Music for July 3, 2016 + The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

The Eve of the Commemoration of Independence

Vocal Music 

• The Old Rugged Cross – George Bennard (1873-1958), arr. Norman Price 

Instrumental Music

• Eternal Father, Strong to Save – Alfred V. Fedak (b. 1953) 
• God Save the King – Charles Wesley (1757-1835) 
• Semper Fidelis – John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), arr. Jackson Hearn 

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

• Hymn 718 - God of our fathers (National Hymn)
• Hymn 657 - Love divine, all loves excelling (Hyfrydol)
• Hymn 716 - God bless our native land (America)
• Hymn R218 – Broken for me (Broken For Me)
• Hymn 544 - Jesus shall reign where’er the sun (Duke Street)
• Psalm 30, 1-6, 12-13 (Tone I.g)

OK, there is no liturgical feast called "The Commemoration of Independence." Certainly not "The Eve of..." The Book of Common Prayer does make provisions for readings on Independence Day, and prayers or collects for Independence Day and National Life, but it is not a holiday that replaces the normal Sunday readings as found in the lectionary. (Days such as Christmas and All Saints override the normal Sunday readings when those days fall on a Sunday.) That being said, however, there is no denying that when Sunday falls within a four-day weekend including the 4th of July, one would be hard pressed to ignore that in whatever venue one finds oneself. So I am including some patriotic music in our hymn selections and organ music. I am even giving a nod to that peculiarly American genre of Gospel Music with the offertory, the American hymn "The Old Rugged Cross." I feel justified in including it in the main body of our liturgy as it relates to the Epistle reading.

May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. - Galatians 6:14

The cross and its meaning for believers are the themes of this hymn. The cross is seen as “the emblem of suffering and shame” in the first stanza, yet it has “a wondrous attraction” in the second and “a wondrous beauty” in the third. Why is such symbol of shame found so attractive? Because it is there that “Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.” The joy that is found in contemplating the cross is not found in the shame, but in the promise that someday the saints will exchange the labor of sanctification for the crown of life (James 1:12, Rev. 2:10).

This hymn was begun in 1912 by George Bennard as he was holding evangelistic meetings in Michigan He was unable to finish it, however, until early in 1913, while holding another series of evangelistic services. The song soon achieved wide popularity when it was introduced by evangelist Homer Rodeheaver.

This text was not accepted by most major hymnals until the 1950s, despite great popularity. One reason was the prohibitive fee charged by the copyright owner. Another was the somewhat controversial nature of a hymn expressing such great affection for the cross itself, rather than for Christ, the one who died there. It is still not in the Hymnal 1982, though it is in Lift Every Voice and Sing II, the hymnal for Black Episcopalians (and those that want to sing like them).

The opening voluntary is an organ piece by Alfred Fedak on the Navy hymn, Eternal Father, Strong to Save. A prolific composer, Fedak is Minister of Music and Arts at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Capitol Hill in Albany, New York, Organist/Choir Director of Congregation Beth Emeth in Albany,  is on the adjunct music faculty at Schenectady County Community College, and is Chapel Organist at Emma Willard School in Troy, New York.

The communion voluntary is a set of variations on "God Save the King," or "America," depending on your nationality. (You say toMEHto, I say toMAHto.) It was written for organ or harpsichord, but I will be playing it on the piano. The composer, Charles Wesley, was SON of the famous hymn writer, Charles Wesley.

John Philip Sousa

And I close with one of John Philip Sousa's great marches, Semper Fidelis. When July 4 comes on a Sunday, I always play The Stars and Stripes Forever. Several years ago, when the fourth of July was the day after our Sunday worship, I arranged this march for organ from a piano score I had in my library.  The trickiest part is the trio section that comes in the last half of the piece where the melody is in the pedal line (the trumpets and coronets in the band) while the right hand plays the obbligato line that was assigned to the piccolo, flutes and clarinets.

Semper Fidelis is regarded as the official march of the United States Marine Corps. This piece was one of two composed in response to a request from United States President Chester Arthur for a new piece to be associated with the United States President. The words Semper Fidelis are Latin for "Always Faithful."