- Rejoice, Greatly (Messiah) – G. F. Handel (1685-1759)
- By All Your Saints - Joel Martinson (b. 1960)
Instrumental Music
- Lord Christ, the only Son of God – Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748)
- Lord Christ, the only Son of God, BWV 601 – 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 67 – Comfort, comfort ye my people (PSALM 42)
- Hymn 65 - Prepare the way, O Zion (BEREDEN VAG FOR HERRAN)
- Hymn R-278 – Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
- Hymn 76 – On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry (WINCHESTER NEW)
- Psalm 85 – tone VIIIa
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| Marion Russell Dickson, soprano |
The music for the second Sunday of the Advent Season features music of THE Baroque Masters, Bach and Handel, with a lesser known baroque composer thrown in. The offertory anthem is Rejoice Greatly, that wonderful soprano aria from Handel's Messiah, sung by Kingwood resident and friend of the Good Shepherd Music Ministry, Marion Russell Dickson. She recently completed her doctorate in vocal performance from the University of Houston. This will be a busy weekend of performing for her as she is also the guest soloist with the Kingwood Pops Orchestra Friday and Saturday night.
The chorale Herr Christ, der einge Gottes-Sohn [Lord Christ, the only Son of God] is the basis of both the opening and closing voluntaries. In the opening voluntary by J. G. Walther, you hear the melody presented in its entirety in the soprano (top) part of the manualiter (that's German for "Look, Ma, no feet!") while the lower three voices accompany the melody with a repetitive eighth-note pattern. The closing voluntary is from Bach's monumental organ collection Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book"), 46 chorale preludes for organ written by Bach during the period 1708–1717. The collection was originally planned as a set of 164 chorale preludes spanning the whole liturgical year. This is the third of four pieces for Advent, though it was probably the first written. Like the opening voluntary today, the melody (cantus firmus) is presented unadorned in the soprano line with the other three voices on the same keyboard and in the pedal. The accompaniment is derived from the suspirans pedal motif of three sixteenth notes followed by two eighth notes. For Albert Schweitzer, this particular motif signified "beatific joy", representing either "intimate gladness or blissful adoration." The mood expressed is in keeping with joy for the coming of Christ. The motif, which is anticipated and echoed in the seamlessly interwoven inner parts, was already common in chorale preludes of the period. This motif figured in the earlier manualiter setting of the same hymn by Walther. Bach, however, goes beyond the previous models, creating a unique texture in the accompaniment which accelerates, particularly in the pedal, towards the cadences.
Interestingly, I played an opening and a closing voluntary by Walther and Bach last Sunday, too. This is not planned, just a happy coincidence. You can read what I said about those two here.
The communion motet is a recycled anthem for All Saints Day based on the hymn in the hymnal, but with the stanza for John the Baptist inserted as verse two. Click HERE to see what I said about the anthem back in November (in case you have forgotten it!)
Hymn 67 – Comfort, comfort ye my people - This is a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:1-5, in which the prophet looks forward to the coming of Christ. More specifically, the coming of the forerunner of Christ – John the Baptist – is foretold. Though Isaiah's voice crying in the desert is anonymous, the third stanza ties this prophecy and one from Malachi (Malachi 4:5) to a New Testament fulfillment. “For Elijah's voice is crying In the desert far and near” brings to mind Jesus' statement, “'But I tell you that Elijah has already come, ….' Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:12, 13 ESV) The tune is called PSALM 42, because it was used for Psalm 42 in the French Genevan Psalter. J. S. Bach also used this tune in seven of his cantatas.
Hymn 65 - Prepare the way, O Zion The text, having gone through a composite translation from Swedish and adapted from that, has bits and pieces of the most familiar Scripture that we hear during Advent. The tune is very basic: G major, 6/4 time, range of an octave. Only the refrain adds some rhythmic interest.
The chorale Herr Christ, der einge Gottes-Sohn [Lord Christ, the only Son of God] is the basis of both the opening and closing voluntaries. In the opening voluntary by J. G. Walther, you hear the melody presented in its entirety in the soprano (top) part of the manualiter (that's German for "Look, Ma, no feet!") while the lower three voices accompany the melody with a repetitive eighth-note pattern. The closing voluntary is from Bach's monumental organ collection Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book"), 46 chorale preludes for organ written by Bach during the period 1708–1717. The collection was originally planned as a set of 164 chorale preludes spanning the whole liturgical year. This is the third of four pieces for Advent, though it was probably the first written. Like the opening voluntary today, the melody (cantus firmus) is presented unadorned in the soprano line with the other three voices on the same keyboard and in the pedal. The accompaniment is derived from the suspirans pedal motif of three sixteenth notes followed by two eighth notes. For Albert Schweitzer, this particular motif signified "beatific joy", representing either "intimate gladness or blissful adoration." The mood expressed is in keeping with joy for the coming of Christ. The motif, which is anticipated and echoed in the seamlessly interwoven inner parts, was already common in chorale preludes of the period. This motif figured in the earlier manualiter setting of the same hymn by Walther. Bach, however, goes beyond the previous models, creating a unique texture in the accompaniment which accelerates, particularly in the pedal, towards the cadences.
Interestingly, I played an opening and a closing voluntary by Walther and Bach last Sunday, too. This is not planned, just a happy coincidence. You can read what I said about those two here.
The communion motet is a recycled anthem for All Saints Day based on the hymn in the hymnal, but with the stanza for John the Baptist inserted as verse two. Click HERE to see what I said about the anthem back in November (in case you have forgotten it!)
Hymn 67 – Comfort, comfort ye my people - This is a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:1-5, in which the prophet looks forward to the coming of Christ. More specifically, the coming of the forerunner of Christ – John the Baptist – is foretold. Though Isaiah's voice crying in the desert is anonymous, the third stanza ties this prophecy and one from Malachi (Malachi 4:5) to a New Testament fulfillment. “For Elijah's voice is crying In the desert far and near” brings to mind Jesus' statement, “'But I tell you that Elijah has already come, ….' Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:12, 13 ESV) The tune is called PSALM 42, because it was used for Psalm 42 in the French Genevan Psalter. J. S. Bach also used this tune in seven of his cantatas.
Hymn 65 - Prepare the way, O Zion The text, having gone through a composite translation from Swedish and adapted from that, has bits and pieces of the most familiar Scripture that we hear during Advent. The tune is very basic: G major, 6/4 time, range of an octave. Only the refrain adds some rhythmic interest.
Hymn R-278 – Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
Hymn 76 – On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry - Since this hymn explicitly calls us to make way for Christ, it is most fitting for the season of Advent. It references John the Baptist, a key figure in the narrative of Christ’s birth, to prepare the way or Christ’s second coming. Charles Coffin wrote this text in Latin for the Paris Breviary in 1736. In 1837 it was translated into English by John Chandler for his Hymns of the Primitive Church (Chandler mistakenly thought it was a medieval text). The text has since undergone many revisions, and today it is hard to find two hymnals in which the text is the same.
[Disclaimer: The organ has begun to act up again this week. Every time I practice, it behaves as if it were posessed of a ghost, and will instantly clear all my stops while I am practicing - or even worse, will add EVERY stop on the organ while I am in the midst of a quiet piece, to an utterly horrible sound. I have no control over it. Just remember this when you fill out your pledge card for the Capital Improvements Campaign!]
Hymn 76 – On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry - Since this hymn explicitly calls us to make way for Christ, it is most fitting for the season of Advent. It references John the Baptist, a key figure in the narrative of Christ’s birth, to prepare the way or Christ’s second coming. Charles Coffin wrote this text in Latin for the Paris Breviary in 1736. In 1837 it was translated into English by John Chandler for his Hymns of the Primitive Church (Chandler mistakenly thought it was a medieval text). The text has since undergone many revisions, and today it is hard to find two hymnals in which the text is the same.
[Disclaimer: The organ has begun to act up again this week. Every time I practice, it behaves as if it were posessed of a ghost, and will instantly clear all my stops while I am practicing - or even worse, will add EVERY stop on the organ while I am in the midst of a quiet piece, to an utterly horrible sound. I have no control over it. Just remember this when you fill out your pledge card for the Capital Improvements Campaign!]
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