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 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 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.