Music for May 16, 2021 + The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Vocal Music

• Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether – Harold Friedell (1905-1958)
• The Tree of Life – K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Concerto in E-flat Major – Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Kevin Mendoza, trumpet
• I. Allegro
• II. Andante
• I Thank Thee, Lord, through Thy dear Son – Johann Christoph Bach (1642 –1703)
• Arrival of the Queen of Sheba – G. F. Handel (1685-1759)

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

• Hymn 460 - Alleluia! sing to Jesus! (HYFRYDOL)
• Hymn 494 - Crown him with many crowns (DIADEMATA)
• Hymn - I have decided to follow Jesus (ASSAM)
• Psalm 1 - simplified Anglican Chant by Jerome Meachen

The music for this Sunday (which is Confirmation Sunday for us) begins with parts of a trumpet concerto by Franz Joseph Haydn, played by a student from Lone Star College in Kingwood, Kevin Mendoza. The concerto was one written by Haydn for his friend Anton Weidinger, a trumpet virtuoso and inventor of the first "keyed" trumpet which would allow a trumpet player to play in any key. 

the "natural" trumpet

A valve trumpet from the 1880s

You see, before this innovation, trumpets had no valves, and could only play a limited range of harmonic notes by altering the vibration of the lips; this is why it is called by the name of "natural trumpet". Most of these harmonic notes were clustered in the higher registers, so previous trumpet concertos could only play melodically with the high register. 

Weidinger developed a keyed trumpet which could play chromatically throughout its entire range, though his idea of drilling holes and covering them with flute-like keys was not a success as it had very poor sound quality. Weidinger did not perform the Concerto in public until 1800. Surviving in a single manuscript copy, this extraordinary work wasn't performed again until 1929.

 The valved trumpets used today were first constructed and used in the 1830s.

Harold Friedell

The offertory anthem is one of our choir's favorites, partly, I imagine, because of its lyrical melody and partly because of its imaginative and descriptive text. "Tether" is not a word used much today except in the term "Tether Ball," but I think that is an extremely accurate term for how the spirit connects us together, and to God. If you ever played tether ball as a child, you know that the ball is tied, or tethered, to the pole, and no matter how hard it is hit, it is connected to that pole, and will always return. Crafters in the group also love the term "knit thou our friendship up," though modern hymnals have tried to replace that with the pedestrian phrase "so now bind our friendship up."

This beautiful setting was written by Harold Friedell, an American organist, choirmaster, teacher, and composer. Friedell was raised in New York state, and worked at several prominent churches, ending up at St. Bartholomew's in New York City. Draw Us In the Spirit's Tether was composed while he was at St. Bart's. He also taught at Julliard and Union Theological Seminary. You can read more about him here.

The communion anthem is another beautiful setting of a hymn text. Eric Routley, an English Congregational pastor, musician and hymn writer, was the preeminent 20th-century hymnologist of the English-speaking world. He translated a 12-stanza hymn by a 17th-century Hungarian pastor to produce this text. K. Lee Scott wrote the tune for Routley’s text as a commission for the Episcopal Churches in the Diocese of Alabama for their Year of Evangelism in 1995. He remembers studying Routley’s texts (“because Routley had such an eye for texts”) and being drawn especially to this one because it was so panoramic. Scott remembers late at night sitting on the organ bench with just the organ light on in little Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church, walking back and forth from the organ bench down the aisles, as the tune gradually emerged out of his meditating on the text.

K. Lee Scott

K. (Keaton) Lee Scott is an internationally known composer and choral conductor of church music.  A life-long resident of Alabama, he received two degrees in choral music from The University of Alabama School of Music and has served as adjunct faculty for The University of Alabama School of Music, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Music, and Samford University School of Music.  He travels widely as a guest conductor and clinician in North America and beyond.  He is also director of music at Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church.  He has traveled extensively as guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States, as well as to Canada and Africa. 

Music for November 19, 2017 + The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

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

Instrumental Music

• Pastorale on St. Anne  (Partita on St. Anne, Op. 6) – Paul Manz (1919-2009)
• Devotion – Jim Brickman (b. 1961)
• O God, Our Help in Ages Past – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)

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

• Hymn 680 - O God, our help in ages past (ST. ANNE)
• Hymn 9 - Not here for high and holy things (MORNING SONG)
• Hymn 551 - Rise up, ye saints of God (FESTAL SONG)
• Hymn R201 - Be still, for the spirit of the Lord (BE STILL)
• Hymn R172 - In our lives, Lord, be glorified (LORD, BE GLORIFIED)
• Hymn 423 - Immortal, invisible, God only wise (ST. DENIO)
• Psalm 90:1-8, 12 - Tone VIIIa

Today's anthem was chosen not for its appropriateness to today's scriptures (that would be the hymns and the organ voluntaries), but for the fact that it has been in our folders since Hurricane Harvey and we just really needed to get it sung before the new (liturgical) year.  So it's now or never.

Not that I mind. It's long been one of the favorite anthems of mine and every choir with which I have worked. The melody is beautiful and the harmonies pleasing to sing, with just enough challenge and movement to make it interesting. The text is by Percy Dearmer, one of the most influential leaders in twentieth-century English hymnody who was a professor of ecclesiastical art at King’s College, London, and later served as canon of Westminster Abbey.

Percy Dearmer, c. 1890. Photograph by Frederick Hollyer
(From the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

He distinguished himself in the field of hymnology as the editor, with composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, of The English Hymnal (1906). He also co-edited Songs of Praise (1925), The Oxford Book of Carols (1928) and Songs of Praise Enlarged (1931). Editions of each of these works can still be found today in English churches.

This text of this anthem is full of imagery which captures the interest of the singer and links the singer with the disciples who gathered with Christ at the table (Matthew 18:20). We are joined by a “tether”—an archaic word but an appropriate image of the work of the Holy Spirit that links Christians of every time and place at the table.

In the final stanza, Dearmer makes a beautiful and powerful statement that “All our meals and all our living make as sacraments of thee.” Through “caring, helping, giving, we may true disciples be.”

Thus, the hymn begins in the upper room with the disciples and comes full circle as we join them around the table and are nourished to serve others in the world. Beautiful thoughts as many of us gather with our families around the Thanksgiving board.

This music was written 60 years ago by Harold Friedell, organist at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, and a professor at the School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary, New York City.

The opening and closing voluntaries are based on the tune ST. ANNE which also serves as our processional hymn. The Psalm appointed for today is Psalm 90, and this is a splendid paraphrase of that Psalm by Isaac Watts, written around 1714 and first published the text in his Psalms of David (1719). "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" expresses a strong note of assurance, promise, and hope in the LORD as recorded in the first part of Psalm 90, even though the entire psalm has a recurring theme of lament.

Though no firm documentation exists, ST. ANNE was probably composed by William Croft, possibly when he was organist from 1700-1711 at St. Anne's Church in Soho, London, England. (According to tradition, St. Anne was the mother of the Virgin Mary.) The tune was first published in 1708 as a setting for Psalm 42. It was not until 1861 that ST. ANNE became a setting for "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" in Hymns Ancient and Modern, and the two have been inseparable ever since.

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 September 7, 2014 + The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

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

Instrumental Music

• Air – Gerre Hancock (1934-2012)
• Ubi Caritas – Charles Callahan (b. 1951)
• Trumpet Dialogue Processional – Alice Jordan (1916-2011)

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 674 – “Forgive our sins as we forgive” (DETROIT)
• Hymn 576 – God is love, and where true love is (MANDATUM)
• Hymn 602 – Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love (CHEREPONI)
• Hymn 527 – Singing songs of expectation (TON-Y-BOTEL)

Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

These two sentences are the last two verses of today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 13. And every time I hear this passage, I recall the opening verse of today’s anthem.

Draw us in the Spirit’s tether, for when humbly in thy name, two or three are met together, thou art in the midst of them. Alleluia! Alleluia! Touch we now thy garment’s hem

Harold W. Friedell

This anthem was written by Harold Friedell, one of America’s leading church musicians in the first half of the 20^th century who ended his career at St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in New York City. He based the anthem on a hymn tune he wrote in 1945 using a text by Percy Dearmer, a British priest, hymn writer, educator, and editor. I won’t go into the history of that text right now, but the interested can read about it here.

The text links the singer with the disciples who gathered with Christ at the table (Matthew 18:20). We are joined by a “tether”—an archaic word that the internet defines as a cord, rope, or chain that anchors something movable to a reference point which may be fixed or moving. It is an appropriate image of the work of the Holy Spirit that links Christians of every time and place at the table. Michael Hawn, professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, sums up the whole text this way:

In the final stanza, Dearmer makes a beautiful and powerful statement that “All our meals and all our living make as sacraments of thee.” Through “caring, helping, giving, we may true disciples be.”

Thus, the hymn begins in the upper room with the disciples and comes full circle as we join them around the table and are nourished to serve others in the world.

This call to love and serve others is also felt in the Epistle reading today.

 ⁸Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments…  are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

With that in mind, we will sing hymns of love and service before the Gospel, at communion and at the end of the service. The organ voluntary at communion is another setting of the Gregorian Chant that was played on the piano two weeks ago and is found at hymn 606. This setting of the chant is by American organist and composer, Charles Callahan. He is among the most published organ composers today, and, though he is a devout Roman Catholic, he bases his organ works on hymns and chants from all traditions within the church universal.

Gerre Hancock

The opening voluntary is by Gerre Hancock, who many would consider the leading musician in the Episcopal Church from the 70's until his retirement from St. Thomas Church, New York City, in 2004. At one time, he had been the assistant at St. Bartholomew's mentioned earlier in the post, but after the time of Harold Friedell. A native of Lubbock, he returned to Texas after his retirement to teach organ at the University of Texas. He wrote this lovely Air in honor of his wife, Judith, in 1963. 

The closing voluntary is a brief processional by one of the small number of women who have been successful writing for the organ and getting it published. Alice Jordan was a native of Iowa, having graduated Drake University and continuing her studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, as did Gerre Hancock. This is the same school where Harold Friedell was on the faculty in the late 40s and early 50s. UTS had one of the great schools of sacred music until it disbanded it in the early 70s.