Music for May 30, 2021 + Trinity Sunday

Vocal Music

• Round the Lord in Glory Seated – C. Hubert H. Parry (1848-1918)
• Christ, be with Me – Noel Rawsthorne (1929-2019)

Instrumental Music

• Suite for Organ – John Stanley (1712-1786)
• I. Introduction and Allegro
  
• II. (Slow with expression)
• III. Trumpet Voluntary
• Allein Gott in der Höh – Andreas Nicholas Vetter (1666 – 1734)
• Allein Gott in der Höh - Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau (1663 - 1712

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 362 Holy, holy, holy (NICEA)
• Hymn 295 Sing praise to our Creator (CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN)
• Hymn 371 Thou, whose almighty word (MOSCOW)
• Canticle 13 Glory to You (John Rutter)

"And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, the only day in the Liturgical calendar to commemorate a doctrine rather than a person or event. As the name suggests, Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It's always the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity.

Musically, we observe the day by singing hymns praising the Trinity. One of the most familiar, and a personal favorite, is the opening hymn Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. One that is not as well known, but equally as beautiful and powerful, is the hymn Round the Lord in Glory Seated.

Our hymnal pairs a text by the 19th century Anglican Bishop Richard Mant with a tune by C. Hubert H. Parry, an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Parry is best known for the choral song Jerusalem, the coronation anthem I was glad and the hymn tune REPTON, which sets the words "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind". 

Hubert Parry earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford at the age of 18.  Although an accomplished organist, pianist, and violinist, he initially worked for three years as a clerk at Lloyd’s of London before leaving to further his musical studies.  Parry published his first orchestral work in 1878 (Piano Concerto in F# Minor) and then went on to compose a wide variety of works including oratorios, librettos, chamber pieces, cantatas, choral works and solo songs.

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry

In 1883 he joined the Royal College of Music as a teacher and became its director in 1894, a position he held until his death.  He was knighted in 1898 and made a baronet in 1903.  Probably his most notable pupils were Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.  Parry was not a distant man and inspired others through his kindness, warmth and enthusiasm.  From 1900-1908, he served as a Professor of Music at Oxford and received three honorary doctorate degrees from Cambridge, Oxford and Dublin.  Most music critics in recent years consider him to be one of the most underrated of the late Romantic composers and a number believe he was one of the most influential English composers since Henry Purcell.

RUSTINGTON was first published in the Westminster Abbey Hymn Book (1897) as a setting for Benjamin Webb's "Praise the Rock of Our Salvation." The tune is named for the village in Sussex, England, where Parry lived for some years and where he died.

St. Patrick's Breastplate is a poem that is often used on Trinity Sunday. This great Trinitarian text belongs to a Celtic style of hymn known as a lorica, from the Latin word for “armor” or “breastplate.” In effect, it serves as both a statement of faith and a prayer for God’s protection. The most familiar part of this poem is the prayer "Christ be with me," which has been set to a new tune by the British organist Noel Rawsthorne. He was organist of Liverpool Cathedral for 25 years and City Organist and Artistic Director at St George’s Hall, Liverpool.

Another lesser known British Composer is John Stanley, a contemporary and friend of George Fredrick Handel. He was completely blind from the age of two, but in spite of this he was greatly admired both as a composer and as a performer, and Handel himself was often seen, along with other famous musicians of the day, listening to Stanley's performances on the organ of the Temple Church, London, where he was organist for more than 50 years.

The opening voluntary is a group of pieces taken from a collection of voluntaries which have been grouped together by Henry Coleman to form a suite , and have been freely transcribed for the modern organ. The organ of 18th century England did not have the full pedalboard that organs now have, so the music has been arranged to accommodate that.

Music for June 24, 2018

Instrumental Music

• Voluntary IX in G Major - John Stanley (1712-1786)
• Sent forth by God’s Blessing – Mark Knickelbein (21st C.)
• O God and Lord, BWV 714 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• If Thou but suffer God to Guide Thee, BWV 642 – Johann Sebastian Bach

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 R194 - Jesus, what a friend for sinners (HYFRYDOL)
• Hymn 608 - Eternal Father, strong to save (MELITA)
• Hymn 325 - Let us break bread together  (LET US BREAK BREAD)
• Hymn 561- Stand up, stand up for Jesus (MORNING LIGHT)
• Psalm 107:1-3, 23-26, 27-31 - Confitemini Domino

Mark Knickelbein

The offertory this week is a piano piece based on the English tune THE ASH GROVE, which has been used for the hymn Sent Forth By God's Blessing  (Renew 307). It was arranged by Mark Knickelbein, editor of music/worship at Concordia Publishing House and an active composer and church musician, focusing on choral, piano, and organ church music. He has a Bachelor of Science in Education from Martin Luther College, New Ulm, MN and Master of Arts in Music from Concordia University Chicago. He previously served Trinity Lutheran in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.

John Stanley

John Stanley was a well known and popular organist in England during the 18th century. Organist at Temple Church for 52 years, where George Handel would often go just to hear Stanley play. Blind since age two, Stanley had a remarkable memory which helped him direct and accompany many of Handel's oratorios. If he had to play a new oratorio he would ask his sister-in-law to play it through just once – enough to commit it to memory. He also published much music for choir and keyboard.

It is from  Stanley's 1754 publication 10 Voluntaries, Op.7, we get our opening voluntary, Voluntary IX in G Major. Written for either organ or harpsichord, it starts with a slow, stately movement marked Largo Staccato, followed by a second movement marked Vivace (Lively). As one would expect from the Germans and their "prelude and fugue" form, this second movement is imitative, like a fugue, beginning with just the single musical line we can call the "subject."

Two chorale preludes by J. S. Bach are included in this Sunday's music. The communion voluntary is what one would call a relatively new work by Bach - meaning it was rediscovered at Yale University in the 1980s among 31 previously unknown early chorale settings by Bach. The second half of this chorale prelude is part of the Miscellaneous Choral Preludes collected by Ferdinand Roitzsch in the late 19th century; when it showed up in the Neumeister Collection in 1985, it served as an argument for the authenticity of both. The Neumeister version is preceded by a gorgeous French-style -stile-antico- prelude à 4.

This interesting prelude sets the hymn-tune in canon at the octave (between the soprano and tenor parts) with two motivic free parts; the central motive is scalar motion in four steps, the first four notes of the cantus firmus. The melody, whose first two lines are scales in opposite directions almost begs for canon, especially at the unison/octave, as Bach has set it.

The other Bach piece this week is from his popular collection, Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book"), a collection of 46 chorale preludes originally planned as a set of 164 chorale preludes spanning the whole liturgical year. The chorale preludes form the first of Bach's masterpieces for organ with a mature compositional style in marked contrast to chorales found in the Neumeister Collection mentioned above.

In Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, the unadorned cantus firmus in 4/4 time is in the soprano voice. The two inner voices, often in thirds, are built on a motif made up of two short beats followed by a long beat—an anapaest—often used by Bach to signify joy. The pedal has a walking bass which also partly incorporates the joy motif in its responses to the inner voices. For Albert Schweitzer, the accompaniment symbolised "the joyful feeling of confidence in God's goodness."

Music for January 14, 2018 + The Second Sunday after Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Hush! Somebody’s Calling My Name – Brazeal Dennard (1929-2010)
• May My Light Shine – Lynn Bailey (b. 1955) and Becki Mayo (b. 1956)

Instrumental Music

• Voluntary in A Minor – Maurice Greene (1696-1755)
• Communion – François-Clément Théodore Dubois (1837 - 1924)
• Allegro in D Minor – John Stanley (1712-1786)

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

• Hymn 7 - Christ, whose glory fills the skies (RATISBON)
• Hymn 295 - Sing praise to our Creator (CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN)
• Hymn 707 - Take my life and let it be consecrated (HOOLINSIDE)
• Hymn R149 - I, the Lord of sea and sky (HERE I AM LORD)
• Hymn R147 - Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling (THOMPSON)
• Hymn 535 -  Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim (PADERBORN)
• Psalm 139 Domine, probasti – David Hurd

Becki Slagle Mayo

The Coventry Choir is singing an anthem that is perfect for the season after Christmas and Epiphany. The text is inspired by the Star of Bethlehem, and the music and text both quote the refrain of "We Three Kings." (Star of Wonder, Star of Light...) This work is a collaboration between two composers, Becki Slagle Mayo and Lynn Shaw Bailey.

A graduate of Campbellsville College and Mankato State University, Mayo is director of youth and children's choirs at Alpharetta (Georgia) Presbyterian Church, and maintains a private piano studio in her home. As a composer and arranger, she has published over 50 compositions with 12 major publishing companies.

Lynn Shaw Bailey

Perhaps best known by her anthems for younger and developing voices, Bailey studied music at Oklahoma Baptist University and received OBU’s Alumni Profiles in Excellence Award. She also studied composition privately with Bob Burroughs, David Schwoebel, and Alice Parker. In addition, Lynn has degrees in journalism and nursing.

A native and resident of Georgia for most of her life, Bailey and her husband now live in Waco, Texas

The Good Shepherd Choir is singing an anthem we did exactly three years ago, so I am adding this link to what I said about Hush! Somebody's Calling My Name here.

Maurice Greene

The opening and closing voluntaries are connected by a musical lineage. Maurice Greene , the composer of the opening voluntary, was an English composer in London. His grandfather, John Greene, had been the Recorder in the City of London and his father, Thomas Greene, chaplain of the Chapel Royal and canon of Salisbury. Maurice Greene was the youngest of seven children and began his musical studies as a chorister at St. Paul's Cathedral. His voice broke at the age of 14 and his musical tutoring was continued under Richard Brind, the Cathedral organist.

By the time he was but 40 years old, he held all the major musical appointments in the country,  namely Organist of St. Paul's Cathedral, Organist and Composer to the Chapel Royal, Professor of Music at Cambridge University and Master of the King's Musick. 

One of his students was the eight year old John Stanley, who, though blind from an accident since the age of two, studied "with great diligence, and a success that was astonishing" (1).  Stanley had begun his musical studies at seven with lessons from another organist  but the teacher/student partnership was not fruitful. However, under the guidance of Maurice Greene, he progressed so that by age nine he was playing the organ occasionally at All Hallows Church on Bread Street.

John Stanley

The organist at All Hallows at that time was the composer William Babell, a former pupil of Handel. Babell died on September 23rd, 1723 and exactly one month later the eleven year old Stanley was appointed organist to the church at a salary of £20 per annum!

At the age of fourteen he was chosen as organist at St. Andrew's, Holborn and at the age of seventeen became the youngest person ever to obtain the BMus degree at Oxford University. In 1734 he was appointed organist to the Temple Church - a position he held until his death. It was at the ancient Temple Church that his brilliant playing upon the organ and harpsichord attracted the attention of many fine musicians including Handel who regularly visited the church to hear him.

The English organ of this period was not as developed as the German organ of the same time, often having no pedals and only two keyboards, so the music of the period is not as complex as the music of Bach or Buxtehude. The piece I am playing today has been freely arranged for the modern organ by English organist Henry Coleman. It includes a pedal part and more manual (keyboard) changes.

(1) The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands and United Provinces, Charles Burney (1773)

Music for September 25 + Pentecost XIX and St. Michael and All Angels

10:15 Eucharist

Vocal Music

• Fight the Good Fight – John Gardner (1917-2011)

Instrumental Music

• Voluntary in D – John Stanley (1712-1786)
• Symphonie No. 4: III. Andante cantabile - Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)
• Trumpet Voluntary in D – John Stanley

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 429 - I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath (Old 113^th)
• Hymn 561 - Stand up, stand up for Jesus (Morning Light)
• Hymn 705 - As those of old their first fruits brought (Forest Green)
• Hymn 605 - What does the Lord require (Sharpthorne)
• Hymn 370 - God is love, let heaven adore him (Abbott’s Leigh)
• Psalm 146:2-9 - Lauda, anima mea (simplified Anglican Chant by Jerome Meachem)

St. Michael and All Angels

Choral Eucharist at 5 PM

Vocal Music

• Locus Iste – Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
• Hide Me Under the Shadow of thy Wings – John Ebenezer West (1863-1929)

Instrumental Music

• Archangel Suite – Craig Phillips (b. 1961)

1. Michael – “…there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.” – Rev. 12:7
2. Gabriel – Messenger of God – messenger of the Annunciation
3. Raphael – It is God who heals – Archangel of healing
4. Uriel – God is my light – Archangel of Light

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

• Hymn 282 - Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels (CAELITES PLAUDANT)
• Hymn R75 - Praise the Lord, let heavens adore hymn (Austrian Hymn)
• Hymn R114 - Psalm 103: Bless the Lord (Taizé)
• Hymn 618 - Ye watchers and ye holy ones (Lasst uns erfreuen)
• Hymn 625 - Ye holy angels bright (Darwall’s 148th)

This is a full Sunday for the Good Shepherd Choir, as we sing at the morning service at 10:15 as well as the Service dedicating the new Acolytes at 5 PM. Here are some thoughts about the music for both services.

John Gardner in rehearsal

I chose the anthem Fight the Good Fight to echo the themes of the Epistle reading for the day. ("Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. - 1st Timothy 6:12) That's also why we are singing that good old hymn, Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.

The anthem was composed by John Gardner, an English organist and composer who once tried to teach Paul McCartney the rudiments of music! He was decidedly of the "old" school - much more romantic and traditional than other up and coming composers on the European continent after World War II. This anthem comes from a set of Five Hymns in Popular Style composed in 1966

At the Evening Service the choir sings the beautiful unaccompanied motet by the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, Locus Iste. The text, which is sung in Latin, translates to

This place was made by God,
a priceless sacrament;
it is without reproach. . 

I have chosen it because (A.) I like it. (B.) The choir likes it, and (C.) It reminds me of what Jacob said after he woke from his dream of angels climbing a ladder to heaven. ("“Surely the Lord is in this place...This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” - Genesis 28:16-17)

Bruckner was a composer of a number of highly original and monumental symphonies. He was also an organist and teacher who composed much sacred and secular choral music. He was a devout Catholic, but he was not without his quirks. Read the article that I have linked to above. (But not during the sermon. DEFINITELY not in church.)

I'm excited to be playing a (relatively) new work at the evening service specifically for St. Michael and All Angels. It is a suite written in 2011 by Craig Phillips, Archangel Suite is a collection of four movements which explore the contrasting characters of the four traditional archangels.

Craig Phillips

I'm using the first movement, "Michael" as the opening voluntary; It is martial trumpet-tune which portrays St. Michael, the chief angelic adversary of Satan. The second and third movement will come during communion. "Gabriel" is a quietly but steadily flowing 9/8 movement with a lyric melody in the pedals, sounding above a flowing accompaniment in the manuals; "Raphael" is a shimmering meditation for celestes and solo stops, depicting the archangel of healing. I will play the finale, dedicated to Uriel,the archangel of light, as a closing voluntary. "Uriel" is a dramatic and vivid toccata in the French style.

Craig Phillips has served as Director of Music at All Saints’ Church, Beverly Hills since 2009. He previously served for 20 years as the churches’ Associate Director of Music and Composer-in-Residence. His choral and organ music is heard Sunday by Sunday in churches and cathedrals across the United States, and many of his works have been performed in concert throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He was named the American Guild of Organists Distinguished Composer for 2012 — the seventeenth recipient of this special award.