Music for October 2, 2016 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• For Everyone Born – Brian Mann, arr. Tom Trenney
• Locus Iste – Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

Instrumental Music

• Benediction, Op. 33, No. 4B – Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)
• Sarabande from Suite No 7 in G minor - HWV 432– George Friderick Handel (1685-1759)
• Allegro in G Major – Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770-1846)

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

• Hymn R49 - Let the whole creation cry (Llanfair)
• Hymn 704 - O thou who camest from above (Hereford)
• Hymn 424 - For the fruit of all creation (East Acklam)
• Hymn R173 - O Lord, hear my prayer (Jean Berthier)
• Hymn 551 - Rise up, ye saints of God! (Festal Song)
• Psalm 37 - Noli aemulari

I was asked to lead a reading session of new choral music for a meeting of Chorister's Guild last May, and one of the pieces was an anthem based on a new hymn in the recent Presbyterian hymnal, Glory to God. I immediately fell in love with it, because the beautiful, lilting melody was paired with a strong text about justice. The hymn, by noted New Zealand hymnwriter Shirley Erena Murray, affirms that God’s hospitality transcends the barriers erected by human society and that we who have been created in God’s image are called to live in ways that reflect our Creator’s values: justice and joy, compassion and peace.

For everyone born, a place at the table,
for everyone born, clean water and bread,
a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
for everyone born, a star overhead,

Refrain: and God will delight when we are creators
of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
yes, God will delight when we are creators
of justice, justice and joy!

For woman and man, a place at the table,
revising the roles, deciding the share,
with wisdom and grace, dividing the power,
for woman and man, a system that’s fair, Refrain

For young and for old, a place at the table,
a voice to be heard, a part in the song,
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
for young and for old, the right to belong, Refrain

For everyone born, a place at the table,
to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out, to witness and worship
for everyone born, the right to be free, Refrain

text: Shirley Erena Murray, © 1998 Hope Publishing Company

 I include the whole text because I think we, as Christians, need to be reminded of our duty to create peace. Martin Luther King said “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” Too often justice is seen as a liberal concept. It is not; it is a Christian concept.

The music is by a Mann named Brian (see what I did there?), of whom I know nothing about. Hard to believe in this day and age of instantaneous electronic information I couldn't find anything. But the arrangement, which is stunning, is by Tom Trenney, Minister of Music at First-Plymouth Church (United Church of Christ) in Lincoln, Nebraska.  There he directs four adult choirs, plays the organ,

Tom Trenney

preaches sermons, (the congregation is not ready for one of MY sermons) and directs a Concert Series. In 2006, Trenney became the first organist to be awarded First Prize and Audience Prize in the American Guild of Organists’ National Competition in Organ Improvisation. Since that time he has performed all across the continent. This coming year he will serve as choral clinician at Montreat Worship and Music, Lutheridge Worship and Music, the National Convocation of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, and Atlanta’s midwinter Choristers Guild Festival.


His creative touch is heard in the second stanza about gender equality when he gets to the line "dividing the power."  The choir has been singing in unison, but when he gets to "dividing," he separates the men (tenors and basses) and the women (sopranos and altos) before dividing the two parts into four. Finally, the four parts come together again on a strong, fortissimo "system that's fair!"

J.C.H.Rinck

The postlude is by a composer who is new to me, but certainly not "new." Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck was a noted composer for organ in his day, but the sad fact is he came along after the time of Bach, and the glory of the instrument had begun to wane. He was a part of the Classical Period (roughly 1750-1825), which began to eschew the organ and harpsichord in favor of the piano. Think of it - none of the Big Names of the Classical period (Haydn, Mozart, Clementi, Beethoven or Schubert) wrote anything of merit for the organ, if at all. But churches still needed organist, and for the organ student of the time, Rinck was a big contributor with his 'Practical Organ School,' a standard work in six volumes  and numerous Chorale Preludes.

Music for September 25 + Pentecost XIX and St. Michael and All Angels

10:15 Eucharist

Vocal Music

• Fight the Good Fight – John Gardner (1917-2011)

Instrumental Music

• Voluntary in D – John Stanley (1712-1786)
• Symphonie No. 4: III. Andante cantabile - Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)
• Trumpet Voluntary in D – John Stanley

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 429 - I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath (Old 113^th)
• Hymn 561 - Stand up, stand up for Jesus (Morning Light)
• Hymn 705 - As those of old their first fruits brought (Forest Green)
• Hymn 605 - What does the Lord require (Sharpthorne)
• Hymn 370 - God is love, let heaven adore him (Abbott’s Leigh)
• Psalm 146:2-9 - Lauda, anima mea (simplified Anglican Chant by Jerome Meachem)

St. Michael and All Angels

Choral Eucharist at 5 PM

Vocal Music

• Locus Iste – Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
• Hide Me Under the Shadow of thy Wings – John Ebenezer West (1863-1929)

Instrumental Music

• Archangel Suite – Craig Phillips (b. 1961)

1. Michael – “…there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.” – Rev. 12:7
2. Gabriel – Messenger of God – messenger of the Annunciation
3. Raphael – It is God who heals – Archangel of healing
4. Uriel – God is my light – Archangel of Light

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

• Hymn 282 - Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels (CAELITES PLAUDANT)
• Hymn R75 - Praise the Lord, let heavens adore hymn (Austrian Hymn)
• Hymn R114 - Psalm 103: Bless the Lord (Taizé)
• Hymn 618 - Ye watchers and ye holy ones (Lasst uns erfreuen)
• Hymn 625 - Ye holy angels bright (Darwall’s 148th)

This is a full Sunday for the Good Shepherd Choir, as we sing at the morning service at 10:15 as well as the Service dedicating the new Acolytes at 5 PM. Here are some thoughts about the music for both services.

John Gardner in rehearsal

I chose the anthem Fight the Good Fight to echo the themes of the Epistle reading for the day. ("Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. - 1st Timothy 6:12) That's also why we are singing that good old hymn, Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.

The anthem was composed by John Gardner, an English organist and composer who once tried to teach Paul McCartney the rudiments of music! He was decidedly of the "old" school - much more romantic and traditional than other up and coming composers on the European continent after World War II. This anthem comes from a set of Five Hymns in Popular Style composed in 1966

At the Evening Service the choir sings the beautiful unaccompanied motet by the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, Locus Iste. The text, which is sung in Latin, translates to

This place was made by God,
a priceless sacrament;
it is without reproach. . 

I have chosen it because (A.) I like it. (B.) The choir likes it, and (C.) It reminds me of what Jacob said after he woke from his dream of angels climbing a ladder to heaven. ("“Surely the Lord is in this place...This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” - Genesis 28:16-17)

Bruckner was a composer of a number of highly original and monumental symphonies. He was also an organist and teacher who composed much sacred and secular choral music. He was a devout Catholic, but he was not without his quirks. Read the article that I have linked to above. (But not during the sermon. DEFINITELY not in church.)

I'm excited to be playing a (relatively) new work at the evening service specifically for St. Michael and All Angels. It is a suite written in 2011 by Craig Phillips, Archangel Suite is a collection of four movements which explore the contrasting characters of the four traditional archangels.

Craig Phillips

I'm using the first movement, "Michael" as the opening voluntary; It is martial trumpet-tune which portrays St. Michael, the chief angelic adversary of Satan. The second and third movement will come during communion. "Gabriel" is a quietly but steadily flowing 9/8 movement with a lyric melody in the pedals, sounding above a flowing accompaniment in the manuals; "Raphael" is a shimmering meditation for celestes and solo stops, depicting the archangel of healing. I will play the finale, dedicated to Uriel,the archangel of light, as a closing voluntary. "Uriel" is a dramatic and vivid toccata in the French style.

Craig Phillips has served as Director of Music at All Saints’ Church, Beverly Hills since 2009. He previously served for 20 years as the churches’ Associate Director of Music and Composer-in-Residence. His choral and organ music is heard Sunday by Sunday in churches and cathedrals across the United States, and many of his works have been performed in concert throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He was named the American Guild of Organists Distinguished Composer for 2012 — the seventeenth recipient of this special award.