Music for the Sunday after Ascension Day + May 8, 2016

Vocal Music

• Communion Song – Barry McGuire (b. 1935), Mac Jones, arr. 
• The People that Walked in Darkness – G. F. Handel (1685-1759)

Instrumental Music

• Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 557 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
• Bryn Calfaria: Lord, Enthroned In Heavenly Splendor – William Haller (b. 1940)

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

• Hymn 214 - Hail the day that sees him rise (Llanfair)
• Hymn R168 - If you believe and I believe (Traditional Zimbabwe)
• Hymn R58 - Alleluia, sing to Jesus! (Hyfrydol)
• Hymn 325 - Let us break bread together (Let Us Break Bread)
• Hymn 450 - All hail the power of Jesus’ name! (Coronation)

Barry McGuire,  late 1960s

Today's anthem is an acapella choral setting of one first from the contemporary Christian genre, arranged by one of our choir members, Mac Jones. "Communion Song" is by Barry McGuire, an American singer-songwriter best known for the 1965 hit song "Eve of Destruction." His fascinating story detailing his rise as a folk-rock artist to a pioneering singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music can be found here on his web page.

The opening voluntary is from a volume that every beginning organist knows, owns, and plays, called Eight Little Preludes and Fugues (8 Kleine Präludien und Fugen) which may or may not have been written by Johann Sebastian Bach. People have debated his authorship for years, saying that, stylistically, it was not like any of Bach's other organ works. Some suggest they may be written by composed by one of Bach's pupils, possibly Johann Tobias Krebs or his son Johann Ludwig Krebs. Still others have suggested that the reason the compositional style of the Eight Little Preludes differ from Bach's other organ music is that this collection was conceived specifically for the pedal clavichord (a keyboard instrument similar to a very early piano), thereby making the stylistic claim of inauthenticity far less arguable.

Barry McGuire, today

Whatever the truth is, Bach scholar Philipp Spitta states that they bore the "stamp of commanding mastery."