MID CENTURY MODERNS Music for January 29, 2023 + The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Servants of Peace – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Suite Liturgique Entrée: – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Suite Liturgique:Communion – Denis Bédard
• Suite Liturgique: Sortie – Denis Bédard

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

• Hymn 47 – On this day, the first of days (GOTT SEI DANK)
• Hymn 441 - In the cross of Christ I glory (RATHBUN)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of thankfulness and praise (SALZBURG)
• Hymn R127 – Blest are they (BLEST ARE THEY)
• Hymn R258 – To God be the glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY)
• Psalm 15 - Domine, quis habitabit? (simplified Anglican Chant)

Today I feature music by two North American composers both born in 1950

Servants of Peace

A contemporary setting of the traditional prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi is the text of the anthem this Sunday, which is a perfect match for the readings this week. (Micah 6:1-8 and the Beatitudes.) The  Prayer of St. Francis is a famous prayer which first appeared around the year 1915 A.D., and which embodies the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi's simplicity and poverty.

According to Father Kajetan Esser, OFM, the author of the critical edition of St. Francis's Writings, the Peace Prayer of St. Francis is most certainly not one of the writings of St. Francis. According to Father Schulz, this prayer first appeared during the First World War. It was found written on the back of a holy card of St. Francis. The prayer bore no name; but in the English speaking world, on account of this holy card, it came to be called the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.

The music is by Alabama native K. Lee Scott. He is widely known throughout the United States as a conductor and composer of choral music. His more than 250 published compositions, arrangements, and editions are represented in the catalogues of 15 publishing companies. In addition to many choral works, he has written an opera and has published works for organ, solo voice, and brass.

A graduate of the University of Alabama School of Music with two degrees in choral music under the tutelage of Frederick Prentice, Scott has served as an adjunct faculty member at both the University of Alabama School of Music and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Music. His appearances as guest conductor and clinician have taken him throughout the United States, to Canada, and Africa. 

Suite Liturgique 

All of today's organ music is from a Suite by the Canadian composer Denis Bédard. He has composed more than 170 works, including chamber music, orchestral and vocal music and many organ works. He has received commissions from Radio-Canada, the CBC, the Québec Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Canadian College of Organists and various professional musicians in Canada, England, France, Switzerland and the U.S. 

He studied first at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in his hometown of Québec, before going to Europe to pursue studies in Paris with André Isoir (organ) and Laurence Boulay (harpsichord) and in the Netherlands to study piano, harpsichord, and organ with Gustav Leonhardt.

For 20 years he was organist and music director of Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, B.C. until his retirement in 2021.

The three movements I have chosen from the suite include the opening (Entrée), the commion voluntary (Communion) and the closing piece (Sortie)

Music for Sunday, September 25

The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (10:15)

Vocal Music

• Praise God in His Holiness – Geoffrey Shaw (1879-1943)

Instrumental Music

• Grand jeu – Pierre du Mage (1674 – 1751)
• Suite du premier ton No. 3 Récit – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Rigaudon – André Campra (1660-1744)

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

• Hymn 494 - Crown him with many crowns (DIADEMATA)
• Hymn 429 - I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath (OLD 113TH)
• Hymn 705 - As those of old (FOREST GREEN)
• Hymn R - Jesus, remember me (Taizé)
• Hymn 625 - Ye holy angels bright (DARWALL’S 148TH)
• Psalm 146 – Tone VIIIa

St. Michael and All Angels (5 PM)

Vocal Music

• God Be In My Head – H. Walford Davies (1869-1941)
• Ave Verum Corpus – W. A. Mozart 

Instrumental Music

• Aria – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Picardy – Charles Callahan
• Ye Holy Angels Bright – Charles Callahan

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

• Hymn 618 - Ye watchers and ye holy ones (LAAST UNS ERFREUEN)
• Hymn 282 - Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels (CAELITES PLAUDANT)
• Hymn R75 - Praise the Lord, O heavens adore him (AUSTRIA)
• Hymn 324 - Let all mortal flesh keep silence (TUNE)
• Hymn 625 - Ye holy angels bright (DARWALL’S 148TH)
• Psalm x – Tone VIIIc

Praise God in His Holiness

The composer of today's anthem, the English organist, music educator, and composer Geoffrey Shaw, was the younger brother of the organist and composer Martin Shaw. As a boy, Geoffrey was a chorister at St. Paul's Cathedral in London under Sir George Martin. Later he was organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied under Sir Charles Stanford and Dr. Chas. Wood.

From 1902 to 1910 Geoffrey Shaw was music master at Gresham's School, Holt. In 1920 he was named his brother's successor as organist at St. Mary's, Primrose Hill, London. He also served as inspector of music to the Board of Education from 1928 until his retirement in 1942. In this post he devoted himself to the furtherance of popular organisations, both in the schools and training colleges and by means of such unofficial activities as summer schools for teachers and competitive festivals. In 1932 he was awarded the honorary Lambeth degree of D.Mus. In 1947 the Geoffrey Shaw Memorial Fund was established to assist musically talented children.

Geoffrey Shaw composed a ballet, All at Sea, orchestral works, and chamber pieces, as well as partsongs and unison songs. He also co-operated with his brother in editing song books.

An interesting fact is that his son, Sebastian Shaw, was an actor who was chosen for the small but crucial role of redeemed, unmasked and dying Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, the third and final film in the original Star Wars trilogy. 

Music for April 28, 2019 + The Second Sunday of Easter

Vocal Music

• Now the Green Blade Riseth – Ken Heitshusen (c. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• For the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord: O angelos evoa – Gerald Near (b. 1942)
• (The angel cried out to Lady of grace)
• O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing – Paul Manz (1919-2009)

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

• Hymn 494 - Crown him with many crowns (DIADEMATA)
• Hymn 206 - O sons and daughters, let us sing (O FILII ET FILIAE)
• Hymn 432 - O praise ye the Lord (LAUDATE DOMINUM)
• Hymn R271 - Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks  (ALLELUIA NO. 1)
• Hymn R91 - Open our eyes, Lord (OPEN OUR EYES)
• Hymn R258 - To God be the Glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY)
• Hymn R119 - Psalm 150: Hallelujah, praise the Lord (ORIENTIS PARTIBUS)

It's the second Sunday of Easter, traditionally called "Thomas Sunday." The day commemorates the appearance of Christ to his disciples eight days after Easter, when Thomas was present and proclaimed "My Lord and my God" upon seeing the hands and side of Christ. (Today is also called Quasimodo Sunday, having nothing to do with Hunchbacks nor Notre Dame, but coming from the Latin text of the traditional Introit for this day, which begins "Quasi modo geniti infantes..." from 1 Peter 2:2, roughly translated as "As newborn babes [desire the rational milk without guile]...". Literally, quasi modo means "as if in [this] manner".

To commemorate Thomas Sunday, we will sing the hymn O sons and daughters, let us sing, which contains the stanzas

4 When Thomas first the tidings heard
that some had seen the risen Lord,
he doubted the disciples' word.
Lord, have mercy! 

5 At night the apostles met in fear;
among them came their Master dear
and said, "My peace be with you here."
Alleluia! 

6 "My pierced side, O Thomas, see,
and look upon my hands, my feet;
not faithless but believing be."
Alleluia!  

7 No longer Thomas then denied;
he saw the feet, the hands, the side.
"You are my Lord and God!" he cried.
Alleluia! 

8 How blest are they who have not seen
and yet whose faith has constant been,
for they eternal life shall win.
Alleluia! 

Thomas Sunday is particularly important among Orthodox Christians. So the quirky thing is that today is NOT Thomas Sunday in the Orthodox Church, but, instead, is Easter Day! In observance of  that, I am playing a setting of a Paschal hymn from the Orthodox tradition, as found in the collection 

Meditations on Byzantine Hymns by Gerald Near. The melody is a chant, much like the Gregorian Chant of the Early Roman church. 

Music for the Triduum + April 18-20, 2019

April 18, 2019 + Maundy Thursday (7 PM)

Vocal Music

• Ave Verum – Stephanie Martin (b. 1965)
• Ubi Caritas – Ola Gjielo (b. 1978)

Instrumental Music

• Récit du chant de l'hymne precedent: Pange, lingua, gloriosi  Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703)
• Ubi Caritas et Amor – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)

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

• Hymn R116 - What shall I render to the Lord? (ROCKINGHAM)
• Hymn 576 - God is Love, and where true love is (MANDATUM)
• Hymn R148 - Brother, let me be your servant (THE SERVANT SONG)
• Hymn R289 - Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love (CHEREPONI)
• Hymn R226 - Ubi caritas (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 439 - What wondrous love is this (WONDROUS LOVE)
• Hymn 171 - Go to dark Gethsemane (PETRA)
• Hymn R170 - Stay here and keep watch with me (Jacques Berthier)
• Psalm 116:1, 10-17 Tone IIa 

April 19, 2019 + Good Friday (NOON)

Vocal Music

• Were You There? - Spiritual, Richard Murray, soloist

Instrumental Music

• Ah, Holy Jesus – arr. John A. Behnke (b. 1953)
• Come, Sweet Death – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of that marked LEVAS which is from Lift Every Voice and Sing II.)

• Hymn 158 - Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended (HERZLIEBSTER JESU)
• Hymn 441 - In the cross of Christ I glory (RATHBUN)         
• Hymn LEVAS - On a hill far away (OLD RUGGED CROSS)

April 20, 2019 + Easter Vigil (7 PM)

Vocal Music

• Now the Green Blade Riseth – Ken Heitshusen (c. 1950)
• Psalm 122: I Was Glad – Peter Hallock (1924-2014)

Instrumental Music

• O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing – Paul Manz (1919-2009)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked LEVAS which are from Lift Every Voice and Sing II.)

• Hymn  - Within Our Darkest Night (Taize), 
• Hymn LEVAS - He’s Got the Whole World In his Hands (Whole World)
• Hymn LEVAS - Wade in the Water (Spiritual)
• Hymn 296 - We know that Christ is raised and dies no more (ENGLEBERG)
• Hymn 187 - Through the Red Sea brought at last (STRAF MICH NICHT)
• Hymn 174 - At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (SALZBURG)
• Hymn 199 - Come, ye faithful, raise the strain (ST. KEVIN)

Three holy days enfold us now
in washing feet and breaking bread,
in cross and font and life renewed:
in Christ, God’s firstborn from the dead. (1)

From early times Christians have observed the week before Easter as a time of special devotion. As an early Christian pilgrim, Egeria, recorded in the late fourth century, Jerusalem contained many sacred places that were sites for devotion and liturgy. Numerous pilgrims to the holy city followed the path of Jesus in his last days. They formed processions, worshipped where Christ suffered and died, and venerated relics. From this beginning evolved the rites we observe today on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. 

The three holy days, or Triduum, of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are at the heart of the Holy Week observance. We observe these days with three special services, which, in turn, call for seasonal music. (2)

The choir, cantors, and organist provide much of what supplements the hymns that the congregation sings. Of particular interest this year are the anthems to be sung at the Maundy Thursday service, the Handbell music at the Good Friday Service and Richard Murray's annual singing of "Were You There," and the spirituals that will accompany the readings on Saturday at the Vigil.

In mid-April, 2011, the Norwegian composer Ola Gielo spent 3 days on the Central Washington University Campus for a project in which he joined the choir in recording 3 of his compositions. Gjeilo would add an improvised accompaniment  to his a capella choral music. One particular improvisation, his setting of the Ubi Caritas text, garnered so much attention on YouTube  that he figured it would made sense to publish a score that was as close to the original performance as he could notate. We will be singing that collaboration during communion on Maundy Thursday.

(1) Three holy days enfold us now, Words by Delores Dufner, OSB (b. 1939) © 1995, Sisters of St. Benedict.

(2) from https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/holy-week, accessed April 17, 2019

Music for October 7, 2018

Vocal Music

• For the Beauty of the Earth – John Rutter (b. 1945)

Instrumental Music

• Benediction – Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)
• Suite Liturgique: III. Communion– Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Now Thank We All Our God – Sigfrid Karg-Elert

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “R” which are from Renew and "L" which is from Lift Every Voice and Sing II.)

• Hymn 376 - Joyful, joyful, we adore thee (HYMN TO JOY)
• Hymn R250 - O Lord, my God (O STOR GUD)
• Hymn 480 - When Jesus left his Father’s throne (KINGSFOLD)
• Hymn L218 - Jesus loves me, this I know (JESUS LOVES ME)
• Hymn R173 - O Lord, hear my prayer (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 397 - Now thank we all our God (NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT)
• Psalm 8 – Tone VII

John Rutter (right), looking startled to be caught
standing next to your organist in 2017. We have
same haircut.

That John Rutter became one of the world’s most well-known composers of church music should surprise no one. He sang as a boy chorister at London’s prestigious Highgate School, and proceeded to study at Clare College, Cambridge, where he later became director of music. Rutter leapt to prominence in 1970, as co-editor of the second volume in Oxford University Press’s Carols for Choirs series. Since then, his name has become synonymous with English church music, especially for the Christmas season. He now lives near Cambridge, and conducts a professional choir, the Cambridge Singers.

This Sunday the choir sings one of his anthems with a Texas connection. Rutter wrote his setting of the nineteenth-century hymn, For the beauty of the earth, for Rosemary Heffley and the Texas Choral Directors Association in 1980. Foregoing the tune found in most hymnals (though not the Hymnal 1980!), Rutter crafted a lyrical, rising melody that joyfully concludes with an off-kilter rhythm and flamboyant turn. It has since become a standard in choir libraries, sung by choirs the world over. It's been  arranged for women's voices and men's voices in addition to the regular mixed voice choir, in addition to arrangements for concert band!

The author of the text is the otherwise neglected nineteenth-century English poet Folliott Pierpoint, who taught classics at Somersetshire College in southwest England. Much of Pierpoint’s poems deals with nature, and For the beauty of the earth is believed to have been a rhapsodic response to a springtime vista in the Somerset countryside when he was 29.

Two pieces by Sigfrid Karg-Elert open and close our 10:15 service. Karg-Elert was a German composer of considerable fame in the early twentieth century, best known for his compositions for organ and harmonium (reed organ). He was born as Sigfried Karg, but his concert-agent suggested early in his career that he add  a variant of his mother's maiden name (Ehlert) to his surname, and adopt the Swedish spelling of his first name.

Karg-Elert regarded himself as a musical outsider. Notable influences in his work include composers Johann Sebastian Bach (Germany), Edvard Grieg (Norway), Claude Debussy (France), Alexander Scriabin (Russia), and early Arnold Schoenberg (Austria). In general terms, his musical style can be characterized as being late-romantic with impressionistic and expressionistic tendencies.

I was interested to discover that, though Karg-Elert was well received and appreciated outside of Germany (especially in the US and the UK, where the Organ Music Society of London held a ten-day festival in his honor in 1930), the cultural climate in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s was very hostile to the internationally oriented, French-influenced Karg-Elert. This is during the time that Adolph Hitler was on the rise, promoting his "Mach Deutschland wieder groß" (Make Germany Great Again) campaign.

Karg-Elert died in Liepzig in 1933 of complications from diabetes, at age 55.

Music for July 8, 2018

Instrumental Music

• Triptyque – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• No. 1 Ouverture 
• No. 2 Invocation
• No. 3 Toccatina 
• Variations on a Southern Hymn - Jackson Hearn (b. 1958)

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

• Hymn 388 - O worship the King (HANOVER)
• Hymn 536 - God has spoken to his people (TORAH SONG)
• Hymn 636 - How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord (FOUNDATION)
• Hymn R266 - Give thanks with a grateful heart (GIVE THANKS)
• Hymn R305 - Lord, you give the great commission (ABBOTT’S LEIGH)
• Psalm 123 - Ad te levavi oculos meos (Tone VIII)

Last Sunday was Canada Day, but we were celebrating our Independence Day, so I transferred my own Maple Leaf observance to this Sunday.

Most of today's organ music is by the Canadian composer Denis Bédard. He studied first at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in his hometown of Québec, before going to Europe to pursue studies in Paris with André Isoir (organ) and Laurence Boulay (harpsichord) and in the Netherlands to study piano, harpsichord, and organ with Gustav Leonhardt.

Denis Bédard

Since September 2001 he has been organist and music director of Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, B.C.

This suite, Triptyque, was the result of a commission by Karl Wilhelm for the inaugural recital by the composer of the organ at the First Congregational Church in Hudson, Ohio in 991. The Ouverture, in ABA form, uses a characteristic five beat rhythm. The contemplative Invocation consists of three harmonic sections interspersed with melodic passages inspired by Gregorian chant. The last movement, Toccatina, is a brilliant fantasia made up of alternating chords. In the final section a combined accelerando and crescendo leads to a dazzling conclusion.

The prelude to the offertory hymn (How firm a foundation) is a set of three variations on the tune FOUNDATION that I arranged for organ in 1980, when I was a senior at Lambuth College and my excitement and creativity had yet to be dulled by working in the real world. I later arranged it for concert band as an arranging assignment, when it was played by the Lambuth College band. After the opening theme (as harmonized by Carlton Young, editor of the 1966 Methodist Hymnal), you hear three variations. The first one is is a slow, meditative setting played on the string celestes on the swell. That movement seamlessly flows into the second variation after slipping into three-four time. The melody will be heard in the tenor range, played on the clarinet. The third and final movement, which will also serve as the introduction to the singing of the hymn, is in the style of a French Overture marked by stately dotted rhythms and suspensions.

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 October 1, 2017 + The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

10:15 AM Eucharist

Vocal Music

• Lead me, Lord – Samuel S. Wesley (1810-1876)

Instrumental Music

• Out of the Deep I Cry to You – Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
• Suite du Premier Ton No. Récit – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Toccata in E Minor – Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)

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

• Hymn 450 - All hail the power of Jesus’ name! (CORONATION)
• Hymn 439 - What wondrous love is this (WONDROUS LOVE)
• Hymn 435 - At the name of Jesus (KING'S WESTON)
• Hymn 711 - Seek ye first the kingdom of God (SEEK YE FIRST)
• Hymn 554 - ‘Tis the gift to be simple (SIMPLE GIFTS)
• Hymn R26 - Jesus, name above all names (HEARN)
• Hymn 477 - All praise to the, for thou, O King divine (ENGLEBERG)
• Psalm 25:1-8 (Tone VIIIa)

St. Michael and All Angels  - 5:00 PM

Vocal Music

• Draw Us In the Spirit’s Tether – Harold Friedell (1905-1958)

Instrumental Music

• Adagio in E – Frank Bridge (1879-1918)
• Suite du Premier Ton No. Récit – Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
• Toccata in E Minor – Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)

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

• Hymn 618 - Ye watchers and ye holy ones (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)
• Hymn 282 - Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels (CAELITES PLAUDANT)
• Hymn R-75 - Praise the Lord! O heavens adore him (AUSTRIAN HYMN)
• Hymn R-114 - Bless the Lord, my soul (Jacques Berthier)
• Hymn 410 - Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (LAUDA ANIMA)
• Psalm 103:19-22 (Tone VIIIb)

The anthem at 10:15 service this Sunday is the quiet, simple, Lead me Lord by S. S. Wesley.  Lead me Lord is an extract from a larger, longer anthem by Wesley called Praise the Lord.  This excerpt has proven to be so popular and accessible that it has been included as a hymn in several hymnals in the last 50 years.

The opening voluntary at 10:15 is based on the tune Aus Tiefer noth schrei Ich zu Dir, though not the tune found in our hymnal with the same name. (The one in our hymnal, found at 151, is thought to be composed by Martin Luther.)  The tune used in this chorale prelude is very similar to a tune the Lutherans used for the text Herr, wie du willst, so schicks mit mir (Lord, as Thou wilt, deal Thou with me - sort of the Lutheran answer to the Methodist hymn, "Have Thy Own Way, Lord.") In fact, the copy of the music lists both texts as the title for this piece.

In this setting by the South German organist Johann Pachelbel (of the Canon in D fame), you'll first hear a fragment of the tune as the subject of a fughetta, a short fugue, with exposition plus only a few restatements of the subject. The fughetta soon evolves into a chorale-prelude, with the entire tune heard in long notes in the soprano (top) voice, with a contrapuntal accompaniment in the lower voices.

Denis Bédard 

The communion voluntary at both services is a slow, lyrical movement from a Suite by the Canadian organist, Denis Bédard. This movement is titled récit, which has sort of a double meaning - on the French-syle organ, one of the divisions of the organ is called récit, and French organists would use the term when naming a composition to describe where and how it is to be played. The word also means "story" in French (I am told, as I barely speak English with fluidity), so this could refer to this piece as a lyrical story. The melody will be played on the oboe in the récit (swell) division of our organ, accompanied by a single flute at 8' pitch.

Denis Bédard, who was born in Quebec City in 1950, first studied music at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, graduating with first class honours in organ, harpsichord, chamber music, counterpoint and fugue. He continued his studies in Paris and Montreal, as well as in Amsterdam with Gustav Leonhardt, and was laureate of the "Prix d'Europe" in 1975 and of the CBC Radio Talent Competition in 1978. A professor at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec from 1981 until 1989 and organ professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver from 2001 until 2004, Denis Bédard was organist at St-Coeur-de-Marie church in Quebec City for 19 years and then became organist at St-Roch church, also in Quebec City, in September 1997. Since September 2001 Denis Bédard has been organist and music director at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver. He is a very active concert artist and has given recitals across Canada, in the United States, in France and in Brazil.

This Sunday evening, as we dedicate the Acolyte Guild at our annual service, I have chosen the beautiful anthem by the American composer Harold Friedell for the offertory. Though it is not written specifically for either acolytes, youth, or Michaelmas, these words make it apt for a service calling our young men and women into service:

Draw us in the Spirit’s tether,

For when humbly in Thy name,

Two or three are met together

Thou are in the midst of them;

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Touch we now Thy garment’s hem.

As the brethren used to gather

In the name of Christ to sup,

Then with thanks to God the Father

Break the bread and bless the cup,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

So knit Thou our friendship up.

All our meals and all our living

Make as sacraments of Thee,

That by caring, helping, giving

We may true disciples be.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

We will serve Thee faithfully.

© 1957, 1985, Oxford University Press, The H.W. Gray Co. Used by permission.

This hymn was written by Percy Dearmer and first published in 1931. It gained popularity because of Harold Friedell’s 1957 anthem. Friedell (1905-1958) was a professor of theory and composition at the School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary, New York City.

Jet E. Turner, a master of sacred music graduate at Union, arranged a portion of the music of the anthem as a hymn for the United Methodist Hymnal, and named the tune UNION SEMINARY. (1) Like the anthem Lead me, Lord, mentioned at the beginning of the article, it has since become a very popular hymn in new hymnals, being included in over 18 hymnals in recent years.

(1) Hawn, C. Michael, History of Hymns: Draw Us In the Spirit's Tether. Retrieved from https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-draw-us-in-the-spirits-tether