LORD, HAVE MERCY Music for February 26, 2023 + The First Sunday of Lent

Vocal Music

• Wilt Thou Forgive That Sin – John Hilton (1599-1657), Peter Crisafulli, arr.

Instrumental Music

• Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No. 4, – Frédéric François Chopin (1810 –1849)
• Sarabande in d minor – George Frederic Handel (1685-1759)
• Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott – Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)

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

• Hymn 142 Lord, who throughout these forty days (ST. FLAVIAN)
• Hymn 143 The glory of these forty days (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Hymn R 172 In our lives, Lord, be glorified (LORD, BE GLORIFIED)
• Hymn R107 You are my hiding place (HIDING PLACE)
• Hymn 688 A mighty fortress is our God (EIN FESTE BURG)
• Psalm 99 – Tone IIa

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when our liturgical actions change to reflect the meaning and purpose of Lent. And the music changes, too. A time of penitence and quiet reflection cannot embrace music that jumps for joy and is all “happy-clappy!” The organ becomes quieter (or drops out all-together), the service music changes to include a Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy) and Agnus Dei (Jesus, Lamb of God.)

John Donne

Wilt Thou Forgive That Sin

The choir sings an anthem that certainly supports the penitential mood. Hymn 140 in our hymnal is not known to our congregation, so it makes a perfect anthem. It's text is from the poem A Hymn to God the Father by the English Renaissance writer John Donne. If you don't have a hymnal nearby, you can read the entire poem here. You can see that Donne was convicted of his sin.

The music is by John Hilton, an English composer, who was organist and lay clerk at St Margaret's Westminster from 1628 to 1644 and was buried in the church in 1657. He was the son of John (died 1608) who was organist and composer at Trinity College in that city. John junior graduated from that college in 1626 and leased a house from the Dean and Chapter of Westminster in the Almonry, near the Abbey. He was also a lutenist to Charles I. He ceased to be organist as Parliamentary forces ordered organs to be removed from churches and psalms to be said, not chanted.

John Hilton

This hymn has been arranged for quartet in Elizabethan style by the American Composer Peter Crisafulli. Born and raised in Evanston, Illinois, in 1946, Crisafulli earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Northwestern University. His musical formation in the service of the church began at age seven as a chorister in the Men and Boys Choir of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston. He has been serving as Minister of Music at All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland, since 1988. Many of his compositions were written for All Saints Church. 

Prelude in E Minor

Frédéric Chopin wrote a number of preludes for piano solo. His cycle of 24 Preludes, Op. 28, covers all major and minor keys. The Prélude Op. 28, No. 4, by Frédéric Chopin, is considered by many to be one of the most famous of the Chopin preludes. By Chopin's request, the piece was played at his own funeral by Franz Liszt on a pipe organ. (I'll be using the piano, as originally planned.)

The famous German conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow called the prélude "suffocation", due to its sense of despair. In fact, Chopin's last dynamic marking in the piece is smorzando, which means "dying away". But the prelude may have once been given a title. According to George Sand's daughter Solange, who stayed with the composer at the monastery in Majorca when the preludes were written, "My mother gave a title to each of Chopin’s wonderful Preludes; these titles have been preserved on a score he gave to us." That titled score is lost. But Solange did record the names of the preludes, apparently without assigning the names to the prelude numbers. It is believed that the title "Quelles larmes au fond du cloître humide?" ("What tears (are shed) from the depths of the damp monastery?") corresponds to Prelude No. 4.

Music for March 1, 2020 + The First Sunday of Lent

Vocal Music

• Wilt Thou Forgive That Sin – John Hilton (ca. 1599 – 1657), arr. Peter Crisafulli

Instrumental Music

• Forty Days and Forty Nights – Malcolm Archer (b. 1952)
• Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, BWV 637– J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
• Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott – Johann Christian Kittel (1732-1809)

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

• The Great Litany
• Hymn 147 - Now let us all with one accord (BOURBON)
• Hymn 150 - Forty days and forty nights (AUS DER TIEFE RUFE ICH)
• Hymn R 112 - You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord (ON EAGLES WINGS)
• Hymn R 109 - You are my hiding place (Michael Ledner)
• Hymn 688 -  A mighty fortress is our God (EIN FESTE BURG)
• Psalm 32 – Tone II.a

Today is the first Sunday of Lent. We will sing the Great Litany, in procession, at the opening of the service, for nothing says "Oh God, I am miserable" like wandering around the church singing "We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord." (BESEECH? Oh my goodness, we are a sorry lot, aren't we?)

John Donne

John Hilton

The anthem is a setting of hymn 140 in our hymnal. It's not known to our congregation, so it makes a perfect anthem. It's text is from the poem A Hymn to God the Father by the English Renaissance writer John Donne. John Hilton, an English composer living around the same time as Donne, set the poem to this tune which has since become known simply as DONNE. It is, in my opinion, a perfect match of text and tune.

If you don't have a hymnal nearby, you can read the entire poem here. You can see that Donne was convicted of his sin.

The communion voluntary is a short setting of the German Chorale, Durch Adams Fall (Through Adam's Fall All Mankind Fell). It is from Bach's collection Die Orgelbuchlein. (Little Organ Book). I felt it was particularly appropriate for the first Sunday in Lent, where we hear the Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 2:15 - 3:21. It's all about the fall of man.

Russell Stinson, in his book Bach, The Orgelbuchlein, says this chorale is "a work of great profundity and originality, especially in terms of textual-musical relationships". The text, which is all about the fall of man, has a particularly obvious musical motif depicting that fall.  There is a descending-seventh motif that occurs continuously throughout the pedal line. Philipp Spitta, a German music historian best known for his 1873 biography of  Bach, was the first to suggest that this pedal motif must represent Adam's fall from grace, not only in its descending motion, but also in its regular use of the diminished seventh, which was usually associated with grief.

The closing voluntary is by Johann Christian Kittel, a German organist, composer, and teacher who was one of the last students of Johann Sebastian Bach. This is the first year in 23 that I have included a closing voluntary during Lent. I decided to continue playing these voluntaries, but using shorter, simpler, and quieter organ works that I usually choose. I hope you like it.

Music for September 11, 2016 + The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Lord, for Thy Tender Mercy’s Sake – Richard Farrant (c.1530-1580) or John Hilton (1565-1708?)
• What Does the Lord Require? – Erik Routley (1917-1982)

Instrumental Music

• Elegy – George Thalben-Ball (1896-1987)
• Shalom (Peace) – Dan Locklair (b. 1949)
• Postlude in B-flat Major – John E. West (1863-1929)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 423 - Immortal, invisible, God only wise (St. Denio)
• Hymn 470 - There’s a wideness in God’s mercy (Beecher)
• Hymn 377 - All people that on earth do dwell (Old 100^th)
• Hymn 645 - The King of love my shepherd is (St. Columba)
• Hymn 708 - Savior, like a shepherd lead us (Sicilian Mariners)
• Psalm 51:1-4, 7-8, 11 - Miserere mei, Deus (Tone VIIIb)

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I dare say that very few things in the past 50 years have shaken the country like that horrible day. But out of pain come acts of hope and beauty. Such is the piece that I play today for the communion voluntary.

Dan Locklair

Dan Locklair wrote his Æolian Sonata between late January and March for a recital celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Duke University Chapel’s Æolian pipe organ in June 2002. This was the last organ the Æolian Organ Company built before they merged with the E.M. Skinner Organ Co., forming the great American classic organ company,  Æolian-Skinner.

In three movements, The Æolian Sonata musically celebrates the heritage and continued use of the historic Æolian organ in Duke Chapel, but it also pays tribute to the spirit of the American people in the aftermath of the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks. The title for each movement is in a different language, symbolically paying tribute to the outpouring of support that Americans have felt from peace-loving people throughout the world. In a spiritual way, the music of each movement is a reflection on its title, with these words being indicative of a healing nation.

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.

Locklair is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina (USA). He holds a Master of Sacred Music degree from the School of Sacred Music of Union Theological Seminary in New York City and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Presently, Dr. Locklair is Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Music at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The choir's anthem is a choral setting of a sixteenth century prayer by Henry Bull, set to music by either Richard Farrant or John Hilton, both English composers of sacred music. Farrant was organist at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in the middle of the sixteenth century, while Hilton was known as a counter-tenor and organist, most notably at Trinity College, Cambridge. In the beginning, the music is in a simple, a capella, hymn-like style which befits the reflective and restful mood of the text, but at the words "that we may walk in a perfect heart" the choir has a chance to play around with the rhythms of the words and sing much more independently of each other, finally ending with a contrapuntal "amen."

The communion anthem is a hymn from our hymnal. Early in 1949 Albert F. Bayly wrote this text based on Micah 6:6-8 as one of a series of seventeen hymns he was writing on the Old Testament prophets. His objective was to present the prophets "in the light of the climax and fulfillment of the Old Testament revelation in the coming of Christ." "What Does the Lord Require" asks questions and states commands as if Micah were a modern-day prophet. The refrain line "Do justly. . ." subtly shifts from the imperative voice in stanzas 1 through 3 to a corporate confession in stanza 4. Erik Routley composed SHARPTHORNE in 1968 to be published as a setting for Bayly's text in a British hymnal. Sharpthorne is a village in Routley's native county of Sussex, England.

Don't forget the Concert of Remembrance and Peace tonight at Strawbridge United Methodist Church. Members from our choir will be a part of this event.

Music for February 28, 2016 + The Third Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music

• Lord, for Thy Tender Mercy’s Sake - – Richard Farrant (c.1530-1580) or John Hilton (1565-1708?)

Instrumental Music

• Prelude in Classic Style – Gordon Young (1919-1998)
• Aria (Op. 51) - Flor Peeters (1902-1986)
• My Shepherd Shall Supply My Need - Jessie S Irvine (1836 – 1887)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 143 - The glory of these forty days (Erhalt uns, Herr)
• Hymn 648 - When Israel was in Egypt’s land (Go Down, Moses)
• Hymn 142 - Lord, who throughout these forty days (St. Flavian)
• Hymn 685 - Rock of ages, cleft for me (Toplady)
• Hymn 344 - Lord dismiss us with thy blessing (Sicilian Mariners)

I'm out of town for the weekend, and in my absence, Jill Kirkonis will be playing the organ, and Mac Jones will direct the choir. The choir's anthem will be a choral setting of a sixteenth century prayer by Henry Bull, set to music by either Richard Farrant or John Hilton, both English composers of sacred music. Farrant was organist at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in the middle of the sixteenth century, while Hilton was known as a counter-tenor and organist, most notably at Trinity College, Cambridge. In the beginning, the music is in a simple, a capella, hymn-like style which befits the reflective and restful mood of the text, but at the words "that we may walk in a perfect heart" the choir has a chance to play around with the rhythms of the words and sing much more independently of each other, finally ending with a contrapuntal "amen."

During communion you'll hear Aria by Belgian organist Flor Peeters. Peeters was one of the most renowned organists and composers for organ of the twentieth century. He attended the Lemmens Institute in Mechelen where he won the highest award, the Lemmens-Tinel Prize and at the age of twenty  was appointed a professor at the Institute. In addition, in 1923, he became assistant organist at the Cathedral of St. Rombout in Mechelen. In 1925, Peeters was appointed to succeed his former teacher at the Lemmens Institute as professor of organ.

He began to write what would become a large catalog of organ music and sacred choral works. He was particularly masterful in his use of the variation forms. Hi interest in Gregorian chant often influenced his slower music and sometimes forms the basis of longer compositions. In 1943, he completed his Practical Method for Accompanying Gregorian Chant.

Germany attacked and occupied both Belgium and the Netherlands in 1940. Peeters refused to perform for the German occupiers. As a result, his passport was confiscated. Nevertheless, he was permitted to travel regularly across the border between Belgium and the Netherlands in order to continue his teaching at Tilburg, and, in the course of doing this, he carried secret messages between the authorities of the cathedrals of these two countries.

Flor Peeters

The Aria dates from the War years; it originated in 1943 as the slow movement of a Sonata for trumpet and piano, and it is still a permanent fixture on exam syllabuses for aspiring young trumpeters. Peeters also arranged it for violin, for cello, and for solo organ, and it is in this form that we hear today. The expressive melody unfolds above an accompaniment of soft repeated chords—a technique that Peeters used to equally telling effect in the slow movement of the Organ Concerto. As in so much of his finest work, there is a simplicity and sincerity in this music that speaks directly to the heart.

Music for September 13, 2015 + The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• You Are the Christ, O Lord – Richard Wayne Dirksen (1921-2003)
• Lord, for thy Tender Mercy’s Sake – John Hilton (1565-1708?)

Instrumental Music

• Suite du Premier Ton – Louis-Nicolas Clerambault (1676-1749)
• Basse et Dessus de Trompette on de Cornet séparé, en dialogue
• Récits de Cromorne et de Cornet séparé, en dialogue 
• Sortie – Noel Rawsthorne (b. 1929)

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

• Hymn 427 When morning gilds the skies (LAUDES DOMINI)
• Hymn 675 Take up your cross, the Savior said (BOURBON)
• Hymn 707 Take my life, and let it be (HOLLINGSIDE)
• Hymn R 232 There is a Redeemer (GREEN)
• Hymn 522 Glorious things of thee are spoken (AUSTRIA)

Richard Wayne Dirksen at
Washington National Cathedral.

Sunday's offertory is a hymn straight out of our hymnal (hymn 254), but one that is practically unknown by the congregation. I chose it because the text amplifies the opening of the Gospel this Sunday, which is the account of Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. William H. How, the same person who wrote "For all the saints, who from their labors rest," wrote this hymn to commemorate the Confession of St. Peter (January 18). The tune used for the text is by Richard Wayne Dirksen, who was for many years the Organist and Choir Master of Washington National Cathedral. He wrote it in 1982 for use in our hymnal. It's a canon, much like "Row, row, row your boat," in that it can be sung in a round. In fact, we will do that when we repeat the first stanza at the end of the anthem. Dirksen named the tune WYNGATE CANON to honor his son's family, who lived on Wyngate Street in Bethesda, Maryland.

The communion motet is a choir favorite, Lord, For Thy Tender Mercy's Sake. It's a jewel from the English Renaissance period of choral music. Once attributed to Richard Farrant, it now is thought to be by the elder John Hilton. Check out this previous post of mine to read more about this anthem and the mystery of it's composer.

Looking at my organ music, I realize all the titles are in French! (And it's not even close to Bastille Day!) So let me do a little translating to help you understand these strange (to most) words. Louis-Nicolas Clerambault was a French musician, best known as an organist and composer. He made his living and gained fame in France much in the same way and at the time as J. S. Bach in Germany (though without the enduring popularity.) He worked as both a court and church musician, composing a large number of religious motets and hymns, more than 25 secular cantatas, sonatas for violin and basso continuo, a book of dance pieces for the harpsichord, and two suites for organ. It is the first suite that I use for my opening and communion voluntaries. It was the custom at the time for the title to describe the compositional form of the piece. Hence, the opening voluntary (Basse et Dessus de Trompette on de Cornet séparé, en dialogue) is a work featuring the Bass and Soprano of the Trumpet stop and the Cornet stop, separately, in dialogue. A Cornet (pronounced kor-neh) is a compound organ stop, containing multiple ranks of pipes which create a bright tone suggesting the Renaissance brass instrument, the cornett. The quieter communion voluntary (Récits de Cromorne et de Cornet séparé, en dialogue) would be a solo by the Krummhorn (sort of an early oboe) and the Cornet in dialogue with each other. It's been said that melodic charm wins out over religious spirit in Clérambault's organ music.

Music for March 8, 2015 + The Third Sunday of Lent

Vocal Music

• Wilt Thou Forgive That Sin - John Hilton (ca. 1599 – 1657), arr. Peter Crisafulli
• Let Thy Blood in Mercy Poured - Johann Cruger

Instrumental Music

• These are the Holy Ten Commandments, BWV 679 – J. S. Bach
• Balm in Gilead - Timothy Shaw

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) omit stanza 5
• Hymn R 75 Praise the Lord! O heavens adore him (AUSTRIA)
• Hymn 676 There is a balm in Gilead (BALM IN GILEAD)
• Hymn 149 Eternal Lord of love, behold your church (OLD 124TH)

The choir is singing two unfamiliar hymns from the Hymnal 1982 this Sunday as part of their weekly offering. The anthem to be sung at the offertory is a contemporary arrangement of a 17th century hymn by the poet and priest, John Donne (1573-1631). He was dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, when he wrote the poem "Hymn to God the Father", which is the text of today's anthem. I am including it here, for I think the listener would do well to read and meditate on this text before and after hearing it sung in church.

from Hymns of the Christian Centuries, (1903) page 95

Izaak Walton says, in his Life of Donne (1670),

I have the rather mentioned this hymn for that he [Donne] caused it to be set to a most grave and solemn tune, and to be often sung to the organ by the Choristers of St. Paul's [Cathedral] Church in his own hearing, especially at the evening service, and at his return from his customary devotions in that place, did occasionally say to a friend, 'the words of this hymn have restored to me the same thoughts of joy that possessed my soul in my sickness, when I composed it. And, O the power of Church-music! that harmony added to this hymn has raised the affections of my heart, and quickened my grace of zeal and gratitude; and 1 observe that I always return from paying this public duty of prayer and praise with an unexpressible tranquillity of mind, and a willingness to leave the world.'

John Donne

The special sickness during which this hymn was composed fell upon the author during the earlier part of his life. It was sung at St. Paul's Cathedral, at intervals from 1621 to 1631, when Donne died.
Gregory Benoit notes that Donne puns on his own name in this poem, ending the first two stanzas by saying to God, “When you have done forgiving this sin, you still don’t have Donne — for I have more sins to address.” Each stanza addresses a specific class of sin, rather than specific actions which he has committed.

The music is by English composer and organist, John Hilton. He received the B. Mus. from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1626, and became organist of St Margaret's, Westminster in 1628. It is highly possible that this is the tune that Donne commissioned for his text which was sung at St. Paul's

The opening voluntary is a hands-only organ piece (called manualiter) by J. S. Bach from the Clavier-Übung III, which has been referred to as the German Organ Mass.  It is a collection of compositions for organ which Bach published in 1739. It is considered his most significant and extensive work for organ, containing some of his musically most complex and technically most demanding compositions for that instrument. The purpose of the collection was fourfold:

1. an idealized organ program, taking as its starting point the organ recitals given by Bach himself in Leipzig.
2. a practical translation of Lutheran doctrine into musical terms for devotional use in the church or the home; 
3. a compendium of organ music in all possible styles and idioms, both ancient and modern, and properly internationalized.
4. a didactic work presenting examples of all possible forms of contrapuntal composition, going far beyond previous treatises on musical theory.

Albert Schweitzer compared it to the Greater and Lesser Catechism of Martin Luther:

Luther, however, had written a greater and a smaller catechism. In the former he demonstrates the essence of the faith; in the latter he addresses himself to the children. Bach, the musical father of the Lutheran church, feels it encumbent on him to do likewise; he gives us a larger and smaller arrangement of each chorale ... The larger chorales are dominated by a sublime musical symbolism, aiming simply at illustrating the central idea of the dogma contained in the words; the smaller ones are of bewitching simplicity.  - Albert Schweitze, "J. S. Bach, Le Musicien-Poète", (Leipzig 1905).

This setting of the German chorale based on the Ten Commandments is the second, smaller setting of which Schweitzer speaks. It is a fughetta on a paraphrase of the first line of the chorale, in the rhythm of a gigue, and with bouncing leaps and an almost playful mood of high spirits! Not quite what we think of as LENTEN music!

Hymns -

• The glory of these forty days (ERHALT UNS, HERR) The Latin hymn Clarum decus jejunii may have been written by Pope Gregory I, and was translated from the Latin by Maurice F. Bell for The English Hymnal, 1906. It is a Lenten hymn that reminds us of the necessity for fasting and prayer as exemplified by Moses, Elijah, Daniel, and John the Baptist. We will omit stanza 5 during the processional as we are singing that stanza as the presentation hymn after the offertory.
• Praise the Lord! O heavens adore him (AUSTRIA) This hymn, based on Psalm 148, is by an anonymous author, and has been around since around 1801. A post-exilic hymn, Psalm 148 maintains that God's glory displayed in creation and redemption is so great that the praise on Israel's lips needs to be supplemented by a chorus from all creation. This echos the sentiment found in today's Psalm, Psalm 19 (The heavens declare the glory of God.)
• There is a balm in Gilead (BALM IN GILEAD) In the Old Testament, Gilead was the name of the mountainous region east of the Jordan River. This region was known for having skillful physicians and an ointment made from the gum of a tree particular to that area. Many believed that this balm had miraculous powers to heal the body. In the New Testament, God answers the suffering of His people by sending His own son to take our place. Jesus becomes our “balm in Gilead.” It is Him we are called to turn to in our times of trial for healing and comfort. We sing this song with that assurance: no matter our hardships or supposed shortcomings, Jesus loves us enough to take our suffering upon Himself.
• Eternal Lord of love, behold your church (OLD 124TH) A relatively new hymn, found only in about four hymnals, it is another hymn for the Lenten season, this time comparing our Lenten pilgrimage with the pilgrimage of the Israelites in escaping Pharoah (Cloud by day, fire by night).