Music for July 31, 2022 + The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• At the River – Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
• Amy Bogan, soprano

Instrumental Music

• Trumpet Intrada – John S. Dixon (b. 1957)
• Andantino – César Franck (1822-1890)
• Toccata in G Dorian– Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706)

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

• Hymn 408 Sing praise to God who reigns above (MIT FREUDEN ZART)
• Hymn 421 All glory be to God on high (ALLEIN GOTT IN DER HÖHE)
• Hymn 533 How wondrous and great thy works, God of praise! (LYONS)
• Hymn 302 Father, we thank thee who hast planted (RENDEZ A DIEU)
• Hymn R136 Alleluia (ALLELUIA)
• Hymn 594 God of grace and God of glory (CWM RHONDDA)
• Psalm 49:1-2, 4-10 – Tone IIa

At the River

Aaron Copland was often referred to as the Dean of American Composers. Incorporating elements of jazz and folk songs into his compositions, Copland was known for liberating the art world from European influences, and popularizing indigenous American music. Along with his fellow American composers Charles Ives, Samuel Barber, John Duke, Amy Beach and Edward MacDowell, Copland was interested in preserving hymns, Native American melodies and African-American spirituals. This includes his two sets of Old American Songs from 1950 and 1952, the second set was premiered by baritone William Warfield and the composer. Copland gave each song his personal musical style while retaining its original flavor (and, in some cases, echoes of instrumental accompaniment from banjo or harp). 

The hymn tune “At the River” (or “Shall We Gather at the River”) was written in 1865 by Robert Lowry, a Baptist pastor, composer, poet, chancellor at the University of Lewisburg, and editor and compiler of Sunday school songs. “At the River” was sung at memorial concerts for Copland and for Leonard Bernstein. (Next week we will hear some of Bernstein's music.)

Trumpet Intrada

Here is a new work by John S. Dixon. He was born in England and grew up about fifty miles east of London, near the Thames River estuary. Starting piano studies at age 6, he progressed to pipe organ at age 11. His first composition for public performance was the score to an original book for a youth theatre production when he was 16.

In spite of that early interest in music, he did not choose to make music his major field of study or his career. However. he remained active in music and theater while studying for the bachelor of arts degree at Oxford University and later at Harvard, where he earned an MBA.

He moved to America permanently in 1988, where he became a member of Providence Presbyterian Church, where he now serves as Organist and Composer-in-Residence. He reside in Norfolk.

Andantino

While I was at the American Guild of Organists convention in Seattle this summer, I was reminded that 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of César Franck, the  Belgian-French composer of the last half of the 19th century. Though he is well known for his Symphony in D Minor, he is perhaps best known as a composer of organ music which had an emotional engagement, technical solidity, and seriousness comparable to that of German composers.

Much of his organ music is of an extended length, making it difficult to program in the musical life of the average parish Sunday service. But late in life he wrote of volume of organ music called L'Organiste, a collection of 59 short works written in 1889 and 1890 for the harmonium and is most often played on organ. The communion voluntary is one of those pieces.

Toccata in G Dorian

The closing voluntary is a toccata by the South German Baroque organist Johann Pachelbel. It's written in the mode of G Dorian, which is almost the same as G minor. What separates them, however, is that the "major" sixth in Dorian gives it a far more tasteful and distinguished tone rather than a sad, woeful one in the Aeolian mode. This "major" sixth creates an uplifting and bright spot in the mode so the Dorian mode takes on a more fulfilling, encouraging, and intense feel.