Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth & Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev’d Susan Pinkerton.
Worship at Home:
Click here: Service Bulletin – Sermon Text
Subscribe to St. John’s podcasts at PodcastPeople or on iTunes
Service Music:
Voluntary Two settings of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927)
Introit Thou who wast rich French Carol
Words: Frank Houghton (1894-1972)
Church School Children; Heidi Tummescheit, director
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becomes poor.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man;
Stooping so low, but sinners raising
Heavenwards by thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.
Emmanuel, within us dwelling,
Make us what thou wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.
Processional Hymn 76 On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry Winchester New
Kyrie S-89 James McGregor, after Hans Leo Hassler
Sequence Hymn 66 Come, thou long-expected Jesus Stuttgart
Offertory Anthem Lux aurumque Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)
Words by Edward Esch, translated to Latin by Charles Anthony Silvestri
Lux
calida gravisque pura velut aurum
et canunt angeli molliter
modo natum.
Light
warm and heavy as pure gold
and the angels sing softly
to the newborn babe.
From the composer: After deciding upon the poem by Edward Esch (I was immediately struck by its genuine, elegant simplicity), I had it translated into the Latin by the celebrated American poet Charles Anthony Silvestri. A simple approach was essential to the success of the work, and I waited patiently for the tight harmonies to shimmer and glow.
Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert
Communion Motet A spotless rose Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Words: German, 15th Century
Soloist: John Church
A spotless Rose is blowing,
Sprung from a tender root,
Of ancient seers’ foreshowing,
Of Jesse promised fruit;
Its fairest bud unfolds to light
Amid the cold, cold winter,
And in the dark midnight.
The Rose which I am singing,
Whereof Isaiah said,
Is from its sweet root springing,
In Mary, purest Maid;
For, through our God’s great love and might,
The blessed Babe she bare us,
In a cold, cold winter’s night.
Herbert Howells, who arguably more than anyone influenced British church music in the 20th century, was not himself a believer. Suitably, his A Spotless Rose was thought up in the least sacred of circumstances – Howells said it came to him as he was watching trains on the Bristol-Gloucester line from his cottage window. Moving trains seem a world away from the arching lines of the anthem itself, in which the flowing melody is carried first by the choir then a baritone soloist over a subdued chorale-like harmony. And, as is so often the case with Howells, a touch of brilliance is saved for the final chords. ‘I should like, when my time comes, to pass away with that magical cadence,’ wrote fellow composer Patrick Hadley. Jeremy Suter, master of music at Carlisle Cathedral agrees: ‘The scrunchy harmonies of the final few bars are pure, unadulterated bliss!’
Hymn in Procession 601 O day of God draw nigh St. Michael
Voluntary Prelude in G, BWV 550 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
