Music for Sunday, October 17, 2021 + Good Shepherd School Sunday

Vocal Music

• Seek To Serve – Lloyd Pfautsch
• Song of Peace – Donnelly and Strid
• Good Shepherd School Children

Instrumental Music

• Andante Tranquillo – Charles Villiers Stanford
• Cantabile – Alexandre Guilmant
• March in D Major – Alexandre Guilmant

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

• Hymn 376 - Joyful, joyful, we adore thee (HYMN TO JOY)
• Hymn R158 - Meekness and majesty (TUNE)
• Hymn 708 - Savior, like a shepherd lead us (SICILIAN MARINERS)

The composer of this morning's anthem is 20th Century composer, choral director, and teacher Lloyd Pfautsch, who was one of my professor's at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Lloyd Pfautsch

Born in a little Missouri town where the primary industry was the manufacture of corncob pipes, Pfautsch was raised within the rich cultural, musical and hymnic tradition of German Evangelical churches which then extended from Pennsylvania across the mid and upper Midwest.  His worship-song roots were the Lutheran-style chorale, and he often reminded his students and colleagues that music is a living voice of the Gospel, a gift from God never to be trivialized.

When teaching aspiring vocal professionals, Pfautsch challenged the frequent assumption that one's solo voice could be damaged by singing in choirs, proving that solo and choral singing need never be incompatible.  And to his students studying choral conducting he often said: “Your choirs can sing anything you can teach them.”

The music says the text is from the scriptures, but I cannot find any direct references. Dr. Pfautsch was an ordained minister, so he may have used his knowledge of scripture to put together this text with the theme of service. For the melody, he chose a chant from a twelfth century Latin mass to carry the words.

Music for Sunday, October 10, 2021 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• O For a Closer Walk with God – Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

Instrumental Music

• Partita on “St. Anne” – Paul Manz (1919-2009)
• I. Theme
• II. Adagio
• IV. Presto
• V. Pastorale
• VI. Fugue-Finale

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

• Hymn 475 - God himself is with us (TYSK)
• Hymn 615 - “Thy kingdom come!” on bended knee (ST. FLAVIAN)
• Hymn R114 - Bless the Lord, my soul (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 680 - O God, our help in ages past (ST. ANNE)
• Psalm 90:12-17 simplified Anglican chant by Jerome Webster Meachen

The offertory anthem is a setting of a of a hymn by the poet William Cowper. From the handbook to the Psalter Hymnal we learn that he wrote this text on December 9, 1769, during the illness of his long-time friend and housekeeper, Mrs. Unwin. "In a letter written the next day Cowper voiced his anxieties about her condition and about what might happen to him if she died. Saying that he composed the text "to surrender up to the Lord" all his "dearest comforts," Cowper added,

Her illness has been a sharp trial to me. Oh, that it may have a sanctifying effect!. . . I began to compose the verses yesterday morning before daybreak, but fell asleep at the end of the first two lines; when I awoke again, the third and fourth were whispered to my heart in a way which I have often experienced.

C.V.Stanford

"Although Cowper frequently battled depression, doubt, and melancholy, this text speaks of a very intimate walk with the Lord. That walk is rooted in Scripture (st. 1), rejoices in conversion (st. 2-3), and denounces all idols that would usurp God's sovereignty (st. 4). The text concludes with a return to the prayer of the first stanza, but now that prayer is sung with increased confidence and serenity." -Psalter Hymnal Handbook

The tune, CAITHNESS, is Scottish, but the arranger, Charles Villiers Stanford, was not. Stanford was born in Ireland and received his early musical training at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. He studied composition in both England and Germany. He taught at both the Royal College of Music and Cambridge University, and among his students are such notable musicians as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ireland, Frank Bridge, Charles Wood, and Herbert Howells. His compositions include works for organ, piano, symphony orchestra, and chamber ensembles, as well as many works for Anglican church choirs. Stanford was knighted in 1902 and his ashes are buried beside Henry Purcell in Westminster Abbey. 

The Psalm for today is the last six verses of Psalm 90. The closing hymn is a paraphrase of the first five verses of Psalm 90. Thus we get to sing almost the entire Psalm. For this reason I have chosen to play  Paul Manz's partita (or variations) on ST. ANNE, which is the tune used for the hymn. Paul Manz was a Lutheran organist, who had a particular talent of improvising organ music based on hymns. These variations were probably improvised by Manz during a recital or one of his Hymn Festivals, and later published as Partita on St. Anne.

There are six movements which may or may not correspond to the six stanzas of Watt's hymn. I am playing five of those. The first movement is very straightforward, with an underlying rhythmic motive reminiscent of J. S. Bach's organ setting of the German Choral WER NUR DEN LIEBEN (BWV 642). The second movement also harkens back to music of Bach and German baroque composers with its ornamented solo line over an imitative accompaniment. You'll still be able to hear the melody if you listed closely.

The fourth movement is much lifelier, as you can tell by its title, Presto. The accompaniment will be in both hands, featuring a spinning counter-melody against a leaping part in the other hand. These melodic fragments bounce back and forth between the two hands while the feet play the melody.

One of the loveliest movements is the Pastorale (fifth movement), which I will play during communion. Pastorales are generally in 6/8 or 9/8 metre, at a moderate tempo, and this is no exception. The accompaniment has a lyrical melody which could stand alone by itself, without the addition of the hymn-tune that comes in, played by the left hand.

I'll play the last movement as the closing voluntary, for it's drive and excitement is perfect for music that should encourage us to leave this place with joy and commitment.

Music for Sunday, August 29, 2021 + The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Bread of the World, In Mercy Broken – arr. Carlton Young (b. 1926)

Instrumental Music

• Flourish and Chorale – Michael McCabe (b. 1941)
• Vater Unser im Himmelreich – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Allegro – Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

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

• Hymn 423 - Immortal, invisible, God only wise (ST. DENIO)
• Hymn 707 - Take my life, and let it be (HOLLINGSIDE)
• Hymn R145 - Lord, I want to be a Christian (I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN)
• Hymn 344 - Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing (SICILIAN MARINERS)
• Psalm 15 - Psalm tone VIIIa

The anthem is a rather simple setting of the one-stanza hymn found in our hymnal at hymn 301, "Bread of the world in mercy broken," using the same tune.

Written by the 19th century English Bishop Reginald Heber, the text, "Bread of the World" was first published posthumously in 1827, subtitled "Before the Sacrament." The first two lines of this hymn refer to the bread, representing Jesus' broken body, and to the wine, representing Jesus' shed blood. Later, the parallel structure of the lines referring to the broken heart and shed tears of repentant sinners emphasizes the sorrow of the believer over the sin that necessitated Christ's suffering. Through our confession of sin and participation in Communion, we remind ourselves that it is only “by Thy grace our souls are fed.”

The tune, RENDEZ À DIEU, was one of the tunes used in the Genevan Psalter, a hymnal published in 1551 that presented the psalms in a metrical form in French. It was created under the supervision of John Calvin for liturgical use by the Reformed churches of the city of Geneva.

Carlton "Sam" Young

Carlton R. Young,  a teacher, editor, composer, and conductor, set the hymn for a mixed choir of two parts. He has the unique distinction of serving as editor of two revisions of hymnals for Methodists: The Methodist Hymnal, 1966; and The United Methodist Hymnal, 1989.

Professor Young has served on the faculties and directed graduate studies in church music at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University; and Scarritt College; and is Emeritus Professor of Church Music, Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He was visiting professor of church music, Tainan Presbyterian College and Seminary, 1995-2004, and The Methodist School of Theology, Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia, 2004, and 2007.

Dr. Young is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, East Ohio Conference. He is married to the former Marjorie Lindner. They have four children: Robert, James, Carol, and Richard; and six grandchildren: Brook, Rebecca, Dyami, Kirby, Lena, and Raymond.

The opening voluntary is an exhilarating piece by Nebraska composer and organist Michael McCabe. McCabe began his study of piano and organ as a child. As a student at Creighton University, McCabe was appointed university organist and choir director. During a 20 year military career, various assignments provided McCabe with unique opportunities to study with leaders in the field of Anglican church music, including Leo Sowerby, David McK. Williams, Thomas Matthews, and Dale Wood. McCabe has served numerous churches, including Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. As a published composer, McCabe was elected to ASCAP in 1972, and his ASCAP credits include NBC Television, foreign and domestic recordings, and the Stockholm and Stuttgart Music Festivals.

The communion organ voluntary is a quiet setting of the German chorale Vater unser im Himmelreich. The original text is Martin Luther's paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer. In our hymnal, this tune may be found at hymn 575 with the text “Before thy throne, O God, we kneel.” We encourage you to read and meditate on the words to this hymn in light of today’s Gospel reading. 

Music for Sunday, July 18, 2021 + The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Instrumental Music

• Adagio in E Major – Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
• God Is My Shepherd – BROTHER JAMES AIR, arr. David Gale (21st C.)
• Prelude on “St. Columba” – Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
• Trumpet Tune in E – David N. Johnson (1922-1987)

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

• Hymn 48 O day of radiant gladness (ES FLOG EIN KLEINS WALDVÖGELEIN)
• Hymn 708 Savior, like a shepherd lead us (SICILIAN MARINERS)
• Hymn R307 Sent forth by God’s blessing (THE ASH GROVE)
• Psalm 23 – Tone VIIIa

The psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 23. Two of the pieces I am playing this Sunday are based on hymn tunes associated with metrical versions of this psalm. 

At the offering, I am playing a piano piece based on the hymntune, BROTHER JAMES' AIR. This tune was composed by James Leith Macbeth Bain, the healer, mystic, and poet known simply as Brother James. The tune was first published in his volume The great peace: being a New Year's greeting ... (1915).

Born in a devout Christian home, Bain came to doubt the faith but later regained a mystical belief with the aid of the Christo Theosophic Society. He founded the Brotherhood of Healers, and he and his fellow healers often sang to their patients during healing sessions. In the latter years of his life he worked among the poor in the slums of Liverpool. He published a book on healing entitled The Brotherhood of Healers ... (1906).

In 1934, the British composer Gordon Jacob published an arrangement of this tune with the text "The Lord's my shepherd, I’ll not want" which has become the best known pairing of text for this tune. In our hymnal, the tune is paired with another Psalm paraphrase, How lovely is thy dwelling place (hymn 517)

 

This well-loved tune is in bar form (AAB) with an unusual final phrase that rises to a high tonic cadence.

The piano piece is arranged by David Gale, a composer, arranger, pianist and choir director from Tucson, Arizona. His education includes a bachelor's and master's degrees from Texas Tech University, and a doctorate in music composition from Northwestern University. Retired from 26 years at Flowing Wells Junior High School, Dr. Gale is currently in his 24th year as music director for First Christian Church in Tucson, where he focuses on creating music for the church service including piano arrangements and choir pieces.

The other hymn-tune setting is much older. Charles Villiers Stanford, the Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era, published several organ works, including two sets of short preludes and postludes, which included this setting of the Irish folk tune, ST. COLUMBA. You can find this in our hymnal at hymn 645, "The King of Love my shepherd is." It's s simple setting with the tune interspersed with original music by Stanford.

Music for October 22, 2017 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Give Almes of thy Goods – Christopher Tye (1505-1572)
• O For a Closer Walk with God – Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

Instrumental Music

• O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness – Darwin Wolford (b. 1936)
• On a theme of Orlando Gibbons – Charles Villiers Stanford
• Sortie – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)

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

• Hymn 377 - All people that on earth do dwell (OLD 100TH)
• Hymn R258 - To God be the glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY)
• Hymn 408 - Sing praise to God who reigns above (MIT FREUDEN ZART)
• Hymn R269 - Let all that is within me (Melvin Harrell)
• Hymn R271 - Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord (ALLELUIA NO. 1)
• Hymn 544 - Jesus shall reign where’er the sun (DUKE STREET)
• Psalm 96:1-9 - ToneVIIIa

Last month marked the 165th birthday of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, the Irish musician who, along with Edward Elgar and Charles H. H. Parry, helped create a renaissance in English music in the late 19th century.

C. V. Stanford

He was the only child of a prominent Dublin lawyer. His considerable musical talent gained him admission to Cambridge University at the age of 18 where he quickly established a commanding reputation, and was appointed organist of Trinity College while still an undergraduate. Afterward he studied in Leipzig and Berlin. He went on to compose in almost every music form including seven symphonies; ten operas; fifteen concertante works; chamber, piano, and organ pieces; and over thirty large-scale choral works.

Though his influence on the British music scene of his day was quite substantial, little of his popularity survived him, with only his voluminous sacred music remaining in the active body of works which is the foundation of the Anglican tradition.

Today you will hear two of his works during communion, both based on hymn-tunes. The organ voluntary is based on the tune by Orlando Gibbons, SONG 34, which can be found in our Hymnal 1982 at hymn 21. The anthem is his classic setting of hymn 684, O for a closer walk with God, paired with the hymn-tune CAITHNESS.

In addition to his musical prowess, one must admit that he was a snappy dresser. Gotta love those spats!

The opening voluntary is based on the Psalm appointed for today, Psalm 96.

Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness;
    let the whole earth tremble before him. - Psalm 96:9

Darwin Wolford

It is written by Darwin Wolford, a composer, organist, and former music professor living in Idaho. He was Director of Organ Studies at Brigham Young University–Idaho before his retirement in 2004.

Born in Logan, Utah, he began piano lessons at the age of eight. Wolford earned his bachelor’s degree from Utah State University, his Master of Music degree and his PhD in organ composition from the University of Utah.  During college he studied organ with famed Mormon Tabernacle organists Robert Cundick and Alexander Schreiner and composition with Leroy Robertson, John LaMontaine, and Ned Rorem.

He has published more than 350 compositions for choir, orchestra, organ, piano, and other instruments. Wolford’s works are among those heard performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Wolford is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served for many years as a member of the General Music Committee. he was a member of the Executive Hymnbook Committee and assisted with the publication of the 1985 LDS Hymnbook. He also helped prepare the LDS Children’s Songbook.

The anthem this morning is by the 16th century composer Christopher Tye. Tye was the choirmaster at Ely Cathedral during the reign of Henry the VIII, and as such contributed new music for the Anglican church, including this anthem, Give Almes of thy Goods. (The word almes being an Middle English spelling and pronunciation of alms, or charitable gifts.)

Give Almes of thy Goods is a short setting of an offertory sentence which appeared in both the 1549 and 1552 Books of Common Prayer. This is an Tudor creation in every way. Constructed in the ABB form of the early English anthem, this four-voice piece is entirely syllabic, exactly as Thomas Cramner, the architect of the Book of Common Prayer, required: "to every syllable a note."

Music for February 12, 2017 + The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• O For a Closer Walk With God – Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
• If Ye Love Me – Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585)

Instrumental Music

• Air from Orchestral Suite in D – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Saraband on “Land of Rest” – Gerald Near (b. 1942)
• Allegro, Op. 105, No. 6 - C. V. Stanford 

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

• Hymn 594 - God of grace and God of glory (CWM RHONDDA)
• Hymn 674 -“Forgive our sins as we forgive” (DETROIT)
• Hymn 707 - Take my life, and let it be (HOLLINGSIDE)
• Hymn 304 - I come with joy to meet my Lord (LAND OF REST)
• Hymn R231 - How blessed are you (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 344 - Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing (SICILIAN MARINERS)

Sometimes you just need to hear (or perform) a beautiful melody. That's the reason I am playing an organ transcription of J. S. Bach's lovely Air. Often called "Air on the G String," it was part of Bach's Third Orchestral Suite, written for Prince Leopold, Bach's employer in the little principality of Anhalt-Cothen between 1717 and 1723. This movement became popular over 100 year later, when German violinist August Wilhelm arranged the piece for violin and piano to be played on the evocative G-string of the violin .

The melody is typical of a melody from the Baroque period, as it winds its way all over the musical scale, leaping up and down the keyboard before wriggling back to whence it came. In my music appreciation class, this never fails to be the piece that captures the attention of people who may have never heard of Bach. One of the more unusual performances (and most striking) is this performance by Bobby McFerrin (a good Episcopalian, btw).

Bobby McFerrin Sings Bach

The offertory anthem is a setting of a of a hymn by the poet William Cowper. From the handbook to the Psalter Hymnal we learn that he wrote this text on December 9, 1769, during the illness of his long-time friend and housekeeper, Mrs. Unwin. "In a letter written the next day Cowper voiced his anxieties about her condition and about what might happen to him if she died. Saying that he composed the text "to surrender up to the Lord" all his "dearest comforts," Cowper added,

Her illness has been a sharp trial to me. Oh, that it may have a sanctifying effect!. . . I began to compose the verses yesterday morning before daybreak, but fell asleep at the end of the first two lines; when I awoke again, the third and fourth were whispered to my heart in a way which I have often experienced.

"Although Cowper frequently battled depression, doubt, and melancholy, this text speaks of a very intimate walk with the Lord. That walk is rooted in Scripture (st. 1), rejoices in conversion (st. 2-3), and denounces all idols that would usurp God's sovereignty (st. 4). The text concludes with a return to the prayer of the first stanza, but now that prayer is sung with increased confidence and serenity." -Psalter Hymnal Handbook

The tune, CAITHNESS, is Scottish, as was the arranger, Charles Villiers Stanford.

Music for April 26, 2015 + The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Good Shepherd Sunday

Vocal Music

• Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us – William Bradley Roberts (b. 1947) 

Instrumental Music

• Prelude on “Brother James’s Air” – Searle Wright (1918-2004) 
• Cantabile - Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911) 
• Allegro in D Minor – C. V. Stanford (1852-1924) 

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

• Hymn 518 Christ is made the sure foundation (Westminster Abbey)
• Hymn R-139 Halle, Halle, Hallelujah (Halle Halle)
• Hymn 304 I come with joy to meet my Lord (Land of Rest)
• Hymn 296 We know that Christ is raised and dies no more (Engleberg)

This Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Easter, is called the Good Shepherd Sunday, because of the scripture readings (John 10:11 - “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep") and the use of the 23rd Psalm, so it is the closest thing our congregation has to a Patronal Feast Day. For this Sunday the choir is repeating an anthem we sang last Fall by another friend of mine, William Bradley (Bill) Roberts. I encourage you to look at this earlier post to read about him and this piece. The only difference is that this time around, Matt Hawley is playing the flute part.

M. Searle Wright

In keeping with the Good Shepherd theme, I am opening the service with Searle Wright's setting of the tune BROTHER JAMES' AIR, which is most often used for the text, "The Lord's my shepherd." It was composed by James Leith Macbeth Bain, a Scottish healer, mystic, and poet known simply as Brother James. This well-loved tune is in bar form (AAB) with an unusual final phrase that ends on a high tonic note instead of a low note.

Wright has arranged this folk-like melody in three stanzas. For the first stanza he uses manuals only, with the melody in the soprano. The string stops on the organ are used. For the next stanza, he keeps the strings for the accompaniment, but puts the melody in the pedal on the English Horn. After a developmental section that goes through several minor keys before coming back to A Major, he presents the tune very much like the beginning, adding the bass notes in the pedal for the first A section of the tune, then putting the cantus firmus (the melody)in the tenor ranger with the crommorne for last half of the stanza.

M. Searle Wright was a composer, teacher and master of both classic and theater pipe organ. He died in his hometown of  Binghamton, N.Y. when he was 86.

The closing voluntary is Charles Villiers Stanford's Allegro in D minor, an energetic piece in 6/4 time, but with a general feel of two strong pulses to the bar. It is in a three part, ABA1 form, with three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. The exposition itself is in three parts, an aba form, with the b section using a new theme. That theme forms the basis of the second main section, the development section, which is now in D MAJOR. The final section, which is a recapitulation of the first section, switches between minor and major, before ending in that bright key of D Major.

Hymns

• Christ is made the sure foundation (WESTMINSTER ABBEY) This crowd-pleaser (for a crowd of Episcopalians) is set to a hymn tune adapted from Henry Purcell's choir anthem ‘O God, Thou are my God’. It was adapted as a hymn tune in 1842 by Ernest Hawkins, a Canon of Westminster Abbey where Purcell had been organist. It did not become popular however until it was sung at Princess Margaret’s wedding in the Abbey in 1960.
• Halle, Halle, Halle (Caribbean) 'Alleluia' (Hallelujah)  is a Hebrew word which means 'Praise the Lord'. 'Alleluias' may be sung at many times of the year but are traditionally not sung during the penitential season of Lent. 'Alleluia' is often sung before the Gospel reading in a communion service to show its importance. This lively setting of the Alleluia is from the Caribbean.
• I come with joy to meet my Lord (LAND OF REST) Brian A. Wren wrote this communion hymn to summarize a series of sermons on the meaning of the Lord's Supper, specifically as a post-sermon hymn to help illustrate the presence of Christ in the sacrament. He states that he wanted to express this "as simply as possible, in a way that would take the worshipper (probably without . . . recognizing it) from the usual individualistic approach to communion ('I come') to an understanding of its essential corporateness ('we'll go')."
• We know that Christ is raised and dies no more (ENGLEBERG) This hymn was written in 1967, when John B, Geyer was tutor at Cheshunt College, Cambridge.  At that time a good deal of work was going on in Cambridge producing living cells ("the baby in the test tube"). The hymn attempted to illustrate the Christian doctrine of baptism in relation to those experiments. You'll recognize the tune as the same tune for "When In Our Music God Is Glorified," though it was written for "For All the Saints"!