Music for June 14, 2015 + The Third Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Be Still, My Soul – Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957), arr. Sally DeFord (b. 1959)

Instrumental Music

• Come, Holy Ghost, Lord God – Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
• Prayer/Prelude in E-flat Major – Michael Larkin (b. 1951)
• Prelude on “Hyfrydol” – Healey Willan (1880 -1968)

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

• Hymn 252  - The Church’s on foundation (AURELIA)
• Hymn 533 -  How wondrous and great (LYONS)
• Hymn 178 -  Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord (ALLELUIA NO. 1)
• Hymn R 206 - Holy, holy (HOLY HOLY)
• Hymn 657 -  Love divine, all loves excelling (HYFRYDOL)

Jean Sibelius, looking rather serious
(as usual)

Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957) was a Finnish violinist and composer from the first half of the 20th century who became the musical emblem of Finland. Meant by his family to become a lawyer, he switched to music in his twenties, mainly to become a violin virtuoso, but found himself increasingly drawn to composition. His music contributed to the development of a feeling of national identity in Finland where he is now celebrated as the country's greatest composer.

In 1899 Sibelius wrote a musical score for six historical tableaux in a pageant that celebrated and supported the Finnish press against Russian oppression. In 1900 Sibelius revised the music from the final tableau into FINLANDIA, a tone poem for orchestra. The chorale-like theme that emerges out of the turbulent beginning of this tone poem became the hymn tune FINLANDIA.

FINLANDIA was first used as a hymn tune in the Scottish Church Hymnary (1927) and the Presbyterian Hymnal (1933). This tune was  set to the hymn text of Katharina Von Schlegel, "Stille, mein Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen" (Be Still, My Soul, The Lord Is On Thy Side) which we hear today in a solo setting by Sally DeFord, an American composer from Eugene, Oregon. It will be sung by Bidkar Cajina.

2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sibelius.

The opening voluntary is two chorale preludes for manuals only (no pedals) by the German Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann. A contemporary and friend of both G. F. Handel and J. S. Bach (he was god-father to one of Bach's sons), he was one of the most prolific composers in history. Like Sibelius, he entered the University of Leipzig to study law at his mother's insistence, but eventually settled on a career in music. He held important positions in Leipzig, Sorau, Eisenach, and Frankfurt before settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became musical director of the city's five main churches.

We open the service singing one of my most favorite hymns, The church's one foundation. In the mid-nineteenth century, Bishop John William Colenso of Natal raised a ruckus in the Catholic Church when he challenged the historicity and authority of many of the Old Testament books. Bishop Gray of Capetown wrote a stirring response of defense, which, in 1866, inspired Samuel Stone, to write this beloved hymn, basing his text on Article 9 of the Apostle’s Creed: “The Holy Catholic (Universal) Church; the Communion of Saints; He is the Head of this Body.” Now an affirmation of Christ as the foundation of our faith, we sing this hymn with those who have gone before us and with Christians around the world, declaring that beyond any theological differences, cultural divides, and variances in practice, we are all part of the same body, the body of Christ. 

The tune that most often accompanies this text is AURELIA, composed in 1864 by Samuel S. Wesley and first published as a setting for “Jerusalem the Golden.” It was paired with Stone’s text shortly after, to the chagrin of some: Dr. Henry Gauntlett was apparently very annoyed by this match-up, as he thought Wesley’s tune was “inartistic, secular twaddle.” Dr. Gauntlett was not to have the last word however, and the tune has stuck.

Music for March 29, 2015 + Palm Sunday

Vocal Music

• Hosanna – David W. Music
• Go to Dark Gethsemane - T. Tertius Noble (1867-1953)
• Were You There? – spiritual (Richard Murray, baritone, Bernice Satterwhite, piano)
• Gethsemane – Sally DeFord (b. 1959) (Bidkar Cajina, baritone)

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

• Hymn 154 – All glory, laud, and honor (VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN)
• Hymn 458 – My song is love unknown (LOVE UNKNOWN)
• Hymn R 227 – Jesus, remember me (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 168 – O sacred head, sore wounded (HERZLICH TUT MICH VERLANGEN [PASSION CHORALE])

The anthem this Sunday is a beautiful acapella setting of the Holy Week hymn, Go to Dark Gethsemane by the composer T. Tertius Noble. It was written in 1918 for the

T. Tertius Noble
prior to coming to America

choir of the Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany in Philadelphia for a service of Lenten music. Included on the program was an anthem written especially for this service by Dr. Noble, who was then the organist/choirmaster of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York City. Noble was an English-born organist and composer who had studied at the Royal College of Music. He served as Organist and Choirmaster at Ely Cathedral and York Minster prior to his last appointment at St Thomas, where he was responsible for establishing a choral tradition along Anglican cathedral lines. Noble also founded the Saint Thomas Choir School for boys in 1919.

Noble composed orchestral and chamber music, but is now remembered for his music for the Anglican church, particularly his Evening services in a A major, B minor and A minor, and his anthems Go to dark Gethsemane, Souls of the Righteous, and Grieve not the Holy Spirit.

The children's choirs will join the adults for the Blessing of the Palms out in the front yard at the beginning of the 10:15 service to sing a musical setting of Hosanna in the Highest by David W. Music, Professor of Church Music and Graduate Program Director in the School of Music at Baylor University, where he has taught since 2002.

Hymns for Sunday

• All glory, laud, and honor (VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN) - This well known hymn was written by St. Theodulph of Orleans in 820 while he was imprisoned in Angers, France, for conspiring against the King, with whom he had fallen out of favor. The text acts as a retelling of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The tune was composed by Melchior Teschner in 1613 for "Valet will ich dir geben," Valerius Herberger's hymn for the dying. Though the tune is often named ST. THEODULPH because of its association with his text, is known in our hymnal, and especially in organ literature, as VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN.  
• My song is love unknown (LOVE UNKNOWN) - Though not as well known as today's opening hymn, it is a perfect hymn for Palm Sunday, for it tells the entire story of Holy Week, from Triumphal entry to the crucifixion. Samuel Crossman wrote the hymn in 1664, when only Psalms were allowed to be sung in public worship. It is a very personal expression of Christ's Love and our response. John Ireland composed LOVE UNKNOWN in 1918 for this text,  the tune was first published in The Public School Hymn Book of 1919. Ireland wrote LOVE UNKNOWN within fifteen minutes on a scrap of paper upon receiving the request to compose it from Geoffrey Shawfor the 1919 hymnal, The Public School Hymn Book. 
• Jesus, remember me (Jacques Berthier) Another of the short, repetitive chants from the the Taizé community, an ecumenical community in France, the text references Luke 23:42, where one of the robbers crucified with the Savior cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus responded, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (v. 43). This humble plea of a sinner for divine mercy is all the more poignant today as our Savior in heaven continues to pray for his people.
• O sacred head, sore wounded (HERZLICH TUT MICH VERLANGEN [PASSION CHORALE]) The original Latin poem addressed seven Aspects of the Crucifixion: feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and face. Known as "crucifix hymns" they were designed for long, intense devotions while kneeling at the altar. Part seven, salve caput, was put into German by the famous hymn writed Paul Gerhardt, then translated into English by Robert Bridges for "O sacred head, sore wounded." The tune HERZLICH TUT MICH VERLANGEN has been associated with Gerhardt's text since they were first published together in 1656. The tune's first association with a sacred text was its attachment in 1613 to the funeral text "Herzlich tut mich verlangen" (hence the tune name). It was originally a court song by the great Renaissance composer Hans Leo Hassler in 1601.