Forest, IL.

She came to a career in church music in a roundabout way.  She says,

I have a bachelor’s degree in piano performance, and a master’s degree in piano pedagogy. Piano teaching was my intended career. But the Spirit works in mysterious ways, and I began subbing for a Saturday evening service. Attendance was around 40-50 people, all of whom went up for communion at the same time, none of whom brought their hymnals along with them. There I would be, week after week, playing the communion hymn(s) verse by verse. That didn’t seem helpful, and at the same time, I was considering what to propose for my final project at Concordia [University]. It occurred to me that some “Reflections” on hymn tunes for holy communion might be useful. I arranged five communion tunes for piano, which were subsequently published by Augsburg Fortress as my first collection of piano arrangements.

Music for Sunday, May 23, 2021 + Pentecost

Vocal Music

• If Ye Love Me – Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 – 1585)
• Gracious Spirit, Dwell in Me – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Dearest Jesus, We Are Here – Johann L. Krebs (1713-1780)
• Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now – Johann G. Walther (1685-1748)
• Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist (Come God, Creator, Holy Ghost) BWV 667– Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

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

• Hymn 511 Holy Spirit, ever living (ABBOT’S LEIGH)
• Hymn R168 If you believe and I believe (Zimbabwean)
• Hymn R291 Go forth for God, go to the world in peace (GENEVA 124)
• Psalm 104 – tone VIIIa

Thomas Tallis was the preeminent composer of the English Renaissance. He was such an important  person during the Tudor period that he was one of the characters in the 2007 BBC television series The Tudors, though in a highly fictionalized version. A Catholic, he was able to survive the the conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, and his music often displays characteristics of the turmoil. During Elizabeth I's reign, he wrote music using Latin texts, in a florid style. 

Henry VIII's break from the Roman Catholic church in 1534 and the rise of Thomas Cranmer noticeably influenced the style of music being written. Cranmer recommended a syllabic style of music where each syllable is sung to one pitch, as his instructions make clear for the setting of the 1544 English Litany. As a result, the writing of Tallis and his contemporaries became less florid, using English texts.

Today's anthem is an example of English text writing. If Ye Love Me was actually written during the reign of Elizabeth I, but it is a noted example of this Reformation compositional style, essentially homophonic but with some elaboration and imitation. Typically for Anglican motets of this period, it is written in an ABB form, with the second section repeated. It has become a favorite of English speaking choirs the world over. 

It was sung at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle in 2018.

The other anthem is a setting of a hymn by the 19th century English Congregational minister, Thomas T. Lynch. Lynch's hymn is set in this meter: 7.7.7.7.7.7 (seven syllables per line). But K. Lee Scott sets this text to the tune ADORE DEVOTE, a chant from the 13th century, which has the meter 6.5.6.5. D (Doubled). As you can imagine, some creative license has been used in fitting the 19th century text to the 13th century tune, including writing an entirely new 4th stanza written by the composer. Thankfully, it works. (The tune ADORE DEVOTE is in the Eucharist section of the hymnal as hymn 314: Humbly I adore thee, Verity unseen, as well as the hymn 357, Jesus, Son of Mary, fount of life alone in the Burial section.)

All the organ music for this Sunday comes from the Baroque period, the period in music history that is roughly the years 1600-1750. It was the period where the organ truly was the king of instruments, especially in Germany, the home of all three of today's composers. The first piece is a piece by Johann Ludwig Krebs. Krebs studied under his father and was later a favorite pupil of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach at Leipzig. His music shows many of the same attributes found in Bach's music, and his best organ works equal anything by Bach. Bach (who had also instructed J. Ludwig's father) held Krebs in high standing. However, it was quite difficult for Krebs to obtain a patron or a post at any cathedral. This can be attributed to the fact that by this time the Baroque tradition was being left behind in favor of the new galant music style. This point in time also marked the transition to the classical music era, with composers such as Bach's son, C.P.E. Bach. 

Today's opening voluntary is one of a set of pieces for organ and wind instruments that Krebs wrote. The trumpet part is played by Sydney Peltier, our alto section leader. She came to us at the start of the year. She is a teacher in Houston ISD, after teaching for a couple of years as a middle school choir director in Humble ISD.

The next two opening voluntaries are by another contemporary of Bach, Johann Gottfried Walther. Not only was his life almost exactly contemporaneous to that of Johann Sebastian Bach, he was the famous composer's cousin.  Walther as a city organist of Weimar wrote exactly 132 organ preludes based on Lutheran chorale melodies. Two of those are the settings of the hymn Lord Jesus Christ, be Present Now which I'll be playing for the second half of the opening voluntary. (The same tune is used in our hymnal for No. 3,  Now that the daylight fills the sky and No. 310, O saving Victim, opening wide).

The first one is written for keyboard alone - no pedal and no trumpet. But the second one was written with the pedal part playing the melody, which today will be played on the trumpet.

The closing voluntary is the extended chorale setting of Come, God, Creator, Holy Ghost, from Bach's The Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668. This chorale prelude on Martin Luther's hymn for Pentecost "Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist" consists of two variations linked by a bridging interlude: the first is a miniature chorale prelude almost identical to BWV 631 in the Orgelbüchlein, with an uninterrupted cantus firmus in the soprano line; in the second, the four lines of the cantus firmus are heard in the pedal, beneath a flowing imitative ritornello accompaniment on the keyboard.

It is one of the last things he ever wrote. In 1750 when Bach began to suffer from blindness before his death in July, BWV 666 and 667 were dictated to his student and son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnikol and copied posthumously into the manuscript. 

Music for May 16, 2021 + The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Vocal Music

• Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether – Harold Friedell (1905-1958)
• The Tree of Life – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Concerto in E-flat Major – Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Kevin Mendoza, trumpet
• I. Allegro
• II. Andante
• I Thank Thee, Lord, through Thy dear Son – Johann Christoph Bach (1642 –1703)
• Arrival of the Queen of Sheba – G. F. Handel (1685-1759)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked with an asterisk which are from Lift Every Voice and Sing II.)

• Hymn 460 - Alleluia! sing to Jesus! (HYFRYDOL)
• Hymn 494 - Crown him with many crowns (DIADEMATA)
• Hymn - I have decided to follow Jesus (ASSAM)
• Psalm 1 - simplified Anglican Chant by Jerome Meachen

The music for this Sunday (which is Confirmation Sunday for us) begins with parts of a trumpet concerto by Franz Joseph Haydn, played by a student from Lone Star College in Kingwood, Kevin Mendoza. The concerto was one written by Haydn for his friend Anton Weidinger, a trumpet virtuoso and inventor of the first "keyed" trumpet which would allow a trumpet player to play in any key. 

the "natural" trumpet

A valve trumpet from the 1880s

You see, before this innovation, trumpets had no valves, and could only play a limited range of harmonic notes by altering the vibration of the lips; this is why it is called by the name of "natural trumpet". Most of these harmonic notes were clustered in the higher registers, so previous trumpet concertos could only play melodically with the high register. 

Weidinger developed a keyed trumpet which could play chromatically throughout its entire range, though his idea of drilling holes and covering them with flute-like keys was not a success as it had very poor sound quality. Weidinger did not perform the Concerto in public until 1800. Surviving in a single manuscript copy, this extraordinary work wasn't performed again until 1929.

 The valved trumpets used today were first constructed and used in the 1830s.

Harold Friedell

The offertory anthem is one of our choir's favorites, partly, I imagine, because of its lyrical melody and partly because of its imaginative and descriptive text. "Tether" is not a word used much today except in the term "Tether Ball," but I think that is an extremely accurate term for how the spirit connects us together, and to God. If you ever played tether ball as a child, you know that the ball is tied, or tethered, to the pole, and no matter how hard it is hit, it is connected to that pole, and will always return. Crafters in the group also love the term "knit thou our friendship up," though modern hymnals have tried to replace that with the pedestrian phrase "so now bind our friendship up."

This beautiful setting was written by Harold Friedell, an American organist, choirmaster, teacher, and composer. Friedell was raised in New York state, and worked at several prominent churches, ending up at St. Bartholomew's in New York City. Draw Us In the Spirit's Tether was composed while he was at St. Bart's. He also taught at Julliard and Union Theological Seminary. You can read more about him here.

The communion anthem is another beautiful setting of a hymn text. Eric Routley, an English Congregational pastor, musician and hymn writer, was the preeminent 20th-century hymnologist of the English-speaking world. He translated a 12-stanza hymn by a 17th-century Hungarian pastor to produce this text. K. Lee Scott wrote the tune for Routley’s text as a commission for the Episcopal Churches in the Diocese of Alabama for their Year of Evangelism in 1995. He remembers studying Routley’s texts (“because Routley had such an eye for texts”) and being drawn especially to this one because it was so panoramic. Scott remembers late at night sitting on the organ bench with just the organ light on in little Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church, walking back and forth from the organ bench down the aisles, as the tune gradually emerged out of his meditating on the text.

K. Lee Scott

K. (Keaton) Lee Scott is an internationally known composer and choral conductor of church music.  A life-long resident of Alabama, he received two degrees in choral music from The University of Alabama School of Music and has served as adjunct faculty for The University of Alabama School of Music, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Music, and Samford University School of Music.  He travels widely as a guest conductor and clinician in North America and beyond.  He is also director of music at Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church.  He has traveled extensively as guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States, as well as to Canada and Africa. 

Music for November 22, 2020 + Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• King of Glory, King of Peace – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950) 
• Jade Panares, Soprano

Instrumental Music

• Suite Gothique – Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897)
• Introduction-Choral
• Menuet gothique
• Prière à Notre-Dame
• Toccata
• At the Name of Jesus – arr. Michael Burkhardt (b. 1957)

Since the last Sunday of Pentecost (Advent begins next Sunday!) is called Christ the King Sunday, our solo and the communion voluntary are based on hymns which refers to Christ as King.

The text for the offertory solo is by George Herbert, a Welsh-born poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England who was born on April 3, 1593 at Black Hall in Montgomery, Wales. His family on his father's side was one of the oldest and most powerful in Montgomeryshire, having settled there in the early 13th century and improving and consolidating its status by shrewd marriage settlements and continuous governmental service. 

George Herbert, 1593-1633

His father died when Herbert was three and a half years old so George's mother, Magdalen, who was by all accounts an extraordinary woman, moved the family first to Shropshire, then to Oxford, and then finally to a house at Charing Cross, London to facilitate the education of her ten children. George was tutored at home and then entered Westminster School, probably in 1604, a distinguished grammar school that not only grounded him in the study of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and music, but also introduced him to Lancelot Andrewes, one of the great churchmen and preachers of the time. From Westminster, Herbert went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1609 and began one of the most important institutional affiliations of his life, one that lasted nearly 20 years.

Herbert wrote much of his poetry during his Cambridge years. He began, auspiciously enough, with a vow, made in a letter accompanying two sonnets sent to his mother as a New Year's gift in 1610, "that my poor Abilities in Poetry, shall be all, and ever consecrated to Gods glory." 

Herbert wrote poetry in English, Latin and Greek. Shortly before his death in 1633, he sent a literary manuscript to Nicholas Ferrar, the founder of a semi-monastic Anglican religious community at Little Gidding, reportedly telling him to publish the poems if he thought they might "turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul", otherwise to burn them. Later that year all of his English poems were published in The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations. It was so popular that there were at least 11 editions of The Temple in the 17th century alone.

One of the poems which has become most loved is Praise, a seven stanza poem of 4 lines each, which contains the three stanzas which make up the text for today's solo. This hymn has been set to music by many composers. Today's solo, King of Glory, King of Peace,  was written by K. Lee Scott, an American composer born, raised, and still living in Alabama. Scott attended The University of Alabama School of Music, where he has since served as adjunct faculty as well as for Music departments or The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Samford University. 

I am  delighted to have former choir member and staff singer Jade Panares sing for us this day. Jade is a graduate of Atascocita High School and the University of Houston School of Music.

The hymn At the Name of Jesus has been lovingly arranged by Lutheran organist Michael Burkhardt. Listen for an accompaniment that seems to hover above the melody which I will be playing on the oboe. We've put the text in the service leaflet so that you can read the words while listening (since we can't sing in church just yet!)

Music for August 23, 2020 + The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me – arr. K. Lee Scott

Instrumental Music

• Fanfare and Chorale – Calvin Fuller 
• Holy God, We Praise Your Name – Max Reger

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

• Hymn 525 - The Church’s one foundation (AURELIA)
• Song of Praise S-280 - Glory to God – Robert Powell
• Sanctus R-207 - Holy, holy, holy Lord (LAND OF REST)

It's not every Sunday that I get to play an organ work written by a friend of mine. Especially rare is when that piece is vibrant, fresh, and so much fun to play. Well, this Sunday is one of those rare occasions when I play Fanfare and Chorale for the opening voluntary for our Sunday morning service. 

This stunning piece was composed by Calvin Fuller, organist and choirmaster at St. James Episcopal Church in Houston. He is a native of Houston and received his musical education at Texas Southern University where he earned Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees. He pursued further study at the University of Maryland, the University of Texas and the University of Houston where he was a conducting student of Charles Hausmann and composition student of David Ashley White. 

For fifteen years he was chorus master of the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, a position he also held at Opera in the Heights. Presently, he is adjunct lecturer in the Music department of Texas Southern University, and The University of Houston-Downtown. I've known Calvin for more than 20 years through our work on the Diocesan Music Commission.

A charming and gracious man, his unassuming personality would never lead you to think that here was a first class composer and musician, but that is the case. And when I asked him for a photo to accompany this article, he sent me one which also shows his love for the Houston Astros. That caused me to remember a photograph taken at the Diocesan Choral Festival in 2017, the year the Astros won the World Series. There was a game the day of the festival (out of town, thankfully!), so we arrived in our Astros gear! I've included that photo of Calvin, Linda Patterson, and myself as well!

The choir (virtually) sings a setting of the hymn, Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me, as arranged by K. Lee Scott. We previously sang this on Pentecost of this year.

Music for May 31, 2020 + The Day of Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Holy Spirit, Dwell In Me – K. Lee Scott

Instrumental Music

• Choral varié sur le thème du 'Veni Creator', Op 4 - Maurice Duruflé

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

• Hymn 421 - All glory be to God on high (ALLEIN GOTT IN DER HÖHE)
• Hymn 508 - Breathe on me, Breath of God (NOVA VITA)
• Hymn R 207 - Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy) (LAND OF REST)

There's a first for us this Sunday during our worship online. The choir, which has not sung together since March 11, comes together virtually to sing for our Pentecost celebration. This has been a real growing experience for our choristers, for not only did they have to learn how to do a recording on their phones or tablets (we are not the most tech savvy bunch), but they also had to stretch far outside some of their comfort zone and sing by themselves, making a recording without anyone else singing with them, or even a piano backing them up. Then they had to submit it to me, the director, so that I could layer it with all the other voices.

This morning's anthem is a hymn which, as written by Thomas Toke Lynch, is based upon Scripture from the books of Ezekiel and Galations. Born the son of a doctor in 1818, Lynch was a minister in The Church of England.  In 1871, his dying words were “Now I am going to begin to live”.

The version we sing this morning is based upon Lynch's text, but arranged and expanded to fit another hymn melody arranged by contemporary composer Keaton Lee Scott, whose works are found in eight hymnals and some 300 published compositions. That tune is one we frequently sing to the words "Humbly I adore thee, Verity unseen." The tune, ADORE DEVOTE, is a Benedictine plainsong from the 13th century.

Maurice Duruflé

All the organ music is from a larger work by the French organist Maurice Duruflé, based on a Gregorian Chant which is used for the Latin hymn Veni Creator Spiritus ("Come Creator Spirit").  The opening voluntary contains the opening theme, followed by the first variation. Written in four parts, the theme appears in the pedals while the right hand plays an elaboration of the theme. I'm not playing the second variation due to time, But will play the the third variation during a meditation after communion. The third variation is a canon at the interval of the fourth. The closing voluntary is the final variation, a brilliant toccata, introducing the theme in canon between right hand and pedals. The music winds up to a glorious climax; Duruflé saves his master-stroke for the coda marked ‘tempo poco più vivo’ when he presents the plainsong ‘Amen’ (only hinted at in the organ music until that point) in the pedals on full organ.

The text to this hymn is believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus in the 9th century. As an invocation of the Holy Spirit, it is sung in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches during celebrations on the feast of Pentecost. The hymn is also widely used in the Anglican Communion in the Ordering of Priests and in the Consecration of Bishops. Since the English Reformation in the 16th century, there have been more than fifty English language translations and paraphrases of Veni Creator Spiritus.

The version in our own hymns was first included in the 1662 revision of the Book of Common Prayer, and compresses the content of the original seven verses to four (with a two-line doxology), keeping the Latin title. It was written by Bishop John Cosin for the coronation of King Charles I of Great Britain in 1625. The same words have been used at every coronation since. The first verse is:

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
and lighten with celestial fire.
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.

Music for May 10, 2020 + The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Vocal Music

• So Art Thou to Me – K. Lee Scott, (b. 1950) Bruce Bailey, baritone

Instrumental Music

• I Know that My Redeemer Lives – arr. Timothy Shaw (b. 1976)
• Rejoice, Beloved Christians, BWV 734 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Congregational Music (This hymn is from the Renew Hymnal.)

• Hymn R258 - To God be the Glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY)

Johannes Tauler, one of the most celebrated of the Mediaeval Mystics, is said to have written the hymn which is the basis of today's solo. Born in Strassburg around 1300 C.E., he entered the Dominican convent at Strassburg in his late teens. He soon came into note as an eloquent and practical preacher.

In the text, Tauler describes God's relationship to us through a series of metaphors comparing different objects to each other. Some of them are

As the bridegroom to his chosen,
as the king unto his realm,
as the light within the lantern,
as the father in the home,

No one metaphor or image is adequate to describe the relationship of God to His people. We need all of them to describe Yahweh's various dimensions. Moreover, each one expands in scope and vision with each passing day as we walk with God in the fullness of the knowledge of our God's love and faithfulness; “for we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away…. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13: 9, 12).

Composer K. Lee Scott plays lightly with this poetic accumulation of biblical imagery in the solo's artful but tender melody. He has emerged as one of America’s foremost composers of music for the church during the past two decades. His 300 published compositions include anthems, hymns, works for solo voice, organ, brass, and major works including a Christmas cantata and a Te Deum.

Scott received two degrees in choral music from The University of Alabama School of Music under the tutelage of Frederick Prentice. In addition to Prentice, he also studied composition with Paul Hedwall and Gail Kubik. Scott has served as adjunct faculty for The University of Alabama School of Music, The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Music, and Samford University School of Music. He has traveled extensively as guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States, as well as to Canada and Africa.

The opening voluntary is an arrangement of the tune we often use for "Jesus Shall Reign," but some hymnals also use this tune, DUKE STREET, for the text "Christ Is Alive! Let Christians Sing." It is in that context that I use it this morning.

Our hymn this morning is not one of our usual Anglican hymns. Prodigious writer of hymn texts, Fanny J. Crosby (b. Putnam County, NY, 1820; d. Bridgeport, CT, 1915) wrote "To God Be the Glory", which was first published with William Doane's tune in Songs of Devotion (1870). This text and "Blessed Assurance" (490) are among the best-known and most-loved hymn texts of the thousands Crosby produced. Initially ignored in the United States, the hymn was sung in British churches after its inclusion in Ira D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos (1903). Because of its use in the Billy Graham Crusades beginning in 1954, the hymn gained great popularity in Britain and Australia as well as in the United States.

In contrast to many gospel hymns (including the majority of Crosby's texts), “To God Be the Glory” directs our attention away from personal experience to the glory of God. God so loved the world that he gave us his Son to make atonement for sin (st. 1); all who believe in Christ will receive pardon (st. 2) and will rejoice now and through all eternity because of the "great things he has done" (st. 3). The refrain borrows its praise in part from the Old Testament psalms. The phrase "when Jesus we see" (st. 3) must have meant something special to Crosby, who was blinded when she was seven weeks old.

Fanny (Francis) Jane Crosby attended the New York City School for the Blind, where she later became a teacher. She began writing poetry when she was eight and publishing several volumes, such as A Blind Girl, and Other Poems (1844). Married to musician Alexander Van Alstyne, who was also blind, Crosby began writing hymn texts when she was in her forties. She published at least eight thousand hymns (some under various pseudonyms); at times she was under contract to her publisher to write three hymns a week and often wrote six or seven a day. Crosby's texts were set to music by prominent gospel song composers such as William B. Bradbury, William H. Doane, Robert S. Lowry, Ira D. Sankey, and William J. Kirkpatrick. Her hymns were distributed widely and popularized at evangelistic services in both America and Great Britain. Crosby was one of the most respected women of her era and the friend of many prominent persons, including presidents of the United States.

As a devout Lutheran, Bach took very seriously Martin Luther’s call for a music (and a language) available to all members of the congregation. The music of the Lutheran service was built not on the Latin of the Roman Catholic Church–chanted by the priest–but on the simple and sturdy hymn-tunes of Germany (some of them by Martin Luther himself), which could be sung by all the members of a congregation. Bach was drawn to these old German chorale melodies throughout his career: he wrote cantatas based on chorale tunes, he included chorales in his passions, he composed about thirty new chorale tunes of his own, and he also made about 400 reharmonizations of existing chorale tunes, usually for solo organ. The closing voluntary is one of Bach's independent chorale-based preludes, based on the tune NUN FREUT EUCH, LIEBER CHRISTIAN G'MEIN, which is traditionally translated as "Rejoice, beloved Christians." You can hear the rejoicing in the running sixteenth-note line in the right hand, accompanied by the jumping eight-note bass line. The melody itself is played on the trumpet in the pedal.

My first recording of Bach (organ or otherwise) was Virgil Fox's "On Top Of Bach." This is where I was introduced to this chorale prelude, played faster than it had an reason to be. My 16-year old mind could not conceive that the melody would ever be played by anything but the hands. The pedal was always reserved for the bass line. I listened to Fox's impossibly fast recording and marvelled at how fast his feet moved! (I later learned that, no, his feet were playing the melody at a manageable clip. The left hand had the bouncing bass.)

Here is the cover to that ground-breaking (for me) album. WQXR Classical Radio Station in New York lists this album cover among the worst Bach Album covers ever.

Music for March 15, 2020 + The Third Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music

• Jesus, My Breath, My Life – K. Lee Scott

Instrumental Music

• O Man, Bewail Thy Grievous Fall – J. S. Bach
• Prelude in C, BWV 846  – J. S. Bach
• Christ, the Lamb of God – J. S. Bach

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

• Hymn 522 - Glorious things of thee are spoken (AUSTRIA)
• Hymn R 9 - As the Deer pants for the water (Martin Nystrom)
• Hymn 686 - Come, thou fount of every blessing (NETTLETON)
• Hymn 676 - There is a balm in Gilead (BALM IN GILEAD)
• Hymn 679 - Surely it is God who saves me (THOMAS MERTON)
• Hymn 685 - Rock of ages, cleft for me (TOPLADY)
• Hymn 690 - Guide me, O thou great Jehovah (CWM RHONDDA)
• Hymn S-35 - Psalm 95: The Venite (Jack Noble White)

Notes on some of our hymns this week: Notice the theme of water that runs through many of them.

Glorious things of thee are spoken (AUSTRIA)
John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace," wrote this hymn to educate his congregation about the Bible. Most classic hymns are Biblically oriented, and this text has references to Isaiah 33:20, Psalm 87:3, I Peter 2, Revelation 1, and Exodus 17:1-7, which describes the streams of living water, referring to the Israelites journey through the wilderness in today's Old Testament reading.

As the Deer pants for the water (Martin Nystrom)
Nystrom was at a Bible College in Dallas one summer when a friend challenged hymn to take up a fast. On the 19th day of the fast he found himself sitting at a piano trying to write a song. "I was simply playing chord progressions when I noticed a Bible on the music stand of the piano. It was open to Psalm 42. My eyes fell on the first verse of that chapter... As the hart (deer) panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. After reading the verse I began to sing its message, right off the page. I wrote the first verse and the chorus of a song, pretty much straight through. The whole of the adventure was completed in a matter of minutes."
"As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after thee."

Come, thou fount of every blessing (NETTLETON)
In 1752, a young Robert Robinson attended an evangelical meeting to heckle the believers and make fun of the proceedings. Instead, he listened in awe to the words of the great preacher George Whitefield, and in 1755, at the age of twenty, Robinson responded to the call he felt three years earlier and became a Christian. Another three years later, when preparing a sermon for his church in Norfolk, England, he penned these words which have become one of the church’s most-loved hymns.
The imagery of Christ as the giver of living water reminds us of his encounter with the woman at the well in today's Gospel.

Surely it is God who saves me (THOMAS MERTON)
Isaiah 12 consists of two stanzas of praise (12: 1-3 and 4-6). Together they make up the "First Song of Isaiah," one of the "lesser" Old Testament canticles used by the medieval church. As songs of joy and praise for God's deliverance, these stanzas are the climax to a group of prophecies spanning Isaiah 7-11. In stanza 1, Isaiah 12:2 echoes Exodus 15:2 of the Song of Moses (see also 152), and 12:3 uses the "wells of living water" image, often a biblical symbol of salvation (John 4:10). Carl P. Daw, Jr., versified these passages in 1981 for The Hymnal 1982.

Rock of ages, cleft for me (TOPLADY)
There is a legend that Augustus Toplady was inspired to write this hymn after finding shelter from a thunderstorm in a cleft in a rock at Burrington Combe in Somerset, England in 1776. While evidence to support that story is lacking, it does provide a vivid image which echos the themes of both the Old Testament reading and Gospel.

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah (CWM RHONDDA)
At the urging of a Welsh evangelist, under whom he was converted, William Williams began writing hymns as a Welsh Calvinist-Methodist. His brother Peter, who was later expelled from the church for heresy, provided the translation. The Exodus and the journey through the wilderness to Canaan is the basis of the hymn, with its reference to "the crystal fountain" being perfect for the Old Testament reading of Exodus 17.

Music for January 29, 2017 + The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Servants of Peace – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Praise Ye the Triune God – Friedrich F. Fleming
• You Are My Hiding Place – Michael Ledner, arr. Mark Hayes (b. 1952)
• Praise Him With the Sound of the Trumpet – Carl Simone (1918-2003)

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

• Hymn 616 - Hail to the Lord’s Anointed (ES FLOG EIN KLEINES WALDVÖGELEIN)
• Hymn 605 - What does the Lord require (SHARPTHORNE)
• Hymn 441 - In the cross of Christ I glory (RATHBUN)
• Hymn R243 - You shall cross the barren desert (BE NOT AFRAID)
• Hymn R305 - Lord, you give the great commission (ABBOT’S LEIGH)

A contemporary setting of the traditional prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi is the text of the anthem this Sunday, which is a perfect match for the readings this week. (Micah 6:1-8 and the Beatitudes.) The  Prayer of St. Francis is a famous prayer which first appeared around the year 1915 A.D., and which embodies the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi's simplicity and poverty.

According to Father Kajetan Esser, OFM, the author of the critical edition of St. Francis's Writings, the Peace Prayer of St. Francis is most certainly not one of the writings of St. Francis. According to Father Schulz, this prayer first appeared during the First World War. It was found written on the back of a holy card of St. Francis. The prayer bore no name; but in the English speaking world, on account of this holy card, it came to be called the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.

The music is by Alabama native K. Lee Scott. He is widely known throughout the United States as a conductor and composer of choral music. His more than 250 published compositions, arrangements, and editions are represented in the catalogues of 15 publishing companies. In addition to many choral works, he has written an opera and has published works for organ, solo voice, and brass.

A graduate of the University of Alabama School of Music with two degrees in choral music under the tutelage of Frederick Prentice, Scott has served as an adjunct faculty member at both the University of Alabama School of Music and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Music. His appearances as guest conductor and clinician have taken him throughout the United States, to Canada, and Africa. 

The closing voluntary is by one of the many musicians of the past century who wrote music which filled a need for the the many organists, often un-trained or with minimal training, who played at the various churches across the country at a time when the organ was THE instrument for worship. Carl Simone was a native of Los Angeles, and having been an "early bloomer", became organist in a Lutheran church in his early teens. He later studied theory and composition with Arnold Schoenberg at the University of California before World War II altered his plans and he became an army cryptographer, assisting the chaplains from time to time as an organist. After his army stint, it was back to school to earn a master's degree at USC, followed by a period of public school teaching, where one of his students was Debbie Reynolds. He also played club engagements (at one time he played organ intermissions for the Harry James Orchestra in Santa Monica, California), a TV program called "Inspirational Hour", and Sunday worship services. 

Music for Easter + March 27, 2016

Vocal Music

• Now Glad of Heart - K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)
• This Joyful Eastertide – Alice Parker (b. 1925)
• Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Instrumental Music

• A Prelude for Easter – Gerald Near (b. 1942)
• Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands – Georg Böhm (1661-1733)
• Symphony V: Toccata – Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)

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

• Hymn 207 - Jesus Christ is risen today (Easter Hymn)
• Hymn 417 - This is the feast of victory (Festival Canticle)
• Hymn 210 - The day of resurrection! (Ellacombe)
• Hymn 174 - At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (Salzburg)
• Hymns R29 - He is Lord, he is Lord (He Is Lord)
• Hymn 179 - “Welcome, happy morning!” (Fortunatus)

Three different styles of anthems encompass the varied emotions we experience at Easter. The anthem by K. Lee. Scott, Now Glad of Heart, is the typical barn-burner, a bright, rhythmic anthem employing full organ, starting with repeated Alleluias that are reminiscent of the Mission: Impossible theme,  a rollicking melody (which always reminded me of riding in a speed boat over a bounding main), a big choral fanfare in the middle, and more alleluias, this time tumbling down from Soprano to Bass like a cascading water fall.

The first communion motet is a short setting of the Dutch Easter Carol, VERUCHTEN, which was originally a seventeenth-century love song "De liefde Voortgebracht." It became a hymn tune in 1685 as a setting for "Hoe groot de vruchten zijn." The tune is distinguished by the melismas that mark the end of stanza lines and by the rising sequences in the refrain, which provide a fitting word painting for "arisen." 

Alice Parker arranged this in the early 1950s for Robert Shaw's choral group which was making a series of commercially successful recordings of hymns, carols and folk songs. She only set the first stanza. I was tempted to have us repeat this setting, singing the second stanza:

My flesh in hope shall rest,
And for a season slumber;
Till trump from east to west,
Shall wake the dead in number.

Can you guess why I was tempted to include it? God has a sense of humor, but I decided to go against my inclinations.*

The final anthem is J. S. Bach's setting of the Lutheran chorale, Christ Jesus lay in death's strong bands. It is an adaptation of a medieval chant Victimae Paschali laudes arranged in 1524 as a four-part chorale by Johann Walther for the hymn text by Martin Luther. One of the earliest and best-known Lutheran chorales, CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN is a magnificent tune in rounded bar form (AABA).Bach incorporated it extensively in his cantatas 4 and 158. It is the closing movement of Cantata 4 that we sing this morning.

Many organ compositions are based on this tune; I am playing a highly ornamented setting by Georg Böhm, a German Baroque organist and composer who is known for his development of the chorale partita (variation) and for his influence on the young J. S. Bach. 

The opening voluntary is a beautiful improvisatory organ work by former Dallas composer Gerald Near. Starting out quietly, Near incorporates the  the ancient chant Haec dies, the Gradual for Easter day, with those beloved words so familiar to us: This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118: 24).  As the piece builds in tempo and volume, another Easter chant, O filii et filiae, appears, first in just subtle hints, then triumphantly in the form we recognize from the hymnal (it's hymn 203; we'll sing its cousin, hymn 206, next Sunday for the Second Sunday of Easter.)

*One hymnal has translated this verse to 

My being shall rejoice, 

secure within God’s keeping,

until the trumpet voice 

shall wake us from our sleeping

Music for August 30, 2015 + The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost + RALLY DAY

Vocal Music

• The Tree of Life – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Call to the Faithful – Rex Koury (1911-2006)
• Epithalame (Sortie) – Healey Willan (1880-1968)

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

• Hymn 473 Lift high the cross (CRUCIFER)
• Hymn 490 I want to walk as a child of the light (HOUSTON)
• Hymn 149 I, the Lord of Sea and Sky (HERE I AM, LORD)
• Hymn 306 We are marching in the light of the Lord (SIYAHAMBA)

A beautiful poem by the 17th century Slovakian pastor Pécselyi Király Imre, "Paradiczomnak te szép elö fája" (“You beautiful living tree of Paradise”) was translated by the English priest and hymnist Eric Routley for the ecumenical hymnal Cantata Domino in 1974. He paired it with Hungarian tune, then a decade later, chose another tune for publication in another hymnal, but the hymn did not gain traction in the worldwide church until it was set to a tune by Alabama composer K. Lee Scott, who was commissioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama to write a hymn for their 1995 Year of Evangelism. He named the tune SHADES MOUNTAIN, after the mountain on which he lived near Montgomery, Alabama. (Shades Mountain is right at  the bottom of the Appalachian chain.)

Once this tune and text were paired, it has become a favorite anthem for choirs of all denominations, and has appeared in at least eleven hymnals (but none of them Anglican!)

Here is the text:

 There in God’s garden stands the Tree of Wisdom,

whose leaves hold forth the healing of the nations:

Tree of all knowledge,Tree of all compassion,

Tree of all beauty.

Its name is Jesus, name that says, “Our Savior!”

There on its branches see the scars of suffering;

see where the tendrils of our human selfhood

feed on its lifeblood.

Thorns not its own are tangled in its foliage;

our greed has starved it, our despite has choked it.

Yet, look! It lives! Its grief has not destroyed it

nor fire consumed it. 

See how its branches reach to us in welcome;

hear what the Voice says, “Come to me, ye weary!

Give me your sickness, give me all your sorrow;

I will give blessing.”

This is my ending, this my resurrection:

into your hands, Lord, I commit my spirit.

This have I searched for; now I can possess it.

This ground is holy.

All heaven is singing, “Thanks to Christ whose Passion

offers in mercy healing, strength, and pardon.

Peoples and nations, take it, take it freely!”

Amen! Our Savior!

It is not unusual for English church organists to leave the Land of Hope and Glory and move to the Land of the Free and the Home of the brave. The current choirmaster at Washington National Cathedral, Michael McCarthy moved to the states from London Oratory School, St. Thomas Church in New York City turned to St. Paul's Cathedral, London, when they called John Scott, who died this month way too soon. In Houston, we have Giles Brightwell at St. Thomas Church in Meyerland. This same migratory pattern is true for the two men who composed the voluntaries this week, though one ended up in Canada and the other in Hollywood.

Healey Willan was born in England, and he began musical training at age eight, with studies at St. Saviour's Choir School in Eastbourne. In 1913 Willan emigrated to Canada where he ended up at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Toronto. He is often quoted as saying, "English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction; Scotch by absorption." His organ music is very typical of English organ music of the early 20th century, with a soaring melodic line over thick, rich harmonies.

And just who is Epithalame Sortie? It's not a who, it's a what. It was originally (among the Greeks) a song in praise of bride and bridegroom, sung by a number of boys and girls at the door of the nuptial chamber. (That would slow down, if not halt, some wedding night bliss). Here the title is used with the word sortie (French for exit), denoting its use as a wedding recessional. 

Rex Koury in his retirement

The other organist is not nearly as well known in church music as Willan, but his music has been heard by literally millions. Rex Koury was born in London, but his family moved to America when he was but one year old. At age 14, he began to accompany silent movies, but when sound was introduced, he decided, at 17, to leave for Hollywood and try his hand at the movies. He never made it in motion pictures, but found his calling in the new medium of radio. He became staff organist for  NBC Hollywood and wrote free-lance compositions for CBS Radio. He was later appointed music director for ABC Hollywood. His best known work was in the music he wrote and directed for the CBS radio and tv show, Gunsmoke. He wrote the theme song, The Long Trail, in 1952.

When he retired in the 1970s, he began playing in churches, and wrote music for those services, which ultimately got published. In today's opening voluntary, you can here the trumpet rallying call to Christians to follow Christ. You can imagine that this tune could have easily been used as a theme song on a radio program in the 30s and 40s. 

We close our month of favorite hymns with the top favorite hymn, Lift High the Cross. Christ's death on a torturous cross was a horror beyond compare. But it wasn't the end of his story: The gruesome cross experience opened the way to Jesus' glorious victory over sin and death. Those two ugly realities have plagued the human race since the Fall in Eden. But today, the outcome of that battle is sure: Christ conquered sin and death on the cross.

Jesus' stunning sacrifice requires a response. And that's exactly what Lift High the Cross provides. With a triumphant melody, the hymn calls Christians to bring the story of the cross to the entire world. We are to "lift high the cross" for the world to see, so that they might come and adore Christ the victorious King. (from songsandhymns.org)

It's a great hymn for Rally Day!

Music for July 5, 2015 + The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown – setting by K. Lee Scott (b. 1950) Danial Ward, bass-baritone

Instrumental Music

• Variations on an American Tune – Gordon Young (1919-1998)
• Variations on “God Save the King” – Charles Wesley (1757-1835)

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

• Hymn 636 How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord (FOUNDATION)
• Hymn R 37 Father, we love you (GLORIFY YOUR NAME)
• Hymn 536 Open your ears, O faithful people (TORAH SONG) 
• Hymn 716 God Bless Our Native Land (AMERICA)
• Hymn 718 God of our fathers, whose almighty hand (NATIONAL HYMN)

The fiberglass-and-steel “Statue of Liberation
Through Christ” at World Overcomers Outreach 
Ministries Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

A Christian, an American, and a church musician walk into a bar. The Christian looks at the church musician and says, "Let's sing a hymn!" The American says, "Yes! Let's sing "America, the Beautiful!" The church musician says, "I just came in here for a drink."

The Sunday near Independence Day is one day when I just want a drink.

My friend and fellow church musician, David Perry Ouzts, writes a blog similar to mine, and his post for this Sunday is called Fanfares and flag-waving: How to be Episcopalian for the 4th of July. I want to quote some of it here:

As a liturgist, the Sunday nearest to the fourth of July is always a Sunday of great compromise. As an Episcopal parish, we do not just throw out the readings (AKA “the propers”) for the day: that’s “liturgically illegal” according to the Book of Common Prayer and actually requires permission of “the Diocesan” (a.k.a. the Bishop).

On the other hand, in a country in which we give thanks for our religious freedom, praying in church for our country and its leaders is quite acceptable. Moreover, our hymnal, The Hymnal 1982, contains a small section of “National Songs,” those hymns that we all love and probably learned as school children. In fact, our Book of Common Prayer contains an entire set of proper readings for liturgies if held on the exact day of Independence Day in a given year; these propers never supplant the Sunday propers but are available for use, even as private devotions.

Well, like David and the Church of the Holy Communion in Memphis, we are going to go for the middle ground, the via media, as good Episcopalians are wont to do. I'm playing variations on "God Save the Queen" during communion, as written by Charles Wesley Junior, the son of the imminent hymn writer and Anglican priest. Charles junior was a musical child prodigy who became an organist and composer who spent most of his career as the personal organist of the English Royal family. 

God Save the Queen is, of course, the tune we Yanks use as for the words "My country, 'tis of thee," which we'll sing at the Independence Day Celebration after church in the Great Hall. It is also the tune for the communion hymn this morning, God bless our native land, a hymn that is a prayer for any land or nation. I feel it's fitting for a worship service.

The opening and closing voluntaries are based on a familiar hymn that, while it is not 'patriotic,' carries a real American flavor. Gordon Young wrote these variations on the tune NETTLETON (Come, thou fount of every blessing) for the dedication of an organ in Fort Worth. The theme and seven variations show off the colors of the organ in different and unique ways. Sometimes the theme (melody) is apparent. Other times it is only hinted at with fragments and chord progressions from the hymn. The last movement will be used at the closing voluntary. Why not stay and listen to this brilliant finale and let the lines for hot dogs die down!

The closing hymn is often referred to as the "National Hymn." Daniel C. Roberts wrote this "God of our Fathers" in 1876 for July 4 centennial celebrations in Brandon, Vermont, where he was rector at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. This hymn puts God first, and is constantly addressed to Him as a prayer for the nation, without reference to American superiority. The second and third stanzas allude to a nation's need for God's law and guidance to maintain peace. It was published in the Protestant Episcopal Hymnal of 1892.

Don't forget to vote for your ten favorite hymns. The top 15 will be sung in church during August. You can email your choices to jacksonhearn@goodshepherdkingwood.org
The deadline is July 5!

Music for June 21, 2015 + The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost + Confirmation

Confirmation Sunday

Vocal Music

• O Thou Who Camest from Above – Philip W. J. Stopford (b. 1977)
• Gracious Spirit, Dwell With Me – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Symphony No. 5: IV. Adagio– Charles Marie Widor (1844-1937)
• Symphony No.5: V. Toccata – Charles Marie Widor

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

• Hymn 688 A mighty fortress is our God (EIN FESTE BURG)
• Hymn 297 Descend, O Spirit, purging flame (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Hymn 608 Eternal Father, strong to save (MELITA)
• Hymn 535 Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim (PADERBORN)

The choir makes a rare summer appearance this Sunday as Bishop Andy Doyle visits Good Shepherd to confirm new members to Christ's church.  We'll be singing two anthems based on hymns dealing with the Holy Spirit.

Our offertory anthem is a well-known text by Charles Wesley set to an original new tune by English composer Philip W. Stopford. Listen for the interval of a rising fourth (the same notes as "Here Comes the Bride") sung as an opening motif which is used throughout the piece. The men of the choir sing the first stanza in unison. The treble voices join the men on stanza two, still in unison, but in the second half of the piece you'll hear a deviation from the original melody, taking us to the feeling of a higher key. At the phrase "in humble prayer and fervent praise." the organ drops out and the choir sings in four-part harmony for the first time in this piece. Stanza three starts with the women singing the motif in unison to be joined by the men for four part harmony, a capella, while they modulate to a new key. The final stanza starts with choir in unison except for a soaring descant from the sopranos.

We sang this just a month ago, but are repeating it now as the third stanza speaks so well to the confirmands:

Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
to work and speak and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire,
and still stir up thy gift in me.

K. Lee Scott wrote the communion anthem, a pairing of the text "Gracious Spirit, Dwell in Me" with the Gregorian chant tune "Adoro te devote."  We sang this anthem on Pentecost, but since it has great relevance to confirmation (and Pentecost was on Memorial Day weekend, when half of you weren't here), we are singing it again.

Scott was born in Langdale, Alabama and earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Choral Music from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He later became the Director of Choral Music there. Today he is still on the faculty at the university as a part-time instructor as his work as a freelance composer keeps him busy. He has had over 100 of his works published, through 11 different publishing companies.

Our opening hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, is often referred to as “the battle hymn” of the Reformation. Many stories have been relayed about its use. Albert Bailey writes,

It was, as Heine said, the Marseillaise of the Reformation…It was sung in the streets…It was sung by poor Protestant emigres on their way to exile, and by martyrs at their death…Gustavus Adolphus ordered it sung by his army before the battle of Leipzig in 1631…Again it was the battle hymn of his army at Lutzen in 1632…It has had a part in countless celebrations commemorating the men and events of the Reformation; and its first line is engraved on the base of Luther’s monument at Wittenberg…An imperishable hymn! Not polished and artistically wrought but rugged and strong like Luther himself, whose very words seem like deeds. (The Gospel in Hymns, 316)

As you can see, this is a hymn close to the hearts of Protestants and Lutherans, a source of assurance in times of duress and persecution. The text is not restricted, however, to times of actual physical battles. In any time of need, when we do battle with the forces of evil, God is our fortress to hide us and protect us, and the Word that endures forever will fight for us.

Music for May 24, 2015 + The Day of Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Veni Creator Spiritus – Stephen Sturk (b. 1950)
• Gracious Spirit, Dwell With Me – K. Lee Scott (b.1950)

Instrumental Music

• Choral varié sur le thème du 'Veni Creator', Op 4 – Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

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

• Hymn 225 - Hail thee, festival day (SALVE FESTA DIES)
• Hymn 20 - Now Holy Spirit, ever One (WAREHAM)
• Hymn R90 - Spirit of the Living God (Daniel Iverson)
• Hymn R168 - If You believe and I believe (Traditional Zimbabwe)
• Hymn 511 - Holy Spirit, ever living (ABBOT’S LEIGH)

This Sunday is Pentecost, the Sunday commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ (120 in all), as described in the Acts of the Apostles 2:1–31. For this reason, Pentecost is sometimes described by some Christians today as the "Birthday of the Church".  (You can read more about the origins of Pentecost here.)

Stephen Sturk with the San Clemente
Choral Society

Therefore, there will be a lot of singing about the Holy Spirit at church this Sunday. The first anthem the choir sings incorporates one of the earliest hymns of the church with its original Gregorian Chant. Veni Creator Spiritus has taken deeper hold of the Western Church than any other medieval hymn, with the exception maybe of the Te Deum. The choir will start the anthem singing in unison, in Latin, accompanied only by bells. Then a metrical version of the tune is used to sing parts of the Psalm, accompanied by the organ. This arrangement is by Stephen Sturk, director of music at St. Thomas of Canterbury, San Diego, composer-in-residence at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in San Diego, and conductor of Cappella Gloriana, San Diego’s professional chamber choir. A professional singer, he's also the only composer of anthems in our library who is on the soundtrack of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. (I don't know which part, though I highly suspect it was not Beauty.)

 Maurice Duruflé and his wife
Marie Madeleine Chevalier Durufle 

The organ voluntaries also use the Veni Creator plainchant. It is a set of variations on the chant by the great French Organist, Maurice Duruflé. Like Olivier Messiaen (whose music I played last week), Maurice Duruflé was a 20th century French organ virtuoso and composer trained at the Paris Conservatory, but unlike Messiaen, Duruflé united the church's unique language of plainsong  with the secular harmonies of the modern French school (as typified by Debussy, Ravel, and Dukas). He was not an innovator, but, like Bach, was a master at his craft.

The Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du 'Veni Creator' was the first of his three major organ works. I will be playing the last part of the work, the theme and four variations. First you hear the theme (Allegro religioso) presented in full organ. Next comes Variation 1. Poco meno mosso. Written in four parts, the theme appears in the pedals whilst the right hand plays an elaboration of the theme. Variation 2. Allegretto is for manuals only, while Variation 3. Andante espressivo is a canon at the interval of the fourth.

I will play the final variation for the closing voluntary. Variation 4 'Final'. Allegro, is a brilliant toccata, introducing the theme in canon between right hand and pedals. The music winds up to a glorious climax; Duruflé saves his master-stroke for the coda marked ‘tempo poco più vivo’ when he presents the plainsong ‘Amen’ (only hinted at in the organ music until that point) in the pedals on full organ.

Sunday's hymns

• Hail thee, festival day (SALVE FESTA DIES) - This is the tune we have been singing each Sunday since Easter, but now we are singing the words that are specific to Pentecost. Ralph Vaughan Williams composed SALVE FESTA DIES as a setting for Venantius H. Fortunatus's famous text "Hail Thee, Festival Day." The tune, whose title comes from the opening words of that text, was published in The English Hymnal of 1906.
• Now Holy Spirit, ever One (WAREHAM) Here's another Pentecost hymn written by an founding father of the church (St. Ambrose) that has been translated into English for modern usage. The first two stanzas of this hymn were translated especially for use in our Hymnal, the Hymnal 1982, and then picked for inclusion in our other song book, Renew.
• Spirit of the Living God (Daniel Iverson) This composite hymn text is a prayer for the Holy Spirit to work renewal in the individual heart (st. 1) and to make these renewed people one in love and service (st. 2). Daniel Iverson wrote the first stanza and tune of this hymn after hearing a sermon on the Holy Spirit during an evangelism crusade in Florida in 1926. Michael Baughen, retired Bishop of Chester (Great Britain) added a second stanza in 1980. That stanza's emphasis on the Spirit moving “among us all,” provides a necessary complement to the first stanza's focus on the Spirit's work in the individual ("fall afresh on me"). 
• If You believe and I believe (Traditional Zimbabwe) The tune for this traditional Zimbabwe song is an English folksong which was taken by British colonizers to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where it was taken up by the local people and re-fitted with these words which were sung as an anti-colonial protest. The words which we today sing "...and set God's people free" would have been sung as "set Zimbabwe (or Namibia, or Africa) free."
• Holy Spirit, ever living (ABBOT’S LEIGH) This two stanza hymn is by Timothy Rees, a monk born in 1874 in Wales who became the first monastic in over 300 years to become a Bishop in the Anglican church in 1931. He has written two hymns in our hymnal (God is love, let heaven adore him and this one) and both of them are set to the same tune, ABBOT'S LEIGH.