MAGNIFY THE LORD Music for December 11, 2022 + Advent III

Vocal Music

• How Lovely Are the Messengers – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Instrumental Music

• Magnificat in G Major – Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
• Of the Father’s love begotten – Rebecca Groom te Velde (b. 1956)
• Once He Came in Blessing - John Leavitt (b. 1956)
• Blest Be the King Whose Coming – Alexandre Guilmant

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

• Hymn 76 On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry (WINCHESTER NEW)
• Hymn S 242 Canticle 15: The Song of Mary - Tonus Peregrinus
• Hymn 615 “Thy kingdom come!” on bended knee (ST. FLAVIAN)
• Hymn 59 Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding (MERTON)
• Hymn R278 Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
• Hymn 74 Blest be the King whose coming (VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN)

How Lovely Are the Messengers

How lovely are the messengers is a movement from St. Paul, the first oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn, composed in 1836. In 1831 Mendelssohn was commissioned by Johann Schelble, conductor of the Cecilia Choir and Orchestra of Frankfurt, to compose an oratorio. Mendelssohn knew his Bible extremely well and invariably turned to it for inspiration when considering a new choral piece. 

The text of the oratorio is based very largely on the Acts of the Apostles. After a lengthy overture, Part I opens with the martyrdom of Stephen and Saul’s persecution of the Christians. This is followed by the conversion of Paul, his baptism and ordination as a minister by Ananias. Part II finds Paul and Barnabas becoming the ambassadors of the Church. Their duet is followed by one of the oratorio’s best-loved choruses, ‘How lovely are the messengers.' The text comes from Romans 10:15,18 (paraphrased)

15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

During the austere post-war period there was a considerable reaction against Mendelssohn’s music. To what extent this was an after-effect of the rampant German anti-Semitism of the 1930s and 40s is difficult to determine, but the generally held view, particularly in some sections of the musical establishment, was that his life had been too easy and too comfortable, and that as a consequence his music, with its classical elegance and understated emotion, was superficial and distinctly inferior. Thankfully, in recent years there has been a more balanced attitude to Mendelssohn, avoiding both the excessive adulation which surrounded him during his lifetime and the equally absurd denigration that he suffered later.

Magnificat

The lectionary provides two options to be used for the psalm this Sunday. One is the usual Psalm, while the other is canticle The Magnificat, or The Song of Mary. The prelude this morning is three versets from an interpretation of Mary's Magnificat, composed by 19th-century French organist Alexandre Guilmant. These versets were probably composed to be played in alternatim with verses of the chant, as was typical in French churches. I am playing the first, third, and fifth variations, Allegro, Duo Pastorale, and Fugue. These organ miniatures are very baroque in their form and style, especially  the fugue

Félix-Alexandre Guilmant was the organist of La Trinité  in Paris from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Cantorum de Paris. He was appointed as Professor of Organ at the Paris Conservatoire in 1896.

Valet will ich

The closing voluntary is also a work by Guilmant. You know the tune because of its association with the text :"All glory laud and honor," which we sing on Palm Sunday, but the tune, VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN, was composed by Melchior Teschner in 1615 for "Valet will ich dir geben," Valerius Herberger's hymn for the dying. Here is the original text:

Valet will ich dir geben

Du arge, falsche Welt;

Dein sündlich böses Leben

Durchaus mir nicht gefällt.

Im Himmel ist gut wohnen,

Hinauf zieht mein Begier;

Da wird Gott herrlich lohnen

Dem, der ihm dient allhier.

I want to bid you farewell,

You evil, false world

Your sinful, wicked life

It is not all pleasing to me.

In heaven it is good to dwell,

My longing is set on what is above

There God will reward forever

The person who serve him here.

Since the tune is also used in our hymnal for Advent hymn 74, Blest be the King whose coming, which we are singing as our closing hymn, I will also use it as the closing voluntary.

Communion music

The two short organ voluntaries during communion are by two contemporary composers (both born in 1956) which are based on two hymns - first is the hymn Of the Father's Love Begotten, a doctrinal hymn based on the Latin poem "Corde natus" by the Fourth Century Roman poet Aurelius Prudentius, from his Liber Cathemerinon. It is generally considered more of a Christmas hymn (it is No. 82 in the Christmas section of our hymnal), but I wanted to play it because the second voluntary, a setting of the Advent hymn (no. 53) Once He came in blessing, includes the melody DIVINUM MYSTERIUM, the melody to Of the Father's love begotten, in the accompaniment to the tune GOTTES SOHN IST KOMMEN. 

Music for November 13, 2022 + The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Like a Tree – Ruth Elaine Schram (b. 1956)
• He That Shall Endure to the End – Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847 )

Instrumental Music

• Highland Cathedral – Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb, arr James Wetherald
• Elegy – John Carter (b. 1930)
• Traditional Bagpipe tunes – Stanley Fontenot, piper 

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

• Hymn R122 Canticle 9: Surely it is God who saves me (THE FIRST SONG OF ISAIAH)
• Hymn From North and South (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)
• Hymn R168 If you believe and I believe (IF YOU BELIEVE)
• Hymn 671 Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound (NEW BRITAIN)

Like a Tree

Today marks the first time our children's choir has sung in church in over two years. I am delighted that the Coventry Choir will be singing this anthem inspired by Psalm 1 

Ruth Elaine Schram

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - 

This song is by Ruth Elaine Schram, an American composer who specializes in choral music for church and school choirs. She wrote her first song at the age of twelve, and her first song was published twenty years later, in 1988. In 1992, she became a full‑time composer and arranger and now has over 2,000 published works. Over thirteen million copies of Schram's songs have been purchased in their various venues, and she has been a recipient of the ASCAP Special Award each year since 1990. In addition to Schram's choral music, her songs appear on thirty albums (four of which have been Dove Award finalists) and numerous children's videos. Schram's songs have also appeared on such diverse television shows as The 700 Club and HBO's acclaimed series The Sopranos.

Schram began piano and theory lessons at the age of five. She studied music at Lancaster Bible College and Millersville State College and taught Elementary Music in Pennsylvania for several years. Schram now lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, Scott, and they have two grown daughters, Crystie and Celsie.

He That Shall Endure to the End

Felix Mendelssohn
painting by Eduard Magnus, ca 1845

This work from Mendelssohn's oratorio, Elijah, comes in the second half of the oratorio, which tells the life of the prophet Elijah which epitomized the evolution of Jewish faith from worship of the Babylonian pantheon of idols and myths to worshipping one monotheistic God. 

In the second half, we hear that God comforts those who follow his commandments. In ridding the land of Baal worship, Elijah has challenged King Ahab, ruler of Israel. His wife, Queen Jezebel, incites the crowd against Elijah. Disheartened, Elijah sings “It is enough.” 

Elijah awaits God on Mount Horeb, longing for death. Angels once again arrive to restore his spirit with the words, “Lift thine eyes to the mountains.” Elijah’s hope resurfaces, and the chorus sings this chorale, with words from Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew.

We are singing this today in response to the Gospel reading which ends, "By your endurance you will gain your souls."

Elegy

John Carter

Elegy was composed for piano solo in memory and in grief for the students and teachers of the Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, Texas. It features a quiet, somber rhythm pattern with twenty-one bell-like tones, one for each person who perished on that awful day. It is quiet, somber, and dramatic.

Carter is Director of Music at University Baptist Church, Columbus, OH. He was born in Nashville, TN and received his B.M. from Trinity University in San Antonio and an M.M. from Peabody College in Nashville. John is a prolific composer with several hundred choral compositions to his credit as well as several musicals, an opera, and a dozen collections for keyboard and organ. He and his wife, Mary Kay Beall, often collaborate in composition.

Music for Sunday, October 9, 2022 + The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Thee We Adore – T. F. H. Candlyn (1892-1964)

Instrumental Music

• Andante in D Major – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• The Infinite Meadows of Heaven – Paul Mealor (b. 1975)
• Praise to the Lord, the Almighty – Max Reger (1873-1916)

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

• Hymn 411 O bless the Lord, my soul (ST. THOMAS (WILLIAMS))
• Hymn 644 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds (ST. PETER)
• Hymn 295 Sing praise to our creator (CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN)
• Hymn 390 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN)
• Hymn R 266 Give thanks with a grateful heart (GIVE THANKS)
• Hymn 397 Now thank we all our God (NUN DANLET ALLE GOTT)
• Psalm 111 – Tone VIIIa

Thee We Adore

This is an anthem based on a hymn by St. Thomas Aquinas. The tune is in our hymnal, using a different translation of the original Latin text (hymn 314). 

The arrangement is by Thomas Frederick Handel Candlyn, English-born organist, composer and choirmaster who spent most of his professional career at two Episcopal Church congregations in New York. After graduating from Durham University in 1911 with  the Bachelor of Music degree, he was offered the position of organist and choirmaster at St. Paul's Church, Albany, New York by its rector Dr. Roelif H. Brooks and he emigrated to the United States. He was to remain at St. Paul’s for twenty-eight years, with the exception of the period between September 21, 1917 and April 25, 1919 when he served with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I.

In 1943, Dr. Brooks (who had left Albany in 1926) offered Candlyn the position of organist and choirmaster at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York. where he worked until his retirement in 1954.

Although he composed two hundred works, primarily anthems, cantatas, service settings and organ solos, only three of his anthems ("Christ, whose glory fills the skies," "Thee We Adore," and "King of Glory, King of Peace") remain part of the standard repertoire of Episcopal church choirs in North America.

Andante in D Major

Although Mendelssohn was most famous during his lifetime as a composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor, he also enjoyed an enviable reputation as a highly skilled organist. The instrument had fascinated — one might almost say mesmerized — him from earliest youth, but aside from a year or so of formal training at the age of about 12 or 13, he was entirely self-taught. He never held a position as church organist, and never had any organ pupils. Nevertheless, the instrument played a uniquely important role in his personal life. In the course of his many travels, whether in major cities or tiny villages, he invariably gravitated to the organ loft, where he might spend hours playing the works of Bach or simply improvising. Although the piano clearly served Mendelssohn as an eminently practical instrument, the organ seems to have been his instrument of choice. He searched out an organ loft, not because he had to, but because he wanted to, because on the organ he could find catharsis. Indeed, as he once exclaimed to his parents after reading a portion of Schiller's Wilhelm Tell, “I must rush off to the monastery and work off my excitement on the organ!” 

Mendelssohn's public performance on the organ in Germany was rare, and he gave but one public recital: in the Thomas-Kirche in Leipzig in 1840. In England, however, he evidently felt more comfortable on the organ bench and played there often before large crowds. Indeed, he performed as Guest Organist twice at the Birmingham Music Festivals in 1837 and 1842. Given Mendelssohn's profound affinity for the organ, it is remarkable that he composed but relatively little for the instrument, and assigned an Opus number to only two works: his Three Preludes and Fugues for Organ (Op. 37) and his Six Sonatas for the Organ (Op. 65). A small number of organ works, plus sketches and drafts, were scattered among his musical papers; most of these only gradually found their way into print, and it was not until the late 20th century that an edition of his complete organ works was finally published. 

This Andante (1844) is one of them. It's a theme and variations on a very sweet melody

The Infinite Meadow of Heaven

Welsh composer Paul Mealor is one of the world’s most ‘performed’ living composers and has been described as, ‘the most important composer to have emerged in Welsh choral music since William Mathias’ (New York Times, 2001).

Born in St Asaph, North Wales in 1975, Paul Mealor studied composition privately as a boy with William Mathias and later with John Pickard, and at the University of York (BA Hons, 1997, PhD, 2002) and in Copenhagen with Hans Abrahamsen and Per Nørgård. He was catapulted to international stardom in April 2011, when 2.5 billion people heard his motet, Ubi caritas, at the Royal Wedding Ceremony of His Royal Highness Prince William and Catherine Middleton (now TRH The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge) at Westminster Abbey. 

The Infinite Meadows of Heaven is a quote from H. W. Longfellow and this slow and expressive piece is very beautiful. It is underpinned by oscillating thirds in its outer sections that accompany a melody using the upper end of the keyboard. A low pedal octave also accompanies the first section. The middle section is more agitated but all returns to a blissful calm. It was commissioned and premiered by Iwan Llewelyn-Jones at the Wales International Piano Festival in 2016.

“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,

Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.”

― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

Music for September 19, 2021 + The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Grant Us Thy Peace – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Instrumental Music

• Was Gott tut, das is wohlgetan – Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748)
• Song Without Words: Consolation, Op. 30, #3 –Felix Mendelssohn
• Allegro in B flat Major – Felix Mendelssohn

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 390 - Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN)
• Hymn 636 - How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord (FOUNDATION)
• Hymn 660 - O Master, let me walk with thee (MARYTON)
• Hymn 482 - Lord of all hopefulness (SLANE)
• Psalm 54 - Psalm Tone VIIIa

Felix Mendelssohn was exposed to Lutheran hymns during his musical studies, which included the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He was then inspired to try his hand at writing chorale cantatas as part of his musical Studies in 1831.  He composed today's anthem, Verleih uns Frieden (Grant Us Thy Peace) in 1831 as one of eight chorale cantatas based on Lutheran hymns. He later chose only Verleih uns Frieden for publication.

The text is Martin Luther's "Verleih uns Frieden", a paraphrase of Da pacem Domine, a Latin prayer for peace from the 6th or 7th century based on biblical verses 2 Kings 20:19, 2 Chronicles 20:12,15 and Psalms 72:6–7. It was a regular close of church services in Luther's time. Surprisingly, Mendelssohn did not use the melody which was associated with Luther's text, but composed a  new melody following the style of recent hymns in clear major-key tonality.

Felix Mendelssohn

The melody appears three times, rendering the complete text each time. It is introduced by the men alone, then repeated by the trebles, with the men singing counterpoint, and finally appears in the sopranos in a mostly homophonic four-part setting.

Robert Schumann said about the composition: "The small piece deserves to be world famous and will become so in the future; the Madonnas of Raphael and Murillo cannot remain hidden for long."

The communion voluntary is another piece by Mendelssohn, this time on the piano. Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte) is a series of short lyrical piano songs by Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. The works were part of the Romantic tradition of writing short lyrical pieces for the piano, although the specific concept of "Songs Without Words" was new. 

Mendelssohn resisted attempts to interpret the songs too literally, and objected when his friend Marc-André Souchay sought to put words to them to make them literal songs:

What the music I love expresses to me, is not thought too indefinite to put into words, but on the contrary, too definite. (Mendelssohn's own italics)

However, that has not kept people from doing that very thing. The melody from Opus 30, No. 3 has been turned into a hymn-tune called CONSOLATION, which is used for several texts, the most prevalent being "Still, still with thee, the purple morning breaketh," by Harriet Beecher Stowe. (Extra points if you can tell me what famous novel she wrote.) It has published in several older hymnal, but is now out of fashion.

Music for Sunday, July 25, 2021 + The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• I waited for the Lord – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Christine Marku and Matthew Donley, soloists

Instrumental Music

• Prelude and Fugue in F – Attr. to J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
• Sonata Pathetique: II. Adagio cantabile – Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
• Sortie in E-flat – Louis Lefébure-Wély (1817-1869)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of the middle hymn which is from Lift Every Voice and Sing.)

• Hymn 414 God, my King, thy might confessing (STUTTGART)
• Hymn Break thou the bread of life (TUNE)
• Hymn 304 I come with joy to meet my Lord (LAND OF REST)
• Psalm 145 – Tone VIIIa

Felix Mendelssohn

In 1840 Germany was in the midst of preparations to celebrate the quadricentennial of Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. Felix Mendelssohn was no exception, and he wrote his Lobgesang (Song of Praise), A Symphony-Cantata after words of the Holy Scripture.  It consists of three purely orchestral movements followed by 10 movements for chorus and/or soloists and orchestra.

The sixth movement, a duet for two sopranos with chorus, gained immense popularity as a standalone anthem in Victorian times in its English version, which we'll hear today as a soprano and tenor duet. The text is from Psalm 40.

J.S. Bach
(or is it?)

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may remember that I have played several organ works during the first three months of the year that had been "attributed" to J. S. Bach. I had begun a monthly series of playing the "Eight Little Prelude and Fugues" which bear Bach's name but were probably written by his friend Krebs. I got interrupted in April, but I'm back on track with the fourth prelude and fugue in that collection in the key of F Major. It's bright and cheerful.

Lefébure-Wély

If you had been in attendance at mass at L'église de la Madeleine in Paris in the 1850s, you would no doubt heard the fabulous Cavaillé-Coll organ played by their organist, Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély. Lefébure-Wély was one of the leading organists of his day, with a reputation as a virtuoso. He was followed at la Madeleine by such renowned organists as Camille Saint-Saëns, Théodore Dubois, and Gabriel Fauré. He also was in charge of the music for the funeral of Frédéric Chopin, when he transcribed some of Chopin's piano works for the organ, attracting critical praise.

I'm playing his Sortie in E-flat for the closing voluntary. With this, you'll get an idea of the type of music the wealthy Parisian congregation would hear as they left the Sunday Service. It's definitely not somber!

September 20, 2020 + The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Hear My Prayer – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Instrumental Music

• Processional – William Mathias (1934-1992)
• Sunday Morning Fire - Jackson Berkey (b. 1942)
• Come, Labor On – Michael Burkhardt (b. 1957)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “W” which are from Wonder, Love, and Praise.)

• Hymn 660 - O Master, let me walk with thee (MARYTON)
• Song of Praise S-280 Glory to God – Robert Powell
• Sanctus W-858 (LAND OF REST)

This Sunday we warmly welcome Brooke Vance to our service today. Brooke grew up in Good Shepherd, singing in the choirs from kindergarten through High School. She is a graduate of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with a degree in vocal performance. She'll be singing  part of Felix Mendelssohn’s Hear my Prayer, a miniature cantata with three distinct, contrasting movements. She will sing the first section, “Hear my prayer, O God.” Mendelssohn’s subtle changes of harmony and melody indicate alternating moments of optimism and loneliness. 

From The Musical Times, Feb. 1, 1891 by F. G. Edwards:

"Hear my Prayer" – "a trifle", as he modestly calls it – is one of Mendelssohn's most popular and widely-known choral works. It was written at the request of Mr. William Bartholomew for a series of Concerts given at Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate Street, in the "forties", by Miss Mounsey, who afterwards became Mrs. Bartholomew. The work was first performed at Crosby Hall on January 8, 1845, with Miss Mounsey at the organ, and was published in the same year by Messrs. Ewer and Co…

In 1843, William Bartholomew wrote to Mendelssohn requesting "one or two sacred solos with an organ accompaniment for some concerts we are to give at Crosby Hall, a renovated Gothic Structure which was once the palace of Richard the Third". The texts submitted were Judges 16: 23–31 (the ‘Death Prayer of Samson’) and a version of the opening of Psalm 55, which was accepted by Mendelssohn, and became Hear my prayer.

The first performance was in January of 1845, with Ann Mounsey playing the organ accompaniment on the new organ by Henry Cephas Lincoln, and the soprano solo by Elizabeth Rainforth, a well-known stage singer; according to a review of the performance published in Musical World, neither the soloist nor the chorus were ‘thoroughly at home’ and the new organ also met with little enthusiasm. The modern-day popularity of the work stems from the recording made in 1927 by boy soprano Ernest Lough which became EMI’s first million-selling classical recording.

Music for August 18. 2019

Vocal Music

• Lord God of Abraham – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Richard Murray, bass

Instrumental Music

• Sonata II: Grave/Adagio – Felix Mendelssohn
• Sonata II: Allegro Maestoso e Vivace – Felix Mendelssohn
• Ave Verum Corpus – Gerald Near (b. 1942)

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

• Hymn 366 - Holy God, we praise thy Name (GROSSER GOTT)
• Hymn 691- My faith looks up to thee (OLIVET)
• Hymn 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus (IN BABILONE)
• Hymn 490 - I want to walk as a child of the light (HOUSTON)
• Hymn 324 - Let all mortal flesh keep silence (PICARDY)
• Hymn R 291 - Go forth for God (GENEVA 124)
• Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18 – Tone VIIIa

I love the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. I think I could play nothing but Bach and not grow weary of him. After Bach, I love playing the music of Felix Mendelssohn. It's quite a jump going from the 18th century Baroque to the 19th century Romantic period, but there are some very strong connections.

Felix Mendelssohn, By James Warren Childe
- watercolor painting, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123195

By the time Felix came along, the music of J. S. Bach was all but forgotten, a relic of a bygone era that was considered more math than music. When Felix was 14 years old, his maternal grandmother presented him with a hand-copied manuscript score of J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion. She recognized in this little-known work one of the most deeply spiritual works ever composed; and it had a profound effect on the young boy. He conceived an idea of presenting the entire work, and five years later, he himself conducted the first full performance of this masterwork in over 100 years.

The idea of writing a large choral work also captivated Mendelssohn's imagination, for in his short life, he wrote three oratorios, Paulus, Elias, and Christus (which remained unfinished). It is from Elias (Elijah) that we draw today's offertory.

At this place in the story, Israel is in a great drought. The prophet Elijah is accused of causing Israel’s troubles but he charges that the people have brought their problems on themselves by worshipping false gods. Elijah challenges the priests of the god Baal. In a scene that would be perfect for the reality tv shows of today, the priests pray to Baal as Elijah prays to his God. Baal’s failure to answer is symbolized by dramatic silences. Elijah mockingly demands that the priests call him louder. This happens for the third time, but still there is no answer. When Baal fails to end the drought, Elijah exhorts the people of Israel to turn their prayers to the one true God.  A consuming fire from the heavens convinces everyone to turn again to God, and they launch prayers for rain. At first it only brings a little white cloud and then, finally, the longed-for waters that “laveth the thirsty land,” symbolized by a downward rush of musical scales.

During the last years of his life, Mendelssohn paid further homage to J.S. Bach by preparing an edition of the latter's organ works (published in London in 1845-46). Mendelssohn's own Six Sonatas for organ, op. 65 (of which I play two movements this morning) not only renewed interest in the organ repertoire, and especially that of Bach, but also prompted the composition of new works for organ by other major composers. 

Music for July 14, 2019

Vocal Music

• How Great Thou Art – Stuart K. Hine

Instrumental Music

• Hyfrydol – Paul Manz (1919-2009)
• Sonata No. 1 in F minor (Adagio) – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Praise to the Lord – Paul Manz

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

• Hymn 390 - Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN)
• Hymn 609 - Where cross the crowded ways of life (GARDINER)
• Hymn R 266 - Give thanks with a grateful heart  (GIVE THANKS)
• Hymn 602 - Jesu, Jesu, fill us with thy love (CHEREPONI)
• Hymn 610 - Lord, whose love through humble service (BLAENHAFREN)
• Psalm 25:1-9 - Tone VIIIa

This Sunday one of our choristers, Emily VanNostrand, sings a hymn that has become one of the favorite hymns of the last century, How Great Thou Art. It was voted the United Kingdom's favorite hymn by BBC's Songs of Praise and was ranked second (after "Amazing Grace") on a list of the favorite hymns of all time in a survey by Christianity Today magazine in 2001.

It is also one among challengers for least-liked hymns of many in the church. (I've discovered Amazing Grace is also a contender!) Many of those who sing this hymn throughout the world in countless translations have no idea of the duality of feeling that exists around it. Perhaps both sides would benefit from some historical perspective.

Carl Boberg

Carl Gustaf Boberg, a Swedish pastor, editor, and member of the Swedish parliament, was enjoying a nice walk when a thunderstorm suddenly appeared out of nowhere. A severe wind began to blow. After the storm was over, Mr. Boberg looked out over the clear bay. He then heard a church bell in the distance. And the words to How Great Thou Art begin to form in his heart

O Lord, my God, When I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands hath made

This poem, titled O Store Gud (O Great God) was published in 1891 in Witness of the Truth, the weekly newspaper that Boberg edited. The poem became matched to an old Swedish folk tune and sung in public for the first-known occasion in a church in the Swedish province of Värmland in 1888. Eight verses appeared with the music in the 1890 Sions Harpan. It was later translated in German. In 1927, it was published in a Russian version of the German text.

Stuart K. Hine, an English missionary to the Ukraine, heard the Russian version and sang it at an evangelistic meeting with his wife. He then translated the first three stanzas into English, which they sang at an evangelistic meeting in England during World War Two. He published the first three verses (in both English and Russian) in 1949 in Grace and Peace, a Russian evangelistic paper which Hine edited. He later wrote the fourth verse as a triumphant message of life eternal.

The hymn was introduced to American audiences during the Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusades in the 1950s. The version sung by George Beverly Shea in the Graham Crusades is vastly different from that heard in Sweden. The Crusade rendition featured soaring lines with fermatas on the last phrase of the refrain. The Swedish version is much more understated and sung in strict rhythm.

Recordings by numerous popular recording artists may be found on YouTube, but perhaps none are as memorable as the rendition by Elvis Presley on his farewell tour in 1977 weeks before his death. This Sunday Emily sings the version made popular by Carrie Underwood.

May 26, 2019 + The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Rogation Sunday

Vocal Music

• Grant Us Thy Peace – Felix Mendelssohn

Instrumental Music

• Shalom (Peace) – Dan Locklair
• Prelude on “Shall We Gather at the River” – Gordon Young
• Fugue in C Major, BWV 531 – J. S. Bach

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

• Hymn 405 - All things bright and beautiful (ROYAL OAK)
• Hymn 490 - I want to walk as a child of the light (HOUSTON)
• Hymn 424 - For the fruits of all creation (EAST ACKLAM)
• Hymn 513 - Like the murmur of the dove’s song (BRIDEGROOM)
• Hymn - Shall we gather at the river (HANSON PLACE)
• Hymn 292 - O Jesus, crowned with all renown (KINGSFOLD)
• Psalm 67

Two themes run throughout the service today. The prevailing theme comes from Jesus' promise to his followers, found in today's Gospel of John:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. - John 14:27

First is a contemplative organ piece by North Carolina composer Dan Locklair. Locklair is Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Music at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He has written symphonic works, a ballet, an opera, and numerous solo, chamber, vocal, and choral compositions, in addition to some important organ works.

Today's opening voluntary is from his Æolian Sonata, written in 2002 for a recital celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Duke University Chapel’s Æolian pipe organ. The second movement,  Shalom (Peace),  is marked “Serene and unhurried.” It is a quiet and simple movement that lyrically dialogues flute and clarinet sounds as it gently reflects on the Hebrew word for peace. Locklair prefaced this movement with the dedication:

In remembrance of the darkness of September 11 from which emerged hope for Peace and joy in Thanksgiving.

The other "peaceful" reference is the anthem Grant Us Thy Peace (Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich), written by Felix Mendelssohn in a style inspired by Bach. It is one of the Opus 23, Sacred Choruses, written during the period following the Mendelssohn's first period of  public success with such undisputed masterpieces as the String Octet and the Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Based on a text by Martin Luther, which itself was inspired by the Latin text "Da Pacem Domine," Mendelssohn wrote it after a visit to the Vatican in 1831. It is for four-part choir and string orchestra with organ. The floating introduction leads  directly into the quietly contemplative first verse set for men alone. The women then sing the melody while the men provide a counter-melody.  Only the last verse utilizes the full forces available, and does so with a generous warmth of expression that leaves one in no doubt that ultimate peace cannot be far away.

The other theme running through the service is the blessing of agriculture, commerce, and the stewardship of creation. In addition to being the Sixth Sunday of the Easter Season, today is Rogation Sunday. Rogation Sunday is the day when the Church has traditionally offered prayer for God’s blessing on the fruits of the earth and the labors of those who produce our food. The word “rogation” is from the Latin rogare, “to ask.” Historically, the Rogation Days (the three days before Ascension Day) were a period of fasting and abstinence, beseeching God’s blessing on the crops for a bountiful harvest. Few of us today directly derive our livelihood from the production of food, yet it is good to be reminded of our dependence upon those who do and our responsibility for the environment.

The closing voluntary is noteworthy in that it is one of the earliest organ works by Bach, probably written when he was around 15 years old. Other than one entrance of the fugal subject, there is little for the pedal to do other than reinforce the bass line at cadences. And in contrast to his later fugues which were written for four (or more!) voice parts, this one rarely goes beyond three parts, more often existing happily in a two-part texture. But listen to the youthful exuberance! It is an example of perpetual motion as in every bar (except one) there are running sixteenth notes:

Music for March 4, 2018 + The Third Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music

• Teach Me, O Lord – Thomas Attwood (1765-1838) 
• Lord God of Abraham – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Instrumental Music

• Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot'  BWV 679– J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
• Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein BWV 641 – J. S. Bach

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

• Hymn 143 - The glory of these forty days (ERHALT UNS, HERR) 
• Hymn R75 - Praise the Lord! O heavens adore him (AUSTRIAN HYMN)
• Hymn 685 - Rock of ages, cleft for me (TOPLADY)
• Hymn 676 - There is a balm in Gilead (BALM IN GILEAD)
• Hymn 313 - Let thy blood in mercy poured (JESUS, MEINE ZUVERSICHT)
• Hymn 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus (IN BABILONE)
• Psalm 19 - Tone IIa

This Sunday we have music by three different composers spanning almost two centuries, but all three are connected.
 The communion anthem is a staple in our repertoire, Teach Me, O Lord, (the way of thy statutes) by the English composer Thomas Attwood. We are singing it because of the Old Testament reading, which includes the Ten Commandments.

Thomas Attwood

Thomas Attwood was organist of St Paul's Cathedral in London and is buried there. His short anthem, Teach me, O Lord, has a successful simplicity which has stood the test of time. But this is not always the case with Attwood's works. In the earlier part of his life he was particularly interested in music for the stage; his output includes thirty-two operas.

At the end of the eighteenth century the deteriorating taste of English church music was reflected in the introduction of over-ornate solos in verse anthems, which, stylistically, were borrowed wholesale from opera. This is documented in A Short Account of Organs Built in Britain (1847) by Sir John Sutton who writes:

[The cathedral organist] considers himself as a first-rate performer, and persuades other people that he is so too, and on the strength of this he inflicts upon the congregation long voluntaries, interludes, which consist either of his own vulgar imagination, or selections from the last new opera.

Attwood was part of this tradition, although he had the sense to write simpler music too. The orchestral introduction to his coronation anthem I was glad contains the national anthem as a counter-melody, whilst that of O grant the king a long life contains more than a nodding acquaintance with Dr Arne's Rule, Britannia!
Attwood had many friends and was widely known as a gentleman. He was a pupil of Mozart and owned a large house on Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood in South London, where Mendelssohn, a good friend, was a visitor. (1)

Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn made ten visits to Britain in his relatively short life. He had a strong following, including Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, which enabled him to make a good impression on British musical life. In addition to conducting and playing his own works with orchestra, he also performed organ recitals at St. Paul's, often featuring the music of J. S. Bach. Bach's music had fallen into neglect after his death in 1750, and Mendelssohn was among those who revived interest in the music of the Baroque master. Mendelssohn also edited  the first critical editions of Bach's organ music for British publishers.

At the offertory, Richard Murray will sing Lord God of Israel, an aria from the great oratorio, Elijah, by Felix Mendelssohn. 

J. S. Bach wrote many great masterworks for organ, but his genius can also be seen in some miniatures. One such work is the communion voluntary, Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein.

When in the hour of utmost need
We know not where to look for aid,
When days and nights of anxious thought
Nor help nor counsel yet have brought,
Then this our comfort is alone;
That we may meet before Thy throne,
And cry, O faithful God, to Thee,
For rescue from our misery.

J. S. Bach

The intimate, devotional nature of this text is expressed through a florid, serene melody which is one of the most elaborate ornamentation of a chorale tune in the whole of Bach's organ music. The tune stays within a fairly small range until it  soars upwards in the second last phrase, mirroring the words ‘And cry, O faithful God, to Thee’. The accompaniment constantly refers to the first four notes of the hymn tune.

The opening voluntary,  Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot' is the smaller of two settings of this chorale-tune from Martin Luther. The lively gigue-like fughetta has several similarities to the larger chorale prelude: it is in the mixolydian mode of G; it starts with a pedal point of repeated Gs; the number ten occurs as the number of entries of the subject (four of them inverted); and the piece ends on a plagal cadence. The liveliness of the fughetta has been taken to reflect Luther's exhortation in the Small Catechism to do "cheerfully what He has commanded." Equally well, Psalm 119 speaks of "delighting ... in His statutes" and rejoicing in the Law.

(1) Hyperion CD The English Anthem Vol. 4, St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor), Andrew Lucas (organ) from notes by William McVicker © 1994

Music for September 17, 2017 + The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy – Maurice Bevan (1921-2006)

Instrumental Music

• Our Father, Who Art in Heaven – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Sonata No. 1 in F minor: Adagio – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Grand Chœur alla Handel – Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)

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

• Hymn 400 - All creatures of our God and King (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)
• Hymn 648 - When Israel was in Egypt’s Land (GO DOWN, MOSES)
• Hymn 397 - Now thank we all our God (NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT)
• Hymn R184 - “Forgive our sins, as we forgive” (DETROIT)
• Hymn R192 - God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name (FREELY, FREELY)
• Hymn 690 - Guide me, O thou great Jehovah (CWM RHONDDA)
• Psalm 114 – Tone VIIIa

Many hymnals have the hymn There's a Wideness in God's Mercy within their pages, often to the tune WELLESLEY, though our hymnal uses the tune BEECHER. When we sing this text this Sunday, however, we will be utilizing the relatively new hymn-tune, CORVEDALE, by the Englishman Maurice Bevan. What I absolutely love about this setting, other than its beautiful, expansive melody which seems to keep reaching newer heights, is that it contains some sobering words which, when I first heard them, helped me to "wake up" to the all-encompassing mercy and love of God. (The stanzas I have highlighted are not found in The Hymnal 1982.)

1 There's a wideness in God's mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in his justice
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven;
there is no place where earth's failings
have such kindly judgement given.

2 For the love of God is broader
than the measure of our mind,
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
But we make his love too narrow
by false limits of our own;
and we magnify his strictness
with a zeal he would not own. 

3 There is plentiful redemption
through the blood that has been shed;
there is joy for all the members
in the sorrows of the Head.
There is grace enough for thousands
of new worlds as great as this;
there is room for fresh creations
in that upper home of bliss.

4 If our love were but more simple,
we should take him at his word;
and our lives would be all gladness
in the joy of Christ our Lord.

The three+ verses of this version speak of God’s “plentiful redemption” and “grace for thousands / of new worlds as great as this”

The composer,  Maurice Bevan, was the son, grandson and great-grandson of Anglican clergymen. Well known as a singer, he was a member for forty years of both the Deller Consort, one of the first professional groups to revive interest in early music, and the Vicars Choral of St. Paul Cathedral in London. I am not sure if he arranged this hymn-tune into the anthem version we are singing today, or if the anthem came first, and the hymn-tune came out of it. At any rate, it is now included in 5 hymnals in the United Kingdom.

If you are interested, (and are not sitting in church during the service while reading this) you can hear a recording of Bevan singing a Handel aria with the Deller Consort here.

Speaking of Handel, the closing voluntary is an organ piece written by a late-nineteenth century Frenchman in the style of a minuet of G. F. Handel. The composer, Felix Alexandre Guilmant, was one of the greatest organists in the late nineteenth century. Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer (France) he studied with Lemmens in Brussels and from 1871 to his death lived and worked in Paris. Guilmant was world famous in his day and made three concert trips to the United States. Many organ concerts were played by him, including very special series in the Palais de Trocadéro in Paris.

Guilmant was a great improviser and a well-known teacher. Like Felix Mendelssohn, he performed and published old music that had long been forgotten. His own body of work is large: 94 opus numbers and many unpublished or unnumbered works.

Music for August 13, 2017 + The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• It Is Enough from Elijah – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Richard Murray, baritone

Instrumental Music

• Kommst du nun, Jesu vom Himmel herunter auf Erden, BWV 650 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Sonatina from Cantata 106, God’s Time Is Best – Johann Sebastian Bach
• Maestoso, Opus 9, No. 1 – Hermann Schroeder (1904-1984)

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

• Hymn 390 - Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN)
• Hymn 529 - In Christ there is no East or West (MCKEE)
• Hymn R75 - Praise the Lord! Ye heavens adore him (AUSTRIAN HYMN)
• Hymn - When the storms of life are raging, stand by me (STAND BY ME)
• Hymn 680 - O God, our help in ages past (ST. ANNE)
• Psalm 85:8-13 – Tone VIIIa

An organ transcription is an arrangement for the organ of a musical work that was originally written for another medium. Often it's an orchestra piece that has been arranged, but it could be a vocal work or even a piano piece that someone has arranged for use on the organ. Such music is often helpful for wedding use (think Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Ave Maria, or even [shudder!] the Wedding March. More often than not, it's not a terribly satisfying treatment of the piece (think Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel), but it's written because somebody [the Bride's Mother] really likes the music.

But all transcribed works for organ are not banal. In fact, Bach arranged some of his own music for solo organ. That wonderful Advent piece, Wachet Auf/Sleepers, Wake, is a transcription of the tenor aria from Cantata 140. And this morning's prelude is another transcribed setting of another movement of another cantata, Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, movement 2 (alto solo). (You know LOBE DEN HERREN as the tune we use for our opening hymn this morning,) What is curious is that Bach renames the chorale to make it suitable for Advent: Are you coming , Jesus from heaven down to earth ? Why? I don't know. When I am playing it this morning, I am thinking of Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.

The melody is played in the pedal on a 4' trumpet stop, so it sounds higher than that of the left hand (which is thus the true bass of the piece).  The melody only appears in isolated pockets of the prelude, each time rising up out of the flowing right hand's obbligato melody, itself built of such beautiful music that it continues for a full twelve measures after the cantus firmus has had its final say, finally winding down only at the final, rich cadence.

 Here is what the melody looks like, compared with the hymn-tune on top. (And remember, I am playing this with my feet!)

Edwin Arthur Kraft

The communion voluntary is another transcription of the Sinfonia (the opening movement) of Cantata 106, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (God's time is best). However, Bach did not make this arrangement. It was arranged from the original orchestration (two flutes, two violins, and continuo) by Edwin Arthur Kraft, an American organist and choir-director who was best known for being organist choirmaster at the Episcopal cathedral in Cleveland, and head of the Organ Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He finally retired from his position at the cathedral in 1959, after service continually (except for one year) since 1907.

In this work, marked Molto adagio,  you hear the obbligato alto recorders in the right hand, mournfully echo each other over a sonorous background of viola da gambas and continuo, played by the left hand and pedals.

The offertory solo is the beautiful aria from the second part of Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio, Elijah. This solo precedes the Old Testament passage this morning, (and sometimes includes it.)
It is enough! O Lord, now take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers! I desire to live no longer: now let me die, for my days are but vanity. I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts, for the children of Israel have broken Thy covenant, and thrown down Thine altars, and slain all Thy prophets, slain them with the sword. And I, even I only am left: and they seek my life to take it away! It is enough! O Lord, now take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers! Now let me die, Lord, take away my life!

Music for March 12, 2017 + The Second Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music

• God So Loved the World – John Stainer (1840-1901)

Instrumental Music

• From Deepest Woe I Cry to Thee – Max Drischner (1891-1971)
• Song Without Words: Andante espressivo – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

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

• Hymn 401 - The God of Abraham praise (LEONI)
• Hymn 147 - Now let us all with one accord (BOURBON)
• Hymn 636 - How firm a foundation (FOUNDATION)
• Hymn R229 - Let all mortal flesh keep silence (PICARDY)
• Hymn R231 - How blessed are you (Taizé)
• Hymn 473 - Lift high the cross (CRUCIFER)
• Psalm 121 - Tone IIa

Church music must be like a good sermon that everyone can understand - Max Drischner

Max Drischner (composer of the opening voluntary) was a Polish/German composer, church musician, and organist whose life and career spanned two World Wars. He began studying theology in 1910 at 19, but in 1914 he decided to go against the will of his father and take up music. He was the first German student of the famed harpsichordist Wanda Landowska in Berlin.

In 1916 he volunteered for medical service in France, and during his service there lost the end of a finger on his right hand. After the war, he taught himself about early music, the music written before J. S. Bach, and became an authority on the subject. At a time when such music was hardly ever played, Drischner had music of approximately 120 early composers in his repertoire. His music cabinet would have been worth a fortune had the Russian army and later Polish looters not stolen everything. A clavichord, a gift from Albert Schweitzers, was also used as a target and was shot to pieces by Russian soldiers.

Max Drischner and his sister Margarete

Drischner's music is distinguished by its simple, quiet, particularly melodic splendor. Compared to music being written by the leading composers of the early part of the 20th century, his music was very conservative. He wrote music for his own use, or for the simple church musician. He hated to use the organ as a concert instrument out of the liturgical context. He called his concerts "organ celebrations".

Today's opening voluntary is a piece he wrote based on the Lutheran Chorale, Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir (From deepest woe I cry to you, No. 151, The Hymnal 1980), based on a paraphrase of Psalm 130.  It is in the form of a passacaglia, a musical form from the early seventeenth-century based on a bass-ostinato and often written in triple metre (though not in this case).

The opening eight notes of the chorale form the ostinato which the pedal plays repetitively:

You will first hear this refrain by itself before the manuals add their own variations on the implied harmonies. Each repetition gets louder as well as more complicated until the end where the full organ is playing.

Music for December 11, 2016 + The Third Sunday of Advent

Vocal Music

• How Lovely Are the Messengers – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Instrumental Music

• Fantasy on “Veni Emmanuel” – Robert C. Lau (b. 1943)
• Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence – Cathy Moklebust (b. 1958)
• O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – Robert Powell (b. 1932)

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

• Hymn R128 - Bless’d be the God of Israel (Forest Green)
• Hymn 56, st. 5-6 - O come, O come, Emmanuel (Veni, veni, Emmanuel)
• Hymn 615 - “Thy Kingdom come!” (St. Flavian)
• Hymn 59, st. 3-5 - Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding (Merton)
• Hymn R278 - Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
• Hymn 76 - On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry (Winchester New)
• Psalm 146 - Lauda, anima mea

The anthem this Sunday is the beautiful chorus from Mendelssohn's oratorio St. Paul. (I wrote about it in January when we sang this anthem in church. You can read about it here.) We are singing it again this Sunday because the Gospel reminds us that Jesus said that John the Baptist was the one about whom it was written,

‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’

The opening and closing voluntaries are based on the well-loved Advent hymn, Veni, veni, Emmanuel. (You remember your Latin I, right? Veni, vidi, vici? "I came, I saw, I conquered.") This is the hymn that we have been singing in place of the Gloria each Sunday in Advent. Both of these settings, by contemporary composers, are more paraphrases of the melody than a single exposition of the tune. You hear bits and pieces, or snippets of the melody, instead of a complete presentation of each phrase.

Robert C. Lau

The opening voluntary is by Robert Lau, recently retired as director of music and organist at Mt. Calvary Episcopal Church in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, where he held the post for over 25 years. He has degrees from Lebanon Valley College, the Eastman School of Music and The Catholic University of America.  A former member of the faculty at Lebanon Valley College where he taught music theory and chaired the Music Department, Dr. Lau also served as Adjunct Professor of Music at Penn State Harrisburg, teaching in the School of Humanities.

He has written more than 250 choral and keyboard works which have been published by the leading music publishing companies in the United States, and he has been commissioned to write choral, keyboard and vocal works for a variety of institutions, churches and individuals.  For his work in published choral and keyboard works he has won 15 Special Awards from ASCAP.  In 2010 Paraclete Press published his book A Practical Approach to Improvisation for the Church Organist.

In his setting of Veni Emmanuel, he employs an improvisatory style. I think he had verse one in mind while writing this work.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

The work begins with rather desolate harmonies, sparse chords spread out over the keyboard using a thin, stringy sound. The melody comes in the pedal, employing a plaintive oboe-like sound. At the "rejoice!" section, instead of the typical "rejoice" refrain, we hear a new chant like melody on the full Swell, rolling around, like a pot approaching full boil, until huge, screaming chords call us to rejoice, take heart, take courage, for the promise of the Messiah. I think that is why the piece doesn't resolve without a fight (listen for the struggles in the harmonies as the organ builds.) Finally, the dust settles, and the familiar "rejoice" melody comes in, but not loudly, but with a quiet hope, trusting in the arrival of Emmanuel, God with us.

The Good Shepherd Handbells are playing a gorgeous arrangement of the communion hymn, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence. It is a setting by Cathy Moklebust, a composer from South Dakota, whose compositions for handbell are influenced by her over forty-six years as a handbell musician and her background as a percussionist.

Music for May 29, 2016 + The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• I Love You, O My God Most High – David Hogan (1949-1996)

Instrumental Music

• Aria – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Andante in D Major (Variations on a Theme) – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Fanfare– Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens (1823-1881)

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

• Hymn 372 - Praise to the living God! (Leoni)
• Hymn 421 - All glory be to God on high (Allein Gott in der Hoh)
• Hymn R74 - Cantad al Señor (Cantad al Señor)
• Hymn 533 - How wondrous and great thy works, God of praise! (Lyons)
• Hymn 408 - Sing praise to God who reigns above (Mit Freuden zart)
• Hymn R191 - O Christ, the healer (Erhalt uns, herr)
• Hymn 522 - Glorious things of thee are spoken (Austria)

H. David Hogan and his baby daughter
Hilary taken in the early '80s

I’m always moved by stories of talented people who are cut down in the prime of life. Such is the story of David Hogan, the composer of today’s anthem. Hogan was an American composer, teacher, and performer with ties to both the East and West Coasts. He had moved to France to teach at the American Conservatory at the Palace of Fontainebleau in Paris, and was flying back to Paris on July 17, 1996 on TWA Flight 800, when it suddenly crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York. Thus ended a life dedicated to music.

A native of Virginia, Hogan graduated from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor's degree in 1971, and would go on to earn a master's degree in voice in 1975. He enjoyed enormous success both as a composer and teacher and still found time to perform internationally as a concert tenor and pianist. For three years in a row, his students won first place in the Student Composers Competition of the Music Teachers National Association.

Dedicated to God as well as his craft, he had the distinction of being one of the two composers chosen to write new works for the Consecration of the Washington National Cathedral in 1989. Our kids choir learned his Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis a few years ago for the Diocesan Youth Choral Festival. But he also wrote simple sacred music too, such as today’s anthem, written for his small choir at St. Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco.  It’s a simple setting of a traditional Irish melody, Daniel, arranged for two-part mixed choir. Simple but elegant, it uses the text by St Ignatius of Loyola, as translated by Edward Caswall.

I love you, O my Lord most high,
for first your love has captured me;
I seek no other liberty:
bound by your love, I shall be free.

May memory no thought suggest
but shall to your pure glory tend,
may understanding find no rest,
except in you, its only end.

All mine is yours: say but the word,
say what you will, it shall be done;
I know your love, most gracious Lord,
I know you seek my good alone.

Apart from you, nothing can be,
so grant me this, my only wish,
to love you, Lord, eternally,
you give me all in giving this.

The closing voluntary is by Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens, a Belgian organist and composer who renewed the organ-player's art in Belgium. He went to Germany to learn Johann Sebastian Bach's tradition, (at the time Bach's organ works were not at all well known in France) and in 1852 he gave organ recitals in Saint Vincent de Paul, La Madeleine and Saint Eustache churches in Paris, where he stunned audiences with his technique. Particularly notable was his brilliant pedal-playing, which owed a good deal to his studies of Bach's music .

He had been appointed organ teacher at the Royal Brussels Conservatoire at the young age of 26, where he trained numerous young musicians, including two eminent Frenchmen, Alexandre Guilmant and Charles-Marie Widor. He wrote several volumes of organ music, including a two-volume set called École d'orgue basée sur le plain-chant romain (Organ Method based on the Roman Chant), published in 1862 (and still in print!). It includes this Fanfare.

Music for June 7, 2015 + The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Gloria (from Heilemesse) – Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809)
• Thy Perfect Love – John Rutter (b. 1945)
• Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• Heilig – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Ave Verum Corpus – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Instrumental Music
Organ Concerto in F Major, Op. 4 No. 4 – George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)
I. Allegro
II. Andante

   

Congregational Music

• Hymn 391 - Before the Lord’s eternal throne (WINCHESTER NEW)
• Hymn 594 - God of grace and God of glory (CWM RHONDDA)

We usually end the choir year singing a mass setting by a major composer. In the past we have sung works by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and others. This year, since we had already sung a Missa Brevis by Canadian Healey Willan and A Little Jazz Mass by Bob Chilcott, we decided to sing a few of our favorite anthems with strings. There will be lots of music this Sunday as we will have an eight piece string orchestra to accompany some well known sacred works as well as on organ concerto by Handel.

J. S. Bach

The most well known work we are singing is Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, which is often heard this time of year in weddings. It is from Bach's Cantata No. 147, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and mouth and deed and life), written in 1714 for an Advent Service and later expanded. It is the sixth and tenth movement of the cantata. The music's wide popularity has led to numerous arrangements and transcriptions, such as for the classical guitar and in Wendy Carlos' recording of Switched-On Bach on the Moog synthesizer in 1968. In 1973 the British group Apollo 100 recorded a version called "Joy" which peaked at number six on the Hot 100 and number two on the Easy Listening chart, and was featured in the film Boogie Nights (1997). Even The Beach Boys used the melody as a basis for the song "Lady Lynda", but without the words.

Franz Josef Haydn

At communion will sing Ave verum, a motet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is a setting of the 14th century Eucharistic hymn in Latin "Ave verum corpus". Mozart wrote it in 1791 for Anton Stoll, the musical coordinator in the parish of Baden bei Wien while in the middle of writing his opera Die Zauberflöte, and while visiting his wife Constanze, who was pregnant with their sixth child and staying in a spa near Baden. It was fewer than six months before Mozart's death. 

We will sing the Gloria from Haydn's Missa sancti Bernardi von Offida in B-flat major (or Heiligmesse) for the Song of Praise. This Mass was written in honor of St. Bernard of Offida, a Capuchin monk who devoted himself to helping the poor. The 'Sanctus' section of the mass is a setting of a then-popular Austrian tune to the German translation of Sanctus, Heilig. The Mass takes its popular German title, Heiligmesse, from this section. In the original mass, the Gloria was comprised of three sections. We are only singing the first section.

The Young John Rutter

The choir will also sing Thy Perfect Love by the British composer John Rutter. Rutter takes the anonymous 15th century text and writes a lyrical piece in 3/4 time. The strings start out accompanying a soprano soloist, who sings the entire text. Then, as the choir comes in, the strings drop out and the full choir sings the text again, to be joined by the orchestra as the choir hits the apex of the piece on the words "That I may reign in joy evermore with thee." Rutter wrote this piece in 1975 for the choir of Meopham Parish Church in the U.K.

Felix Mendelssohn

The only piece we are singing this Sunday without the strings is the 8 part acapella chorus by Felix Mendelsohn, Heilig. Sung in German, it is the text of the Sanctus, so we will sing it at that time. This may be on of the most challenging things we have sung to date at Good Shepherd. Composed as part of Three Sacred Pieces in 1846, towards the end of Mendelssohn's short life, it is a perfectly conceived miniature showing a sheer mastery of choral writing and effortless command of musical expression and structure.

The relatively brief Heilig, heilig ist Gott, der Herr Zebaoth is an extrovert call to rejoice. The opening, in particular, is unforgettable in the overlapping vocal entries combining to produce a glorious suspension at the final exhortations of ‘Heilig’. The dotted rhythms which dominate the remainder of the setting help to create a sense of strong forward movement towards the joyous final cadence.