Music for Sunday, July 2, 2017 + The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

There will  be one service at 10:15 AM

Vocal Music

• Hear My Prayer – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Pie Jesu – John Rutter (b. 1945)

Brooke Vance, soprano

Instrumental Music

• Eternal Father, Strong to Save – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• O Beautiful for Spacious Skies – Charles Callahan
• Marche nuptiale. No. 1, based on God Save the Queen – Charles Gounod (1818-1893)

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

• Hymn 718 - God of our fathers (NATIONAL HYMN)
• Hymn R128 - Blessed be the God of Israel (FOREST GREEN)
• Hymn 713 - God bless our native land (AMERICA)
• Hymn 325 - Let us break bread together on our knees (LET US BREAK BREAD)
• Hymn 608 - Eternal Father, strong to save (MELITA)

Brooke Vance

This Sunday we warmly welcome Brooke Vance to our service today. Brooke grew up in Good Shepherd, singing in the choirs from kindergarten through High School. She just graduated in May from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with a degree in vocal performance. This is her first time back to Kingwood for a Sunday Service since her family moved to New Braunfels after her graduation from Atascocita High School. 

She will also treat us to a short, mini-recital in the nave at 1 PM, following the picnic. 

In church she will sing two dramatic solos from Mendelssohn’s Hear my Prayer, a miniature cantata with three distinct, contrasting movements and a recitative. The piece begins with the simple pleading of the soprano, “Hear my prayer, O God.” Mendelssohn’s subtle changes of harmony and melody indicate alternating moments of optimism and loneliness. There is a middle movement and recitative where the fear and the despair rise to a climax. The work ends with the great final movement, “O for the wings of a dove!” This exceptionally beautiful music evokes a far-away place of peace and rest.

The other piece during communion is from John Rutter’s most popular Requiem. Since its debute in 1985 at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, it has become one of the most popular classical compositions of the last thirty years. Brook will sing the Pie Jesu (pee-eh yeh-zoo), a prayer to Jesus for rest for the departed. It begins with the soprano soloist singing with a very light accompaniment, with only slight involvement of a chorus echoing the words "Dona eis requiem, Dona eis sempiternam requiem" (Grant them rest, grant them rest eternal.)

Since it is the Sunday before Independence Day, the day of our annual Independence Day (indoors) picnic, and our priest has confided in me that he will deviate from the lectionary to acknowledge the holiday, I’m playing some organ music with a national slant. One piece, however, has an odd connection to our patriotic musical theme. 

The closing voluntary was written as a wedding march for H.R.H. The Duke of Albany, to  H.R.H. The Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, was the youngest son of Queen Victoria, who, at the suggestion of his mother, met Princess Helena and fell in love. The two were married in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on April 27, 1882, The wedding march included the national anthem, God Save the Queen. What I really find curious is that it was a Frenchman, not an Englishman, who wrote this processional. Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, best known today for his Ave Maria, based on Bach's Prelude in C from The Well-tempered Clavier, as well as his Funeral March of a Marionette, used as the theme of the Alfred Hitchcock TV program. His opera Faust is still oft performed, as is his opera Roméo et Juliette.

Music for Sunday, June 25, 2017 + The Third Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Let There Be Peace on Earth – Mark Hayes (b. 1953), arr., Bruce Bailey, soloist

Instrumental Music

• Chorale prelude on Herr Jesu Christ (hymn 3) – Gerald Near
• Chorale Prelude on Es ist das Heil (hymn 298)– Dietrich Buxtehude
• Postlude on St. Dunstan’s (hymn 564) – Gerald Near

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

• Hymn 524 - I love thy kingdom, Lord (ST. THOMAS (WILLIAMS))
• Hymn 296 - We know that Christ is raised and dies no more (ENGLEBERG)
• Hymn 679 - Surely it is God who saves me (THOMAS MERTON)
• Hymn 676 - There is a balm in Gilead (BALM IN GILEAD)
• Hymn - I have decided to follow Jesus (INDIAN FOLK MELODY)
• Hymn 530 - Spread, O Spread, thou mighty word (GOTT SEI DANK)
• Psalm 69:8-11, 18-20  - Salvum me fac (tone IVe)

This Sunday Bruce Bailey is singing the song Let There Be Peace On Earth, written in 1955 by the husband/wife team of Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller in 1955. It was initially written for the International Children's Choir of Long Beach, California, and is still their theme song.

Mark Hayes

This beautiful arrangement by the contemporary pianist Mark Hayes uses the updated lyrics which change the gender specific terms Father/He/Brother to gender neutral terms (where "father" is replaced with "creator", and "brother" is replaced with "family" or "each other"), The gender-neutral lyrics have been copyrighted by the original licensing agent of the song. 

You can read the lyrics and a brief history of the song by checking out the History of Hymns blog written by Michael Hawn, who just retired as professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology, SMU, in Dallas.

None of the tunes used in the organ voluntaries today are particularly well-known among our congregation. The communion voluntary uses a chorale melody associated (among Lutherans) with the text "Salvation now has come for all." In our hymnal it is used for the baptism hymn "All who believe and are baptized" (Hymn 298). The tune was written in the 16th century by Hans Leo Hassler. Since this chorale text focused on essential Lutheran theology (Man is saved by grace, not works), the tune was often used as the basis for both organ and choral works. 

Gerald Near

 2017 marks the 75th birthday of American composer Gerald Near, a composer with broad appeal to musicians in all liturgical denominations. With an extensive catalogue of compositions, he has added to the literature of organists, harpsichordists, and choirs. He is particularly adept at writing organ music based on hymn-tunes and chant-tunes. I play two such works today, beginning with a short chorale-based prelude on the tune found in our hymnal at #3. It is straight-forward; the melody is heard quite plainly in the right hand on a distinctive solo stop, without any ornamentation.

The closing voluntary begins with a fanfare, then a complete statement of the great hymn, "He Who Would Valiant Be," with a tune written by Charles Winfred Douglas.

Music for Sunday, June 18, 2017 + The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Instrumental Music

• Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major: I. Moderato – Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) Alex Philips, cellist
• Aria – David Ashley White (b. 1944)
• Hymne – Vangelis (b. 1943) Evangelos Odysseus Papathanassiou
• Fanfare for St. Anthony - David Ashley White

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

• Hymn 401 - The God of Abraham praise (LEONI)
• Hymn 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus (IN BABILONE)
• Hymn 686 - Come, thou font of every blessing (NETTLETON)
• Hymn R149 - I, the Lord of sea and sky (HERE I AM, LORD)
• Hymn R305 - Lord, you give the great commission (ABBOT’S LEIGH)
• Psalm 116  - Dilexi, quoniam

Composed between 1761 and 1765 for Joseph Weigl, a gifted cellist in Haydn's Esterházy orchestra, the Cello Concerto Number 1 was presumed lost until 1961, when it turned up the National Museum in Prague among documents originally from Radenin Castle. High virtuosity is demanded of the cellist, as in the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth symphonies (in which Haydn provided solos especially for Weigl).

The first movement, marked Moderato, begins with a confident, courtly theme with dotted rhythms; in contrast, the second subject is softer and more sinuous, establishing a more lyrical mood. The mildly syncopated orchestral exposition ends with Lombardic rhythms at the conclusion of the orchestral introduction. When the cello enters and takes command of the themes, it launches the first theme with a resonant C major chord, eventually presenting each melody in an increasingly ornate manner. The development engages the cellist in intense passagework derived from the primary theme, while reappearances of the second subject allow the soloist to sing more expansively. Haydn works through the theme groups in sequence twice before reaching the cadenza and a brief coda derived from the movement's opening measures.

Haydn's C Major Cello Concerto has become a staple of the cello repertoire, after its 20th century premiere by Miloš Sádlo and the Czechoslovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, on 19 May 1962. Many famous artists, including Jacqueline du Pré, Yo-Yo Ma, Julian Lloyd Webber, Pierre Fournier, Truls Mørk, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pieter Wispelwey, Heinrich Schiff, Lynn Harrell, Christine Walevska, Sol Gabetta, Maximilian Hornung, Mischa Maisky, Steven Isserlis, and Sergei Istomin have recorded it.

Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, known professionally as Vangelis, is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, and orchestral music. He is probably most well known for his Chariots of Fire (1981) and Blade Runner (1982) soundtracks or for the tracks used in the Cosmos (1980) television series.

Music for Sunday, June 11, 2017 + Trinity Sunday

Vocal Music

• Triune God, Mysterious Being – Alfred V. Fedak

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

• Hymn 362 - Holy, holy, holy!  (NICEA)
• Canticle 13: Hymn S-236 - Benedictus es, Domine – setting by John Rutter
• Hymn 368 - Holy Father, great Creator (REGENT SQUARE)
• Hymn 295 - Sing praise to our Creator (CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN)
• Hymn 8 - Morning has broken (BUNESSAN)
• Hymn - Father, we adore you (MARANATHA)
• Hymn - Go make of all disciples (LANCASHIRE)

Usually the special days on the church calendar remember and celebrate events in the life of Christ (Christmas, Easter) or the church (Pentecost) or the Saints of God (All Saints), but this Sunday, Trinity Sunday, is the only day on the church calendar dedicated to a doctrine: the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, (2) each Person is fully God, (3) there is only one God. For that reason, we sing the great Trinitarian hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy.... God in three persons, blessed trinity." We'll also sing other hymns and songs that glorify the Trinity.

The choir will sing a fairly new anthem by Alfred Fedak with a text by the Rev. Carl P. Daw. Triune God, Mysterious Being unites Daw's evocative text with Fedak's quiet tune CHURCH UNITED. The union is ideal: Daw's vibrant Trinitarian imagery and its theology of dynamic interplay with the mission of the Church is perfectly mirrored in Fedak's gently rocking tune.

God the Spirit, guide and guardian,
windsped flame and hovering dove,
breath of life and voice of prophets,
sign of blessing, power and love:
give to those who lead your people
fresh anointing of your grace;
send them forth as bold apostles
to your Church in every place.

Christ our Savior, Sovereign, Shepherd,
Word made flesh, Love crucified,
teacher, healer, suffering servant,
friend of sinners, foe of pride:
in your tending may all pastors
learn and live a shepherd's care;
grant them courage and compassion
shown through word and deed and prayer.

Great Creator, Life-bestower,
Truth beyond all thought's recall,
fount of wisdom, womb of mercy,
giving and forgiving all:
as you know our strength and weakness,
so may those the Church exalts
oversee her life steadfastly
yet not overlook her faults.

Triune God, mysterious Being,
undivided and diverse,
deeper than our minds can fathom,
greater than our creeds rehearse:
help us in our varied callings
your full image to proclaim,
that our ministries uniting
may give glory to your Name.

©1989 Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, Ill. 60188  All rights reserved.

Alfred Fedak is Minister of Music and Arts at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany, New York. A native of New Jersey. He graduated from Hope College in 1975 with degrees in Organ Performance and Music History, and subsequently earned a Masters’ degree in Organ Performance from Montclair State University. He has done additional study at Westminster Choir College, Eastman School of Music, the Institute for European Studies in Vienna, Austria, and in England at the first Cambridge Choral Studies Seminar at Clare College, Cambridge.

Hymns for Sunday

• Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! (NICEA) In 325 AD, Church leaders convened in the town of Nicaea in Bithynia to formulate a consensus of belief and practice amongst Christians. What resulted was the Nicene Creed, a document passed on through the ages as one of the pillars of church doctrine. The primary function of this creed was to establish a firm belief in the divinity of Christ, countering the heresy of Arius, who believed that Jesus was not fully divine. It was this creed that inspired Reginald Heber to write this great hymn of praise to the Triune God, with the intent that the hymn be sung before or after the creed was recited in a service, and on Trinity Sunday – eight weeks after Easter. The tune, composed by John B. Dykes for Heber’s text, is also titled NICAEA in recognition of Heber’s text. The words evoke a sense of awe at the majesty of God, and call on all of creation – humans, saints and angels, and all living things – to praise the Godhead three-in-one.
• A Song of Praise: Glory to you (John Rutter) On some Sundays the Lectionary suggests certain canticles be sung instead of a Psalm. Canticle 13, Benedictus es, Domine, is especially appropriate for Trinity Sunday. We will sing a setting for Rite II by John Rutter, the leading composer of choral music throughout the world today. Be prepared for a short introduction!!
• Go make of all disciples (LANCASHIRE) Though not in any of our hymnals, this hymn is perfect for today's Gospel reading (Matthew 28:16-20), so I just had to include it. The author, Leon McKinley Adkins, was a Methodist minister from New York State who wrote this mission hymn for the 1964 edition of The Methodist Hymnal.

We're having an Old-Fashioned Hymn Sing on  Friday, August 11 at 7 PM. Help us decide what hymns to sing!  You can give Jackson Hearn a list of your favorite hymns at church or in an email. (jacksonhearn@goodshepherdkingwood.org). Or, you can vote on your favorite hymns by going to http://doodle.com/poll/4gh2kpy5vwyeyxa4 (or use scan this QR code on your smart phone or table)

Music for June 2, 2017 + Pentecost

Confirmation

Vocal Music

• Creator Spirit, Heavenly Dove – Robert Powell (b. 1932)
• Dance: I’m goin’a sing When the Spirit Says Sing – arr. William Farley Smith (1941-1997)
• Dance: Spirit Song – John Wimber (1934 - 1997) 

Instrumental Music

• Exuberant Praise – Cynthia Dobrinski (b. 1950)
• Jubilate – Kris Anthony
• 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 225 - Hail thee, festival day! (SALVE FESTE DIES)
• Hymn 511 - Holy Spirit, ever living (ABBOT’S LEIGH)
• Hymn R201 - Be Still, for the Spirit of the Lord (BE STILL)
• Hymn R168 - If you believe and I believe (Traditional Zimbabwe)
• Hymn R280 - Like the murmur of the dove’s song (BRIDEGROOM)
• Hymn 506 - Praise the Spirit in Creation (FINNIAN)
• Baptism Hymn 297 – Descend, O Spirit, purging flame (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Psalm 104:25-35, 37 - Benedic, anima mea – Thomas Pavlechko

The choir anthem this Sunday is an arrangement of an ancient hymn and chant for Pentecost usually referred to as Veni Creator Spiritus. Robert Powell has taken this elegant text and tune and supplied an excellent setting for choir, handbells and organ, preserving the flowing modal character of the original sources. The first three stanzas are presented in typical chant style, progressing to a more chorale-like setting for the fourth and fifth stanzas, mirroring the evolution of the original chant to chorale which can be seen by comparing hymn 502 ("Veni Creator Spiritus") to hymn 501 ("Komm, Gott Schöpfer") in our hymnal. (Hymn 501 is the tune that Bach used for his piece that I am using for the closing voluntary this morning.)

Powell, who for thirty-five years was Director of Music and Organist of Christ Church Episcopal of Greenville, South Carolina, also wrote the musical setting of the Eucharist which we will be singing this summer. Although it hasn't been sung much in our parish, this setting of the Gloria and Sanctus is among the most well known of the Rite II musical settings in the Hymnal 1982.

This Sunday marks the last time the Good Shepherd Handbell Choir will play this 2016-2017 season. We will be playing two works by two contemporary Handbell composers. (OK, honestly, ALL handbell composers are contemporary, as the handbell choir hasn't really been around for all that long. Though the first set of handbells came to America in 1902, it wasn't until the early 1970s that handbell choirs began to take off in churches all across America.

Cynthia Dobrinski

Cynthia Dobrinski is one of the leaders in handbell composition. With more than 175 works in print, she has conducted about 350 handbell workshops and festivals internationally. Dobrinski earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Christian University and her Master of Music degree in organ performance from Northwestern University. She was a Fulbright scholar and taught for 15 years at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Currently she is the Music Director & Organist at the First Presbyterian Church of Martinsville, Virginia.

I cannot find anything about the composer of the communion voluntary, Kris Anthony. The piece Jubilate (pronounced Yoo-bee-lah-teh, Latin for "Rejoice!") was published early on, in 1991, and though it sounds relatively simple, is actually one of the tougher pieces we've worked on, and I've joked with the choir that Kris Anthony was probably banished from the earth by his bell choir after they had to learn the piece. It is very linear in its compositional make-up, employing the technique of polyphony, the style of simultaneously combining a number of parts, each forming an individual melody and harmonizing with each other. At one point you'll hear 4 different layers of music.

Music for May 28, 2017 + The Sunday after Ascension Day

Vocal Music

• Let Us With a Gladsome Mind – Alan Ridout (1934-1996)
• I will not leave you comfortless – Everett Titcomb (1884-1968)

Instrumental Music

• Prière du Christ montant vers son Père ("Prayer of Christ ascending towards his Father") - Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
• Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song – James Biery (
• Toccata in G - Théodore Dubois (1837 –1924)

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

• Hymn 494 - Crown him with many crowns (DIADEMATA)
• Hymn R37 - Glorify Your Name (GLORIFY YOUR NAME)
• Hymn 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus (IN BABILONE)
• Hymn 214, omit st. 3 - Hail the day that sees him rise (LLANFAIR)
• Hymn 315 - Thou, who at thy first Eucharist didst pray (SONG 1)
• Hymn 460 - Alleluia! Sing to Jesus! (HYFRYDOL) 
• Psalm 68:1-10, 33-26 Exsurgat Deus – Tone VII

Everett Titcomb was an American composer of sacred choral and organ music who contributed a vast amount of works for the Episcopal Church in the first half of the twentieth-century.  A native of Massachusetts, he was largely self-taught, though he was influenced by many of the well-known composers stationed in the Boston area during the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Eugene Thayer, Dudley Buck, George Chadwick, and Horatio Parker; yet at the same time he was keenly interested in plainchant and the polyphonic style of the 15th and 16th century Italians. For fifty years, Titcomb served the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Boston as their organist and choirmaster.

His motet for Pentecost, I Will Not Leave You Comfortless (1934) reflects his interest in Renaissance polyphony. It begins with a broad, unfolding line and emphasizes the Veni, creator chant (Come, Holy Spirit) which forms a cantus firmus in the bass voice in the Alleluia section. This motet is among his best work, and one which has remained a part of sacred and university choral repertoire into the 21st Century. It is significant for its selection to be in the official program of the 1936 English Church Music Festival in London where it was performed by 4000 voices with Titcomb in attendance. It was the first time an American composer had been featured in the festival. Subsequently, it was made famous in the United States by its inclusion in several coast-to-coast radio broadcasts of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. In many ways, it launched his career as an internationally recognized composer of sacred music. (1)

The opening voluntary is the last movement of a suite written for Ascension Day by the French composer Olivier Messiaen which he arranged from his orchestral suite L'ascension. This movement is titled "Prière du Christ montant vers son Père", ("Prayer of Christ ascending to his Father"), and is accompanied by this quotation from this week's Gospel, John 17:6, 11.

I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world... And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

This piece represents the actual ascent of Christ, wafting slowly up into the heavens, into the light of the Father, with movement beginning in the bottom register of the organ and rising to the top.
Christ's ascension is extremely slow, solemn, and full of emotion. It is written for the tender sound of the string stops on the organ. As the piece begins, it is a little sad,  but comforting. It is the sadness of those left behind who have hope that they will again see their loved one.

From the middle of the piece onward, a marvelous transformation of emotion takes place - from the sadness of the beginning to an inner confirmation of profound faith - and, as we reach the end, which continues to crescendo, the light that radiates from heaven floods the observers of this miraculous ascension with hope and love. The end is ecstatic. When we reach that point (that is, when we can no longer hear any music), we are left with the feeling that Christ's journey through the firmament continues that he is so far away that we, still here on earth, are no longer able to observe his ascent. (2)

(1)  Online diary of William Harris (March 14, 2013) retrieved from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/3/14/1194153/-Thursday-Classical-Music-Op-C109-Everett-Titcomb
(2) Gillock, Jon, Performing Messiaen's Organ Works: 66 Masterclasses. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2009, pp 47 

Music for May 21, 2017 + The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Rogation Sunday

Vocal Music

• If Ye Love Me – Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585)
• Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree – Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987)

Instrumental Music

• Prelude on Dunedin – David Dahl (b. 1937)
• The Infinite Meadows of Heaven – Paul Mealor (b. 1975)
• Earth and All Stars – arr. Keith Kolander (b. 1955)

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

• Hymn 405 - All things bright and beautiful (ROYAL OAK)
• Hymn 492 - Sing, ye faithful, sing with gladness (FINNIAN)
• Hymn 455 - O love of God, how strong and true (DUNEDIN)
• Hymn 705 - As those of old their first fruits brought (FOREST GREEN)
• Hymn R250 - O Lord my God (O STOR GUD)
• Hymn R54 - I sing the almighty power of God (Ellacombe)
• Psalm 66:7–18 - Jubilate Deo – Mode 2

In addition to being the Sixth Sunday of the Easter Season, today is Rogation Sunday. Rogation Sunday is the day when the Church has traditionally offered prayer for God’s blessing on the fruits of the earth and the labors of those who produce our food. The word “rogation” is from the Latin rogare, “to ask.” Historically, the Rogation Days (the three days before Ascension Day) were a period of fasting and abstinence, beseeching God’s blessing on the crops for a bountiful harvest. Few of us today directly derive our livelihood from the production of food, yet it is good to be reminded of our dependence upon those who do and our responsibility for the environment.

Elizabeth Poston

In recognition of this day, I have chosen the beautiful setting by Elizabeth Poston of the text, Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree. One of my choir members asked what an apple tree had to do with Jesus. I found a great meditation by Joan Halmo in The Hymn, the journal of the Hymn Society of America that had some great food for thought.

Trees have always been revered in every culture, as they bring shade to the earth, refuge for living creatures, food for our bodies as well as materials for home and every day living. Not only are they functional, but they are beautiful as well. Trees are also a sign of hope in the annual season of rebirth and renewal. As Dr. Halmo says, "The tree is in truth a bearer of life and of healing for humanity and the earth. (1)

The poet, Richard Hutchins, was a Calvinist Baptist minister who served at Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, England.  For years this text was thought to be by Anonymous, but the poem was attributed to "R.H." in The Spiritual Magazine, 1761 and collected into the book Divine, Moral, and Historical Miscellanies, in Prose and Verse... (London, 1761). Since The Spiritual Magazine was a magazine for Calvinistic Baptists, "R.H." contributed additional poems to this magazine, one of which identifies him as being from Long Buckby and as a minister by the name of Richard Hutchins served the Calvinist Baptist congregation in Long Buckby from about 1759-1765, it is likely that "R.H." refers to Richard Hutchins.

Hutchins was probably not well schooled in theology, yet he displays a keen vision of Christ as the tree of life, "laden with fruit and always green."

Paul Mealor

The piano piece at communion is a new piece by the Welsh composer Paul Mealor. He may not (yet) be the biggest name in classical music, but he has composed music for one of the biggest ceremonial events of the past decade, the marriage of Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton. Mealor's motet, a setting of Ubi Caritas et Amor, was commissioned by Prince William for his wedding at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, when it was sung by the Choirs of Westminster Abbey and Her Majesty's Chapel Royal during the signing of the registry.

Topping the Classical Charts for six weeks with his bestselling album, A Tender Light in November 2011, he also broke records by being the first classical composer to hold both the classical and pop chart No. 1’s at the same time in December 2011, securing the UK Christmas No. 1 with his piece for The Military Wives Choir and Gareth Malone, Wherever You Are. Wherever You Are entered the UK Pop Singles Chart at number 1 that same month, selling over 556,000 copies in one week, more than the rest of the Top 12 combined, and was nominated for Best British Single in the 2012 BRIT Awards. It has been named as the fastest selling single since Elton John’s Candle in the Wind. In April of 2012 Mealor was voted the nation’s favorite living composer during the UK Classic FM Hall of Fame.

The Infinite Meadows of Heaven is a quote from H. W. Longfellow.

Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels. Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie

This slow and expressive piece is underpinned by oscillating thirds in its outer sections that accompany a melody using the upper end of the keyboard. A low pedal octave also accompanies the first section. The middle section is more agitated but all returns to a blissful calm.

The opening voluntary is an organ interpretation of the hymn tune which we will be singing before the Gospel this morning. DUNEDIN is a tune written in 1971 by Vernon Griffiths, an English organist and teacher  who moved to New Zealand in 1926 to accept a position at the Christchurch Teachers' Training College. This tune, DUNEDIN, is named after the town where his second position at as music master at King Edward Technical College. (2)

This setting is from the Bayoubuchlein, the collection of organ preludes on hymn-tunes from the last 50 years that was compiled for the 2016 American Guild of Organists National Convention here in Houston. This prelude was debuted at a service at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston. It is in three parts: In the first verse the melody is played on a stopped called a Krummhorn (similar to a clarinet) while the right hand accompanies with a single flute stop. In verse two we find a canon at the octave between the two hands, playing on separate manuals (keyboards). The final stanza has the melody in the pedal on a trumpet and trombone sound while the right hand punctuates the musical phrases with fanfare-like chords.

David Dahl

David P. Dahl is Professor of Music and University Organist Emeritus from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA, retiring in 2000 after thirty-five years of teaching. In August, 2010, he retired as Director Emeritus of Music Ministries at Christ Episcopal Church, Tacoma, where served for forty years. During his career he has been an active recitalist, including performances for national conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. He is a published composer of organ music and has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Organ Historical Society, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pacific Lutheran University. (3)

(1) Halmo, Joan, "Hymn Interpretation ['Jesus Christ the Apple Tree']", The Hymn, July 2002, Volume 53, Issue 3, Pages 52-54, print
(2) Rachael M. Hawkey. 'Griffiths, Thomas Vernon', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/biographies/4g21/griffiths-thomas-vernon (accessed 19 May 2017)
(3) David Dahl biography (2016, June). Retrieved from http://agohouston2016.com/conference/composers/david-dahl