Music for May 21, 2017 + The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Rogation Sunday

Vocal Music

• If Ye Love Me – Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585)
• Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree – Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987)

Instrumental Music

• Prelude on Dunedin – David Dahl (b. 1937)
• The Infinite Meadows of Heaven – Paul Mealor (b. 1975)
• Earth and All Stars – arr. Keith Kolander (b. 1955)

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

• Hymn 405 - All things bright and beautiful (ROYAL OAK)
• Hymn 492 - Sing, ye faithful, sing with gladness (FINNIAN)
• Hymn 455 - O love of God, how strong and true (DUNEDIN)
• Hymn 705 - As those of old their first fruits brought (FOREST GREEN)
• Hymn R250 - O Lord my God (O STOR GUD)
• Hymn R54 - I sing the almighty power of God (Ellacombe)
• Psalm 66:7–18 - Jubilate Deo – Mode 2

In addition to being the Sixth Sunday of the Easter Season, today is Rogation Sunday. Rogation Sunday is the day when the Church has traditionally offered prayer for God’s blessing 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.” Historically, the Rogation Days (the three days before Ascension Day) were a period of fasting and abstinence, beseeching God’s blessing on the crops for a bountiful harvest. Few of us today directly derive our livelihood from the production of food, yet it is good to be reminded of our dependence upon those who do and our responsibility for the environment.

Elizabeth Poston

In recognition of this day, I have chosen the beautiful setting by Elizabeth Poston of the text, Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree. One of my choir members asked what an apple tree had to do with Jesus. I found a great meditation by Joan Halmo in The Hymn, the journal of the Hymn Society of America that had some great food for thought.

Trees have always been revered in every culture, as they bring shade to the earth, refuge for living creatures, food for our bodies as well as materials for home and every day living. Not only are they functional, but they are beautiful as well. Trees are also a sign of hope in the annual season of rebirth and renewal. As Dr. Halmo says, "The tree is in truth a bearer of life and of healing for humanity and the earth. (1)

The poet, Richard Hutchins, was a Calvinist Baptist minister who served at Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, England.  For years this text was thought to be by Anonymous, but the poem was attributed to "R.H." in The Spiritual Magazine, 1761 and collected into the book Divine, Moral, and Historical Miscellanies, in Prose and Verse... (London, 1761). Since The Spiritual Magazine was a magazine for Calvinistic Baptists, "R.H." contributed additional poems to this magazine, one of which identifies him as being from Long Buckby and as a minister by the name of Richard Hutchins served the Calvinist Baptist congregation in Long Buckby from about 1759-1765, it is likely that "R.H." refers to Richard Hutchins.

Hutchins was probably not well schooled in theology, yet he displays a keen vision of Christ as the tree of life, "laden with fruit and always green."

Paul Mealor

The piano piece at communion is a new piece by the Welsh composer Paul Mealor. He may not (yet) be the biggest name in classical music, but he has composed music for one of the biggest ceremonial events of the past decade, the marriage of Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton. Mealor's motet, a setting of Ubi Caritas et Amor, was commissioned by Prince William for his wedding at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, when it was sung by the Choirs of Westminster Abbey and Her Majesty's Chapel Royal during the signing of the registry.

Topping the Classical Charts for six weeks with his bestselling album, A Tender Light in November 2011, he also broke records by being the first classical composer to hold both the classical and pop chart No. 1’s at the same time in December 2011, securing the UK Christmas No. 1 with his piece for The Military Wives Choir and Gareth Malone, Wherever You Are. Wherever You Are entered the UK Pop Singles Chart at number 1 that same month, selling over 556,000 copies in one week, more than the rest of the Top 12 combined, and was nominated for Best British Single in the 2012 BRIT Awards. It has been named as the fastest selling single since Elton John’s Candle in the Wind. In April of 2012 Mealor was voted the nation’s favorite living composer during the UK Classic FM Hall of Fame.

The Infinite Meadows of Heaven is a quote from H. W. Longfellow.

Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels. Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie

This slow and expressive piece is underpinned by oscillating thirds in its outer sections that accompany a melody using the upper end of the keyboard. A low pedal octave also accompanies the first section. The middle section is more agitated but all returns to a blissful calm.

The opening voluntary is an organ interpretation of the hymn tune which we will be singing before the Gospel this morning. DUNEDIN is a tune written in 1971 by Vernon Griffiths, an English organist and teacher  who moved to New Zealand in 1926 to accept a position at the Christchurch Teachers' Training College. This tune, DUNEDIN, is named after the town where his second position at as music master at King Edward Technical College. (2)

This setting is from the Bayoubuchlein, the collection of organ preludes on hymn-tunes from the last 50 years that was compiled for the 2016 American Guild of Organists National Convention here in Houston. This prelude was debuted at a service at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston. It is in three parts: In the first verse the melody is played on a stopped called a Krummhorn (similar to a clarinet) while the right hand accompanies with a single flute stop. In verse two we find a canon at the octave between the two hands, playing on separate manuals (keyboards). The final stanza has the melody in the pedal on a trumpet and trombone sound while the right hand punctuates the musical phrases with fanfare-like chords.

David Dahl

David P. Dahl is Professor of Music and University Organist Emeritus from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA, retiring in 2000 after thirty-five years of teaching. In August, 2010, he retired as Director Emeritus of Music Ministries at Christ Episcopal Church, Tacoma, where served for forty years. During his career he has been an active recitalist, including performances for national conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. He is a published composer of organ music and has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Organ Historical Society, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pacific Lutheran University. (3)

(1) Halmo, Joan, "Hymn Interpretation ['Jesus Christ the Apple Tree']", The Hymn, July 2002, Volume 53, Issue 3, Pages 52-54, print
(2) Rachael M. Hawkey. 'Griffiths, Thomas Vernon', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/biographies/4g21/griffiths-thomas-vernon (accessed 19 May 2017)
(3) David Dahl biography (2016, June). Retrieved from http://agohouston2016.com/conference/composers/david-dahl