Music for Sunday, September 1, 2013

Today we sing a spirited, metrical version of the Gloria, “All Glory Be to God on High”, which comes to us from the time of the protestant reformation in Germany.  This hymn of praise is a translation of the 16^th Century German paraphrase of the Gloria in excelsis by Nikolaus Decius. The melody is Decius’ metrical adaptation of the Gloria’s original plainsong melody.

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20^th Century composers. The Chorale sings his Cantique de Jean Racine at the offertory. This work for choir and organ was written by the 19-year-old composer during his final year in the École Niedermeyer de Paris and won the young Fauré first prize in the school’s annual composition competition. Frequently performed, it continues to be a favorite and a staple of the choral repertoire.

During the ministration, we hear Handel’s evocative setting of the words from the Prophet Isaiah, “Surely he hath borne our griefs” from the Messiah. This is one of the works that will be featured Wednesday evening as part of the Handel in Concert and Theology presentation with Dr. Michael Lloyd from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University.

Music for Rally Day, Sunday, August 25, 2013

Today we welcome everyone back from summer vacations and celebrate the Church as we begin Fall programming. In one large, combined service we sing great hymns of the faith such as “Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation”, “How Firm a Foundation”, and “Lift High the Cross”. Preparing us for worship, we hear festive strains from Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata “We Thank You, God, We Thank You” followed by a setting of Psalm 122, “I Was Glad when they said unto me: ‘We will go into the house of the Lord’” by Thomas Matthews. Mr. Matthews was a leading 20^th Century church musician and composer who served Episcopal parishes in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago followed by a long tenure at Trinity Church, Tulsa. 

At the Gloria, students from Vacation Bible School will lead us in the singing and hand motions of “O Happy Day” along with Kemper Crabb and the band. The band will also lead us in the communion hymns along with the Chorale. At the offertory, the Chorale sings one of the great choruses in the choral literature, “How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings” from the German Requiem by Johannes Brahms.

Everyone is encouraged to participate boldly in our liturgy as we raise our voices in praise and worship our maker and celebrate his work among us.

Music for August 18, 2013

We are most appreciative of the soloists and members of the chorale who have led our worship the last five weeks. Today, we welcome back the full choir as we embark on a new choir year.

The music in today’s worship service includes two great hymns of the church: Adoro te (H314 – Humbly I Adore Thee) and Michael (H665 – All my hope on God is founded). At the offertory, the chorale sings an anthem version of Humbly I Adore Thee (translated in this case as “Thee We Adore”) as arranged by T. Frederick H. Candlyn, an English-born organist, composer, and choirmaster who spent most of his professional career at two Episcopal churches in New York, most notably St. Thomas Church, NYC. The earliest version of the tune Adoro te is a 17-century Parisian Processional set to a plainsong hymn for the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Our worship concludes with the singing of “All My Hope on God Is Founded,” a hymn whose tune was written by the great Anglican composer Herbert Howells for use with this particular text. It was written in honor of Howells’ son Michael who died in early childhood, and is notable for its profound lyric beauty and harmonic richness.

Music for August 11, 2013

Exsultate Jubilate, a religious solo motet in three movements, was composed in Milan in 1773 during Mozart’s third and final adolescent trip to Italy to establish his reputation as an operatic composer. Today, Andrea Meier sings the final movement, a jubilant Alleluia.

The great North German composer and organist Dietrich Buxtehude inspired many composers including Johann Sebastian Bach. Preparing us for worship at the prelude, we hear Buxtehude’s chorale prelude on “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” which we will then sing at the Procession. This great hymn of the church is perhaps Martin Luther’s best known hymn. A paraphrase of Psalm 46, it is often considered the “Battle Hymn of the Reformation,” especially as it was sung by Luther and his companions as they entered the city of Worms on April 16^th 1521 for the Diet (an imperial, legislative  gathering of the Holy Roman Empire).

The hymn at the gradual, “Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers”, is a hymn usually associated with Advent. Today it particularly amplifies the assigned gospel where we are admonished to “Stay dressed for action and keep [our] lamps burning…”