CONFIRMED: Music for January 22, 2023 + The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Dear Lord and Father of Mankind – Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848 – 1918)

Instrumental Music

• Andante Moderato in C Minor – Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
• Prelude on “Kelvingrove” – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Allegro con spirito in B-flat Major – Frank Bridge

Congregational Music (all hymns from The Hymnal 1982 with the exception of Will You Come and Follow Me which is from other sources.)

• Hymn 390 - Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERRN)
• Hymn 381 - Thy strong word did cleave the darkness (TONY-Y-BOTEL)
• Hymn 513 - Like the murmur of the dove’s song (BRIDEGROOM)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of thankfulness and praise (SALZBURG)
• Hymn – Will you come and follow me? (KELVINGROVE)
• Hymn 530 - Spread, O spread, thou mighty word (GOTT SEI DANK)
• Psalm 27:1, 5-13 - Dominus illuminatio (simplified Anglican Chant)

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

The choir sings one of our favorite anthems this Sunday, the beautiful Dear Lord and Father of Mankind by the British composer Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. This hymn, now one of England’s favorites, began life as the ballad of Meshullemeth (‘Long since in Egypt’s plenteous land’) in Act I of Judith, Parry's oratorio of 1888. It was only after Parry’s death that permission was granted by Novello and Parry’s estate to allow George Gilbert Stocks, the head of music at Repton School, to adapt the music to this text for the school’s hymn book, at which time the melody became known as REPTON.  It was also published in 1941 as the hymn-anthem (which we are singing today) in which much of the original music of the aria was restored.

Ironically, the author of this beautiful and much-loved hymn deeply disapproved of singing in church. John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-92) was an American Quaker who firmly believed that God was best worshipped in silent meditation and who deplored the histrionics associated with both the High Church and the Evangelical movement.

He did, however, allow these verses to be used in a hymn book published in 1884. They are drawn from an interlude in his long and eccentric poem called The Brewing of Soma, which describes in shocked terms the Vedic Hindu habit of drinking hallucinogenic concoctions as a way of whipping up religious enthusiasm. Michael Hawn, professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology at SMU, tell's of the hymn's origins here.

Whittier advocated waiting instead for "the still small voice of calm" – an injunction beautifully suggested in the climax to this tune composed by Parry.

Parry was head of the Royal College of Music from 1895 until his death at age 70 in 1918. His 1916 composition, Jerusalem (And did those feet in ancient times), is belted out at sports events and is often called the unofficial English national anthem. 

Prelude on "Kelvingrove"

If you read my blog last week, you might remember that I played an organ setting of this same tune. Even though we weren't singing the hymn, I chose it to go along with the Gospel story of Jesus calling his first disciples. Imagine my surprise (and delight) when Father Bill used the text of that hymn in his sermon, recalling how this hymn was popular with young people in the days when he was working with youth. 

Since the Gospel this week continues the story of Jesus calling his disciples, I decided to include that hymn as a piano voluntary as well as a congregational hymn during communion. The piano voluntary is by Charles Callahan, a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts who is well-known as an award-winning composer, organist, choral conductor, pianist, and teacher. He is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, Pa., and The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.

Frank Bridge

The opening and closing voluntaries are organ works by Frank Bridge, an English composer, violist and conductor of the first half of the twentieth century. Underappreciated, underplayed, and still little known even in his native England, Bridge is most frequently recognized today as the teacher of the young Benjamin Britten, who acknowledged his teacher's influence in a popular early work, Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge.

Although he was not an organist, nor personally associated with music of the English Church, his short pieces for organ have been among the most performed of all his output. This Sunday I will play two of them,  the Andante Moderato in C Minor and Allegro con spirito in B-flat Major. I have to say that I was surprised to learn he had no training as an organist, for his organ works are highly idiomatic for the instrument, and fit under the hands (and feet!) very comfortably.

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

Instrumental Music

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

Music for October 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

Music for Sunday, September 24, 2017 + The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Steal Away – Joseph Jennings (b. 1954)

Instrumental Music

• Adagio in E – Frank Bridge (1879-1918)
• Erbarm dich mein, O Herre Gott  BWV 721– Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)  
• Allegro con Spirito in B-flat – Frank Bridge

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982)

• Hymn 414 - God, my King, thy might confessing (STUTTGART)
• Hymn 527 - Singing songs of expectation (TON-Y-BOTEL)
• Hymn 551 - Rise up, ye saints of God (FESTAL SONG)
• Hymn 482 - Lord of all hopefulness (SLANE)
• Hymn 404 - We will extol you, ever-blessed Lord (OLD 124TH)
• Psalm 145:1-8 – Tone VIIIa

The anthem this morning is an arrangement of the Negro spiritual, Steal Away, by American composer and arranger,  Joseph Jennings. A native of Georgia, he had degrees in choral conducting (Colorado State University) and music education (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio) when he auditioned as a counter-tenor for the all-male, a capella singing group, Chanticleer. Soon after, he became their musical director, where he led them to international renown. Under his direction, they produced 23 critically acclaimed recordings in works ranging from Gregorian chant to Renaissance masterworks to jazz. Many of the recordings became Billboard best sellers, including two Grammy winners. He retired from Chanticleer in 2009.

Joseph Jennings (Photo by Katy Raddatz--The San Francisco Chronicle)

In 2014 Chorus America conferred the inaugural Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award on Jennings to acknowledge his contribution to the African-American choral tradition during his 25-year tenure as a singer and music director with Chanticleer. The hundred plus arrangements of African-American gospel, spirituals and jazz made by Jennings for Chanticleer have been given thousands of performances worldwide by choirs such as ours worldwide.

Steal Away is a well known Spiritual, found in over 85 hymnals. The song is easily recognized by the chorus:

Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here

Songs such as "Steal Away to Jesus", "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Wade in the Water" and the "Gospel Train" are songs with hidden codes, not only about having faith in God, but containing hidden messages for slaves to run away on their own, or with the Underground Railroad.

Steal Away gained world-wide recognition after the Civil War when the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee included the song on their tours of the United States and Europe. 

An arrangement of the song is included in the oratorio A Child of Our Time, first performed in 1944, by the classical composer Michael Tippett.

The communion voluntary, Erbarm dich mein, O Herre Gott  (Have Mercy on Me, O Lord God), is an unusual work by J. S. Bach. This early work (believed to be c. 1703), has unusual harmonies and a texture unique among Bach's music. There are more minor 7th and 9th chords than usual; more chord progressions a 3rd apart than usual; more untied suspensions. It's in the phrygian mode, which means it's key signature is two sharps (normally D Major or b minor), but the base note is F-sharp.

It’s a unique texture comes from the three-or four part repeated chords in the accompaniment with no break, under the melody in the soprano. Some feel this is to give a sense of vibrato in the accompaniment. You don’t find this same texture in any other Bach work, or many other of his contemporaries. This manuscript is only found once, in a handwritten collection owned by J. G. Walther. Some think this is not an authentic Bach work.

The opening and closing voluntaries are both by the British composer and organist Frank Bridge. His Adagio in E Major is very popular among organist. I love the slow, wistful melody that begins softly on a low 'E' and begins a slow ascent, growing in volume as the melody line rises. It reminds me of incense that intensifies as it languidly climbs toward God. The music reaches full organ before it begins to die away, ending as quietly as it began.

Music for April 24, 2016 + The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Vocal Music

• I Give You a New Commandment – Peter Nardone (b. 1965)
• The Call – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Instrumental Music

• Adagio – Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
• Allegro marziale e ben marcato – Frank Bridge

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 205 - Good Christians all, rejoice and sing (Gelobt sei Gott)
• Hymn R276 - Soon and very soon (Soon and Very Soon)
• Hymn 296 - We know that Christ is raised and dies no more (Engleberg)
• Hymn 576 - God is love and where true love is (Mandatum)
• Hymn 304 - I come with joy to meet my Lord (Land of Rest)

Peter Nardone

The Gospel this week should be familiar - after all, we just heard it four weeks ago at Maundy Thursday. "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." We sing this verse in an anthem by Scottish composer, organist, conductor, and singer Peter Nardone. In addition to being Organist & Director of Music at Worcester Cathedral, he is conductor of the Worcester Festival Choral Society and is Artistic Director of the Worcester Three Choirs Festival. In this anthem, an original melody for the Gospel text is juxtaposed with the ancient chant Ubi Caritas, pairing these two traditional Maundy Thursday texts. We are past Holy Week, obviously, but any Maundy Thursday text dealing with a new commandment would be super appropriate today. That is also why we are singing the hymn God is love and where true love is during communion this week. Heck, even the tune name of that hymn is super appropriate! ( Mandatum = mandate = commandment).

The communion solo is that beautiful, classic song, The Call, with music by Ralph Vaughan Williams based on a text by George Herbert.  Anyone who grew up with the hymnody of the Anglican Church will have grown up with George Herbert. ‘Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing’, ‘Teach me, my God and King’, ‘King of Glory, King of Peace’—these all helped to teach us, little though we might have been aware of it at the time, that good hymns could also be good verse. Vaughan Williams recognized this, and used five of Herbert's poems for his Five Mystical Songs, written in 1911 for the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester (see Peter Nardone, above!) The simple setting by Vaughan Williams reflects the hymnic stance and metre of the poem. It has, in fact, been used as a hymn in many modern hymnals, including ours. (see hymn 487).