Music for May 10, 2015 + The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Vocal Music

• The Story Tellin' Man II - Ken Medema 
• I Give You a New Commandment – Peter Aston (1938-2013)
• Give Ear unto Me – Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739)

Instrumental Music

• Rejoice, Beloved Christians – Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780)
• Praeludium in F Major – Johann Ludwig Krebs

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

• Hymn 400 All creatures of our God and King (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)
• Hymn 455 O Love of God, how strong and true (DUNEDIN)
• Hymn R 226 Ubi caritas et amor (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 610 Lord, whose love through humble service (BLAENHAFREN)

Quick Pop Quiz: What is the greatest commandment?

• A. Thou Shalt honor thy father and mother.
• B. Love thy neighbor as yourself
• C. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.
• D. Thou shalt not wear white until after Memorial Day.

The answer is C, though B comes in a close second, and A has special relevance this Sunday. (It's Mother's Day - a gentle reminder from your music ministry.) We will make no comment about D.

I bring this up because this Sunday's Gospel from John 15 reminds us what Jesus said about commandments: If we love him, we will keep his commandments. “This is my commandment", he says, "that you love one another as I have loved you". It's about love. So all of our vocal music centers on that theme.

Peter Aston

The Good Shepherd choir sings a setting of a text from John 13 by English composer, Peter Aston. Though best known as a composer of church music, Aston's career combined teaching and conducting as well as composing. He held posts at the University of York and University of East Anglia,and conducted leading British orchestras and various international choirs. He was a founder of the Norwich Festival of Contemporary Church Music and was a Lay Canon of Norwich Cathedral. He died a month before his 75th birthday near Norwich, U.K., on September 13, 2013.

Benedetto Marcello

At communion the St. Gregory Choir will sing Benedetto Marcello's two part anthem Give Ear unto Me, with a text paraphrased from Psalm 17. Even this psalm concentrates on our following the commandments:

Give ear unto me, Lord, I beseech Thee,
for I have walked in Thy commandments,
Let me be judged with righteous judgment,
O let my sentence, come from Thy presence.

Marcello was an Italian composer, writer, and teacher, best known today for his church music and instrumental works. He was a younger contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi, and, indeed, his musical style closely resembles that of the Venetian master.

Ken Medema

However, the main musical offering this Sunday is the presentation of the musical, The Story Tellin' Man II, by Ken Medema. Every Spring the St. Gregory Choir presents a short musical presentation of a Biblical story in our 10:15 worship service.

One of the first musicals written in a contemporary vein for children was The Story Tellin' Man. Written in 1975, it was a collection of several of the parables, or stories, told by Jesus (the Story Tellin' Man) and has become a classic. Medema used several different musical styles to tell the different stories. Kids love singing the music, but the entire musical is 45 minutes long - we Episcopalians don't have patience for long sermons on Sunday morning, much less long musicals! - so I have devised a way to divide the work into TWO musicals - the first one focusing on the "lost" parables (lost coin, lost sheep, lost son) and the second one telling the story of the Good Samaritan. It's that story that we tell this Sunday as we hear the scripture about "Love One Another." I think it's a perfect fit.

Be sure to read about Ken Medema's inspiring story here.

The opening and closing voluntaries are by Johann Ludwig Krebs, German organist and composer noted for his organ music. He began his musical studies under his father and was later a favorite pupil of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach at Leipzig. (Bach held him in high regard, punning on both their names (Krebs [crab] and Bach [brook]) by saying "He is the only crab in my brook."
Krebs's organ music is composed in the forms used by Bach and leans heavily on Bach’s style. It is technically very accomplished. Krebs also wrote trio sonatas, sonatas for flute and harpsichord, and some sacred vocal music.

About the hymns:

• All creatures of our God and King (LASST UNS ERFREUEN) We are singing this hymn, the "Canticle of the Sun" by St. Francis of Assisi, in a nod to Rogation Sunday, the sixth Sunday before Easter, the day when the Church has traditionally offered prayer for God’s blessings 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.” It is good to be reminded of our dependence upon those who produce our food and our responsibility for the environment. We will omit those stanzas with an asterisk.
• O Love of God, how strong and true (DUNEDIN) The love of God lies at the heart of the Christian message, and that love is not an abstract idea but an act of redemption. William Temple points out that the essence of Christianity is not "God is love" but "God so loved that he gave," and this love is the theme of Horatio Bonar's great hymn.
• Ubi caritas et amor (Jacques Berthier) One of the most loved and familiar of the songs from the Taizé Community in France, it was written by Jacques Berthier, the organist at St-Ignace, the Jesuit church in Paris from 1961 until his death in 1994.
• Lord, whose love through humble service (BLAENHAFREN) This hymn was written in 1961 and is a reminder that, as Christians, we should follow the example of Christ, whose life was spent serving others. Our worship in church is in vain unless it is followed by concerns for others.