Labor Day Weekend Hiatus

Music Notes will be taking a one week hiatus for Labor Day weekend.

Music Notes: August 25th, 2013

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Prelude

Three Settings of Liebster Jesu - J.S. Bach, Marcel Dupre, Michael Burkhardt

These three settings of this chorale all come from three different eras and three different composers, yet they are all based on the same compositional style.  

J.S. Bach, the arguable master of the chorale setting, has the most complex setting.  In addition to the three voice accompaniment, the chorale is played in a canon at the fifth in the right hand.  Organ registration allows this canon to be heard clearly.

Dupre's setting is the shortest and simplest.  It consists of three voices with the chorale in the soprano.  It doesn't even allow for a repeat in the first phrase, making the setting less than 20 or so seconds. 

Michael Burkhardt is a contemporary organ composer, but this composition is a throwback to the old style of chorale prelude composition.  Like Bach's setting, it has a voice in the pedal, left hand, and the chorale itself in the right hand.

Opening Hymn

Dearest Jesus, At Your Word

Tobias Clausnitzer is not a name we come across very often in the study of hymnody.  Living in the mid-17th century, he was appointed as a chaplain of the Swedish regiment in 1644 after his studies at the University of Leipzig.  Later in life, he was appointed first pastor at Weiden, where he remained until his death.

This hymn, like many other from the era, was translated by Catherine Winkworth.  It gives us a message of the spirit breaking through the night which has just passed, filling us with "light unclouded."  This brightness remains the focus of the hymn throughout stanza three, and then concludes with a modified Doxology for the final stanza.

Hymn of the Day

Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word

This is likely Martin Luther's second most known hymn in the ELW.  This is actually one of his earlier hymns, coming from the beginning years of the reformation.  This hymn tells us that we don't need to rely on anything visual or kinesthetic, but rather that faith will provide for all of our needs.  It calls for us to stand up against those who rely on things other than God alone for spiritual fulfillment.  If materialistic needs and desires are left to rule the world, Martin Luther expresses here that any foundation of faith would crumble (...bring to naught all (God) has done).  Instead, if we keep steadfast in the Word of God, he will lead us out of death to life.

Communion Hymns

Here Is Bread

This Communion song is by Graham Kendrick, who is a wonderful worship leader, writing hymns equally at home in both traditional and contemporary worship.  This is a very accessible melody in a gentle, swinging 4/4 meter, with a very straightforward text, showing us that throughout Communion and in our whole lives, God is always with us, watching over us and guiding us.

We Come To You For Healing Lord

Our bodies, minds, and souls all need some form of healing at some point, and through prayer, we can hope to receive it.  Herman Stuempfle, the long time leader of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, penned this lovely hymn with the need for healing in mind.  The image of Christ as the great physician is referenced in stanza three, and gives thanks to all the physicians and nurses around that heal our wounds with their God given gifts and willingness to serve.


This text is set to the hymn tune MARTYRDOM, a rather common tune from late 18th century England.  It accompanies the Stuempfle text quite nicely, and as the end of stanza four says, we "trust that through our nights and days your grace will heal, sustain."

Closing Hymn

Rejoice, Ye Pure In Heart

About a year ago when the REJOICE service was reborn with that name, this was one of the songs (slightly modified) that kicked off the idea that anything old can be renewed and made to be appropriate in any style of worship.

Of course, it is still a wonderful traditional hymn as well.  The language is overtly praise-like, with wonderful proclamations of shouts and and voices sending forth the sturdy hymns of old.  Each stanza ends with the short, simple refrain, "Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!"

Postlude

Rejoice Ye Pure In Heart - Emma Lou Diemer

Emma Lou Diemer is known for writing organ compositions that are both very difficult and very bizarre.  This piece, while difficult, is actually one of her most "normal" pieces in terms of form, harmony, and compositional style.  

A perpetually moving motive in the manuals begins flowing on top of the tune in the pedal with a big reed.  The middle section goes into a chorale with a unique twist.  Rather than a supporting bass line, the bass line is actually the melody, in canon with the melody on the top.  The piece concludes the way it began, with fragments of the tune in augmentation, enhanced by scales and other flourishes in the hands.

Music Notes: August 18th, 2013

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Prelude

Ebenezer - J. Wayne Kerr

Sometimes, organ pieces based on hymn tunes don't have precise titles.  They are usually just named after the hymn tune that they are based on.  That is the case with both the prelude and postlude today, basedon the hymn tune of our opening and closing hymn (same hymn with divided stanzas).  

This setting has a ritornello that runs throughout.  A ritornello is a short, repetitive refrain that reoccurs throughout the piece.  In the case of most hymn tune organ compositions, it is the tune itself that breaks up the ritornello.  Here, that is certainly the case, and the tune is ornamented upon using mordents and additional elaborations of the melody.  

An interesting facet of this tune is its unusual meter of 12/8.  This composition, in 4/2 time, makes the tune sound as though it is based on triplets, creating a duple/triple contrast between the ritornello and the tune statement.

Opening Hymn

Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow vv. 1-3

As our primary scripture this week is Exodus 3:15, this hymn describes the start of a long journey similar to the one that Moses takes throughout the book of Exodus.

This is a tricky one.  The exterior stanzas are simple enough... they are the story of a group of people treading forward through their journey towards a destination, "the end of toil and gloom."  The middle stanzas, however, I found very difficult to interpret. The "light of God's own presence" at the beginning of stanza two refers to the Pillar of Fire from the Book of Exodus, which guided them through day and night (Exodus 13:21-22).  The hymn continually mentions "one."  What this "one" is is definitely up for interpretation, and I would love to hear thoughts from anyone on what that "one" might be.

Stanza four will be reserved as the closing hymn this Sunday, which sends us out on our own journey.

Hymn of the Day

Bless God, O Now, The Journey

This hymn encapsulates the message for the day; like Moses, Peter, and Jesus Christ before us, we are all on a journey of faith.  We call come upon opposition from barriers that may or may not want to hold us back.  

Sylvia Dunstan (1955-1993) details the struggles of this journey through her first two stanzas.  We journey through noise, silence, giving, and taking.  Through deserts, water, and mountains, we travel until we find the road that faith is built upon.  In stanza three, we are joined by the "divine, eternal lover" who meets us and guides us solidly along the path, not just when we need it, but always.  We can all empathize with Moses here, bound with a task that he feels is insurmountable.  Through the strength and support of the great I AM, we can all travel down our road of faith and arrive at the promised land.

Offering

Where Your Treasure Is - Marty Haugen

Don and Kris Meyer will be providing this lovely Marty Haugen song for the offering this weekend.  Accompanied by Don's guitar, Don and Kris always inspire and uplift the congregation with their wonderful gifts.

Communion Hymns

Around You, O Lord Jesus

This is a beautifully simplistic poem based around the idea of joining Jesus at the Holy table of Communion.  We hear the invitation of Jesus and gratefully accept it.  This invitation brings us closer to Jesus and into his loving heart from where we will never depart.

This tune, despite coming from a Dutch psalmbook dating from c. 1570, actually sounds much more like it was written in the mid to late 19th century.  The melody has a beautiful lilt and is supremely singable.

For The Bread Which You Have Broken

Much like the first hymn, this communion text is wonderfully simplistic.  We are thankful and grateful for bread, wine, and the words of God.  The promise of love, the gift of peace, and the call to heaven from God embrace and guide our lives.  We are connected from generation to generation by those who came before us and who will still come.  We pray that the ties that bind us together be unbreakable.  

The tune comes from the Gross Catolisch Gesangbuch (Large Cathloic Songbook).  This was compiled by David Gregor Corner in 1625 (and subsequent editions), and contained almost 200 tunes.

Closing Hymn

Through The Night Of Doubt and Sorrow v. 4

The opening concludes here.  We go onward as sisters and brothers, with the power of the cross as our aid and assurance.

Postlude

Ebenezer - Sam Batt Owens

Sam Batt Owens enjoyed a long career as an organist, composer, and church musician, before passing away in 1998.  This setting of EBENEZER also contains a ritornello, though its form is quite different.  The pedal plays a walking bass line, while the right hand and left hand play a contrary motion motive.  These motives are surrounded by the tune, and again, the duple/triple contrast is emphasized.  

Music Notes: August 11, 2013

Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost

Prelude

Fugue in D minor - Johann Pachelbel

Everyone who reads this blog or attends St. Paul's knows I have an affinity for the organ music of Pachelbel.  This fugue, sometimes called the "Chromatic Fugue," is one of his most popular works for the organ.  The nick name derives from the fugue subject itself.  Beginning on a D, the subject moves downward chromatically.  As is standard fugal practice in this compositional period, it is answered a fifth above.  The composition unfolds as a standard four voice fugue would, and concludes with a Picardy (major) third.

Opening Hymn

Awake My Soul, and With The Sun

The opening measures of this hymn tune may be confused with a different tune, titled CANONBURY (see ELW 676).  While the opening measures are similar, the tune quickly takes a wonderfully colorful turn, moving into the dominant key area.  

Textually, this is a wonderful morning prayer.  God has kept us safe through the night and refreshed us as we slept.  The second half of stanza two paraphrases the conclusion of the evening prayer, "... if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."  After we renew our vows to God, we ask for guidance for this day and the days to come.  As many prayers do, this prayer ends with the Doxology.

Hymn of the Day

Have No Fear, Little Flock

We sang this a couple weeks ago as a Communion Hymn, and I was wonderfully pleased with how it went.  Abraham and Sarah were part of this flock.  Isaac and his descendants all are.  We are their descendants, all part of the same flock watched over by God.  The text here is derived from Luke 12:32, which is part of our Gospel text for the day.  

Musically, this tune is made unique by the sixteenth/eighth note pattern as a part of the first, second, and last phrases.  This figure is commonly used to color certain words or help create special effects, as it does here on the word "little."  

Offering

The God Of Abram (and Sarah) Praise - arr. NDK

The Summer Choir this week will share this hymn of praise and appreciation to our subjects this week, Abraham and Sarah.  The Rev. Laurie King, a Presbyterian pastor in Miami, FL, has composed an additional stanza that focuses on Sarah.  The additional stanza states that the laughter of Sarah stills our strife, and that God's promises are sure, that we are called to do God's will.

It doesn't take too much creativity to take a hymn from being a standard rendition to making it something more appropriate for a choral setting.  The first two stanzas lend themselves nicely to being sung by the men, then the women.  The third stanza has an opportunity for a canon over the first two measures, and the final verse uses a descant for the upper voices that soars over the tune.  

Communion Hymns

Soul, Adorn Yourself With Gladness

This is one of the most theologically complex hymns in our entire hymnal.  If we could sum it up with one line, I would probably choose line three from the first stanza, "Bless the one whose grace unbounded this amazing banquet founded."

Unity, eagerness, joy, and peace are all common themes throughout the stanzas.  The metaphor of a bride meeting her husband exists throughout the second stanza.  In the third, the sense of wonder through the miracle of communion almost overcomes the writer, calling it a "glorious consolation" and labeling the Bread of Life as "boundless."

Lord, Take My Hand And Lead Me

The text and tune of this German chorale are both rather straightforward, and are meant to guide us through all facets of our lives.  As many of us embarked from various life stages to others (I for one, just went through the whole "first-time homebuyer" experience), we could probably hear the “tempest rage,” at certain points.  If we allow the hand of God, the “Rock of Ages” to protect us throughout our lives, then nothing will impede us.  Surely Abraham and Sarah must have thought this as well as God promised the covenant to them.

Closing Hymn

How Great Thou Art

This hymn easily finds its way into most people's top 10 lists, hence why it is very popular at funerals.  The final two stanzas of text do have some allusions to the funeral rite, but they certainly don't have to be tied to it.  Even though the time doesn't quite match up, the idea behind the text could easily have been said by Sarah as she and Abraham accepted God's covenant.  

Postlude

Fugue in D Major - Johann Pachelbel

Contrasting with the chromatic nature of the fugue in the prelude, this fugue by Pachelbel is based on a longer, sequential melodic pattern.  This is one of his longer fugue subjects and longer fugues overall.  As the subject moves from voice to voice, it is supported by a great deal of suspensions that all move downwards.  

Music Notes: August 4, 2013

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Prelude

Romance from Concerto No. 2 - Henryk Wieniawski

Dr. Daniel Kaplunas, director of the Wartburg Community Symphony, will be joining us this week to provide both Prelude and Offertory music.  

In addition to being a medical doctor, Wieniawski, born in Poland in 1835, was also an accomplished violinist.  While not large, his compositional output contains several very important works for the violin, including two concertos.  Dr. Kaplunas will be playing the second movement of his D minor concerto here.

Titled "Romance," it contains a harmonically based melody which travels through a variety of keys, typical of late Romantic style music.  At the climax, the violin reaches the highest reaches of its range, with the orchestral reduction playing the same melody from the beginning.  This is a beautiful, touching example of a late Romantic-era slow movement.

Opening Hymn

All People That On Earth Do Dwell

This month in worship we are taking a look at the theme of resurrection.  This William Kethe text describes some of what we might see, hear, and experience as we journey to heaven.  Stanza three in particular appears to be a bit of an instruction manual on how to enter the pearly gates.  The standard question asked by a lot of us during life, "Why?" is asked and answered simply in stanza four; the Lord our God is good and is mercy is forever sure.

This old text is set to an equally old tune.  Normally associated with the Doxology, Kethe's tune, based on Psalm 100, is actually the text that led to the name of Louis Bourgeois' hymn tune OLD HUNDREDTH.  

Hymn of the Day

How Small Our Span of Life

After passing away in 2007, the world lost a wonderful preacher, theologian, and hymn writer in Herman G. Stuempfle.  This hymn is a fantastic example of his work.  Here we see an expansive text contrasting the length of our lives with the eternity of God.  The language in stanza two of time and space is wonderfully evocative.  These two spans of time are crossed by Christ when he left the infinite span of heaven to come to Earth and redeem our mortal lives.  The concluding stanza thanks God for the guiding pathway he gives each of us.

Offering 

Le cygne (The Swan) - Camille Saint-Saens

This is an extracted movement from Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals.  Set in 6/4 time, it features a langishing melody underneath a constant accompaniment of flowing, broken chords.  While originally written with cello providing the melody, it will be played up an octave by Dr. Kaplunas on the violin.

Communion Hymns

Take My Life That I May Be

This quintessential Offertory hymn by the father/daughter duo of William and Frances Havergal shows us offering ourselves, our hands, our voices, our riches, our will, and our love to God.  It is the ultimate hymn of generosity and giving to God as thanks for everything we have.

It is an example of a trust and guidance being placed in God we wouldn't or shouldn't be willing to place in anyone else.  Through the language in this hymn, we are doing just as what Jesus instructed us to do, that is, give of our whole selves, our time, our money, and our possessions, to God.

We Praise You, O God

God is not only with us, but has gone all the way back through previous generations to Abram and Sarah and beyond.  Stanza two of this lovely text by Julia Cory demonstrates that is isn't just us to has to travel through trials and temptations, but also our forefathers and mothers.  The concluding stanza is purely a statement of faith and gratefulness that through any future trials and temptations, God will always be there with us.

Closing Hymn

Lord, Dismiss Us With Your Blessing

The title of this tune, SICILIAN MARINER’S HYMN, is a little misleading.  While the tune is rumored to come from Sicilia, the hymn that it was originally associated with is actually Roman Catholic, from around the 10th or 11th century.  The tune actually seems to have inspired Charles Tindley’s civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.” 

This hymn is intended for use as a recessional, as we are dismissed from worship and giving thanks for the Gospel’s joyful sound.

Postlude

Fantasy on OLD HUNDREDTH - Piet Post

This composition from 1966 by Dutch composer Piet Post is in a standard ABA format.  The A sections feature the tune played as a chorale in the right hand, but each phrase is presented in a different key.  The dotted rhythm bass line assists in the harmonic changes.

The B section has the tune in open fifths, and in between each phrase, the melody is presented again in what is called diminution, that is the same melody, only with a quicker, shorter rhythm.

The piece concludes with a reprise of the A section and a short coda where the opening phrase returns using the open fifths, growing to a G major conclusion.