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.