Music for November 1, 2015 + All Saints Sunday

Vocal Music

• And I Saw a New Heaven – Malcolm Archer (b. 1952)
• O Sacred Feast – Healey Willan (1880-1968)

Instrumental Music

• Blessed Are Ye Faithful Souls Departed – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
• Requiem Aeternum/In Paradisum – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Hymn Prelude on “Darwall’s 148th” – Percy Whitlock (1903-1946)

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

• Hymn 287 - For all the saints, who from their labors rest (Sine Nomine)
• Hymn R-276 - Soon and very soon (Soon and Very Soon)
• Hymn 625 - Ye holy angels bright (Darwall’s 148th)
• Hymn 620 - Jerusalem, my happy home (Land of Rest)
• Hymn 618 - Ye watchers and ye holy ones (Lasst uns erfrueun)

This Sunday is All Saints Day, a solemn holy day of the church celebrated annually on November 1. Originally, the Catholic church dedicated this day to the saints of the Church, that is, all those who were beatified by the church, and remembered all other faithful departed on All Souls' Day on November 2. As Anglicans, we view All Saints' Day as incorporating the observance of All Souls' Day and it serves to "remember those who have died", in connection with the theological doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the Communion of Saints. That is why we remember our family and friends who have died as well as all the saints at this service.

Our beautiful All Saints anthem is by the English composer Malcolm Archer, Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College in England, where he trains and conducts the choirs and teaches organ. He has enjoyed a distinguished career in cathedral music, which has taken him to posts at Norwich, Bristol, and Wells Cathedrals, as well as Director of Music at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

This anthem begins with the sopranos singing the first verse of Revelation 21, our Epistle reading for today:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. 

The rest of the choir joins the sopranos as they repeat that lovely, peaceful melody. At the words "And I, John, saw the holy city," the men of the choir take the melody. At the end of the anthem, the words "and the former things are passed away," are repeated section by section, like an echo that fades away.

Malcolm Archer at St. Paul's Cathedral, London

The communion anthem is a motet written by Healey Willan. It is the fourth of six motets he wrote in 1924 for his choir at the Church of St. Mary Magdalen in Toronto. The text is an English translation of the Latin hymn, O Sacrum Convivium. You may wonder what is the difference between an anthem and a motet. A motet a short piece of sacred choral music, typically polyphonic and unaccompanied. An anthem is also a choral composition, often based on a biblical passage, for singing by a choir in a church service. It can be accompanied by organ or piano, and can sometimes be as long as ten minutes, as are the English verse anthems 17th and 18th centuries.

The opening voluntary is one of the The Eleven Chorale Preludes, Op. 122, that Johannes Brahms composed a year before he died. They were published posthumously in 1902.

The eleven pieces are relatively short and are based on selected verses of nine separate Lutheran chorales. They were written in the summer of 1896 after Clara Schumann’s death (some may have been conceived earlier), and it is highly probable that Brahms was already aware of his own illness at that point; several are associated with texts about death and eternity, such as our organ voluntary today. This setting, with its beautiful 12/8 flow and major/minor vacillation, is the shortest.  The prelude is mostly in D minor, but the first line is almost entirely in the “relative” major key of F.  The piece is mostly played on manuals only. The 12/8 meter creates a pastoral mood in the flowing voices under the chorale melody, which is heard in the soprano (top) voice.  Brahms marks it dolce (sweetly).

Blessed are ye, faithful souls departed;
Death awakened you to life immortal.
You are delivered
of all cares that hold the world in bondage.

(English Translation by Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi)

Music for October 25 + The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• O Thou the Central Orb – Charles Wood (1866-1926)
• Nunc Dimittis – A. H. Brewer (1865-1928)

Instrumental Music

• Fanfare-Improvisation on “Azmon” - Alec Wyton (1921-2007)
• Erhalt uns, Herr (Hymn R191) - Johann Pachelbel
• Trumpet Tune in D Major - William Boyce

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

• Hymn 493           O for a thousand tongues to sing (Azmon)
• Hymn 679           Surely it is God who saves me (Thomas Merton)
• Hymn 460           Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (st. 1, 3 &4) (Hyfrydol)
• Hymn 302           Father, we thank thee who hast planted (Rendez a Dieu)
• Hymn R191        O Christ, the healer (Erhalt uns, Herr)

Charles Wood

The choir is singing two anthems from the repertoire list of this Sunday's Diocese of Texas 56th Annual Adult Choral Festival. O Thou the Central Orb is by Charles Wood, one of the great 19th-century composers of Anglican choral music. His anthems are frequently performed, though he also wrote eight string quartets and an opera based on Dickens's Pickwick Papers. Though he studied at Cambridge and in London, he hailed from Armagh in Northern Ireland, where his father was a tenor in the choir of St Patrick's Cathedral. O Thou the central orb is without a doubt a classic of the English Anthem which defines in many people's minds the Anglican 'cathedral sound'.
This anthem is often sung in Advent, with its line

Come, quickly come, and let thy glory shine, 

as well as the line

Pure beam of the most High, eternal Light
Of this our wintry world, 

But the main theme is that of light, and it works well on any Sunday morning.

The other anthem is the Nunc Dimittis from Herbert Brewer's Evening Canticles in D Major. A contemporary of Charles Wood, Brewer was born one year earlier than Wood and died less than two years later. He was an English composer and organist who lived in Gloucester his whole life, and was the organist at two of its churches; he also founded the city's choral society in 1905. He had been a cathedral chorister in his boyhood, and began his organ studies with the organist of the same cathedral, C. H. Lloyd. As a composer, Brewer was fairly conservative; his output includes church music of all types, cantatas, songs, instrumental works, and orchestral music.

The opening voluntary this Sunday is by another English Cathedral Musician, though this one moved to America. Born in London, Alec Wyton studied at The Royal Academy of Music and Oxford University. He came to the United States in 1950 at the invitation of the Bishop of the Dallas Diocese, who wanted English-style music at his Cathedral. Four years later he was appointed organist and Master of the Choristers at St. John the Divine, New York City, where he combined his musician duties with those of Headmaster of the Cathedral Choir School. He held that position for 20 years.

He was the Coordinator for the Standing Commission on Church Music of the Episcopal Church which produced the hymnal which we now use.

I first heard this composition, Fanfare-Improvisation on “Azmon”, when I was in high school. It is based on that great hymn, "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing." As it begins, we hear a fanfare, and a brief statement of the closing phrase of the hymn-tune, before an ostinato pedal part begins and a melody which only hints at the well known tune begins. After two repetitions of that improvisatory hymn-like melody, he presents the well-known tune, only it's not in the familiar "short-short Long, Long" pattern of the hymn. Not until the fourth time the tune is played is the familiar hymn heard in its original rhythm. At one point, the melody is also heard in canon, and in canon in two different keys at the same time!.  The final stanza is a direct presentation of the hymn-tune complete with fanfares.

The communion voluntary is a setting of today's closing hymn, with the melody in the pedal, accompanied by the hands on the manuals. It is by the South German composer Johann Pachelbel, who's famous for that Pachelbel Canon that you hear at weddings all the time. 

Music for October 18, 2015 + Choir Dedication Sunday + The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Jubilate Deo – Michael Bedford (b. 1949)
• Oh, Sing to the Lord a New Song – John Leavitt (b. 1956)
• Bless, O Lord, Us Thy Servants – John Harper (b. 1947)

Instrumental Music

• Andantino – Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
• Fugue in C Major, BWV 846 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Scherzo – Alan Ridout (1934-1996)

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

• Hymn 420 - When in our music God is glorified (ENGLEBERG)
• Hymn R 112 - You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord (ON EAGLES WINGS)
• Hymn 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus (IN BABILONE)
• Hymn R 289 - Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love (CHEREPONI)
• Hymn 492 - Sing, ye faithful, sing with gladness (FINNIAN)

Sunday, October 18 has been designated as Music Sunday by RSCM America. RSCM America is the branch of the Royal School of Church Music in the United States, whose goal is to uplift the spiritual life of religious communities through high quality choral music. On this day, we celebrate the music and musicianship that are a vital and beloved part of church life. On this day we will dedicate new choristers into our choir and reaffirm the ministries of those who have already been singing in the choir. Music Sunday is also a time when we offer a special prayer for our music and musicians--the young and old, professional and amateur, singer and instrumentalist, administrator and practitioner--most of whom work without expectation of recognition but who nonetheless deserve our awareness and thanks.

One of the anthems we will sing is a setting of The Chorister's Prayer.

Bless, O Lord, us Thy servants,
who minister in Thy temple.
Grant that what we sing with our lips,
we may believe in our hearts,
and what we believe in our hearts,
we may show forth in our lives.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Chorister's Prayer in its most common form was first published by the School of English Church Music (as the RSCM was then called) in 1934 in the Choristers' Pocket Book. It has origins which extend back at least to the 4th century, for the tenth canon of the fourth council of Carthage (c 398 AD) decrees that cantors should be blessed with the words Vide, ut quod ore cantas, corde credas, et quod corde credis, operibus comprobes (“See that what thou singest with thy lips thou dost believe in thine heart, and that what thou believest in thine heart thou dost show forth in thy works”)

John Harper

This prayer is used each week at the beginning of our Children's Choirs. We who pray these words weekly carry on a tradition of many centuries and hopefully we both ‘steadfastly fulfil’ and also ‘show forth’ the tenets of our faith in our lives and music.

John Harper composed this setting of The Chorister's Prayer for the 80th anniversary of the RSCM. It was sung at St Paul's Cathedral, London on Easter Monday 2007, to mark the beginning of the RSCM's 80th anniversary celebrations. Harper is RSCM Research Professor of Music and Liturgy, and Director of the new International Centre for Sacred Music Studies (ICSMuS) at Bangor University in Wales. He is Emeritus Director of The Royal School of Church Music.

John Leavitt

The other anthem the Good Shepherd sings this day is a contemporary setting of Psalm 96 with a rippling piano accompaniment with violin obbligato. It is by the American composer, choral director and teacher John Leavitt. A native of Kansas, Dr. Leavitt received the Kansas Artist Fellowship Award from the Kansas Arts in 2003 and in 2010 he was the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Masterpieces to commission a new choral work in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the State of Kansas.  His music has been performed in 30 countries across the globe and his recordings have been featured nationally on many public radio stations. His compositions are represented by nearly every major music publisher in this country. In addition to his academic posts, he has served Lutheran churches in the Wichita area.

The St. Gregory Choir will sing an anthem by the Oklahoma composer and church music Michael Bedford. Bedford retired last year from St. John's Episcopal Church in Tulsa after a twenty-five year tenure as director of music and organist. This anthem, Jubilate Deo, is a setting of Psalm 100 in both Latin and in contemporary English.

Music for October 11, 2015 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Hear the Voice and Prayer – Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

Instrumental Music

• Partita on “St. Anne” – Paul Manz (1919-2009)
• I. Theme
• II. Adagio
• VI. Fugue/Finale
• Saraband and Interlude – Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995)

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

• Hymn 680 - O God, our help in ages past (ST. ANNE)
• Hymn R127 - Blest are they, the poor in spirit (BLEST ARE THEY)
• Hymn 707 - Take my life and let it be (HOLLINGSIDE)
• Hymn - I have decided to follow Jesus (I HAVE DECIDED)
• Hymn 408 - Sing praise to God who reigns above (MIT FREUDEN ZART)

The organ voluntaries at the beginning and ending of worship are from a Partita (or Variations) by Paul Manz. During his lifetime, he was one of the premier organists in the Lutheran Church, a denomination with a tradition of fine music and hymnody. Manz was well known for his improvisations on the hymns of the church, publishing volumes of his organ improvisations. As a performer, Manz was famous for his celebrated hymn festivals. Instead of playing traditional organ recitals, Manz would generally lead a "festival" of hymns from the organ, in which he introduced each hymn with one of his famously creative organ improvisations based on the hymn tune in
question. The congregation would then sing the hymn with his accompaniment. Sometimes he would play an improvisation between each sung stanza, as with these well-known variations on the tune, ST. ANNE, sung to the Isaac Watts text "Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past" with which he would traditionally end each festival. It is from this partita that I've selected the opening and closing voluntaries.
At the prelude we hear the tune in it's entirety, presented with no embellishments. It is followed by the first variation, which, like a chorale prelude of Bach or Buxtehude, presents the melody in a highly ornamented fashion, often flirting with the actual notes of the melody to give us an impression of the tune.
The closing voluntary is the finale from the partita, starting with a fugue with its original subject. It is not until we depart from the fugue that we hear the melody in the pedal with the hands playing a flashy accompaniment.

The hymn, O God, our help in ages past, is one of the biggies.  It is a standard that appears in most major hymnals and is often sung at funerals. The words are a paraphrase of Psalm 90:1-5.  (Today's Psalm is also from Psalm 90, but using the last five verses.) They were written by Isaac Watts in 1714, shortly before the death of Queen Anne of England. This was a time of great crises and turmoil, as the successor of Queen Anne was as yet undetermined, and the fear of a monarch who would reinstate the persecution of Protestants was great. King George I prevented such persecution, but the fear before Anne’s death was great. This was the context in which Watts wrote his powerful text, now lauded as “one of the grandest in the whole realm of English Hymnody” (Bailey, The Gospel in Hymns, 54).
The music was composed by William Croft in in 1708 when he was organist at St. Anne’s in Soho. The tune appears in many compositions by other composers, but the fact that the opening phrase sounds like the fugue subject in J. S. Bach’s Fugue in E-flat Major, (“St. Anne” Fugue) is probably a coincidence. I am using Bach's music as in introdution to the hymn, in an arrangement by George Thalben-Ball (which Thalben-Ball transposed to C Major just for this purpose.)

Music for October 4, 2015 + The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• For the Beauty of the Earth – John Rutter (b. 1945)
• O Kind Jesus - Robert Hunter, arr. (1929-2001)

Instrumental Music

• Air - Gerre Hancock (1934-2012)
• Jesus Loves Me- Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Now Thank We All Our God - Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)

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

• Hymn 376 - Joyful, joyful, we adore thee (HYMN TO JOY)
• Hymn 480 - When Jesus left his Father’s throne (KINGSFOLD)
• Hymn 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus, stanzas 1-3 (IN BABILONE)
• Hymn - Jesus loves me, this I know (JESUS LOVES ME)
• Hymn 397 - Now thank we all our God (NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT)

Of the two choral offerings this Sunday, John Rutter's For the Beauty of the Earth is by far the best known. It's joyous text and infectious melody have made it a favorite among choirs throughout the world since it was first published in 1980, after he wrote it for The Texas Choral Director's Association. It incorporates several of Rutter's distinctive musical trademarks: an interesting, singable melody, several changes in key, and syncopated rhythms used in conjunction with smooth, straight legato lines. The accompaniment, which I will be playing on the piano, stands alone, supporting but not doubling what the choral parts do.


The other anthem, based on a simple Latvian folk tune, is arranged by Ralph Hunter. A choral conductor, educator, and arranger, Hunter was born in East Orange, New Jersey, in 1921. He began his musical career as a church organist at Newark, New Jersey’s First Reformed Church. He served in the Army during World War II and then attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York. In 1955, he became the conductor of New York’s Collegiate Chorale, the second conductor after founder Robert Shaw, and held that position until 1959. In the late 1950s, he was an arranger for Harry Belafonte, conducted the Radio City Music Hall Chorus, and formed his own group, the Ralph Hunter Choir, with whom he recorded five albums. In the 1960’s, he conducted a variety of groups, including a campaign chorus for Richard Nixon, called Voices for Nixon, as well as a chorus that performed on NBC television under the direction of Arturo Toscanini. From 1969-1987, he was a music professor at New York’s Hunter College, where he taught choral literature, conducting, and arranging. He conducted and arranged a wide variety of choral music, including the temperance songs we sing today. He is known for his arrangements and conducting of classical choral works by such early music composers as Thomas Tallis and Nicholas Porpora.

Sunday's Gospel lessons is about Jesus and divorce and and Jesus and the children. I've decided to focus on Jesus and the children. That's why we are singing these two anthems and today's hymns, especially Jesus Loves Me. Preceding the singing of Jesus Loves Me (in a rocking 6/8 setting by Dr. Horace Clarence Boyer as found in Lift Every Voice and Sing II, An African American Hymnal for the Episcopal Church), I will play an very improvisatory piano piece by Charles Callahan which quotes snippets of the tune while never playing the melody outright. \

Just this past week I watched an episode of "Call the Midwife" on Netflix (watch it, if you haven't yet!) where one of the characters dies tragically. His girlfriend laments that she cannot see God in this tragedy, and the head nun responds that God is not in the tragedy, God is in the response. That could be said about Martin Rinkart, the writer of our closing hymn.

Rinkart was a minister in the city of Eilenburg during the Thirty Years War. Apart from battles, lives were lost in great number during this time due to illnesses and disease spreading quickly throughout impoverished cities. In the Epidemic of 1637, Rinkart officiated at over four thousand funerals, sometimes fifty per day. In the midst of these horrors, it’s difficult to imagine maintaining faith and praising God, and yet, that’s exactly what Rinkart did. Sometime in the next twenty years, he wrote the hymn, Now Thank We All Our God, originally meant to be a prayer said before meals. Rinkart could recognize that our God is faithful, and even when the world looks bleak, He is “bounteous” and is full of blessings, if only we look for them. Blessings as seemingly small as a dinner meal, or as large as the end of a brutal war and unnecessary bloodshed are all reasons to lift up our thanks to God, with our hearts, our hands, and our voices.

The closing voluntary is Sigfrid Karg-Elert's setting of that tune, but the melody is hidden even more than in the piano piece of Callahan's on Jesus Loves Me. I've put up a diagram showing how fragment of the opening line is used as a basis for the main theme of this organ masterpiece.