Archive: Pentecost 19 through Christmastide, 2010

January 2, 2011 + The 2nd Sunday after Christmas

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: What star is this with beams so bright Healey Willan

Opening Hymn 124 What star is this with beams so bright Puer nobis

Gloria S280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 480 When Jesus left his father's throne Kingsfold

Offertory anthem: The three kings Peter Cornelius, arr. Ivor Atkins

Sanctus S129 Powell

Agnus Dei S163 Powell

Communion anthem: Love came down at Christmas Leo Sowerby

Communion Hymn 336 Come with us, O blessed Jesus Werde munter

Closing Hymn 109 The first Nowell The First Nowell

Organ: The wise men Olivier Messiaen

Music Note: The Epiphany hymn "How bright appears the morning star" (No. 497) is sung as an accompaniment to the soloist in the offertory anthem. Another hymn-tune of Lutheran origin is Werde munter, known in a more florid version with a famous accompaniment as Bach's "Jesu, joy of man's desiring." Olivier Messiaen's unique musical voice was one of the most revolutionary in the twentieth century. Another from a set of nine meditations on the birth of Christ (1935), today's postlude depicts the procession of the magi beneath the guiding star; the stars are heard as brief points of light against soft shimmering chords in the background, while the journey of the kings on camels over uneven terrain is suggested by the unusual undulating rhythm of the melody. As with the prelude "The shepherds" last Sunday, the effect of this music can certainly be considered more atmospheric than melodic, more theological-mathematical than "beautiful" in ordinary terms, but as with an Impressionist painting, the effect of the whole can be miraculous. From notes by Messiaen's student Jon Gillock: "The men are tired, they are half-asleep on their camels, maybe even asleep some of the time - traveling at night so they can see the star. The motion of being on the camel is a mesmerizing movement, one that could put you to sleep, one that could make you feel as if you were in a dream, going on for days - a state of timelessness. It is the energy from the light of the star that seems to draw the caravan forward throughout the piece. Two times the music slows - the first time, perhaps, it is because the wise men have gone to sleep, and the camels (not being urged onward) have decided to take a rest, which in turn wakes the wise men and off they go again. After the second time, however, there is a change of tempo and registration: the wise men have now reached their destination; they are kneeling at the manger, and the music communicates the awe and reverence of being in the presence of God."

December 26, 2010 + The First Sunday after Christmas Day

Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: The shepherds Olivier Messiaen

Solo: O holy night Adolphe Adam Mrs. Nikita Wells, soloist

Opening Hymn 82 Of the Father's love begotten Divinum mysterium

Gloria S202 Healey Willan

Sequence Hymn 92 On this day, earth shall ring Personent hodie

Offertory anthem: It came upon the midnight clear arr. Barry Rose

Sanctus S114 Willan

Agnus Dei S158 Willan

Communion anthem: The infant King Basque Noël, arr. David Willcocks

Communion Hymn 104 A stable lamp is lighted Andújar

Closing Hymn 107 Good Christian friends, rejoice In dulci jubilo

Organ: Good Christian friends, rejoice, S. 729 Johann Sebastian Bach

Music note: Today we welcome Mrs. Nikita Wells, one of the Bahamas' leading sopranos and a colleague of parishioner Cleveland Williams. Olivier Messiaen's unique musical voice was one of the most revolutionary in the twentieth century. From a set of nine meditations on the birth of Christ (1935), today's prelude depicts colorfully the shepherds, initially placed in a starry landscape (serene and mysterious, they have just found the babe lying in the manger); then "having seen the child, returning, glorifying and praising God." The shepherds can be heard warming up their pipes, then playing a merry tune. As Messiaen's pupil Jon Gillock observes: "A simple, naive melody comes forth in the style of an organ Noël popular during the French classical period (such as those of Daquin), always with variations. First we hear the simple melody...followed by its echo, taken by another instrument; and then, the melody ornamented, again repeated in echo. Perhaps two of the shepherds are taking turns playing while the others listen in contemplation." This is done in the context of Messiaen's distinctive, exotic harmonic language and rhythms. The communion carol and the hymn which follows it are matched in mood and theology; each looks past the moment of Christ's birth to the later events in his life and ultimate meaning for humankind. Richard Wilbur's text "A stable lamp is lighted" was written for a candlelight service held in the Memorial Chapel of Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT in 1958. On that occasion the text was prefaced with a quotation from the Gospel of Luke 19:40: "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." The constant unifying symbol throughout the hymn is the word "stone," referring in successive stanzas to the stable in which Christ was born; the road on which he rode on Palm Sunday; the coldness of heart of those who by their sin reject their Lord; and, finally, the earth joining the stars in the union of all creation in songs of praise. (Hymn note by Raymond Glover.)

December 25, 2010 + Christmas Day

Holy Eucharist Rite I at 11:00 a.m. with congregational Carols

Richard Knapp, organ and Lucelia E. Fryer, flute

Organ: Noël Etranger; Noël sur les Flûtes Louis-Claude Daquin

Opening Hymn 93 Angels from the realms of glory Regent Square

Offertory Hymn 78 O Little town of Bethlehem Forest Green

Music during Communion: What child is this? Ralph Vaughan Williams

Closing Hymn 98 Unto us a boy is born! Puer nobis nascitur

Organ: Noël Suisse Louis-Claude Daquin

December 24, 2010 + Christmas Eve

Service Schedule:

4:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs

10:30 p.m. Choral Prelude (Adult Choir) with String Quartet

11:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist sung by the Adult Choir

Music listing:

Choral Prelude at 3:50 p.m.

O holy night Adolphe Adam, arr. John E. West, Peter S. Berton

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming arr. Dale Adelmann

Away in a manger arr. David Hill

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 4:00 p.m.

Processional Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles, arr. David Willcocks

Sequence Hymn 79 O little town of Bethlehem St. Louis, arr. Peter S. Berton

Offertory anthem: Ding dong! Merrily on high arr. Mack Wilberg

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Agnus Dei S 164 Schubert

Communion anthem: Candlelight Carol John Rutter

Communion Hymn 112 In the bleak mid-winter Cranham, arr. Jane Penfield

Postcommunion anthem: Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light

(Choral from the Christmas Oratorio) Johann Sebastian Bach

Postcommunion Hymn 111 Silent night Stille nacht, arr. Gerre Hancock

Closing Hymn 87 Hark the hearld angels sing Mendelssohn, arr. David Willcocks

Final on Puer natus est Charles-Marie Widor

Choral Prelude at 10:30 p.m. with String Quartet

Hymn 102 Once in royal David's city Irby, arr. Paul Halley

Ding dong! Merrily on high arr. Mack Wilberg

No small wonder Paul Edwards

Gloria (Coronation Mass in C, K. 317) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Ave Maria Franz Biebl

Pastoral Symphony from Messiah George Frideric Handel

O holy night Adolphe Adam, arr. John E. West, Peter S. Berton

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 11:00 p.m.

Processional Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles, arr. David Willcocks

Sequence Hymn 79 O little town of Bethlehem St. Louis, arr. Peter S. Berton

Offertory anthem: Sussex Carol arr. David Willcocks

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Agnus Dei S 164 Schubert

Communion anthem: Candlelight Carol John Rutter

Communion Hymn 112 In the bleak mid-winter Cranham, arr. Jane Penfield

Postcommunion anthem: Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light

(Choral from the Christmas Oratorio) Johann Sebastian Bach

Postcommunion Hymn 111 Silent night Stille nacht, arr. Gerre Hancock

Closing Hymn 87 Hark the hearld angels sing Mendelssohn, arr. David Willcocks

Final on Puer natus est Charles-Marie Widor

Music note: The postlude is from Widor's Symphonie Gothique, based on a Christmas plainsong hymn. The final movement (Toccata) was played annually on Christmas Eve by the composer at the church of St. Sulpice in Paris where he was organist for a remarkable 64-year tenure (1870-1934). Unlike the famous toccata from Widor's Symphonie No. 5, which is loud throughout, this one gradually builds in excitement, and concludes softly, in a peaceful, almost plaintive mood which can be interpreted as a meditation on the full meaning of Christmas and the life of Christ.

December 19, 2010 + The Fourth Sunday of Advent

The Church School Christmas Pageant at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs

Prelude: Sung by the Choirs

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming Michael Praetorius

Ding dong! Merrily on high arr. Charles Wood

A merry Christmas arr. Arthur Warrell

Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light Johann Sebastian Bach

Opening Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles

With traditional pageant carols and the following Anthems:

Ding dong! merrily on high arr. Mack Wilberg

Gloria (Coronation Mass in C) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The friendly beasts Traditional French Carol

Torches John Joubert

In the bleak midwinter Gustav Holst

Away in a manger arr. David Hill

Offertory anthem: Angelus ad virginem arr. Jefferson McConnaughey

Closing Hymn 87 Hark, the herald angels sing Mendelssohn

Organ: Bring a torch, Jeannette, Isabella Keith Chapman

December 12, 2010 + The Third Sunday of Advent

Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir (first anthem by Youth Choir)

Organ: Magnificats I, V Marcel Dupré

Opening Hymn 268 Ye who claim the faith of Jesus Julion

Canticle 4 (Benedictus Dominus Deus) Simplified Anglican Chant

Jerome Webster Meachem

Youth choir anthem: Watchmen, tell us of the night Bruce Saylor

Sequence Hymn 76 On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry Winchester New

Offertory anthem: Magnificat in E Herbert Murrill

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Agnus Dei S158 Schubert

Communion anthem: A Hymn to the Virgin Benjamin Britten

Communion Hymn 67 Comfort, comfort ye my people Psalm 42

Closing Hymn 438 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord Woodlands

Organ: My soul doth magnify the Lord, S. 648 Johann Sebastian Bach

Music Note: The Magnificat (Song of Mary) is heard in today's organ music and in the descant to the first hymn, where it is sung in Latin. Latin settings of the Magnificat are naturally quite common, the text from the Gospel of Luke being nearly two thousand years old, and Latin being the official language of the Church in the West for much of that time. In France in the early part of the last century, it was common for the Magnificat to be sung antiphonally, with a phrase or two sung by a choir at the front of a church, answered by an organ improvisation from the rear gallery. This is the circumstance of Marcel Dupré's organ setting which divides the text into six versets. These were improvised at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1919, and at the urging of an English enthusiast (a director of the Rolls Royce Company), Dupré wrote them down for publication. Herbert Murrill's often-performed English setting pays subtle homage to the antiphonal heritage of the text, in the organ's playful dialogue with the choir. The beginning of the Gloria, where the choir enters strongly in response to a very soft organ interlude, is quite unusual. A Hymn to the Virgin is Benjamin Britten's earliest surviving piece of church music, written in 1930 while he was stuck in the infirmary at his school. He did not have access to music writing paper, so drew music staves on plain paper. A second choir answers the first, in Latin. This pattern of echoes continues throughout the work and the devotional aspect is heightened by locating the second choir at some distance from the first, as if reflecting Mary's, God's, or our own thoughts from afar.

December 5, 2010 + The Second Sunday of Advent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs

Organ: Savior of the Nations, come, S. 659 Johann Sebastian Bach

Opening Hymn 616 Hail to the Lord's Anointed Es flog ein kleins Waldvogelein

Canticle 4 (Benedictus Dominus Deus) Simplified Anglican Chant

Jerome Webster Meachem

Sequence Hymn 65 Prepare the way, O Zion Bereden vag for Herran

Offertory anthem: Advent Matin Responsory Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Agnus Dei S164 Franz Schubert
Communion anthem: Lo, how a rose e'er blooming arr. Dale Adelmann

Communion Hymn 597 O day of peace that dimly shines Jerusalem

Closing Hymn 59 Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding Merton
Organ: The World awaiting the Savior Marcel Dupré

Music Note: The communion hymn was created for the Hymnal 1982 out of urgings from the hymnal Commission to include hymns on world peace, and also to include the tune Jerusalemby the British composer and teacher Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. To satisfy these requests, the Commission asked Carl P. Daw, Jr. to write a text on peace that would fit the Parry tune. The tune was written in 1916 for William Blake's poem "Jerusalem," which contains almost fanatical zeal for all things English, and the setting quickly became a second 'national anthem', still sung on many great public occasions in England. In a musical context specifically embracing while also redirecting a nationalist association, the new text (a paraphrase of a favorite Advent passage, Isaiah 11:6-9) takes on a meaning perhaps broader than the intention of the creators of any of its individual parts. (Imagine a rendition of 'Joy to the World' set to the music of 'O beautiful for spacious skies.') The postlude began its existence as one of the French organist's legendary improvisations, at the Wanamaker store in Philadelphia on December 8, 1921. It vividly protrays a sense of the tumult and instability of the modern world awaiting its Savior, with irregular rhythms and dissonances. After a pause in the turmoil, an oboe introduces the Gregorian chant "Jesu, redemptor omnium" (Jesus, redeemer of all). This simple tune becomes clouded by the returning struggle, before it triumphs at last in a symbolic blaze of glory. (Hymn note adapted from an essay by Carl P. Daw, Jr. and Alec Wyton.)

November 28, 2010 + The First Sunday of Advent

Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Savior of the Nations, come, S. 599 Johann Sebastian Bach

Opening Hymn 73 The King shall come when morning dawns St. Stephen

Canticle 4 (Benedictus Dominus Deus) Simplified Anglican Chant

Jerome Webster Meachem

Sequence Hymn 61 "Sleepers, wake!" A voice astounds us Wachet auf

Offertory anthem: We wait for thy loving kindness, O God William McKie

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Agnus Dei S158 Schubert

Communion anthem: E'en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come Paul Manz

Communion Hymn 324 Let all mortal flesh keep silence Picardy

Closing Hymn 57 Lo! he comes, with clouds descending Helmsley

Organ: Sleepers, wake! S. 645 Bach

Music Note: The offertory anthem was composed for the 1947 wedding of H.R.H. The Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, by the then organist of Westminster Abbey. It opens with a simple chant-like tenor solo echoed by the choir, when an interruption by the organ leads to a more dramatic section and a glimpse of the full revelation of the Advent season ahead of us, before ending as it began in quiet supplication. Prolific Lutheran composer Paul Manz wrote the communion anthem in 1954. The appeal of the composition, with modal elements lending a haunting, medieval quality to certain passages, has been enormous; it has sold over a million copies around the world and has been recorded hundreds of times. The origin of the text, assembled from Revelation 22 by the composer's wife (a frequent collaborator), was in response to the near death of their three year old son from a rare form of pneumonia. Their son was spared and is now a Lutheran bishop in Minnesota. The Advent hymn-tune Helmsley was first printed with this text in London in 1765, and first published in America in 1799. A earlier version of the tune exists in an almost flippant, secular style. It was not widely used in Anglican/Episcopal circles until Ralph Vaughan Williams selected it for inclusion in The English Hymnal of 1906. He transformed it into a stately Edwardian melody by his harmonies (faithfully transcribed in our hymnal), revealing the tune's potential as a solemn processional. (Hymn note adapted from an essay by Nicholas Temperley and Geoffrey Wainwright.)

November 21, 2010 + The Last Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs

Organ: Prelude on Union Seminary Charles Callahan

Opening Hymn 494 Crown him with many crowns Diademata

Gloria S278 William Mathias

Canticle 16 (The Song of Zechariah) Simplified Anglican Chant

Jerome Webster Meachem

Sequence Hymn 483 The head that once was crowned with thorns St. Magnus

Offertory anthem: Te Deum, laudamus in B-flat C. Villiers Stanford

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx

Agnus Dei S166 Gerald Near

Communion anthem: Draw us in the Spirit's tether Harold W. Friedell

Communion Hymn 309 O food to pilgrims given O Welt, ich muss dich lassen

Closing Hymn 477 All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine Engelberg

Organ: Prelude on Engelberg Craig Phillips

Music Note: Knighted in 1902, Dublin-born Charles Villiers Stanford had a long and distinguished career in Cambridge and London as a professor, composer and conductor. In addition to his legacy of ever-popular church compositions, and lesser-known orchestral and chamber music, songs and incidental music, he is known for his great influence as a teacher of the next generation of English composers, notably Vaughan Williams, Ireland, Holst and Howells. His stirring music is superbly wedded to the text of the Te Deum, one of the most ancient hymns of praise. Authorship of the Te Deum is traditionally ascribed to Saints Ambrose and Augustine, on the occasion of the latter's baptism by the former in AD 387. The hymn-tune 'Union Seminary', named after the institution in New York City, was written by Harold W. Friedell when he was organist of Calvary Church in New York and then set as an anthem after he became organist of St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue in 1946. The prelude is a treatment of the same tune by the prolific American composer, Charles Callahan, in a lush romantic style. Los Angeles composer Craig Phillips sets Stanford's hymn-tune 'Engelberg' in a fanfare style befitting today's observance of 'Christ the King' Sunday, the last before Advent each year. The tune appears in the middle of the composition, punctuated by a soft dance on the organ pedals, while the outer sections have suggested to some listeners the triumphant music of the film 'Star Wars.'

November 14, 2010 + The 25th Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir,

with first anthem sung by the Youth Choir

Organ: Requiescat in Pace Leo Sowerby

Opening Hymn 7 Christ, whose glory fills the skies Ratisbon

Gloria S202 Healey Willan

Anthem: A grateful heart Mary Plumstead

Sequence Hymn 413 New songs of celebration render Rendez à Dieu

Offertory anthem: Greater love hath no man John Ireland

Sanctus S114 Willan

Agnus Dei S158 Willan

Communion anthem: Holy is the true light William H. Harris

Communion Hymn 678 Surely it is God who saves me College of Preachers

Closing Hymn 718 God of our Fathers, whose almighty hand National Hymn

Organ: Marche Héroïque A. Herbert Brewer

Music Note: Of his Requiscat in Pace, Leo Sowerby wrote: "It was written as a tribute to those who went 'over there' in 1917-1918, and didn't return. I feel that the music tells its own story of the eventual triumph of the spirit over the unimportance of bodily or material things, but don't quote me...I wouldn't want to be taken for a Christian Scientist!" John Ireland excelled particularly at writing music for the piano and the solo voice; his few pieces of church music date mostly from the turn of the last century, when both he and Ralph Vaughan Williams were students at London's Royal Academy of Music. "Greater love" resourcefully draws on several texts to illuminate our inheritance as the Redeemed of God, set to music of a fitting variety of characters. Written in 1912, the anthem predates specific reference to veterans, referring to the more general stewardship of our lives. Sir Arthur Herbert Brewer spent his entire life in Gloucester, as a Cathedral Chorister, as organist at two of its churches, and finally as organist of the Cathedral for 32 years. His popular "Heroic March," similar in construction to Elgar's five 'Pomp and Circumstance' marches, has two contrasting themes, the second of which (the 'Big Tune') is introduced softly and returns with great dignity.

November 7, 2010 + All Saints' Sunday

The instrumental music this morning is offered to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving for the life of Chris Dziura, with gifts made in his memory by Renbrook School to the Ralph Valentine Music Fund of St. John's Church.

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs

Harp, Flute and Cello Prelude:

Three Part Invention in g minor Johann Sebastian Bach

Song Without Words, Op. 19 No. 1 Felix Mendelssohn

Heavenly Radiance, "Angel Chorus" (from Faust) Charles Gounod

Opening Hymn 293 I sing a song of the saints of God Grand Isle

Gloria S278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 623 O what their joy and their glory must be O quanta qualia

Offertory anthem: I heard a voice (from Requiem) John Rutter

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx

Agnus Dei S166 Gerald Near

Communion anthem: O nata lux (from Requiem) Mack Wilberg

Communion Hymn 304 I come with joy to meet my Lord Land of Rest

Closing Hymn 287 For all the saints Sine Nomine

Harp, Flute and Cello Postlude: Rondo from 'Hamburger' Sonata in G Major

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Music Note: Each of the two excerpts from Requiems heard this morning creates a sense of timeless, eternal peace through repeated (ostinato) musical patterns. The final section of Rutter's 1985 work begins with a heartbeat-like bass note (played by drums in the full orchestral version), and the repeated triplets at the introduction of the Latin text create a shimmering effect against the sustained stillness of the voices. Mack Wilberg, current conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, also relies on harmony as well as texture to create a representation of celestial dwelling places, with a more universal text not from the Requiem Mass but incorporated into his vision of it (in the manner of Brahms's Requiem and others which are personal statements about death drawing on scriptural and other sources). In this case, the voices repeat one rhythm while the orchestra repeats another, in the context of a weightless, suspended harmonic language which never fully resolves. Sine Nomine (literally, 'without a name') may be a reference to the many saints whose names are known only to God. The tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams interestingly combines within it two melodic fragments that can be recognized as the composer's fingerprints found in many of his works, the opening four notes and the first "alleluia". The "alleluias" also show his way of introducing variety in the rhythm of his tunes and thus avoiding monotony, particularly in a hymn of eight stanzas. (Hymn note by W. Thomas Jones/Alan Luff)

October 31, 2010 + The 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Vision of the Eternal Church Olivier Messiaen

Opening Hymn 448 O love, how deep, how broad, how high Deus tuorum militum

Gloria S278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 382 King of glory, King of peace General Seminary

Offertory anthem: I will lift up mine eyes Leo Sowerby

Sanctus S128 Mathias

Agnus Dei S166 Gerald Near

Communion anthem: Soul of my Savior Richard Shephard

Communion Hymn 312 Strengthen for service, Lord Malabar

Closing Hymn 470 There's a wideness in God's mercy Beecher

Organ: Toccata on 'Beecher' Peter Stoltzfus Berton

Music Note: Olivier Messiaen’s early iconoclasm and prophetic brilliance are heard in today’s prelude dating from 1932, when the Parisian composer was 24 years old. Aside from the Halloween association, the music is disturbing, thrilling, or both; strongly varied reactions to this piece and its perceived meaning are the subject of a 2006 documentary film (www.apparitionfilm.com). The ten-minute meditation contrasts alarming dissonances and pure consonances, growing gradually to the full power of the organ and then receding into the distance. It suggests the great struggles and sacrifices which are part of the history of the Christian Church, along with its eternal strength. The postlude was written in 2000 at Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn Heights, New York, where the composer was then organist and where some 150 years earlier, Plymouth’s organist John Zundel composed the tune of today’s closing hymn, and named it in honor of The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, the church’s founding minister. Beyond his galvanizing abolitionist politics, Beecher is remembered for advancing the cause of congregational singing. His new hymnal The Plymouth Collection (1855) was the first to print music and words on the same page. His search for a more meaningful and immediate style of worship, through music, has had a lasting impact. Before The Plymouth Collection, music during worship was the domain of organists, choirmasters and choirs. When congregations did join together in song, the choirmaster would ‘feed’ the hymn to worshippers in a technique known as ‘lining out.’ A line would be sung, then echoed in response, line by line, through each verse of every hymn. Hymnals existed, but they contained no music and only a few texts, mostly psalms and hymns introduced a century earlier by Isaac Watts. (History from www.plymouthchurch.org)

October 24, 2010 + The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist and Baptism Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs

Organ: Let thy blood in mercy poured Leo Sowerby

Opening Hymn 637 How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord Lyons

Sequence Hymn 517 How lovely is thy dwelling place Brother James' Air

Baptism Hymn 516 Come down, O love divine Down Ampney

Offertory anthem: Jubilate Deo William Walton

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx

Agnus Dei S166 Gerald Near

Communion anthem: Be known to us, Lord Jesus Peter Stoltzfus Berton

Communion Hymn 313 Let thy blood in mercy poured Jesu, meine Zuversicht

Closing Hymn 555 Lead on, O King eternal Lancashire

Organ: Final from Symphony No. 1 Vierne

Music Note: British composer William Walton wrote in many styles, including film scores and opera. His suitably joyous setting of Psalm 100 is a late work, written for events celebrating his seventieth birthday in 1972. After a rhythmically intense opening for two four-part choirs, it contrasts two alternating trios (expressing the ‘quiet’ side of joy) with simpler choral passages supported by an ostinato organ part. The communion anthem was written in 1997 for a conference of church musicians in Denver, Colorado. Its refrain is intended for congregational singing and may one day be introduced as a fraction anthem at St. John's. Louis Vierne was the great blind organist of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from 1900 until 1937. The first of his six organ symphonies was written in the year of his appointment to the Cathedral and its success launched his career as a composer. The simple and exuberant theme of the Final is introduced in the pedals and later is taken up by the hands, developed through many keys with Vierne's characteristic harmonies and canonic inventiveness. HALLOWEEN PRELUDE WARNING! Please be advised: those of questionable stomach may wish to skip the Olivier Messiaen prelude next Sunday, a ten minute noisy affair so controversial it is the subject of a 2006 documentary (www.apparitionfilm.com). It is genuinely loud and creepy (though ends softly); anyone wearing a hearing aid is advised to lower the volume. Be in church by 10:20 to experience the complete effect the composer intended…if you dare!

October 17, 2010 + The 21st Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Fantaisia in f minor/Major, K. 594 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Opening Hymn 366 Holy God, we praise thy name Grosser Gott

Gloria S278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 709 O God of Bethel, by whose hand Dundee

Offertory anthem: The Last Words of David Randall Thompson

Sanctus S128 Mathias

Agnus Dei S166 Gerald Near

Communion anthem: Set me as a seal René Clausen

Communion Hymn 314 Godhead here in hiding Adoro devote

Closing Hymn 337 And now, O Father, mindful of the love Unde et memores

Organ: Sonata No. 1 in E-flat Major, K. 61 Mozart

Music Note: Though it is well documented that Mozart impressed people throughout Europe with his skill in playing the organ, he never wrote a thing for manual performance on the instrument. However, several wealthy patrons commissioned automated clockwork organs of various sizes and, consequently, commissioned significant composers of the day to write music for them. Thus, Mozart composed two extended Fantaisies which took full advantage of the capabilities of an organ not limited by what ten fingers and two feet could handle. Given their origins, these pieces are unusually demanding, and yet despite “too many notes” (a criticism often leveled by those jealous of his music), Mozart’s elegant simplicity shines through, nearly as clearly as it does in the trio texture of today’s postlude. The dramatic offertory anthem, by the distinguished Harvard professor and composer Randall Thompson, was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1949. Its text is an oracle from the psalmist David, and the context of its message is clarified by the Revised Standard translation of 2 Samuel 23:2-4:

The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, his word is on my tongue.

The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me:

“When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God,

he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth upon a

cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.”

René Clausen, another beloved American composer, teaches music at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.

October 10, 2010 + The 20th Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Prelude on 'Rhosymedre' Ralph Vaughan Williams

Opening Hymn 410 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven Lauda anima

Gloria S202 Healey Willan

Sequence Hymn 411 O bless the Lord, my soul St. Thomas

Offertory anthem: O how amiable Vaughan Williams

Sanctus S114 Willan

Agnus Dei S158 Willan

Communion anthem: O taste and see Vaughan Williams

Closing Hymn 493 O for a thousand tongues to sing Azmon

Organ: Tu es petra Henri Mulet

Music Note: The best-known organ work of the rather obscure French composer Henri Mulet is from a set of “Byzantine sketches” inspired by the church of Sacré-Coeur in Paris. Written in 1918, this brilliant toccata pays tribute to the refuge which the famous hilltop church provided during the shelling of the city during the First World War. It bears an inscription (Matthew 16:18) of courage and strength in the face of adversity: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”