Service Music Listing - Future Services
May 20, 2012 + The Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Sunday after the Ascension
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir
Prelude: Prayer of Christ Ascending Olivier Messiaen
Opening Hymn 214 Hail the day that sees him rise Llanfair
Pascha nostrum: Hymn 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle
Sequence Hymn 483 The head that once was crowned with thorns St. Magnus
Offertory anthem: O clap your hands Ralph Vaughan Williams
Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx
Fraction anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard
Communion anthem: The Lord ascendeth up on high Michael Praetorius
Communion Hymn 328 Draw nigh and take the body of the Lord Song 46
Closing Hymn 494 Crown him with many crowns Diademata
Organ: Toccata on 'Grosser Gott' Grayston Ives
Music Note: Messiaen's quietly ecstatic prayer of 'Christ ascending towards his Father' is from his 1932 Ascension Suite, described by the composer as "Four meditations for orchestra." He arranged it for organ the next year, and it is still one of his most frequently performed pieces. Over the course of some nine minutes the music takes on a radiant glow, using gradually ascending notes and progressively ascending sections, as part of a typically weightless, timeless experience created by very long note values and unpredictable rhythms. † Dating from 1920, Vaughan Williams's arrangement of Psalm 47 was originally orchestrated for organ, brass and percussion, and can be heard in arrangements for organ alone and for full orchestra. The joyous mood of the text is capitalized upon in a setting of extroverted jubilation. The brass and organ parts work fanfare-like counterpoints around the vocal lines. After an anticipated climax on "Sing praises unto our King," the music reaches a moment of quiet introspection. Here the vocal lines take on an almost speech-like quality that seems to pay homage to the tradition of Anglican chant. The moment, however, is quickly interrupted by the brass, and the energy of the music returns to the same joyous mood as the opening. This is a piece clearly designed to fill a space with a grand noise in praise of God. (Stephen Kingsbury) † The postlude was commissioned by the 2011 Sewanee Church Music Conference, Sewanee, Tennessee. It presents the tune of Hymn 366 in long notes in the pedal, undergirding a quickly repeated figuration above. (This is the essence of most organ toccatas which, translated from the Italian 'toccare', means 'to touch.')
Choral Evensong at 5:00 p.m. sung by the St. John's Youth Choir (with Tea at 4:00 p.m.)
Preces and Responses: John Abdenour
Phos Hilaron: Andrew Walker
Psalms 19 and 46 Anglican Chants by C. Hubert H. Parry and after Martin Luther
Evening Canticles: David Hogan “Washington”
Anthem: For the beauty of the earth - John Rutter
At the conclusion of Evensong: Organ Recital
Andy Kotylo, Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven
May 27, 2012 + The Day of Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir
Prelude: Variations on 'Veni Creator Spiritus' Maurice Duruflé
Opening Hymn 225 Hail thee festival day! Salva festa dies
Pascha nostrum: Hymn 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle
Sequence Hymn 516 Come down, O Love divine Down Ampney
Offertory anthem: Listen, sweet dove Grayston Ives
Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx
Fraction anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard
Communion anthem: Pilgrims' Hymn Stephen Paulus
Communion Hymn 504 Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire Veni Creator Spiritus
Closing Hymn 507 Praise the Spirit in creation Julion
Organ: Final on 'Veni Creator Spiritus' Maurice Duruflé
Music Note: Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter, is celebrated in many parts of Christendom as a major festival whose significance surpasses that of Christmas and equals that of Easter. From the time of the earliest recorded sacred melodies, music for Christmas, Easter and Pentecost has proliferated more uniformly and survived longer than any other music associated with Christian worship. Much as the Latin hymn "Adeste Fidelis" (O Come, all ye faithful) is associated with Christmas in many different traditions, the ninth-century "Veni Creator Spiritus" (today's communion hymn, and basis of the prelude and postlude) is the hymn most universally associated with Pentecost. Throughout Christian history, the descending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost has been portrayed in literature and art in one of two images: as a dove or in tongues of fire. The offertory anthem meditates on the image of the Holy Spirit as a dove, alongside a charming poetic image of the sun made jealous by the dazzling evangelism of the twelve apostles. The postlude, by contrast, evokes the image of the tongues of fire at its radiant conclusion.
June 3, 2012 + The First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday
Holy Eucharist and Baptism at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Prelude in E-flat Major, S. 552 Johann Sebastian Bach
Opening Hymn 366 Holy God, we praise thy Name Grosser Gott
Sequence Hymn 368 Holy Father, great Creator Regent Square
Baptism Hymn 296 We know that Crist is raised and dies no more Engelberg
Offertory anthem: Sanctus (from St. Cecilia Mass) Charles Gounod
Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx
Fraction anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard
Communion anthem: A welcome world Peter Stoltzfus Berton
Communion Hymn 367 Round the Lord in glory seated Rustington
Closing Hymn 362 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty! Nicea
Organ: Fugue in E-flat Major, S. 552 Johann Sebastian Bach
Music Note: Charles Gounod, because of his great popularity (especially from his operas) and his stylistic influence on the next generation of composers, was a towering figure in French music in the mid-nineteenth century. For two years he studied theology, but chose not to take holy orders; still, he was often referred to as "l'Abbé (Father) Gounod." The Sanctus sung at the offertory is from his Mass dedicated to Saint Cecilia (the patron saint of music), written in 1855. † The communion anthem, written in 2007 for the baptism of the composer's child, is like a lullaby to describe the calm and joy both on earth and in heaven, to welcome a newly baptized person into the church family. At the end of the music is a place to mention by name the person or people being baptized. † The genius of J. S. Bach manifested itself in many ways, including a fascination with numerology and symbolism. Bach's fugue associated with the hymn-tune "St. Anne" (O God, our help in ages past) is a testament to the Trinity, written in triple meter, with a key signature of three flats, and in three sections. The first section represents God the Father with the stately foundation stops of the organ; God the Son is depicted in the lighter second section; the exuberant conclusion evokes the power of the Holy Spirit.
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