BAPTISM, JESUS, AND YOU Music for January 8, 2023 + The Baptism of Christ

Vocal Music

• Lead Me, Lord – Samuel S. Wesley

Congregational Music (all hymns from The Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 76 - On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry (WINCHESTER NEW)
• Hymn 7 - Christ, whose glory fills the skies (RATISBON)
• Hymn 132 - When Christ’s appearing was made known (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of thankfulness and praise (SALZBURG)
• Hymn 616 - Hail to the Lord’s Anointed (ES FLOG EIN KLEINS WALDVOGELEIN)
• Psalm 29:2a,3-11 – Tone Vc, refrain by James E. Barrett

Baptism of Christ, 1475,
 Andrea del Verrocchio
and Leonardo da Vinci.

This Sunday commemorates the Baptism of Christ. In three of the Gospels we read of Jesus going to John the Baptist for baptism. But John’s is a baptism of repentance, and Jesus has nothing for which he needs to repent. Why then does Jesus insist on being baptized? Jesus tells John that His baptism is "fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness". Jesus is baptized as a symbol of giving His will up to His Father and the beginning of His earthly ministry. It is an act of humility.

As we reflect on Christ’s baptism, we are reminded of our own baptism. As part of the service, we will participate in the renewal of our baptismal vows. That is why most of the hymns this morning refer to Christ's baptism.

Lead Me, Lord

The anthem is a fitting prayer for us as we remember our baptismal vows. The text comes from two psalms, Psalms 5:8 and 4:8: 

Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness;

make thy way plain before my face.

For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord, only,

that makest me dwell in safety.

The anthem is an excerpt from a much longer anthem, Praise the Lord, O my soul, by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, an English organist and composer. The grandson of Charles Wesley, he was born in London, and sang in the choir of the Chapel Royal as a boy. He learned composition and organ from his father, Samuel, completed a doctorate in music at Oxford, and composed for piano, organ, and choir. He was organist at Hereford Cathedral, Exeter Cathedral, Leeds Parish Church, Winchester Cathedral, and Gloucester Cathedral. Wesley strove to improve the standards of church music and the status of church musicians; 

The original anthem was written in 1861, with this excerpt first published in 1905 in The Anthem Book, no. 8. But it was not until it was published in The Church Anthem Book in 1933 that it became quite popular. Now you can find this simple song in almost 30 hymnals, including the Episcopal book Lift Every Voice and Sing II, and the Renew hymnal which is in our pews.

Music for August 14, 2022 + The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Lead Me, Lord – Samuel S. Wesley (1810-1876)

Instrumental Music

• If Thou but Trust in God to Guide Thee, BWV 647 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
• Chorale Prelude on “Houston” – Rebecca Groom Te Velde (b. 1956)
• If Thou but Trust in God to Guide Thee, BWV 642 – J. S. Bach

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 635 If thou but trust in God to guide thee (WER NUR DEN LIEBEN GOTT)
• Hymn From North and South (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)
• Hymn 490 I want to walk as a child of the Light (HOUSTON)
• Hymn R 291 Go forth for God (GENEVA 124)
• Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18 – Tone IIa

Welcome Back, Choir!

The Good Shepherd Choir makes its return to our 10:15 service this Sunday, singing one of the best known excerpts from an anthem by Samuel Sebastian Wesley. This short passage from the larger work Praise the Lord, O My Soul is known as Lead Me, Lord.

Samuel Sebastian Wesley was born 212 years ago this very day, Aug. 14, in London. Known as a composer and organist, he was one of the most distinguished English church musicians of his time. The grandson of Charles Wesley and the natural son of Samuel Wesley (his father had left his first wife and started a new family with another woman - but that's a post for another time!), he was a chorister of the Chapel Royal and held posts in London and at Exeter cathedral, Leeds Parish Church, Winchester cathedral, and Gloucester cathedral. He was prominent as a conductor of the Three Choirs Festival and was professor of organ at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Wesley's father was enamored with the music of Bach. In fact, he helped introduce the music of J.S. Bach into England, playing his music and publishing the an English edition of Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (The Well-Tempered Clavier). He was so infatuated with the German musician that he named his son Sebastian in Bach's memory. So perhaps it is fitting that I am playing two pieces by J. Sebastian Bach alongside the music of S. Sebastian Wesley.

If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee

One of the first pieces I studied on the organ when in college was Bach's setting of the chorale Wer nur den lieben Gott, which is in our hymnal at hymn 635. (We will also sing it today.) This setting, which I am playing as the closing voluntary, is from Bach's collection Orgelbuchlein. The hymn is in AAB form, meaning that the first two lines of music are identical, while the last line uses new material. The same can be said of Bach's setting. The first line is repeated twice before ending the piece. In this chorale prelude, the unadorned cantus firmus 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 symbolized "the joyful feeling of confidence in God's goodness."

The opening voluntary follows the same AAB formula. What makes this interesting is that this is basically Bach's arrangement of the central duet from his cantata based on this hymn, Cantata 93, which Bach composed in 1728.  Bach published this setting for organ, BWV 647, around 1748 as part of his Six Chorales of Various Kinds, commonly known as the Schubler Chorales. All six works for organ are based on cantatas. They provided an approachable version of Bach's cantatas through the more accessible medium of keyboard music, and the fact that Bach chose to edit these (while the rest of his cantatas remained largely unpublished during his lifetime), says something about the musical statement that they represented. 

Music for June 6, 2021 + The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Lead Me, Lord – S. S. Wesley (1810-1876)

Instrumental Music

• Partita on Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (What God Ordains Is Always Good) – Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) 
• Nocturne in A Minor – David Karp
• Toccata in C – Johann Pachelbel 

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

• Hymn 594 Go of grace, and God of glory (CWM RHONDDA)
• Hymn 533 How wondrous and great thy works (LYONS)
• Hymn When peace like a river (VILLE DU HAVRE)
• Psalm 130– tone VIIIa

As I am away this week at the Diocese of Texas Music Camp for Youth, I am unable to go into a detailed account of the music. So here are some quick notes

The anthem is an excerpt from a much longer anthem, Praise the Lord, O my soul, by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, an English organist and composer. The grandson of Charles Wesley, he was born in London, and sang in the choir of the Chapel Royal as a boy. He learned composition and organ from his father, Samuel, completed a doctorate in music at Oxford, and composed for piano, organ, and choir. He was organist at Hereford Cathedral, Exeter Cathedral, Leeds Parish Church, Winchester Cathedral, and Gloucester Cathedral. Wesley strove to improve the standards of church music and the status of church musicians; 

The original anthem was written in 1861, with this excerpt first published in 1905 in The Anthem Book, no. 8. But it was not until it was published in The Church Anthem Book in 1933 that it became quite popular. Now you can find this simple song in almost 30 hymnals, including the Episcopal book Lift Every Voice and Sing II, and the Renew hymnal which is in our pews.

Music by Johann Pachelbel opens and closes our service. First is a partita (an instrumental piece composed of a series of variations, as a suite) on the Lutheran Chorale What God Ordains Is Always Good (Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan). There are nine variations of varying difficulty and styles, even including a gigue, which is perhaps a little out of character for church music, but is fun to play, nevertheless.

During communion you will hear a Nocturne in A Minor by David Karp. As you mighty imagine, a nocturne is a slow, dreamy, sleepy kind of piece. This one is no exception. David Karp was on the piano faculty while I was at SMU, and, in fact, still is. He wrote this piece in memory of another professor at SMU, Louise Bianchi, who was Professor Emerita of Piano Pedagogy.

Dr. Karp is a nationally known pianist, composer, educator, lecturer and author, who holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Colorado with additional doctoral studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. At Southern Methodist, he teaches classes in performance, chamber music, improvisation, advanced class piano for piano majors, required piano classes for music majors and sight-reading classes for piano majors. In addition to his academic work,  he is prolific composer, with compositions numbering over several hundred and published by several major music publishers in America. These compositions are performed in competitions, recitals and a variety of music venues all over the world, often listed as required repertoire for students.

Music for January 19, 2020 + The Second Sunday after Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Lead Me, Lord – S. S. Wesley (1810-1876)

Instrumental Music

• Blessed Jesus, at Thy Word – Gerald Near
• Meditation on “Kingsfold” – Charles Callahan
• Roulade – Gerald Near

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 439 – What wondrous love is this (WONDROUS LOVE)
• Hymn 533 - How wondrous and great thy works (LYONS)
• Hymn - I have decided to follow Jesus (ASSAM)
• Hymn 550 - Jesus calls us; o’er the tumult (GALILEE)
• Psalm 40:1-12 - Expectans, expectavi (simplified Anglican chant by Jerome Meachan)

S. S. Wesley

The choir (still recovering from Christmas break) sings an extract from a larger anthem by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, the grandson of Charles Wesley. The popular short anthem Lead me, Lord is an extract from Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Famous in his lifetime as one of his country's leading organists and choirmasters, he composed almost exclusively for the Church of England. He was appointed organist at Hereford Cathedral, Exeter Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral, and Gloucester Cathedral.

He was the illegitimate son of the composer Samuel Wesley's and his teenage housemaid Sarah Suter, with whom he had seven children after separating from his wife Charlotte. His middle name derived from his father's lifelong admiration for the music of Bach.

Considering his love of Bach, I should have included a piece by Bach, but instead, I've focused on two living musicians who many consider among the most prominent, if not most prolific, church musicians in America today.

Gerald Near has written much organ music, including many settings of hymns and chants for the church. The opening voluntary is a highly ornamented arrangement of the Chorale Liebster Jesu, which we find in our hymnal at hymn 440: Blessed Jesus, at thy Word.

The closing voluntary is one of Gerald Near's earliest pieces from 1965. Culinarily speaking, a Roulade is a slice of meat rolled around a filling and cooked. It comes from the French word rouler: to roll. Musically, roulade is an embellishment consisting of a rapid run of several notes sung to one syllable. So Near's Roulade is a rapid, light piece.

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 February 21, 2016 + The Second Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music-

• Lead Me, Lord – Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)

Instrumental Music

• A piano prelude by Dominic Marchado
• O man, bemoan thy grievous sin, BWV 622 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

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 495 - Hail, thou once despised Jesus (In Babilone)
• Hymn R243 - You shall cross the barren desert (Be Not Afraid)
• Hymn 598 - Lord Christ, when first thou cam’st to earth (Mit Freuden zart)

This is one of those Sunday mornings which has been suddenly changed because of Wednesday night. Due to school, sickness, work, and family matters, I had almost half the choir absent at our weekly rehearsal. (You do realize, don't you, that your choir members spend at least four hours each week at church, either rehearsing or singing in services as part of their service to God?) We were scheduled to sing on of the movements from Antonín Dvořák's Mass in D, but since we missed last week's rehearsal due to Ash Wednesday, we were behind in our preparation. I called for a substitution mid-rehearsal, because I don't want my choir members to fret over something that can be changed. 

Samuel Sebastian Wesley
before he lost his hair.

SO: we are singing Lead Me, Lord, which is part of a longer anthem by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Praise the Lord, O My Soul, written in 1861. Wesley was the grandson of hymn-writer Charles Wesley, and the son of Samuel Wesley, another English musician, but it was Samuel Sebastian that became famous as one of his country's leading organists and choirmasters. He composed almost exclusively for the Church of England, writing some exquisite music, including the hymn-tune AURELIA (The Church's One Foundation). 

Since Samuel Sebastian Wesley was named after his father's favorite musician, Johann Sebastian Bach, it is only fitting that our music includes one of Bach's miniature masterpieces, his chorale-prelude on the choral, O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß (O man, bewail thy sins so great). It is a great hymn for the season of Lent. Read the first stanza, upon which our communion voluntary is based:

O mankind, mourn your great sins,

for which Christ left His Father's bosom

and came to earth;

from a virgin pure and tender

He was born here for us,

He wished to become our Intercessor,

He gave life to the dead

and laid aside all sickness

until the time approached

that He would be sacrificed for us,

bearing the heavy burden of our sins

indeed for a long time on the Cross.

It is a Lutheran Passion hymn with a text written by Sebald Heyden in 1530 on a melody, STRASBORG, around 1524. The author reflects the Passion, based on the Four Evangelists, originally in 23 stanzas. though most modern hymnals only include the first and last stanzas.

What makes this a favorite organ piece among Bach enthusiasts is his use of ornaments, or improvisatory decorations, on the original melody. In fact, the original melody is only clearly laid out in two places: at the place in the tune that sets the words that He would be sacrificed for us and for a long time on the Cross. These two places in the chorale-prelude stand out by their stark simplicity. Capturing the Affect (or sense) of a text in both composition and performance was indeed one of the foundational premises that Bach fully embraced.  

The prelude today is a piano piece by Dominic Marchado, a home-schooled sixth grader in the St. Gregory Choir. In addition to piano and choir, Dominic is also learning to play the violin. We welcome him to the piano this morning and encourage him in his music.

Music for April 19, 2015 + The Third Sunday of Easter

Music Appreciation Sunday

Vocal Music

• Hymn of Promise – Natalie Sleeth (1930-1992)
• Sing to the Lord – Ken Medema (b. 1943)

Instrumental Music

• Christians, We Have Met to Worship – arr. Sondra Tucker
• Beside Quiet Waters – Dan R. Edwards
• Choral Song - S.S.Wesley

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

• Hymn 492 Sing, ye faithful, sing with gladness (FINNIAN)
• Hymn 440 Blessed Jesus, at thy word (LIEBSTER JESU)
• Hymn 295 Sing praise to our Creator (CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN)
• Hymn R 202 Sing alleluia to the Lord (SING ALLELUIA)
• Hymn 182 Christ is alive! Let Christians sing (TRURO)

This Sunday, the church is honoring the music ministry of Good Shepherd with a Music Appreciation Day. It is humbling to be honored in such a way for the work that we do, week by week, to glorify our God and King. For this weekend, I have the St. Gregory Choir and the Good Shepherd Handbell Guild joining the Good Shepherd Choir in the music for Sunday. The St. Gregory Choir will sing an anthem of praise by Ken Medema, the composer of our Spring Music, The Story-Tellin' Man II, which we will present on May 10. Then the Good Shepherd Choir will join them in one of the kid's favorite anthems, Hymn of Promise, by Natalie Sleeth.

Ken Medema is a singer/pianist who has published many works for choirs, soloists, and pianists. Born nearly blind, he began playing the piano when he was five years old, and three years later began taking lessons in classical music through braille music, playing by ear and improvising in different styles. Through his work as a music therapist, he started writing songs while at Essex County Hospital. "I had a bunch of teenagers who were really hurting," he says, "and I started writing songs about their lives. Then I thought, 'Why don't you start writing songs about your Christian life?' So I started doing that, and people really responded."

In his anthem Sing to the Lord, you'll hear the main theme presented in a pop-rock style, before going to a new theme (the B section). He returns to the first theme (A section), and when it is sung, you are introduced to more musical material in the C section of the piece. The entire anthem ends with one more visit to the A section before ending with a coda, the last line of music sung three times. The text for the anthem is a compilation of familiar verses from several psalms.

The anthem Hymn of Promise, a favorite of our choir, was first conceived as an anthem in 1985 for a festival concert on Natalie Sleeth's music at the Pasadena Community Church, St. Petersburg, Florida. Since then, it has been included in at least 17 hymnals, with the number growing each year.

Sleeth was as native of Evanston, Illinois. She began piano study at the age of four and gained much of her musical experience by singing in choral ensembles during her earlier years. Studying music theory, piano, and organ at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, she received her B.A. in 1952.

Married to Ronald E. Sleeth, a United Methodist clergyman and professor of homiletics at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas in the late 60s and 70s, she served as music secretary at Highland Park United Methodist Church from 1969-1976. During this time, she studied music theory with Jane Marshall and audited a course in choral arranging taught by Lloyd Pfautsch at SMU. Her choral works for all ages number more than 200.

Sleeth had the ability to compose both texts and music. Hymn of Promise was written at a time when the author states that she was "pondering the ideas of life, death, spring and winter, Good Friday and Easter, and the whole reawakening of the world that happens every spring." Inspired by a T.S. Eliot line, the germ of the hymn grew from the idea "in our end is our beginning," the phase that begins the third stanza of the hymn.

While it carries the promise of spring and the hope of Easter in its beautiful metaphors, it is a very appropriate hymn for funeral and memorial services. Shortly after its composition, the composer’s husband was diagnosed with what turned out to be a terminal malignancy. Ronald Sleeth requested that Hymn of Promise be sung at his funeral service.

Michael C. Hawn, distinguished professor of church music at Perkins School of Theology, writes,

A wonderful child-like simplicity permeates "Hymn of Promise." Natalie Sleeth had a gift for composing texts on complex theological ideas that were still accessible to children. Her melodies seemed totally natural and therefore effortless for people to learn. "Hymn of Promise" is one of the most memorable hymns written by an American United Methodist in the last part of the twentieth century, and it promises to be sung for many years to come.

The Good Shepherd Handbell Choir will end it's choir season by playing two distinctly different pieces by two American composers. My friend Sondra Tucker has written an energetic piece for bells and percussion combining two Early American hymn-tunes, HOLY MANNA (Christians, We Have Met to Worship) and FOUNDATION (How Firm a Foundation). After a brief introduction you hear HOLY MANNA , then FOUNDATION as the drum drops out and the music becomes less rhythmic and more flowing. When the opening motif returns along with the drum, the two tunes are combined and played together. It's what the youth call a "mash-up."

• Sing, ye faithful, sing with gladness (FINNIAN) Though it first appeared in 1870 and was included in several hymnals of the time, our hymnal is the only major contemporary book that includes it. The tune was written in 1975 by Christopher Dearnley, an English organist, who served in Salisbury Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral.
• Blessed Jesus, at thy word (LIEBSTER JESU) In this hymn, we acknowledge our need for the illumination of the Holy Spirit to fully understand God’s message to us. We also recognize and claim the promise of Christ concerning this help: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 ESV).
• Sing praise to our Creator (CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN) Set to a tune from the 1500s, this hymn was written by Omer Westendorf, one of the leading Roman Catholic hymn writers since Vatican II. Born in 1916, Omer first got interested in church music after World War II, when he discovered the new Mass settings in Holland.
• Sing alleluia to the Lord (SING ALLELUIA) Immensely popular, this praise chorus has been included in hundreds of songbooks, both in North America and in other continents. Linda L. Stassen-Benjamin originally composed it rather instantaneously (while she was in the shower!) in June 1974. Following oral tradition, the Renew Hymnal joins Stassen's stanza with four other stanzas derived from early Christian liturgies and the "Easter Canticle," which quotes from 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 and 15:20-22.  
• Christ is alive! Let Christians sing (TRURO) Brian A. Wren wrote the hymn during April of 1968. It was written for Easter Sunday, two weeks after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Wren wrote: "I could not let Easter go by without speaking of this tragic event which was on all our minds. . . . The hymn tries to see God's love winning over tragedy and suffering in the world. . . . There is tension and tragedy in these words, not just Easter rejoicing."

Music for February 22, 2015 + The First Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music

• Lead Me, Lord – Samuel S. Wesley (1810-1876)

Instrumental Music

• Prélude au Kyrie – Jean Langlais (1907-1991)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 150 Forty days and forty nights (AUS DER TIEFE RUFE ICH)
• Hymn 693 Just as I am, without one plea (WOODWORTH)
• Hymn 142 Lord, who throughout these forty days (ST. FLAVIAN)
• Hymn 143, st. 5 O Father, Son, and Spirit blest (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Psalm 25:1-9 TONE II

Lead Me, Lord, is actually a part of a longer anthem by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Praise the Lord, O My Soul, written in 1861. Wesley was the grandson of hymn-writer Charles Wesley, and the son of Samuel Wesley, another English musician, but it was Samuel Sebastian (named after Johann Sebastian Bach) that became the famous as one of his country's leading organists and choirmasters. He composed almost exclusively for the Church of England, writing some exquisite music, including the hymn-tune AURELIA (The Church's One Foundation). 

Jean Langlais. You can tell
he's French. Look at that beret!

At communion we hear the opening movement from a collection of organ music by French organist Jean Langlais, written as a homage to the 17th century Italian organist, Girolamo Frescobaldi. It features the melody of the Kyrie from the Gregorian Mass IV - Cunctipotens Genitor Deus  played on a flute stop in the pedal, but only after a lengthy, improvisatory section in the manuals that demonstrates Langlais's ideal of mysticism. The slow tempo and long sustained chromatic chords draw the listener into a state of contemplation through the suspension of time. 

Langlais, like a number of organists, was blind, but he easily managed the manifold aspects of the organ without his sight.  As usually happens with the blind, his other sense made up for what he lacked.  By the sheer sound of a student’s playing, he could tell what fingering he was using.  In one famous story, Langlais was giving a lesson and told the student to use the third finger on a particular note.  The student ignored him, figuring that he’d never know.  “You are so stupid," Langlais exclaimed after failing to get through to him.  “The third finger!  Use the third finger!”   

As is my custom during Lent, I omit playing a festive closing voluntary, opting instead to let the Lenten worshiper leave the church in contemplative silence.

• Forty days and forty nights (AUS DER TIEFE RUFE ICH) - George Smyttan based this hymn on the Gospel reading for today, Mark 1:12-13, dealing with Christ's temptation in the desert, but seemingly it is concerned chiefly with the physical setting rather than the inner spiritual struggles which are more clearly delineated in the other Gospels. It is a great hymn for the first Sunday in Lent (but not of Lent! Sundays don't count!)
• Just as I am, without one plea (WOODWORTH) - "Every head bowed, and every eye closed!" If you ever went to a revival meeting in the South (or even just a regular service in the Southern Baptist Church), you've sung this hymn while the minister pleaded for the wayward sinner to come to the altar and give their life to Christ. The hymn was written by Charlotte Elliott, an invalid daughter of a minister, in 1836, and has since be included in almost every hymnal in the English speaking world, and translated in almost every major lanquage.
• Lord, who throughout these forty days (ST. FLAVIAN) - As a result of her life-long interest in religious education, Claudia Hernaman wrote 150 hymns for children. This one attempts to explain the deeper meaning of the forty days of Lent - fasting, praying, tempatations, and penitence which point to the joys of Easter which follow the penitential season.
• O Father, Son, and Spirit blest (ERHALT UNS, HERR) - Our presentation hymn is the last stanza of the Lenten hymn The glory of these forty days. Since the last stanza is doxological in nature (praising God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), it is a good choice for this spot in the service. The tune is the same tune that was used as the presentation hymn for the Sundays after Epiphany, though in its original rhythmic form. The Lenten version of the tune is a harmonization by J. S. Bach.