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.