Music for Sunday, October 9, 2022 + The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Thee We Adore – T. F. H. Candlyn (1892-1964)

Instrumental Music

• Andante in D Major – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• The Infinite Meadows of Heaven – Paul Mealor (b. 1975)
• Praise to the Lord, the Almighty – Max Reger (1873-1916)

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

• Hymn 411 O bless the Lord, my soul (ST. THOMAS (WILLIAMS))
• Hymn 644 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds (ST. PETER)
• Hymn 295 Sing praise to our creator (CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN)
• Hymn 390 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN)
• Hymn R 266 Give thanks with a grateful heart (GIVE THANKS)
• Hymn 397 Now thank we all our God (NUN DANLET ALLE GOTT)
• Psalm 111 – Tone VIIIa

Thee We Adore

This is an anthem based on a hymn by St. Thomas Aquinas. The tune is in our hymnal, using a different translation of the original Latin text (hymn 314). 

The arrangement is by Thomas Frederick Handel Candlyn, English-born organist, composer and choirmaster who spent most of his professional career at two Episcopal Church congregations in New York. After graduating from Durham University in 1911 with  the Bachelor of Music degree, he was offered the position of organist and choirmaster at St. Paul's Church, Albany, New York by its rector Dr. Roelif H. Brooks and he emigrated to the United States. He was to remain at St. Paul’s for twenty-eight years, with the exception of the period between September 21, 1917 and April 25, 1919 when he served with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I.

In 1943, Dr. Brooks (who had left Albany in 1926) offered Candlyn the position of organist and choirmaster at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York. where he worked until his retirement in 1954.

Although he composed two hundred works, primarily anthems, cantatas, service settings and organ solos, only three of his anthems ("Christ, whose glory fills the skies," "Thee We Adore," and "King of Glory, King of Peace") remain part of the standard repertoire of Episcopal church choirs in North America.

Andante in D Major

Although Mendelssohn was most famous during his lifetime as a composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor, he also enjoyed an enviable reputation as a highly skilled organist. The instrument had fascinated — one might almost say mesmerized — him from earliest youth, but aside from a year or so of formal training at the age of about 12 or 13, he was entirely self-taught. He never held a position as church organist, and never had any organ pupils. Nevertheless, the instrument played a uniquely important role in his personal life. In the course of his many travels, whether in major cities or tiny villages, he invariably gravitated to the organ loft, where he might spend hours playing the works of Bach or simply improvising. Although the piano clearly served Mendelssohn as an eminently practical instrument, the organ seems to have been his instrument of choice. He searched out an organ loft, not because he had to, but because he wanted to, because on the organ he could find catharsis. Indeed, as he once exclaimed to his parents after reading a portion of Schiller's Wilhelm Tell, “I must rush off to the monastery and work off my excitement on the organ!” 

Mendelssohn's public performance on the organ in Germany was rare, and he gave but one public recital: in the Thomas-Kirche in Leipzig in 1840. In England, however, he evidently felt more comfortable on the organ bench and played there often before large crowds. Indeed, he performed as Guest Organist twice at the Birmingham Music Festivals in 1837 and 1842. Given Mendelssohn's profound affinity for the organ, it is remarkable that he composed but relatively little for the instrument, and assigned an Opus number to only two works: his Three Preludes and Fugues for Organ (Op. 37) and his Six Sonatas for the Organ (Op. 65). A small number of organ works, plus sketches and drafts, were scattered among his musical papers; most of these only gradually found their way into print, and it was not until the late 20th century that an edition of his complete organ works was finally published. 

This Andante (1844) is one of them. It's a theme and variations on a very sweet melody

The Infinite Meadow of Heaven

Welsh composer Paul Mealor is one of the world’s most ‘performed’ living composers and has been described as, ‘the most important composer to have emerged in Welsh choral music since William Mathias’ (New York Times, 2001).

Born in St Asaph, North Wales in 1975, Paul Mealor studied composition privately as a boy with William Mathias and later with John Pickard, and at the University of York (BA Hons, 1997, PhD, 2002) and in Copenhagen with Hans Abrahamsen and Per Nørgård. He was catapulted to international stardom in April 2011, when 2.5 billion people heard his motet, Ubi caritas, at the Royal Wedding Ceremony of His Royal Highness Prince William and Catherine Middleton (now TRH The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge) at Westminster Abbey. 

The Infinite Meadows of Heaven is a quote from H. W. Longfellow and this slow and expressive piece is very beautiful. It is underpinned by oscillating thirds in its outer sections that accompany a melody using the upper end of the keyboard. A low pedal octave also accompanies the first section. The middle section is more agitated but all returns to a blissful calm. It was commissioned and premiered by Iwan Llewelyn-Jones at the Wales International Piano Festival in 2016.

“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,

Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.”

― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

Music for Sunday, September 26, 2021 + The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• Wash Me Throughly (Chandos Anthem No. 3) – George Frideric Handel 

Instrumental Music

• Prelude on “Mit Freuden Zart – T. Frederick H. Candlyn (1892-1964)
• If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee – Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780)
• If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee – 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 408 Sing praise to God who reigns above (MIT FREUDEN ZART)
• Hymn R168 If you believe and I believe (trad. Zimbabwe)
• Hymn 343 Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless (ST. AGNES)
• Hymn R291  Go forth for God (GENEVA 124)
• Psalm 19:7-14 Psalm Tone VIIIa

In 1717, George Frederick Handel became the composer in residence at Cannons, the court of James Brydges, who became the First Duke of Chandos in 1719. As part of his responsibilities, he wrote eleven "anthems" for use in the chapel there, but these are more than just a simple anthem. They are multi-movement works which foreshadow the greatness found in his oratorios. Handel was limited in the resources available to him, so it was written for only three voices (soprano, tenor, and bass) with intimate instrumental forces of oboe, two violins, and basso continuo (usually the organ with the bass line doubled by an instrument). It is true chamber music.

G. F. Handel (without his wig)

The choir will sing the third movement of the third Chandos anthem, which is based on verses from Psalm 51. Originally written for alto and tenor, today the entire choir will be singing together. Handel himself chose the texts for all the Chandos Anthems, using primarily as his source the Psalter of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

The opening voluntary is a organ prelude on the Bohemian Brethren tune from the 16th century, MIT FREUDEN ZART. It is set for organ by the esteemed former organist of St. Thomas Church, New York City, T. Frederick H. Candlyn. Born in England, he moved to the United States at age 23 to become the organist/choirmaster at St. Paul's, Albany. He moved to St. Thomas in 1943, where he stayed until his retirement in 1954. His name is still prominent in the choral libraries of church choirs in this country.

The accompanying photo shows the rector of St. Pauls, George Taylor, presenting Candlyn with an umbrella in recognition of 25 years of perfect attendance in Sunday School! 

If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee is hymn 635 in the Hymnal 1982, and its lyrics are especially appropriate for the scripture readings this Sunday. Since we won't get a chance to sing it, I encourage you to read the text while waiting during communion, or after you get back to your seat. I'm playing two different settings of the German chorale, Wer nur den lieben Gott, both by German composers of the Late Baroque. Johann Ludwig Krebs (composer of the communion voluntary) was held in high regard by his contemporaries, including the older musician J. S. Bach, who made up a play on their two names ( Krebs [crab or crayfish] and Bach [brook or stream]) by saying "He is the only crayfish in my stream." It is not surprising that many of his works, especially his organ compositions, are very much like those of Bach

Music for January 21, 2018 + The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• They Cast Their Nets in Galilee – Michael McCabe (b. 1941)

Instrumental Music

• Prelude on “Mit Freuden Zart” – T. Frederick H. Candlyn (1892-1964)
• Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
• Grand Chœur – François-Clément Théodore Dubois (1837 - 1924)

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

• Hymn 408 - Sing praise to God who reigns above (MIT FREUDEN ZART)
• Hymn 470 - There’s a wideness in God’s mercy (BEECHER)
• Hymn 533 - How wondrous and great thy works (LYONS)
• Hymn R147 - Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling (THOMPSON)
• Hymn 660 - O Master, let me walk with thee (MARYTON)
• Hymn 550 - Jesus calls us: o’er the tumult (GALILEE)
• Psalm 62:6-14 - setting by Thom Pavlechko

Vocation de Saint Jacques et de Saint Jean
Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836 – 1902)
Brooklyn Museum Collection

This Sunday we hear the Gospel story of the calling of the disciples. There are two hymns in our hymnal that speak directly this story, and we will sing (or hear) both of them. The best known is the hymn Jesus calls us: o'er the tumult. In the 1982 Hymnal, the editors decided to do away with the familiar tune GALILEE in favor of two other tunes which honestly have no history of being associated with the text. The first year I was here at Good Shepherd I dutifully chose the tune which I thought the congregation would have the best chance of singing. After the service I was castigated by congregation members who said

(cas·ti·gate [ˈkastəˌɡāt] verb formal: reprimand (someone) severely) 

 the real tune was the one in the 1940 Hymnal (and every other hymnal in the United States.) Henceforth I have always paired this text with the tune GALILEE. (So don't try to read the music out of the hymnal - I'll be playing another tune.)


The other hymn is one that is somewhat peculiar to the Episcopalians. “They cast their nets in Galilee” comes from the last four stanzas of a poem written in 1924 by attorney and poet William Alexander Percy (1885-1942), a native of Greenville, Mississippi, and a graduate of Sewanee. 

The words are simple in themselves, calling to mind “happy, simple fisherfolk” who leave their peaceful lifestyle for the Peace of God. As they soon learned, there is a cost of discipleship.

These verses entered the Hymnal 1940 with the tune composed by David McK. Williams, general music editor of that hymnal. He named the tune GEORGETOWN out of friendship for F. Bland Tucker, who was then rector of St. John's Church, Georgetown Parish, in Washington, D.C.

Michael McCabe

This hymn has been arranged by Michael McCabe, an organist and composer who had a 20 year military career. His various assignments provided McCabe with unique learning opportunities, such as study with such notable musicians as Leo Sowerby, Thomas Matthews, Dale Wood, and the composer of this hymn, David McK. Williams. He has served numerous church, including Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. As a published composer, McCabe was elected to ASCAP in 1972, and ASCAP credits include NBC Television, foreign and domestic recording, the Stockholm and Stuttgart Music Festivals.

This is a pretty straight-forward arrangement of the tune, with the choir singing in unison (or in canon) most of the time. On stanza three, McCabe comes up with a new melody which on the surface looks like the original, but is in an entirely new mode and tonality. Please pray that the tenors and basses (who sing this stanza) remembers the difference. We did not have choir rehearsal this week due to ice and general indifference.

T. Frederick H. Candlyn

The opening voluntary is a setting of our opening hymn. This is a piece I have had in my library since I was in high school. When I began playing the organ at age 15, I also began exploring the hymnal, learning many hymn-tunes that were new to me. One of those was Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above (MIT FREUDEN ZART). I have never heard a hymn that I thought was so grand, and it pained me that my small congregation in Tennessee did not know it. So I scoured a music catalogue (this was before the internet) and ordered this arrangement sight-unseen. I did not know the name of Thomas Frederick Handel Candlyn, nor the church from which he retired, St. Thomas Episcopal in Manhattan, but I loved the improvisatory style in which he wrote, and have loved playing it this 40+ years.  I hope the congregation gets something out of it, too.