Music for February 14, 2016 + Lent I

Vocal Music

• Jesu, Grant Me This I Pray – C. H. Kitson (1874-1944)
• God be in my Head – John Rutter (b. 1945)

Instrumental Music

• Jesus, All My Gladness – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

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

• Psalm 91:9-15 – Tone II.a
• Hymn 529 - In Christ there is no East or West (McKee)
• Hymn 150 - Forty days and forty nights (Aus der Tiefe rufe ich)
• Hymn R112 - You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord (On Eagles Wings)
• Hymn 559 - Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us (Dulce Carmen)

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when our liturgical actions change to reflect the meaning and purpose of Lent. This means 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 altogether, such as the closing voluntary, which we omit during Lent), the service music changes to include a Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy) and Agnus Dei (Jesus, Lamb of God.) And on the first Sunday of Lent, we'll dispense with the opening voluntary and hymn, and begin the service singing The Great Litany, an intercessory prayer of various petitions that are sung by the priest, with fixed responses by the congregation. It is sung in procession, and because we take a longer, circuitous route through the nave to give us time to sing the entire thing, it is often called "The Holy Pretzel."

Later in the service the choirs will sing a setting of a Lenten hymn by English poet and priest, Sir Henry W. Baker. Baker may be best known to us as the writer of the hymn setting of Psalm 23, "The King of Love my Shepherd Is," and "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven," as well as his translation of "O Sacred Head, Once Wounded." He was editor of the premier English hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1859.

C. H. Kitson combined Baker's hymn, Jesu, Grant me this I pray, with Orlando Gibbons' Song 13 to create a calm litany in today's anthem. It is simply set, with stanza one and three sung in a unison setting, and stanza four, the final stanza, presented as a simple, a capella hymn. The second stanza is the most intricate, with the lower three voice parts (alto, tenor, and bass) singing a flowing accompaniment in 12/8 time while the trebles sing the Gibbons melody.

Charles Herbert Kitson was an English organist and teacher, author of several books on harmony and counterpoint. He was better known as a educator than as a composer. He was born in Yorkshire, and attended school in Ripon. Intending originally to take holy orders, he took his BA and MA  at Cambridge, where he was also the organ scholar of Selwyn College. Between those dates, he also took the BMus and DMus degrees at Oxford.

His first important post was as organist at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, in 1913 – a post which he combined with the post of Professor of Theory at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. In 1920, he resigned both posts and returned to England, settling in London, where he joined the staff of the Royal College of Music.

a contemporary reconstruction of Bach's face based
on research of Scottish forensic experts.

During communion I am playing two short organ settings of the chorale, Jesu, Meine Freude, as written by the great Johann Sebastian Bach. Unlike his other great organ chorales, these short pieces are very simply set. The first one, BWV 1105, is from a relatively recent discovery (or re-discovery) of 31 of Bach's organ chorales in The Neumeister Collection,  a compilation of chorale preludes for organ assembled by Johann Gottfried Neumeister sometime after 1790. This handwritten manuscript included 31 compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1090–1120) that were uncatalogued until scholars rediscovered the manuscript in the 1980s. It has been suggested that the collection may have been copied from a single source, possibly a Bach family album put together in J.S. Bach's early years.  Some time after 1807 the manuscript passed to Christian Heinrich Rinck, whose library was bought by Lowell Mason in 1852. After Mason's death in 1873, his collection was acquired by Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut,  where it was rediscovered "early in 1984" by musicologists.

The other setting, BWV 753, is from an unfinished arrangement which has been completed by Charles Callahan. It is for hands alone (no feet)

Music for February 7 + The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Gospel Adoramus – Mark Hayes
• Round the Lord in Glory Seated – David McCarthy
• "Circle" Sanctus - Sheldon Curry
• The Storm is Passing Over – Barbara Baker

Instrumental Music

• I’m Goin’ to live So God Can Use Me – Paul Taylor
• Come, We That Love the Lord – Timothy Shaw
• Toccata Brilliante on We Will Glorify – Twila Paris, arr. Fred Bock

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 383 - Fairest Lord Jesus (St. Elizabeth)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of thankfulness and praise (Salzburg)
• Hymn R201 - Be still, for the Spirit of the Lord (Be Still)
• Hymn R247 - Lord, the light of your love is shining (Shine, Jesus, Shine)

It's Gospel Sunday!

After I first arrived at Good Shepherd, I would schedule music that had not been in the typical rotation of an Episcopal Congregation. Things such as spirituals, old hymns and gospel songs from my youth would find their way onto my music lists. I never thought anything of it until I overheard a choir member remark to another singer, "It must be his Methodist upbringing."

"Pardon Me, your Methodist is showing."

It's going to show with all it's Protestant glory this Sunday, the last Sunday before Lent begins. Since Lent brings with it a quieter, more subdued set list, we're going to leave Epiphany with a bang. 

The service will start with an organ arrangement of the spiritual, I'm Gonna Live So God Can Use Me. 

I'm gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I'm gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

Then instead of the Gloria in Excelsis, we will sing Mark Hayes' setting of Gospel Adoramus, written in a contemporary Rock-Gospel style, using both the Latin and English texts of the Adoramus Te. In the Hayes inserts a quasi-baroque style five-part round. It's fun to sing!

I'll use the piano again for the offertory, a Gospel-inspired setting of an Anglican hymn by a Canadian-born composer! David McCarthy was born in Winnipeg, Canada with degrees in music from McGill University, the Eastman School of Music, and Houghton College. He is the organist and choir director at Incarnation Episcopal church in Penfield, NY, and also teaches at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.

David wraps the text Round the Lord in Glory Seated in a tune that sounds like it came right out of a Black Baptist Church in South Carolina. (Or Georgia. Or Alabama. Or Detroit, for that matter.) The three stanzas feature the choir in unison, then the men with three part treble descant, then a four-part setting of the tune with a clever descant of "Holy, Holy, Holy" sung above. With a modulation to a higher key on each stanza, do not be surprised if you feel transfigured after hearing it!

For over 30 years, in Texas, Tennessee, and Arizona, Sheldon Curry has conducted church choirs – some in large Episcopal Cathedrals; others in rural Baptist communities. (He was, for a short time, director of music at St Stephens Episcopal Church here in Houston.) During that time, he has taught off and on – mostly poor, at-risk minority students. He teaches at Imago Dei Middle School in Tuscon where he also serves as Director of Music at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church as well music editor for Alfred Music Company.  He has used the old tune, May the Circle Be Unbroken for the Rev. Susan Anderson-Smith's setting of the Sanctus for use at chapel services at Imago Dei.

Music for January 31, 2016 + The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Thy Perfect Love – John Rutter (b. 1945)

Instrumental Music

• Suite Brève: Cantilene – Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
• Variations on “Liebster Jesu” – Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748)
• Suite Brève: Dialogue sur les mixtures – Jean Langlais 

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

• Hymn R49 - Let the whole creation cry (Llanfair)
• Hymn R155 - Though I may speak with bravest fire (Gift of Love)
• Hymn 440 - Blessed Jesus, at thy word (Liebster Jesu)
• Hymn 576 - God is love, and where true love is (Mandatum)
• Hymn R226 - Ubi Caritas (Taizé)
• Hymn 530 - Spread, O spread, thou mighty word (Gott Sei Dank)

The English composer John Rutter writes wonderfully approachable and finely crafted choral music. Christmas could hardly happen without his settings of both traditional and original carols. And for decades church choirs have been singing his lyrical anthems on religious texts. One such anthem is this Sunday's offertory, Thy Perfect Love. Based on a 15th century English prayer, the anthem begins with a soprano soloist who presents the poem in its entirety. Then the whole choir sings the prayer in four part harmony, without organ. The hymn sounds easy, but the descending chromatic chords are tricky to sing in tune and on pitch! Pray for the choir.

Jean Langlais

The organ music comes from the Suite Brève by Jean Langlais. Born in great poverty in rural Northwest France, he was blind by age two, and his musical talent became evident when he sang in the choir of the local church. At ten he was sent to the National Institute for Blind Children in Paris, where he began to study the organ. From there, he progressed to the Paris Conservatoire, obtaining prizes in organ and composition. By 1945 he was organist at one of Paris's great churches, St. Clotilde. It was here that he wrote today's voluntaries in 1947.

The opening voluntary, the lyrical "Cantilene," is based on an original modal theme heard on a reed stop in the pedal and accompanied by soft chords., which reinforce the modal character (neither Major nor Minor key) of the melody. The next section plays of the melody canonically between high and low registers, simultaneously using the two melodies in the pedal. The third section has the melody once again in the pedal, but with an add flute obbligato in the treble register. It's not easy. Pray for the organist.

The last piece, "Dialogue sur les mixtures," has fast, repeated chords moving rapidly from the neutral key of C Major to A-flat and back again, with lively echoings between the different manuals (keyboards) of the organ.

Music for January 24, 2016 + The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• How Lovely Are the Messengers – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Love Ye the Lord (Ombra Mai Fu, Largo from Xerxes) – G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Kenne McKee, Soprano

Instrumental Music

• Sonata II: I. Grave/Adagio – Felix Mendelssohn
• Sonata II: II. Allegro Maestoso e vivace – Felix Mendelssohn

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982.)

• Hymn 493 - O for a thousand tongues to sing (Azmon)
• Hymn 533 - How wondrous and great thy works, God of praise! (Lyons)
• Hymn 632 - O Christ, the Word Incarnate (Munich)
• Hymn 321 - My God, thy table now is spread (Rockingham)
• Hymn 711 - Seek ye first the kingdom of God (Seek Ye First)
• Hymn 539 - O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling (Tidings)

Felix Mendelssohn was a brilliant pianist and organist, a fine string player and an inspirational conductor, but it is for his compositions that he is remembered today. He began composing early, too; by the time he was seventeen Mendelssohn had composed twelve string symphonies, his first symphony for full orchestra, a String Octet, and the wonderful overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

By the time he was 22, he was commissioned to write his first oratorio. He chose the great New Testament figure, St. Paul, probably because it offered tremendous dramatic possibilities.

Given Mendelssohn’s high regard for the choral masterpieces of Bach, Handel and Haydn, it is no surprise to find that St Paul is modelled on similar lines, with an integrated scheme of recitatives, arias and choruses. His use of chorales to demarcate important points in the story and to reflect on the action is clearly influenced by the Passion music of Bach. (When he was still only twenty, Mendelssohn conducted the first public performance of the St. Matthew Passion since Bach’s death.) Handel’s influence is also evident in the dramatic use of the chorus, which at times is central to the action, as for instance when the outraged mob calls for Paul to be killed, whilst at other times it provides appropriate commentary on the unfolding events. Of course, the work is full of Mendelssohn’s own innovations, the most striking of which is his use of a four-part chorus of women’s voices – used only once in the whole piece – to represent the voice from heaven, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?’.

Today the choir will sing one of the oratorio’s best-loved choruses, How lovely are the messengers, which refers to Paul and Barnabas as ambassadors of the Christian Church. It is written in much the same form as Handel would have used, with each section of the choir introducing the main theme in a contrapuntal setting.

And speaking of Mendelssohn, the presentation hymn is a German chorale that was harmonized by Felix Mendelssohn himself. In fact, he used this chorale (the tune, not the text) in his other famous oratorio, Elijah. There is much less movement in the harmonic voices and the harmonization sounds much more 19th-century than a chorale harmonized by Bach. If Bach had arranged it, the basses would be singing at least twice as many notes.

The aria that one of our choral interns, Kenne McKee, will sing at communion is not from an oratorio of Handel, but from one of his many operas, Xerxes. The secular Italian text has been replaced by Richard Row with this text made suitable for church.

Music for January 17, 2016 + The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Vocal Music

• Thanks Be to God – Marty Haugen (b. 1950)

Instrumental Music

• Voluntary in C Major – George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
• Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness - Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718-1795)
• March in G – George Frideric Handel

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

• Hymn 440 - Blessed Jesus, at thy word (Liebster Jesu)
• Hymn R90 - Spirit of the Living God (Iverson)
• Hymn 132 - When Christ’s appearing was made known (Erhalt uns, Herr)
• Hymn 339 - Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness (Schmücke dich)
• Hymn 371 - Thou, whose almighty word (Moscow)

Martin Haugen

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As we approach the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, I wanted to do something to support his ideals of equality and justice for all. One of my favorite anthems in that vein is the anthem Thanks Be to God from a one-act theatre piece by Marty Haugen called AGAPÈ - The Stories and the Feast. Loosely based on the structure of the mass, AGAPÈ utilized music from many cultures and the prophetic voices of our day to bring alive a story of struggle, hope, and celebration among God's people. This work was inspired by King's famous "I have a dream" speech.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!

From this speech, Haugen wrote these words, including the hymn of the Civil Rights Movement, We Shall Overcome. :

Thanks be to God when people care,
Thanks be for friends and loved ones,
Thanks be to God forever and ever.Thanks be to God for food and homes,
Thanks be for health and laughter,
Thanks be to God forever and ever.Thanks be to God when hatred ends,
Thanks be for peace and safety,
Thanks be to God forever and ever.Teach us the way of your peace, kindle your fire within us,
Give us a vision of a world where people care for each other.
We shall overcome, We shall overcome, We shall over come some day.Deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome some day.
© 1993 by G.I.A. Publications, Inc., 7404 So. Mason Ave, Chicago, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

The Good Shepherd Choir will be joined by the St. Gregory choir. The children get to sing  We Shall Overcome while the adults repeat the petitions for wisdom, courage, and vision. There is something very real and raw about hearing those children and youth sing those words that meant so much to another generation, another culture.

The communion voluntary is a pastorale setting of the communion hymn, Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness. It is written by  Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, a man whose vocation was public service, but his avocation was music. Marpurg began his public career as a private secretary in Paris where he associated with such eminences as Voltaire and Rameau. In 1763 Marpurg became director of the lottery in Berlin, a position he maintained until his death. In his spare time he delved into music criticism, composition, theory, and history. He wrote the preface to the first edition of Bach's Art of Fugue (1751/52)wrote one of the first theories of Bach's fugal style. His writings on music theory far outpaced his composing of music. This prelude is an example of a small volume of organ music he wrote.

Music for January 10, 2016 + The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Vocal Music

• When Jesus Came to Jordan – Southern Folk Hymn

Instrumental Music

• Christ, Our Lord, to Jordan Came, BWV 684 and 685 – J. S. Bach
• Fugue in G (The ‘Gigue’ Fugue)  BWV 577 – J. S. Bach

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

• Hymn 76 - On Jordan’s banks the Baptist’s, cry (Winchester New)
• Hymn R157 - We believe in God Almighty (Divinum Mysterium)
• Hymn 297 - Descend, O Spirit, purging flame (Erhalt uns, Herr)
• Hymn - Shall We Gather at the River (Hanson Place)
• Hymn 135 - Songs of Thankfulness and Praise (Salzburg)

What?" you ask. "Didn't we just hear about Jesus' baptism in Advent?"

Technically, no. We heard Luke 3:7-18 in church on Advent III, which tells of John's message and prophecy of Christ's baptism, but the story ended there, with verse 18. Today we continue that story with Jesus' actual baptism, and the voice from heaven saying “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

So THAT'S the reason you've recently sung some of the same hymns and heard the same anthem as you will this week. We remember Christ's baptism, and in doing so, remember our own, when God claims us as his own, his beloved.

The River Jordan figures prominently in today's hymns, anthem, and organ music. The choir will sing the hymn When Jesus Came to Jordan to be Baptized by John, by Fred Pratt Green, the prolific British Methodist pastor and hymn writer. The Rev. Mr. Green wrote this text to help explain the "why" of Jesus' baptism. It has been paired with a tune from the American songbook Southern Harmony of 1854. We will be singing a simple, austere version of this hymn-tune with bells and an ostinato (a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm) sung by the men of the choir.

Baptism of Christ by Lambert Sustris (1515-1584)

The opening and communion voluntaries are two distinctly different treatments of the same Lutheran Chorale by Johann Sebastian Bach.  In the early 1730s, Bach began publishing volumes of music for Keyboard called Clavierübung, which is German for "Keyboard Practice." In 1739 the third volume came out which consisted mainly of hymns for the Catechism (a summary of the principles of Christian religion used for the instruction of Christians). Unlike the other Clavierübung volumes I and II, this include some works for organ (Pedaliter) as well as keyboard (Manualiter). The opening prelude is Bach's first setting of the tune (which can be found in our hymnal at hymn 139) for two keyboards and pedal. In the bass there is an incessant flow of sixteenth notes which depicts the running waters of the Jordan River. In the right hand, there are two lines of music which rise and fall, intertwining with each other. Hermann Keller suggests that this represents Christ and John the Baptist in the baptismal act. 

The other chorale prelude, played at the beginning of communion, is in a slightly higher key and in 3/4 time rather than 4/4 time. This little fugue uses only the first eight notes of the chorale as the subject, but inverts that theme for the counter-subject. Again Hermann Keller suggests that the three entries of the subject and the three inversions, represent the three immersions at baptism.

Hymn 76 - On Jordan’s banks the Baptist’s, cry (Winchester New) - Yes, we sang this hymn in December, but it so perfectly fits this Gospel reading that we are singing it again. The tune, Winchester New, was referred to by one of my musician friends this week as "death by quarter notes."  Unfair! I think it is a stately tune that fits the words quite well, and fully half the editors of hymnals that included this text agree with me as they use this tune for these words.

Music for the Sundays after Christmas

December 27, 2015 + The First Sunday after Christmas

Instrumental Music

• The First Noel – David Huntsinger 
• Joy to the World (based on Antioch by Handel).
• Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella (French Carol).

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

• Hymn 107    Good Christian friends, rejoice (In dulci Jubilo)
• Hymn 96      Angels we have heard on high (Gloria)
• Hymn 82      Of the Father’s love begotten (Divinum Mysterium)
• Hymn 497    How bright appears the Morning Star (Wie schon leuchtet)
• Hymn 99      Go, tell it on the Mountain (Go Tell It On the Mountain)

January 3, 2016 + The Second Sunday after Christmas BAPTISM

Vocal Music

• Unto Us a Boy Is Born – arr. David Willcocks

Instrumental Music

• How Brightly Shines the Morning Star -  Johann Christoph Bach
• Jesu, dulcis memoria – Charles Callahan
• Gigue on “In Dulci Jubilo” – Gordon Young

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

• Hymn 109    The first Nowell the angel did say (The First Nowell)
• Hymn 295    Sing praise to our creator (Christus, der ist mein Leben)
• Hymn 119    As with gladness men of old (Dix)
• Hymn 324    Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Picardy)
• Hymn 124    What star is this, with beam so bright (Puer nobis)