Archive: Pentecost 13 through Christmastide, 2011
Sunday, January 1, 2012 + The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir
Organ: Meditation on 'Picardy' Leo Sowerby
Opening Hymn 248 To the Name of our salvation Oriel
Gloria S278 William Mathias
Sequence Hymn 644 How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds St. Peter
Offertory anthem It came upon the midnight clear arr. Barry Rose
Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert
Fraction anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: O magnum mysterium Near
Closing Hymn 497 How bright appears the Morning Star Wie schon leuchtet
Organ: Infant Holy, infant lowly Keith Chapman
Sunday, December 25, 2011 + Christmas Day
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 11:00 a.m. with congregational Carols
Richard Knapp, organ, John Janeiro, baritone and Lucelia E. Fryer, flute
Organ: Noël Henri Mulet
What child is this? Ralph Vaughan Williams
Opening Hymn 93 Angels from the realms of glory Regent Square
Sequence Hymn 78 O Little town of Bethlehem Forest Green
Music at the Peace: In dulci jubilo Johann Michael Bach
Offertory Solo: Gesu Bambino Pietro Yon
Communion Solo: In the bleak mid-winter Harold Darke
Closing Hymn 98 Unto us a boy is born! Puer nobis nascitur
Organ: Noël Suisse Louis-Claude Daquin
Music Note: Noëls are French organ pieces for Christmas. The first is from Mulet'sByzantine Sketches, composed 1914-1919 and inspired by his visits to the church of Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre, Paris. The second is by Daquin, noted for his dazzling keyboard performance ability. He was appointed organist to the king in 1739 and Organiste Titulaire at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris in 1755. † Vaughan Williams based many works such as the music of "What child is this?" on old country tunes, in this case 'Greensleeves,' dating from the 16th century. † In dulci jubilo was written by J. S. Bach's father-in-law as a prelude to the familiar Christmas hymn "Good Christian friends, rejoice" (The Hymnal, No. 107). † Pietro Yon, an Italian by birth, was a brilliant teacher and became organist at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in New York City in 1926. His pupils included his godson Norman Dello Joio and Cole Porter. † Harold Darke was organist at St. Michael's, Cornhill, London from 1916 to 1966, leaving only briefly in 1941 to deputize for Boris Ord as organist and Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge during World War II. His setting of Christina Rossetti's poem "In the bleak mid-winter" was voted the greatest Christmas carol of all time in a poll of choral experts and choirmasters published in 2008. (Note by Richard Knapp.)
Saturday, December 24, 2011 + 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
What child is this? arr. Peter Stoltzfus Berton
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: Angelus ad virginem arr. Jefferson McConnaughey
Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert
Fraction anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
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
Sussex Carol arr. David Willcocks
Nativitie Peter Stoltzfus Berton
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: In the bleak mid-winter Harold Darke
Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert
Fraction anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
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 18, 2010 + The Fourth Sunday of Advent
The Church School Christmas Pageant at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs, with Thomas Hintz and Jeff Higgins, trumpets
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
Offertory anthem: What child is this? Greensleeves, arr. Peter Stoltzfus Berton
Closing Hymn 87 Hark, the herald angels sing Mendelssohn
Organ and trumpets: My spirit be joyful (Cantata 146) Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. E. Power Biggs
Music Note: The offertory anthem was composed for today's pageant (during the blizzard which immediately followed Christmas last year), and is dedicated to the choirs of St. John's Church. The English traditional melody 'Greensleeves' is mentioned twice in Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602). The tune was already at least a generation old when Shakespeare referred to it, having first been licensed in 1580 as "A new Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves." According to hymn scholars Morgan Simmons and Alan Luff, it must have been popular or became so very quickly because a number of other licenses were issued for it within a short time. Within twelve days, in fact, it is recorded as being turned to religious use as "Green Sleves moralised to the Scripture, declaring the manifold benefites and blessing of God bestowed on sinful man." From its origins as a secular song (a typical lover's lament) it was thus directed on its journey toward Christmas. It appeared as the tune for a New Year carol in 1642, and finally in 1865 was paired with a poem written for it by William Chatterton Dix, inspired by the Gospel for the Day of Epiphany (Matthew 2:1-12). (Dix was manager of a marine insurance company in Bristol, England, who found time to write many original hymns.) Beginning with the version which appeared in the Episcopal Hymnal 1940, Dix's text was altered to make a 'refrain' common to all three stanzas, using the end of the first stanza. In the original poem, the second stanza continued "Nail, spear shall pierce him through, The Cross be borne for me, for you; Hail! hail the Word Made Flesh, The Babe, the Son of Mary!" and the third continued "Raise, raise the song on high! The Virgin sings her lullaby. Joy! joy! for Christ is born, The Babe, the Son of Mary." While hymnal editors may well have had young Christmas pageant singers in mind when doing away with the vivid imagery of the crucifixion, the joy mentioned in the original third stanza is less complete without it, not to mention that Mary herself is deprived of a solo! In this new arrangement, one detail of the melody is altered to highlight the chromatic, exotic character of the original: in the original tune, the 'verse' consists of two phrases containing notes drawn from a minor scale and the 'refrain' has two phrases with notes drawn from the associated Major scale; in the arrangement, this distinction is blurred with each section containing one phrase from each scale. The motive of the accompaniment (which becomes a descant) is also a nod to exoticism, of the 1940s Hollywood sort.
December 11, 2011 + The Third Sunday of Advent
Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Organ: Prelude on 'Aberystwyth' Claude Means
Opening Hymn 640 Watchman, tell us of the night Aberystwyth
Kyrie S96 Franz Schubert
Anthem (Youth Choir): Watchman, tell us of the night Bruce Saylor
Sequence Hymn 76 On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry Winchester New
Offertory anthem: This is the record of John Orlando Gibbons
Sanctus S130 Schubert
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: Rejoice in the Lord alway Henry Purcell
Communion Hymn 597 O day of peace that dimly shines Jerusalem
Closing Hymn 539 O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling Tidings
Organ: Magnificat V Marcel Dupre
Music Note: Today's two anthems are examples of 'verse anthems' which developed and were very popular during the early 17th to the middle of the 18th centuries in England. In a verse anthem the music alternates between contrasting sections for a solo voice or voices (called the 'verse') and the full choir. The organ provided accompaniment in liturgical settings, but viols took the accompaniment outside of the church. Verse anthems were a major part of the English Reformation due to the use of English rather than Latin, and because the use of soloists allowed the text to be expressed more clearly as decreed by the monarchy. 'This is the record of John' was written by Gibbons for a visit of the Archbishop to his alma mater, St. John's College, Oxford. Purcell's 'Rejoice in the Lord alway' (using the early English spelling) is known as 'The Bell Anthem' because of its introduction based on a recurring descending scale, such as is heard from change-ringing of eight bells in bell towers. † 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 'Jerusalem' by 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.')(Hymn note adapted from an essay by Carl P. Daw, Jr. and Alec Wyton.) † Unlike last week's postlude, this week's is Dupré in a contemplative mood throughout, based on the final section of text of the Magnificat: 'He remembering his mercy, hath holpen his servant Israel; as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.' The imminent fulfillment of ancient prophecy is depicted in the long-held chords and the pedals slowly descending as if from heaven to earth; the gentle dissonances resolve into meditative peace. This music is from a set of versets (organ responses to choir passages based on liturgical texts) originally improvised at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1919, and written down at the behest of Dupre's admirer from across the channel Claude Johnson (president of the Rolls Royce automobile company).
December 4, 2011 + The Second Sunday of Advent
Service of Advent Lessons and Carols at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Organ: Savior of the Nations, come, S. 659 Johann Sebastian Bach
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming Johannes Brahms
Advent Matin Responsory Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Hymn 60 Creator of the stars of night Conditor alme siderum
Carols: There is no rose Gerald Near
A tender shoot Otto Goldschmidt
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming arr. Dale Adelmann
Of the father's heart begotten arr. David Willcocks (sung by choir and congregation)
Angelus ad virginem arr. Jefferson McConnaughey
Offertory anthem: And I saw a new heaven Edgar Bainton
Closing Hymn 59 Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding Merton
Organ: The World awaiting the Savior Marcel Dupré
Music Note: As the secular season threatens to overshadow the significance of Christmas, the spiritual preparation immediately preceding Christmas is frequently ignored or lost. Advent is a time of contemplative expectation, leading to a major event in the church year, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. This service is offered as part of our spiritual preparation. It is based upon a service first held in Truro Cathedral, England in 1880. The sequence of choral music, scripture, and hymns focuses on the element of expectation and longing for the day when God's kingdom will be established on earth--and the assertion that in Christ that day has come--with the aim that when Christmas does arrive, we may better comprehend its true meaning. The service begins in a darkened church, with the choir singing from a remote location. In a path leading ultimately to the offertory anthem, a progression is made from darkness to light; concurrently, brightness increases to symbolize the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ to the world. † 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 portrays 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.
November 27, 2011 + 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 57 Lo! he comes, with clouds descending Helmsley
Kyrie S96 Franz Schubert
Sequence Hymn 68 Rejoice! Rejoice, believers Llangloffan
Offertory anthem: Sleepers, Wake! (St. Paul) Felix Mendelssohn
Sanctus S130 Schubert
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: We wait for thy loving kindness, O God William McKie
Communion Hymn 615 "Thy kingdom come!" on bended knee St. Flavian
Closing Hymn 73 The King shall come when morning dawns St. Stephen
Organ: Sleepers, wake! S. 645 Bach
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. † Felix Mendelssohn was a guiding force in the rediscovery of choral music from the Baroque and Renaissance periods. His revival of Bach's long-dormant St. Matthew Passion is well-known, as is his homage to Handel through his oratorios Elijah and St. Paul. The latter was written when Mendelssohn was twenty-five; its overture, and the fanfare-like chorus sung at the offertory today, are based on the Advent chorale "Sleepers, wake" (Hymn 61). † The Advent hymn-tune Helmsley was first printed with this text in London in 1765, and first published in America in 1799. An 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 20, 2011 + The Last Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite II and Baptism at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Organ: Prelude on Union Seminary Charles Callahan
Opening Hymn 450 All hail the power of Jesus' Name! Coronation
Anthem (Youth Choir): A grateful heart Mary Plumstead
Sequence Hymn 483 The head that once was crowned with thorns St. Magnus
Baptism Hymn 478 Jesus, our mighty Lord Monk's Gate
Offertory anthem: Te Deum, laudamus in B-flat C. Villiers Stanford
Sanctus S128 William Mathias
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover 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 555 Lead on, O King eternal Lancashire
Organ: Hymne d'action de graces "Te Deum" Jean Langlais
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. † Jean Langlais held the esteemed post of organist of the Basilica of Ste. Clothilde, Paris, from 1945 to 1987. Blind from birth, he was the substantial successor to Charles Tournemire (organist 1898-1939), who succeeded Cesar Franck (1859-1890). As part of this "Ste. Clothilde tradition" he sustained a legacy of liturgical improvisation and well-wrought compositions which earned a place in standard recital repertorire. His early Te Deum paraphrase dates from 1933-1934; it opens with phrases of the Te Deum plainchant hymn interspersed with mighty pillars of sound, and perhaps the many realms of angels could be heard in the development section following these outbursts. The work ends as it began, with even mightier chords and a broad fantasia suggesting the eternal praise of God.
November 13, 2011 + The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite II and Baptism at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs
Organ: Requiescat in Pace Leo Sowerby
Opening Hymn 527 Singing songs of expectation Ton-y-botel
Sequence Hymn 541 Come, labor on Ora Labora
Baptism Hymn 516 Come down, O love divine Down Ampney
Offertory anthem: Greater love hath no man John Ireland
Sanctus S128 William Mathias
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: Soul of my Savior Richard Shephard
Communion Hymn 9 Not here for high and holy things Morning Song
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. † Richard Shephard is Director of Development and former Headmaster of the Choir School of York Minster in northern England. He has always had a dual career as an administrator and composer; many of his compositions have become popular in America, for which work he was awarded an honorary doctorate from The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. † 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 6, 2011 + All Saints' Sunday
Due to ongoing disruption from the power outage, this service was said, with congregational hymns.
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m.
Organ: Meditation (Improvisation) Louis Vierne
Opening Hymn 293 I sing a song of the saints of God Grand Isle
Sequence Hymn 623 O what their joy and their glory must be O quanta qualia
Offertory Hymn 620 Jerusalem, my happy home Land of Rest
Communion anthem: Pie Jesu (from Requiem) John Rutter
Louise Penfield Blood, soprano
Communion Hymn 304 I come with joy to meet my Lord Land of Rest
Closing Hymn 287 For all the saints Sine Nomine
Organ: Prelude on Sine Nomine Leo Sowerby
October 30, 2011 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
This service was canceled due to power outage from the previous day's snowstorm.
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Organ: Meditation (Improvisation) Louis Vierne
Opening Hymn 632 O Christ, the Word Incarnate Munich
Gloria S278 William Mathias
Anthem (sung by the Youth Choir): Amani, utupe Patsy Ford Simms
Sequence Hymn 656 Blest are the pure in heart Franconia
Offertory anthem: The Beatitudes Craig Phillips
Sanctus S128 Mathias
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: The Beatitudes Russian Orthodox, arr. Richard Proulx
Communion Hymn 312 Strengthen for service, Lord Malabar
Closing Hymn 438 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord! Woodlands
Organ: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, S. 565 Johann Sebastian Bach
Music Note: The prelude was improvised for a 78 rpm recording in 1932 by the great blind organist of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. The music was limited by what could fit onto one side of a record in those days. Vierne's beautiful creation was later transcribed from the recording by one of his pupils, Maurice Duruflé. This written version permits the listener to have an unusualy opportunity: to travel back in time and hear the spontaneous muse of Vierne. † Two versions of the Beatitudes in one service invites consideration of how a musical setting reinforces the spiritual dimensions of a text. The version sung at communion is a chantlike, hypnotic repetition of two passages such as is a regular part of Russian Orthodox liturgies. The version at the offertory is also chantlike, with a melody of irregular meter, but introducing gently dissonant harmony. It is far from hypnotic, as the text directly colors the repeated statements and the glorious crescendo at the end. One could observe that in the Russian version one is no less "exceeding glad" by the certain hope of everlasting life, and the composer's restraint is based on liturgical practice. In the American version (by a prolific Los Angeles Episcopalian, music director at All Saints, Beverly Hills) one's peaceful reassurance is disturbed by a great outburst that has been building throughout the preceding variations. Which version you would take to a desert island no doubt could change from day to day. The Youth Choir anthem is, in essence, a simplistic reduction of the same text; our paths are burdened but our goal is sure. † While the postlude is instantly recognized as "phantom of the opera" spooky music, this stereotyped association tends to obscure the brilliance of the composition. Long before it was used in films, video games and ringtones (not to mention a cameo during the 2011 Grammy Awards by pop artist Lady Gaga), it was transcribed and arranged for orchestra, band, piano, brass and other instruments. A theory exists that it may have been an arrangement by Bach of a lost violin piece; since the 1980s, scholars have been debating whether it is even by Bach at all. Various stylistic departures from the rest of Bach's output are generally explained by it being an early work, based on the improvisatory forms of North German composers much studied and admired by Bach. Even if the music is by one of his predecessors, a listener can in any case imagine a teenage Bach pulling out all the stops and having fun with the massive chords, virtuosic use of the pedals, echo effects and startling dissonance. Happy Halloween.
October 23, 2011 + The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Organ: Prelude in B Major, Op. 99 No. 2 Camille Saint-Saens
Opening Hymn 574 Before thy throne, O God, we kneel St. Petersburg
Gloria S202 Healey Willan
Sequence Hymn 517 How lovely is thy dwelling-place Brother James's Air
Offertory anthem: The Lord is my shepherd John Rutter
Sanctus S114 Willan
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: Batter my heart Peter Stoltzfus Berton
Communion Hymn 336 Come with us, O blessed Jesus Werde munter
Closing Hymn 680 O God, our help in ages past St. Anne
Organ: Fugue in E-flat Major, S. 552 Johann Sebastian Bach
Music Note: The opening hymn is attributed to Dmitri Bortniansky, said to be included in an 1822 mass by the composer. Wesley Milgate in Songs of the People of God remarks that "the melody was not ordinarily used in Russian churches, but was played on such semi-religious occasions as the 'blessing of the waters' on 6 January at St. Petersburg; it sounded on the bells of the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in that city." The tune traveled swiftly to England, where it was published in a hymnal in 1827. (From a note by Raymond Glover.) † John Rutter's setting of Psalm 23 was written in 1976 for the choir of First Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska, and incorporated a decade later as a movement of his Requiem (to be sung in its entirety in a candlelight concert here on November 10). It makes appealing use of the 'pastoral' sound of the oboe, echoed by a flute playing passages suggesting running water. † The communion hymn is the one on which Bach based a cantata containing arguably his best-known composition, 'Jesu, Joy of man's desiring,' which was last week's communion anthem. This is the chorale melody (hymn tune) as arranged by Bach, which would have been sung at the end of the cantata, after various elaborations of it and other commentaries on its text had been heard. At the November 10 concert, our choirs will sing another Bach cantata following this structure. By placing the source hymn unadorned at the end, Bach created profound new associations of text and tunes for his congregation, whenever those hymns were sung in the future. If you are familiar enough with the choir's part of 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring' (perhaps recalling the instantly recognizable triplet figure of its accompaniment), you experience just such a connection when singing this hymn today. † The genius of J. S. Bach manifested itself in many ways, including a fascination with numerology and symbolism. His fugue associated with the hymn-tune St. Anne (today's final hymn) 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 (without pedals); the exuberant conclusion evokes the power of the Holy Spirit. The association with the hymn tune is obviously from the similarity of the first six notes of the subject, for which it is often referred to by the popular nickname of the "St. Anne" fugue.
October 16, 2011 + The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Prelude: Divertimento No. 2 in G Major Franz Joseph Haydn
Lu Sun, violin; Pat Daly Vance, viola; Kathy Schiano, cello
Opening Hymn 544 Jesus shall reign, where'er the sun Duke Street
Gloria S278 William Mathias
Anthem (sung by the Youth Choir): Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace Malcolm Boyle
Sequence Hymn 691 My faith looks up to thee Olivet
Offertory anthem: Sicut cervus Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Sanctus S128 Mathias
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: Jesu, joy of man's desiring Johann Sebastian Bach
Communion Hymn 315 Thou, who at thy first Eucharist didst pray Song 1
Closing Hymn 537 Christ for the world we sing! Moscow
Organ: Sonata in C Major for Organ and Strings, K. 336 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Music Note: The Bach Communion anthem, a perennial favorite, is from a cantata written originally in Weimar in 1716 for the fourth Sunday of Advent. Later in Bach's career he found it impossible to perform in Leipzig, because that city observed "tempus clausum"...literally "closed time," a time of silence, for the last three Sundays of Advent. Thus he expanded and revised it for the feast of the Visitation, where it was first performed in Leipzig in July, 1723. On many occasions Bach recycled and revised his own music, sometimes as a result of genuine inspiration, sometimes to create meaningful connections between pieces, and sometimes simply to find a practical solution to avoid inutility of a movement as beautiful as 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring.' † Today's closing hymn has a fascinating musical origin. It was written to accompany the text of Hymn 365 (Come, thou almighty King) which was an intentional homage or parody (in the eighteenth century sense of the word) of the British National Anthem (God save our gracious King). Thus the music intentionally parodies the tune of that Anthem (sung in America to the words My country, 'tis of thee, Hymn 717). Compare, for example, the music for "the poor, and them that mourn" in Hymn 537 with "land where my fathers died" in 717. This dignified mashup was created by an Italian composer working in London at the time; the tune name Moscow references the place of his death. (Adapted from writing of Robin A. Leaver.) The text of the hymn, with its strong ecumenical and missionary theme, was inspired by a convention motto of the YMCA in 1869:" Christ for the world, and the world for Christ." It was matched with this tune in 1916. † Instrumental music formed an important part of the eighteenth-century church service. We know that Mozart composed a trumpet concerto for the inauguration of Vienna's Orphanage Church and that he played a violin concerto in a service in 1773. The term church sonata or epistle sonata or sonata in the example of the postlude covers a total of seventeen single-movement instrumental compositions by Mozart (two of which were discovered and published as late as 1940). Some of them are simple trios for two violins and bass; others are more elaborate with solo organ roles. In a letter to his teacher in 1776, Mozart introduces the term Sonata al Epistola, which would have been played between the choir's singing of the Gloria and the Creed during the celebration of the Eucharist. Oddly, no other composers at Salzburg Cathedral cultivated this genre. In 1783, a few years after Mozart had left for Vienna, the Archbishop decreed that the epistle sonatas be replaced by vocal pieces. (Note from Mozart's publisher, Carlus Verlag.) Perhaps Mozart had written "too many notes" for the Archbishop's taste; we are fortunate that these delightful creations survived to be enjoyed today.
October 9, 2011 + The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir
Organ: Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness, S. 654 Johann Sebastian Bach
Opening Hymn 493 O for a thousand tongues to sing Azmon
Gloria S202 Healey Willan
Sequence Hymn 339 Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness Schmücke dich
Offertory anthem: I sat down Edward C. Bairstow
Sanctus S114 Willan
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: O lux beatissima Howard Helvey
Communion Hymn 300 Glory, love, and praise, and honor Benifold
Closing Hymn 535 Ye servants of God, your master proclaim Paderborn
Organ: Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness Johannes Brahms
Music Note: Today's hymns are a celebration of the work of John and Charles Wesley. Anyone who finds a hymn of six stanzas to be overly long, can be grateful not to have lived in the eighteenth century. Charles Wesley was the brother of two Anglican clergymen, and an English leader of the Methodist movement. He authored over eight thousand hymn texts, of which six thousand were published and of which dozens are still in regular use by many denominations. "O for a thousand tongues to sing" opened his brother John Wesley's definitive A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists (London, 1780) and has continued, with one exception (1935) as the opening hymn of every official American hymnal in the Methodist Episcopal tradition since that time. The present version is made up of six of the original eighteen stanzas of a hymn "For the Anniversary Day of One's Conversion," written in 1739 on the first anniversary of the Charles's evangelical conversion, and first published one year later. The present opening line may recall a friend's remark to the author, "Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Him (Christ) with them all." (Note by Geoffrey Wainwright.) The communion hymn is from a Wesley collection of Graces, wedded to a tune having "a sturdy 18th-century integrity" in the opinion of hymnologist Erik Routley. The tune was composed by hymnal editors at a meeting in Benifold, England in 1968. The closing hymn combines an actual 18th-century tune (a folk song which found its way into usage at the Catholic Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany) with a text first published in the Wesleys' Hymns for Times of Trouble and Persecution (1744). The first among "Hymns to be sung in a tumult," the imagery is from the Book of Revelation; the original's omitted stanzas are filled with maritime references, such as "The waves of the sea Have lift up their voice, Sore troubled that we In Jesus rejoice; ... Their fury shall never Our steadfastness shock, The weakest believer Is built on a Rock." Anglican and even Methodist hymnals have been willing to drop such imagery for the sake of a more general use of the hymn. The only hymn not from the Wesleys today is No. 339, which has become one of the beloved Eucharistic hymns in the Episcopal tradition since its introduction into the Hymnal 1940. It comes from the Lutherans, mid-1600s, and inspired the likes of Bach and Brahms to write beautiful settings for liturgical use. Without the lasting influence of other traditions on Anglican hymnody, at least today, even were we to have a thousand tongues we would be mute.
October 2, 2011 + The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Organ: Adagio from Symphony No. 3 Louis Vierne
Opening Hymn 598 Lord Christ, when first thou cam'st to earth Mit Freuden zart
Gloria S278 William Mathias
Sequence Hymn 495 Hail, thou once despised Jesus! In Babilone
Offertory anthem: The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord Richard Felciano
Sanctus S128 Mathias
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover Gerald Near
Communion anthem: If ye love me Thomas Tallis
Communion Hymn 305 Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest Rosedale
Closing Hymn 448 O love, how deep, how broad, how high Deus tuorum militum
Organ: These are the holy ten commandments Johann Sebastian Bach
Music Note: Louis Vierne, the blind organist of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from 1900-1937, composed six organ symphonies. His third (1911) is widely regarded as a masterpiece of form and melodic development. The poetic Adagio was later orchestrated by Vierne, and is especially marked by the influence of his two great teachers, Franck and Widor. Described as a "Song without words," it is based entirely on the material heard in the first two measures; a sense of melancholy is resolved when the material is recast in a major key at the luminous conclusion. † Richard Felciano is a contemporary classical and electronic composer whose musical career spans over fifty years; he is Professor of Composition, Emeritus, at the school of music of the University of California, Berkeley. Felciano’s music “reflects an acute interest in acoustics and sonority and an attempt to cast them in ritual, architectural, or dramatic forms,” according to Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20th-Century Classical Musicians. In 1987 he founded the Center for New Music & Audio Technologies (CNMAT), an interdisciplinary facility linking all of Berkeley's disciplines related to sound (music, cognitive psychology, linguistics, computer science, and architecture). His early offertory anthem (1955) contains premonitions of his brilliant creativity, with fairly traditional outer sections framing an exuberant, complex tapestry of sound that begins with sopranos repeating a simple Alleluia, then lower voices joining in with English text. The overall effect of the music matches that of the text, where yearning souls are given a glimpse of future glory but are not yet fully answered. † Thomas Tallis flourished as a composer in Tudor England. He served the Chapel Royal from 1543-1585, composing and performing for four successive monarchs. He altered the language and style of his compositions according to the monarchs' greatly varying demands (primarily in Latin for Henry VIII, then English for Edward VI who established Protestantism in England, back to Latin for 'Bloody' Mary who restored Catholicism briefly, and finally English for Elizabeth I), also composing church music in French and Italian. Tallis was a teacher of William Byrd, and in 1575 Elizabeth granted to Tallis and Byrd an exclusive twenty-one year monopoly on music publishing. Were it not for these political considerations, sacred choral repertoire today might not contain such a gem as "If ye love me" or many other works from this elegant period. † Bach the numerologist-symbolist is much in evidence in the postlude, where an accompanimental motive of repeated notes (taken from the first notes of the Lutheran hymn tune on which the piece is based), occurs exactly ten times in its original melodic structure. As observed by musicologist Russell Stinson, this sturdy motive is followed in imitation many times over to symbolize obedience to divine law (that is, man 'following' God).
September 25, 2011 + The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite I at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs
Organ: Adagio from Symphony No. 5 Charles-Marie Widor
Opening Hymn 492 Sing ye faithful, sing with gladness Finnian
Gloria S202 Healey Willan
Sequence Hymn 411 O bless the Lord, my soul! St. Thomas
Offertory anthem: Jesu, the very thought of thee Paul Halley
Sanctus S114 Willan
Fraction Anthem S 155 Christ our Passover 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 477 All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine Engelberg
Organ: Prelude on 'Engelberg' Craig Phillips
Music Note: British-born Paul Halley was from 1977-1990 Organist and Choirmaster of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where he directed the long-established intergenerational choir program and transformed the Cathedral's music program into a rich combination of classical and contemporary music. He then was founder and artistic director of Connecticut's acclaimed choirs, Chorus Angelicus and Gaudeamus, based in Torrington. He is winner of five Grammy awards for his contributions as a writer and performer on recordings by the Paul Winter Consort, of which he was a member for eighteen years. Since 2007 he has been Director of Music at St. George's Anglican Church and at the University of King's College Chapel, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The basis of today's offertory anthem is the hymn-tune St. Botolph (Hymnal 1982 No. 209), set with highly imaginative harmony and a virtuosic accompaniment. As in his work 'Freedom Trilogy' heard last May on Youth Sunday, Halley's pen forges new territory combining the traditional with the distinctly modern. After one sustained high note creates a magical transition back to the opening accompaniment figure, the anthem concludes (as do many hymn-anthems) with a descant soaring over the final stanza, and an ecstatic Amen. † 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. † Craig Phillips is Music Director at All Saints Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills, California and another prolific composer of organ and choral music. His early setting of Stanford's hymn tune is designed for an instrument with a distinctive fanfare trumpet (or better yet, as at St. John's, two such sets of pipes, one at each end of the building). The hymn tune appears in the middle of the composition, punctuated by a soft dance on the pedals, while the outer sections have suggested to some listeners the triumphant music of the film Star Wars.
September 18, 2011 + The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs, with ceremony of chorister commitment
Organ: Cantabile César Franck
Opening Hymn 410 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven Lauda anima
Gloria S278 William Mathias
Anthem (sung by the Youth Choir) Praise the Lord, his glories show Peter Niedmann
Sequence Hymn 707 Take my life and let it be Hollingside
Offertory anthem: Jubilate Deo William Walton
Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx
Fraction anthem S155 Gerald Near
Communion anthem: Brother James’s Air arr. Gordon Jacob
Communion Hymn 343 Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless St. Agnes
Closing Hymn 690 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah Cwm Rhondda
Organ: Guide me, O thou great Jehovah Paul Manz
Music Note: Cantabile (singing) describes the lovely melody of Franck's prelude (1870), one of a set of Three Pieces which became popular concert works in the Parisian composer's lifetime. The title is of course also a reminder to attend the inaugural concert of Sacred Music at the Red Door this Thursday at 7. † Peter Niedmann is director of music at Church of Christ, Congregational in Newington, Connecticut. He is an active composer and a past member of the faculty of the Hartt School of Music and a past Dean of the Greater Hartford Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. His merry setting of Henry Lyte's hymn responds to the text's basis of Psalm 150. † British composer William Walton wrote in many styles, including film scores and opera. His suitably joyous 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. † "Brother James" is the familiar name ascribed to the spiritual leader James Macbeth Bain, born in Scotland in 1860. A somewhat eccentric personality of great popularity, he worked among the poor in London and wandered in nature for refreshment. The tune upon which the communion anthem is based is one of many beautiful melodies which came to him spontaneously. It has, in its simplicity, something of that rare quality of appeal which Maurice Baring describes as "a wonderful tune--a tune that opened its arms." † Paul Manz improvised many preludes and responses to hymns during his long tenure at his Lutheran parish in Minnesota; a set of one hundred were published in the 1960s and became staples of liturgical repertoire crossing denominational lines for their straightforward appeal and craft. Today's postlude combines a ritornello (repeated refrain) construction with just enough of a good hint of Handel's Hallelujah chorus.
September 11, 2011 + The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs, with Pat Daly Vance, viola
Organ: Adagio in G minor Tomaso Albinoni
Opening Hymn When sudden terror tears apart* Kingsfold
Sequence Hymn 609 Where cross the crowded ways of life Gardiner
Offertory anthem: Cantique de Jean Racine Gabriel Fauré
Sanctus S128 William Mathias
Agnus Dei S166 Gerald Near
Communion anthem: Bread of the world John Abdenour
Communion Hymn 337 And now, O Father, mindful of the love Unde et memores
Closing Hymn 665 All my hope on God is founded Michael
Organ: Kyrie! Thou Spirit divine! Johann Sebastian Bach
* a hymn text by Carl P. Daw, Jr., copyright 2001 Hope Publishing Company, sung in observance of the tenth Anniversary of 9-11-2001. Used by permission.
Music Note: Albinoni's celebrated Adagio in G minor, heard in many films and on Baroque 'greatest hits' compilations, is more the creation of the composer's twentieth-century biographer than from the pen of the eighteenth century Venetian master. From a fragment of a manuscript, the music was constructed and published by Remo Giazotto in 1958 under the title "Adagio in G minor for Strings and Organ, on two thematic ideas and on a figured bass by Tomaso Albinoni." Regardless of its exact provenance, it is a work of enduring pathos and beauty, which was played at a prayer vigil in New York City on the night of September 11, 2001. Along with Molière and Corneille, Jean Racine was one of the "Big Three" 17th-century French dramatists. His paraphrase-translation (published in 1688) of an early Latin hymn, was set to music by Fauré at the age of nineteen, as his opus 11. This piece won first prize when Fauré graduated from the Niedermeyer School in Paris, and was first performed the next year in 1866, accompanied by strings and organ. It was published about a decade later and has become one of his best-known works, sharing with his Requiem a general mood of quiet consolation, and melodic beauty. John Abdenour is organist and choirmaster of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fairfield, Connecticut. The closing hymn is a response by Herbert Howells to the death of his son Michael at age 9, from polio. The postlude is an ecstatic setting of a German hymn version of Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy upon us) which contains additional text between its two Greek words: "Kyrie! Thou Spirit Divine! Oh grant us thy power evermore, That we when life is o'er With joy uprising may leave our sorrows. Eleison!" The sentiment therein is matched by a majestic and elaborate fantasia. The initial three rising notes of the melody (heard in long pedal tones) is also the motive upon which all the accompanying material is based, either right-side-up or upside-down. The startlingly dissonant conclusion to this music could have been written in modern times.
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