Transfiguration Sunday
Of the "lesser festivals," Transfiguration Sunday is one of my favorites. The entire concept is so intriguing. You can count on one hand the number of times a human being witnesses God in the Bible, and this is one of the most memorable and stunning occurrences. Imagine Peter, James, and John, taken to the top of the mountain, only to witness the prophets and God himself show themselves to Jesus, enveloping him in a cloud of white. What a wonderful, awe-inspiring moment.
PRELUDE
How Great Thou Art - arr. Sharon Elery Rogers (Bells of Praise)
After a one-week delay due to the weather, Bells of Praise is finally able to make their spring debut with one of the most beloved hymns of all time. In using such a well known tune, Sharon Elery Rogers does a lovely job in providing a variety of textures, handbell techniques, and the use of chimes for a portion of the melody. This has been a wonderful challenge for the choir, and they have risen to the occasion beautifully.
OPENING HYMN
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (7:45 AM only)
I have always had a love/hate relationship with this hymn. On one hand, I absolutely love the tune and how singable it is. On the other, I've always had difficulty with this text. It took me a long time to embrace the idea that God was "inaccessible, hid from our eyes." I always struggled with this, feeling that the idea of God, despite the lack of an empirical presence, should be accessible to anyone.
Despite this concept being Biblically based (1 Timothy: 1-17 "To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen.") I feel that this accessibility, or lack thereof, is rooted in our own minds. Is the light experienced at the Transfiguration really a light that we could all experience, see through, be accessible to our eyes? That's a question that can likely never be answered.
Jesus On The Mountain Peak (9:00 AM only)
There are few hymns that don't have a consistent tune associated with them that cross over various hymnals, but this is one of them. I'm not sure this wonderful Brian Wren text has a tune that exists in more than one hymnal. Interestingly enough, the ELW hymn tune associated with it (BETHOLD) is one of the easiest to sing. It was composed by Mark Sedio, Director of Music and Cantor at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN. Despite being cast in a minor key, each stanza ends on a major half cadence on the word "Alleluia."
HYMN OF THE DAY
Beautiful Savior
This Silesian folk tune is another that is much loved among Lutherans, especially in this part of the country, where Lutheran college grads spent four years and countless alumni gatherings singing F. Melius Christiansen's lovely setting.
The region of Silesia no longer exists, but most of it is occupied by what is now Poland. Unfortunately, there is little information on the origin of this hymn, nor who first translated it into English. The structure is symmetrical in that the interior and exterior stanzas are hymns of praise to the creator, and the interior stanzas proclaim said creation, by describing the meadows, woodlands, stars, and tying them to Jesus, who is said to shine fairer and brighter than all of these things. What a wonderful message for the Transfiguration.
OFFERING
Epiphany Carol - Bruce Neswick (Chancel Choir)
This unison anthem was composed by Bruce Neswick, who is currently on the faculty at Indiana University. This anthem contains four stanzas, each describing a different Epiphany story (the wise men, baptism, wedding at Cana, and transfiguration). The first three stanzas are all set to different music, reflecting the mood of each text. The exterior stanzas are dance-like and rhythmic. Verse two, describing the baptism, is soaring, majestic, and melodic, and verse three is based on plain chant, sung in a psalm tone-like fashion.
Despite being in unison, this has been quite a challenge for the Chancel Choir, but like always, they come through brilliantly.
COMMUNION HYMNS
How Good Lord, To Be Here
Each stanza of this Armitage Robinson hymn references the Transfiguration in one way or another. Especially profound is the opening of the third stanza ("Fulfiller of the past and hope of things to be..."), as well as the mention of the mountain in both verses four and five.
Musically, a particular characteristic of SM (short meter) tunes, it begins with two short phrases, followed by a longer third. The contour of the melody with the natural harmonic progressions makes a very singable tune.
O Splendor Of God's Glory Bright (9:00 AM only)
When the average church-goer sees dots on a page with no stems, they get a little apprehensive. "These don't look like notes." "How do you sing this?" "I can't sing this."
First two statements: perfectly valid. The third? It makes me furrow my brow a bit. Hymns based on plainchant are some of the most beautiful, singable, and inspirational in the entire hymnal. It seems they would have to be given that the texts have survived in use for 1500, 1600, even 1900 years.
CLOSING HYMN
I Want To Walk As A Child Of The Light
As Jesus was enveloped and overtaken by this light, this hymn is our petition that we too embrace this light in order to follow Jesus. Kathleen Thomerson, recently retired from Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Austin, TX, has created a lovely bit of prose, that despite having no rhyme scheme, is wonderfully singable to its chant-like melody. As stanza three carries more of an Advent theme, it will be omitted at this service, but the first two verses comment nicely on Transfiguration themes, that the light of Christ may shine in our hearts.
POSTLUDE
Now Thank We All Our God - Egil Hovland
Egil Hovland, esteemed Norwegian composer, passed away this week at the age of 88. He was a remarkable composer in that, despite dozens of compositions, no two are quite the same in style or structure. He had a brilliant ability to write proficiently in any style, doing supreme justice to any source text or tune he was composing to. A prolific organist, he served at a mid-sized church in Norway for over 40 years, all while composing works frequently for the church and concert stage.
This toccata based on Now Thank We All Our God is one of Mr. Hovland's most exciting compositions. The tune is featured in a canon between the top voice and the pedal. The piece builds to a stunning coda, which climaxes with a large ascension of parallel triads.
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