Music for February 10, 2019 + The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Vocal Music

• O, Praise God in His Holiness – Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960)

Instrumental Music

• Variations on “Nicea” – Piet Post (1919-1979)
• Benedictus: Chromhorne en Taille (Mass for the Parishes) – François Couperin (1668-1733)
• Carillon on “St. Edmund” – Malcolm Archer

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

• Hymn 362 - Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty (NICEA)
• Hymn - Tú has venido a la orilla (PESCADOR)
• Hymn 324 - Let all mortal flesh keep silence (PICARDY)
• Hymn R208  - Santo, santo, santo (UNKNOWN)
• Hymn R149 - I, the Lord of sea and sky (HERE I AM, LORD)
• Hymn R308 - Thuma Mina (Send Me, Lord)  (THUMA MINA)
• Hymn 537 - Christ for the world we sing (MOSCOW)
• Psalm 138:1-6, 8-9 - simplified Anglican Chant by Jerome W.  Meachen

holy (adjective): exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." - Isaiah 6:1-3

This beautiful passage from the prophet Isaiah, used as the first scripture lesson this Sunday, was the inspiration for much of today's music. I look for any reason to sing the hymn "Holy, holy, holy," so it was a natural choice to begin the service, not only as the opening hymn, but also as the opening voluntary. 

I begin with four variations based on the tune NICAEA by contemporary Dutch composer Piet Post. He was the organist from 1949 to 1979 of the Jacobijnerkerk in Leeuwarden.  After hearing a pretty straight-forward setting of the hymn, you will hear (I.) a lilting setting of the tune in a flowing 6/8 rhythm, (II.) a light, fantasy style movement outlining the melody with rapid flourishes using the 8' and 2' flutes in the swell, (III.) a variation featuring a 16th-note ostinato pattern accompanying the melody, played in the left hand on an oboe stop, and finally (IV.) a slow movement in 3/4 time with a steady, insistent quarter-note pulse provided by the pedal. The piece then concludes with a Finale which I will use to introduce the hymn.

Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1922)
by Herbert Lambert

We continue to focus on the holiness of God with the anthem by English composer Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, O, Praise God in His Holiness, written for the 1953 Festival of the Federation of Essex Women's Institutes in honor of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It is a festive setting of Psalm 150.

Gibbs studied at Cambridge and with Vaughan Williams at the RCM, where he taught (1921-39). His best works are his songs, especially to poems by de la Mare, but he also wrote much for choirs and chamber orchestras and achieved immense success with his slow waltz Dusk, which Queen Elizabeth requested for her 18th birthday.