Barbara Verdile

Barbara Verdile, Interim Music DirectorI was Director of Music and Organist at Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Purcellville, Virginia for almost 20 years until moving to Washington, DC. I have Master of Music degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore and while an undergraduate at Douglass College, Rutgers University I studied organ with University Organist, David Drinkwater. But I consider myself mostly a student of my father, as I was his regular page-turner for the postlude each Sunday.

I’ve had a varied career teaching and performing in addition to my work in the area of church music ministry. While working in all combinations of church organist and choir director for the past 40 years, I have also been on the faculties of Northern Virginia Community College and Shenandoah Conservatory of Music along with teaching in my private studio. I founded a chamber music series in Purcellville and a community chorus, which grew into what is now the Loudoun Chorale. In addition to working as pianist and flutist with the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra and the Loudoun Wind Symphony I have performed in solo and chamber music recitals and accompanied a wide range of instrumentalists and vocalists, given organ recitals in Italy and served as organist for week-long residencies at the cathedrals of Canterbury, York and elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland.

The Italian language and choral singing are my avocations. I thoroughly enjoy trying to speak Italian and discovering Italian literature, and as a choral singer (much simpler and easier than the language thing!) have continually been a member of choral groups ranging from chamber to symphonic in size. An exceptional result of my choral activity was that of meeting the man who became my husband. Bob and I met in our college chapel choir and we will soon celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary.

Currently I am Rehearsal Pianist for the Choir and Festival Chorus at Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, and Rehearsal Assistant for the Thomas Circle Singers in Washington, DC. Bob and I both sing with this group. Maybe we can convince you to come to a concert!

We live in Foxhall Village in DC with our dachshund, Piccola and have two daughters, a son-in-law and a grandson soon to be four years old. All live close by in Virginia.

During the current upset created by COVID-19 I feel quite fortunate to be able to offer my part in combination with many others at RELC to provide comfort and hope during this pandemic. With all of you I look forward to the time when it will be safe to resume meeting together for services on Sundays, to continue getting to know you and make music together with you and the choir here at RELC!

With a voice of singing, Barbara

During March, Women’s History Month, we are celebrating each week the contribution women have made to our worship either in our hymns, anthems, preludes or postludes, through musical compositions and/or texts rooted in this history and culture.

For this Sunday our list includes the texts of the Sending and Communion hymns. To catch up with last Sunday, our list included the text of the Gathering Hymn and the Communion hymn tune.

Hymn of the Day: "Now the Green Blade Rises" ELW 379
Text: John Macleod Campbell Crum (1872- 1958)
Tune: NOËL NOUVELET,

Though clearly an “Easter hymn”, these are words that may encourage fruitful reflection at other times also. John Macleod Campbell Crum, an Anglican cleric who served as rector of Farnham and Canon of Canterbury Cathedral, wrote these words specifically for the tune “NOËL NOUVELET”, derived from a fifteenth-century French tune and sometimes called “FRENCH CAROL.” The carol was first published in the Oxford Book of Carols in 1928. You may recognize it from its use in the Christmas carol, “Sing We Now of Christmas.” While the composer is unknown, the tune is known to have come from France in the mid-15th century.

As we leave today’s service, the Closing Voluntary also recalls NOËL NOUVOLET in a setting by Richard Hudson. Professor emeritus of musicology at the University of California, Los Angeles Richard Hudson has degrees from California Institute of Technology, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Syracuse University, and UCLA.

Offertory: “Now” Braeden Ayers

“Now the silence” (1968) is one of Jaroslav J Vajda’s (1919-2008) signature hymn texts. First appearing in the Lutheran publication, This Day, in May 1988, this text is unusual in its construction, the entire text containing fourteen lines and with no punctuation. The author notes, “If there was one hymn text that proved a catalyst for my hymn writing, it was ‘Now the silence.’”

The incessant use of the word “Now” (sixteen times!) places the mystery of the Eucharist into the center of the singer’s consciousness. Furthermore, the descriptive language in the hymn is empirical – drawing us into a sensory experience, the essence of the embodiment of the Incarnation. The Lord’s Supper is no longer relegated to the past as a memorial event, but is a reality “Now” as we see “the vessel brimmed for pouring” and participate in “the joyful celebration.” Communion for Vajda is a manifestation of “the Son’s epiphany” through which we receive “the Father’s blessing.”

Braeden Ayres is a composer, conductor, and music educator who believes that music and singing are for all people. As an artist, teacher, and conductor, his mission is to empower people, explore the human experience, and celebrate the human voice as a tool for self-expression. As a composer, his works vary widely in style, with pieces written especially for changing voices, high school choirs, and collegiate, community, and professional ensembles.

Now the silence Now the peace
Now the empty hands uplifted
Now the kneeling Now the plea
Now the Father's arms in welcome
Now the hearing Now the power
Now the vessel brimmed for pouring
Now the body Now the blood
Now the joyful celebration
Now the wedding Now the songs
Now the heart forgiven leaping
Now the Spirit's visitation
Now the Son's epiphany
Now the Father's blessing
Now Now Now

Opening Voluntary: Chorale Prelude on KUORTANE, Robert Below (1934-2020)

NYLAND, named for a province in Finland, is a folk melody from Kuortane, South Ostrobothnia, Finland. In fact, the tune is also known as KUORTANE and was first published with a hymn text in an appendix to the 1909 edition of the Finnish Suomen Evankelis Luterilaisen Kirken Koraalikirja. It gained popularity in the English-speaking world after David Evans's use of it in the British Church Hymnary of 1927.

In concerto, recital, chamber music, or accompanying, Robert Below exhibited a depth of interpretive insight, command of the instrument, and the beauty of sound which delighted devoted audiences. He was productive as a composer, adding a personal and prolific expression to the literature for voice, chorus, chamber music, keyboard, strings, and symphony orchestra.

Closing Voluntary: “Noël Nouvelet” Richard Hudson (1924)

See Hymn of the Day

Hymn of the Day: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (ELW 803)
Text: Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Tune: HAMBURG, Lowell Mason, (1792-1872)

One Sunday afternoon the young Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was complaining about the deplorable hymns that were sung at church. At that time, metered renditions of the Psalms were intoned by a cantor and then repeated (none too fervently, Watts would add) by the congregation. His father, the pastor of the church, rebuked him with "I'd like to see you write something better!" As legend has it, Isaac retired to his room and appeared several hours later with his first hymn, and it was enthusiastically received at the Sunday evening service the same night. Although the tale probably is more legend than fact, it does illustrate the point that the songs of the church need constant infusion of new life, of new generation's praises. Though "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" was intended originally as a communion hymn, it gives us plenty to contemplate during Lent as our focus is on the cross Christ.

Lowell Mason was an American music director and banker who was a leading figure in 19th-century American church music. Lowell composed over 1,600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His best-known work includes an arrangement of “Joy to the World” and the tune Bethany, which sets the hymn text "Nearer, My God, to Thee." Mason also set music to "Mary Had a Little Lamb." He is largely credited with introducing music into American public schools, and is considered the first important U.S. music educator. He has also been criticized for helping to largely eliminate the robust tradition of participatory sacred music that flourished in North America before his time. Lowell Mason composed HAMBURG (named after the German city) in 1824. The tune was published in the 1825 edition of Mason's Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music. Mason indicated that the tune was based on a chant in the first Gregorian tone.

HAMBURG is a very simple tune with only five tones; its simplicity allows us to focus entirely on the text.

Offertory: “The Serpent" Thomas Pavlechko

Born into a Slovak-Ukrainian family of organists, pianists, vocalists, accordionists and folk dancers, Thomas Pavlechko was dancing to the music of family polka bands at the age of 4, on the piano bench by age 6, playing tuba in the school band by 11, sneaking onto the church organ bench by 12, and earning five dollars a Sunday as a self-taught church organist by 15, a post once held by three of the eight relatives who are organists, including his mother. The family’s combined service as organists has topped a century and a half. He also began arranging music for small instrumental ensembles with the hopes of someday becoming a band director.

Pavlechko’s first hymn tune was sketched at a picnic table after a summer worship meeting in 1982. Two of his hymn tunes were published in 1994. Now 73 of his 107 hymn tunes are in print in denominational hymnals and hymn collections across four continents.

In 2002, the Churchwide Offices of the ELC in America appointed him to serve on the Liturgical Music Editorial Team to assist in choosing and editing the liturgical music for ELW, which also includes his own liturgical music settings and hymns.

So today we slither and hiss through Thomas Pavlechko‘s setting of text by Richard Leach.

Richard Leach is a leading contemporary writer of words for hymns. Using traditional forms, he creates striking new texts with biblical and theological integrity. His work is included in hymnals and hymnal supplements from a wide spectrum of denominations. Leach describes his writing in this way: "I often write in response to particular Bible passages. I try to tell familiar stories in new ways, or listen to less familiar passages for what they might say to us. I want my hymns to enliven those who sing, to give singers something new which they can make their own."

“What do you ssee?” the sserpent ssaid.
The woman answered “Death.”
“It is not death,” the sserpent ssaid,
“It surely is not death.”

“I see what God told us to see,”
The woman quickly said.
“Ssee what I ssay,” the sserpent ssaid.
“Ssee what I ssay,” it ssaid.

“What do you ssee?” the tempter ssaid,
The Savior answered, “Stone.”
“Must it be sstone?” the tempter ssaid,
“It surely could be bread.”

“Let it be stone,” the Savior said,
“For life is more than bread.
See what the scripture says,” he said,
“See what the scripture says.”

We see what we are told to see
Whom shall we listen to?
Give us the grace, O God, to see
What we are told by you.

Opening Voluntary: “Stockton,” Noel Rawsthorne (1929-2019)

The tune “Stockton,” by Thomas Wright, is most often found paired with the text “O For a Heart to Praise My God” and sometimes with “In Christ there is no East or West.”

Christopher Noel Rawsthorne was a British liturgical and concert organist and composer of music for his own instrument, as well as choral music. At the age of eight he became a chorister at Liverpool Parish Church which started his interest in the pipe organ. Two years later, he became a chorister at Liverpool Cathedral and started organ lessons under Caleb Jarvis.

In six years time he later pursued organ studies under Harold Dawber after receiving a coveted exhibition. In 1949, he later became the Assistant Organist of the cathedral, and also received Associateship of the Royal College of Organists (ARCO) and was later elected a fellow (FRCO) in 1953.

He also studied in Italy with Fernando Germani and later in Paris with Marcel Dupré. He became Organist of Liverpool Cathedral in 1955, succeeding Harry Goss-Custard, and served in this capacity until 1980. Until 1993, Rawsthorne was Senior Lecturer in Music at St Katharine's College, Liverpool.

Closing Voluntary: “Crucifer” Ronald Arnatt (1930-2018)

Ronald Arnatt was born and educated in England but emigrated to the United States. He was an organist, choir master, composer, teacher, mentor and music editor who served as music director at Christ Church Cathedral in St.Louis, MO for a quarter-century.

During March, Women’s History Month, we are celebrating each week the contribution women have made to our worship either in our hymns, anthems, preludes or postludes, through musical compositions and/or texts rooted in this history and culture.

For this Sunday our list includes the Opening Voluntary, the text of the Gathering Hymn and the Communion hymn tune.

Hymn of the Day: “Lord Christ, When First You Came to Earth” ELW 727
Text: W. Russell Bowie, (1882- 1969)
Tune: MIT FREUDEN ZART, medieval European tune

Though Percy Dearmer does not mention this when he discusses this hymn, 159 other hymnal companions say that F. W. Dwelly, dean of Liverpool Cathedral, requested it as "an Advent hymn in the Dies Irae mood" when he was serving as a consultant for Songs of Praise (London, 1931), where it first appeared. Russell Bowie, its author, said "it is an effort to express both the solemnity and inspiration of the thought of Christ coming into our modern world in judgment." Erik Routley and Paul Richardson title it "Dies Irae" and call it a "masterpiece" that tries "to say to this age what the Dies Irae said to former generations." It is one of the few remains of judgment in our hymnody. Even Hymns Selected and Original in 1828 had a metrical version of the Dies irae, though by the 1852 edition the stanza that began "Horrors, past imagination" had disappeared. It is probably not all bad that the Dies irae only finds a place among us in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century settings of the Requiem or where the fire of its theme needs on occasion to be invoked, but the absence among us of a sense of Rex tremendae majestatis for God who for us tends to be a perpetual celestial plaything leaves us bereft not only of God but of ourselves. This "masterpiece" fills some of the need. The version in Evangelical Lutheran Worship is from Lutheran Book of Worship (1978). It retains all four of Bowie's stanzas and updates the language for inclusivity and the vernacular in place of Elizabethan English.

Walter Russell Bowie was born in Richmond, Virginia, actually the fourth of his family to have the same name, and with family relationships among the First Families of Virginia. Nonetheless, he studied at Harvard University and as an undergraduate was co-editor of The Harvard Crimson with Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Bowie became known as a preacher as well as author and hymnist. Particularly in the 1920s, he advocated for what later become known as the Social Gospel: supporting the League of Nations, advocating US immigration reform, and opposing the Ku Klux Klan and Fundamentalism. From 1939 until 1950 he taught practical theology at Union Seminary in New York City and was dean of students there from 1946 until 1950. From 1950 until his retirement in 1955 he taught homiletics at Virginia Theological Seminary. He lectured widely, edited the Southern Churchman, was on the Commission of Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches, and was a member of the committee that prepared the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. He was considered by many the most important and influential preacher of the Episcopal Church in the twentieth century.

MIT FREUDEN ZART has some similarities to the French chanson "Une pastourelle gentille" (published by Pierre Attaingnant in 1529) and to GENEVAN 138. The tune was published in the Bohemian Brethren hymnal Kirchengesänge (1566) with Vetter's text "Mit Freuden zart su dieser Fahrt."

Splendid music for a great text, this tune is one of the great hymn tunes of the Reformation.

Offertory: “Order My Steps”, Glenn Burleigh (1949-2007) ( 1991, 2001, Burleigh Inspirations Music, Inc., permission to stream granted by Lavonne Burleigh)

Glenn Burleigh was born into a family of ministers. He was a renowned pianist, conductor, composer and clinician. Burleigh’s music has been performed in churches and on the classical concert stage, also making an appearance in the movie remake of “The Preacher’s Wife” starring Denzel Washington. Burleigh was best known for his ability to take disparate musical styles and weave them together.

“Order My Steps” is pure "black gospel.” One of the best-known titles in the genre, it is an ardent prayer for guidance filled with passion, energy, and rich sonorities.

Order my steps in Your Word, Dear Lord
Lead me, guide me every day
Send Your anointing, Father, I pray
Order my steps in Your Word.

Humbly I ask Thee, teach me Thy will
While You are working, help me be still
Satan is busy, God is real
Order my steps in Your Word.

I want to walk worthy
My calling to fulfill
Please order my steps Lord
And I'll do Your blessed will
The world is ever changing
But You are still the same
If You order my steps
I'll praise Your name.

Order my steps in Your word
Order my tongue in Your word
Guide my feet in Your word
Wash my heart in Your word
Show me how to walk in Your word
Show me how to talk in Your word
When I need a brand new song to sing
Show me how to let Your praises ring
In Your word.

Please order my steps in Your word.

Opening Voluntary: “Prelude and Canon on ‘O Gott du frommer Gott’” Ethel Smyth (1858-1944)

British composer Dame Ethel Mary Smyth was a composer, conductor, author, and Suffragette. Raised during the Victorian age, Smyth fought against societal restrictions that said a woman should not have a profession. She insisted on an education, she insisted on performances of her works, and she insisted on having her works published. Today Smyth should be heralded as a champion of women’s rights and a pioneer for women in the classical music world, but she is still relatively unknown.

Between 1880 and 1930, she published two sets of lieder, several songs for voice and piano or chamber ensemble, numerous chamber pieces, two symphonic works, six operas, a mass, and a choral symphony. Today we also know of her unpublished works for solo piano, organ, and various chamber ensembles. In addition to composing, Smyth was also a devoted letter-writer, and she turned to writing memoirs and essays later in her life, publishing ten volumes of prose between 1919 and 1940.

During her lengthy career in which she frequently traveled between England, Germany, and Italy, Smyth came to know Brahms, Clara Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Bruno Walter, and more. She informally performed for Queen Victoria, and she was friends with the ex-Empress Eugenie of France and the Princesse de Polignac, Winnaretta Singer. In the last decades of her life she formed strong friendships with Edith Somerville and Virginia Woolf.

Although Smyth became known for her proclivity for relationships, she maintained an independent life. Recognizing that the 19th-century idea of marriage was not compatible with a career or her personal inclinations, she wrote in a letter to her mother that “even if I were to fall desperately in love with BRAHMS and he were to propose to me, I should say no!” At the time she claimed that it would end any chances of a career, and later she argued that she was too independent. Both reasons are probably true, but Smyth could never be with only one person. She was unabashedly attracted to women while also maintaining a long-term, long-distance relationship with Henry Bennet Brewster (1850-1908) that lasted from 1884 until his death.

Closing Voluntary: “Cwm Rhondda”, J. Bert Carlson (1937-2017)

CWM RHONDDA, taken from the Welsh name for the Rhondda Valley, is a popular hymn tune written by John Hughes. It is usually sung in English as a setting for William Williams' text Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer or, in some traditions, Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. The tune and hymn are often called Bread of Heaven because of a line in the English translation.

Pastor J. Bert Carlson ministered to many congregations for over 50 years in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Indiana. He was also an accomplished musician and published composer.

During February, Black History Month, we are celebrating each week the contribution African Americans have made to our worship either in our hymns, anthems, preludes or postludes, through musical compositions and/or texts rooted in this history and culture.

For this final Sunday our music list includes the Hymn of the Day and Communion hymns.

Hymn of the Day: “We’ve Come This Far By Faith” (ELW 633)
Text: Albert A. Goodson, 1933-2003
Tune: THIS FAR BY FAITH, Albert A. Goodson

In the mid-twentieth century, Chicago was a major hub of African American gospel music with the presence of composer and publisher of African American gospel music Kenneth Morris and gospel performers Sallie Martin (1896-1988), Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993), Roberta Martin (1907-1969), Mahalia Jackson, James Cleveland (1931-1991), and others. Albert A. Goodson was one of the gospel artists that established Los Angeles as a center of gospel music in the African American tradition.

The first publication of the song was as a choral octavo in 1956. The first album released by Voices of Hope in 1960 included Goodson’s “We’ve Come This Far by Faith” under the direction of Thurston G. Frazier. Though Frazier is listed as the arranger of the music as found in Songs of Zion, one will recognize his influence only on the choral parts.

African American gospel music scholar Horace Clarence Boyer indicates the significance of this hymn in African American worship by observing that many congregations in this era began worship with “We’ve Come This Far by Faith” as the processional and concluded worship with Thomas A. Dorsey’s “God Be with You”. The song was composed during the brief time after Goodson moved from Los Angeles to Chicago: “I was living in Chicago, alone. I was never married, and I didn’t have a relative or a close friend in that city. I became very discouraged. One day, during a depressed state, I sat down at the piano in a friend’s home and began to play a melody running through my mind. As I played the Lord seemed to speak to me saying, ‘We’ve come this far by faith. . .’”

A composer of other songs, Goodson was surprised at the song’s success: “I never thought my song would be a hit, because it sounded like a Sunday School song to me. But it just seemed to take immediately. People started singing it everywhere. I just couldn’t believe it. . . . And I’ve written other songs but they have never done what that song has done.

Finally, the song has had “crossover” appeal with white congregations in a gospel quartet version. Earlier, this hymn appeared only in African American hymnals. It now is included in recent mainline hymnals such as Chalice Hymnal (1995), Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), Glory to God (2013), and the bilingual hymnal Santo, Santo, Santo / Holy, Holy, Holy (2019).

Organ Voluntaries: “Aberystwyth”
Opening: Gerald Near (1942)
Closing: Healey Willan (1880–1968)

Aberystwyth" is a hymn tune composed by Joseph Parry, written in 1876 and first published in 1879 in Edward Stephen's Ail Lyfr Tonau ac Emynau. Parry was at the time the first professor and head of the new department of music at the recently founded University College Wales, Aberystwyth, now called Aberystwyth University. “ABERYSTWYTH”, most often set to “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” is used in over 300 hymnals world wide.

Gerald Near, one of the foremost composers of church music writing today, first studied theory and composition with Leslie Bassett, organ with Robert Glasgow, and conducting with Elizabeth Green at the University of Michigan. He later returned for graduate study in composition with Dominick Argento and conducting with Thomas Lancaster at the University of Minnesota. In 1982 Near was one of the first recipients of a McKnight Foundation Fellowship. That year also saw the performance of two commissioned works for the AGO National Convention in Washington, DC. The following year he moved to Dallas, where he was appointed organist/choirmaster, and subsequently, Canon Precentor of St. Matthew’s Cathedral.

James Healey Willan was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. Willan composed some 800 musical pieces, the majority sacred works for choir such as anthems, hymns and mass settings. He is best known for his church music.

Willan’ s works show evidence of his love for plainsong and Renaissance music. For example, many of his liturgical compositions employ western church modes from a thousand years ago and the modality and harmony of late nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox music. His lines are significantly more melismatic, more contrapuntal and rhythmically much freer than was the case in the liturgical music of his contemporaries. His is an individual and original voice within a basically traditional English style.

When the Order of Canada was established in 1967, it named Willan a Companion. In Britain, it was customary for the Archbishop of Canterbury to occasionally grant very distinguished English cathedral musicians the Lambeth Doctorate, Mus. D Cantuar; in 1956 Willan, "the Dean of Canadian composers" became the first non-English church musician to be so honored; subsequently, many Canadian universities followed suit. Willan was one of the first Canadian musicians to appear on a Canadian postage stamp. It was not lost on young Canadian musicians that Willan was able to make his livelihood as a composer, and that being a composer was something to which they might realistically aspire. Willan would describe his provenance "English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction; Scotch by absorption”.

There are 99 published chorale preludes by Healey Willan, however most of them are not Lutheran in origin.

Offertory: “Let Nothing Ever Grieve Thee” Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Brahms's “Sacred Song” (Geistliches Lied) Op. 30 was composed in 1856 and takes the form of a double canon setting a text by Paul Fleming (1609–1640), starting with the line 'Let nothing ever grieve thee'. The English translation is by Walter E. Buszin who notes that there is much similarity between this work and the composer's German Requiem.

Let nothing ever grieve thee, distress thee, nor fret thee; heed God's good will, my soul, be still, compose thee.
Why brood all day in sorrow? tomorrow will bring thee God's help benign and grace sublime in mercy.
Be true in all endeavor, and ever do bravely; what God decrees brings joy and peace, He'll stay thee.
Amen.

During February, Black History Month, we are celebrating each week the contribution African Americans have made to our worship either in our hymns, anthems, preludes or postludes, through musical compositions and/or texts rooted in this history and culture.

Today our music list includes the Opening Voluntary, Hymn of the Day and Communion hymns.

HYMN OF THE DAY: “I WANT JESUS TO WALK WITH ME”, ELW 325
TEXT: African American Spiritual
TUNE: SOJOURNER

The tune, called Sojourner, is named for Isabella Baumfree, a New York slave who escaped and then began to preach, sing, and advocate for women’s rights. She took the name Sojourner Truth. Also known as I Want Jesus to Walk with Me, the spiritual is a communal lament whose author and composer are unknown. Some think this may be one of the “white spirituals” which thrived for more than two hundred years in the rural Appalachian culture.

OFFERTORY: "According to Thy Gracious Word" Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mark Schweizer, arr. (1956-2019)

A wonderful motet/anthem arranged by Mark Schweizer from Mozart with a text by James Montgomery.

A native of Florida, Mark Schweizer received music degrees from Stetson University in Deland, Florida and the University of Arizona including a doctoral degree in vocal performance. He returned to teach at Stetson University from 1982 to 1985 followed by eight years on the music faculty of Louisiana College. Mark lived in North Carolina where he served as editor of St. James Music Press. He is the author of fifteen “Liturgical Mystery” novels, as well as other books, and several opera and musical librettos. His published musical compositions can be found in the catalogs of Concordia Publishing House, H.T. Fitzsimmons, Lorenz, Selah Publishing, Musik Fabrik, and St. James Music Press.

According to Thy gracious word, In deep humility
This will I do, my loving Lord, I will remember Thee.
Thy body broken for my sake, My bread from heaven shall be;
The cup, Thy precious blood I take, And thus remember Thee.

When to the cross I turn mine eyes, And rest on Calvary,
O Lamb of God, my sacrifice, I must remember Thee;
And when these failing lips grow dumb, And mind and memory flee,
When Thou shalt in Thy kingdom come, Jesus, remember me.

OPENING VOLUNTARY "Liebster Jesu" from Three Pieces for Organ, George Walker (1922-2018)

George Walker, a Pulitzer Prize winning composer, began to study composition seriously after graduating from Oberlin College. After having been accepted at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia to study piano with Rudolf Serkin, he was accepted into the composition class of Sosario Scalero, teacher of Samuel Barber and Gian-Carlo Menotti. He completed his first string quartet before embarking on a career as a concert pianist. In 1956 he became the first black recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Eastman School of Music. Although his degree was in piano (he never studied composition at the Eastman School), he composed his Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, Second Piano Sonata, and Sonata for Cello and Piano while residing in Rochester, New York. In 1957, as a Fulbright Fellow in piano, he continued to compose under the guidance of Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Returning to the United States in 1958, he began to amass a catalog of more than 70 published works that have been performed by renowned ensembles and conductors throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Three Pieces for Organ were composed in the early sixties for use in traditional church services - the slow, aspiring lines of the “Elevation” for communion, the chorale, “Liebster Jesu, wir Sind Hier” as an offertory and the “Invokation” as a prelude to the service. The Lutheran chorale, representing the Protestant tradition of the chorale prelude, is characterized by contrapuntal lines and a canonic treatment of one of the phrases of the chorale melody.

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Southwell, J. Bert Carlson (1937-2017)

The tune, SOUTHWELL is found in many hymnals and most often paired with the text “Lord Jesus, think on me,” by Synesius of Cyrene, Bishop of Ptolemais. The tune was composed by William Daman (1540-1591), a foreign composer resident in England. There are a few conflicting reports on his origins, but contemporary London records describe him as an Italian from Lucca, Italy who arrived in England circa 1566 as a servant of Sir Thomas Sackville. In 1576 he became a recorder player at the Court of Elizabeth I.

Pastor Carlson ministered to many congregations for over 50 years in NJ, PA and IN. He was also an accomplished musician and published composer.

Our SERVICE MUSIC has changed, and for Lent we sing an assortment chosen from the ELW and ACS hymns in addition to music from Setting Five.

Holy, Holy, Holy (ELW 190)

The Deutsche Messe stems from a tradition of low masses, settings of religious texts in vernacular languages in Austria and southern Germany. Schubert’s Deutsche Messe (German Mass), D 872, is a hymn-cycle written in 1827. Schubert intended it for usage in Catholic church service. Initially, censorship prevented this from taking place; it was not approved for liturgical use. The work has since gained popularity, and has been translated into other languages. Richard Proulx arranged this version in English.

Lamb of God (ACS 960)

Petri Laaksonen's (1962) is a freelance singer and composer from Turku, Finland, who has had several albums published from the 1990s to the present. His career started as a composer writing for other artists and his first ever released song was Finland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. Among his compositions there is gospel music as well as pop and schlager albums. He has also continued to write songs for other artists.

You might also find this interesting about the Communion hymn:

“I’m Going on a Journey” ELW 446
TEXT: Kenneth D. Larkin (1929-2011)
TUNE: WET SAINTS, Edward Valentine Bonnemère, (1921-1996)

The text of this hymn, written by Kenneth D. Larkin, gives us a narrative sketch of the Christian life to which baptism leads—a journey begun with Christ's wet mark, on the individual, in community, forgiven, God going before, with the community's support and nurture. The hymn and its tune were written for the consecration of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Manhattan on the second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 1978. The author and composer wrote them "not [to] be a dedication of bricks and mortar, but rather a rededication of the people," which is why the baptismal theme is there and why the tune is called WET SAINTS. Larkin says that "as the hymn was being sung, a water pipe to the baptismal font broke and there were, indeed, some wet saints as the people tiptoed through the water."

Kenneth Larkin is a retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Edward Valentine Bonnemère, known professionally as Eddie Bonnemère, was an African-American jazz pianist as well as a Catholic church musician and composer. His "Missa Hodierna" became in 1965 the first Jazz Mass ever used in a Catholic church in the United States.

During February, Black History Month, we are celebrating each week the contribution African Americans have made to our worship either in our hymns, anthems, preludes or postludes, through musical compositions and/or texts rooted in this history and culture.

Today we hear and sing the tune “McKee,” for the Opening Voluntary and Gathering Hymn: the first, a quiet and delicate meditation for piano solo by Justin McCarthy and the second a setting of the African American spiritual adapted as a hymn by Harry T. Burleigh. Let’s raise the roof!

Hymn of the Day: “How Good, Lord, to Be Here!” (ELW 315)
Text: Joseph Armitage Robinson (1858-1933)
Tune: POTSDAM, W. Mercer (1811-1873) The Church Psalter and Hymn Book

Dean of Westminster since 1902, graduate of Christ College, Cambridge, Fellow of his College, Norrisian Professor of Divinity, Cambridge, Rector of St. Margaret, Westminster, and Canon of Westminster, J. Armitage Robinson was an English scholar who wrote extensively about the New Testament, the early church and the cathedral at Wells. He is only slightly associated with hymnology. His hymn, "'Tis good, Lord, to be here” was written c. 1890. It was included in the 1904 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern, and supplies a long felt want with respect to hymns on the Transfiguration.

The tune, POTSDAM, first appeared in William Mercer's The Church Psalter and Hymn Book (Sheffield, 1854). It was derived in a novel way—by adapting the fugue subject of J. S. Bach's (#310) Fugue IX from Volume II of The Well-tempered Clavier (BWV870-893) and repeating it four times: beginning on the tonic for the first phrase, repeating it a fifth higher for the second, beginning on the third for the third phrase, and repeating it again on the tonic for the fourth. The only changes are in the third phrase where starting on the third modifies the intervals and where the meter requires two more syllables than the other phrases. There G sharp and A were added at the end of the phrase, emphasizing the dominant and making the singers long for the tonic's return as if the tune actually had gone somewhere. These two notes may also be attributable to Bach who did the very same thing in measures 26 to 27 of the fugue. The name POTSDAM comes from the city Bach visited in 1747 where, at the bidding of Frederick the Great, he improvised on a theme the king gave him and then went home and turned it into what became The Musical Offering. (Though the tune is ingenious and congregational, there is no little irony here. The theme and complexity of The Musical Offering, which stand behind the name of the tune, bear no relation to the tune itself.) Except for the two notes added to the third phrase, the tune in its overly simple and undeveloped character bears no relation to the musical interest Bach developed in the fugue from which it is derived in The Well-Tempered Clavier.

The usual assumption is that William Mercer adapted Bach's fugue subject and created the tune. He was born in northeastern England in Durham and went to Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1840 he became the incumbent at St. George's, Sheffield, and served the church faithfully for the next thirty-three years until his death. His church was full, and he led it to set up both day and Sunday schools. With John Goss's (#318) musical assistance he edited The Church Psalter and Hymn Book, where this tune appeared. This book was first published in 1854 and included the Psalms and Canticles, four hundred metrical psalms with chants and tunes, "for congregations and families." It went through multiple versions with additions in twenty-two different forms from 1854 until 1872. Of it John Julian says this: "For many years this collection was at the head of all the hymn-books in the Church of England, both in circulation and influence. Its large admixture of Wesleyan hymns, and of translations from the German gave it a distinct character of its own, and its grave and solemn music was at one time exceedingly popular." By 1864 it had sold one hundred thousand copies. Hymns Ancient and Modern took its place.

It could be asked if John Goss, the assisting musician of The Church Psalter and Hymn Book, was the one who constructed POTSDAM. He surely knew the Bach fugue, how to use repetition, and how to move to the dominant in a congregational tune. The melody nonetheless seems a bit too simple for a sensitive musician like Goss, who composed one of the Victorian gems, PRAISE, MY SOUL (#318). Furthermore, according to the preface of The Church Psalter and Hymn Book Goss's role was to harmonize the tunes that Mercer chose (and which, Mercer notes, Goss approved). Mercer knew what he was doing (as an editor, not necessarily as a hymn writer), and he appreciated Bach. He may well have constructed this tune, possibly with his "able Organist, Mr. Phillips, whose skill on his instrument is only equalled by his exact taste" and whom Mercer thanked "for his kindness in rendering me assistance, whenever required.”

Offertory: "Arise, Shine" Alan Lewis

A native both of the Episcopal Church and of Southern California, Alan holds degrees in organ performance and music history from Oberlin College & Conservatory of Music in Ohio. He returned to California for graduate work as a Mellon Fellow in the Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley; his doctoral research into the sacred vocal music of the Renaissance resulted in a dissertation on the motets of Nicolas Gombert, one of the prominent Flemish composers of the mid-sixteenth century. While completing his doctoral studies, Dr. Lewis joined the faculty of the (Episcopal) Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, lecturing in Church Music and directing the Chapel Music for six years. He also served as the Music Director for Episcopal congregations. He is a passionate advocate for excellence in the Church's musical offerings, old and new. He currently serves as Director of Music, Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to his work at Calvary, Alan is the choral music reviewer for the Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, and serves as Sub-dean of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land,
deep gloom shrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise,
and his glory will appear upon you.
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and your God will be your glory.
Arise, shine!

Opening Voluntary: “McKee” Justin McCarthy

MC KEE has an interesting history. According to a letter from Charles V. Stanford to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (who arranged the tune for piano in his Twenty-Four Negro Melodies, 1905), MC KEE was originally an Irish tune taken to the United States and adapted by African American slaves. It became associated with the spiritual "I Know the Angels Done Changed My Name," which appeared in J. B. T. Marsh's The Story of the Jubilee Singers with their Songs (1876). Harry T. Burleigh arranged the tune to fit the text by John Oxenham (aka William Arthur Dunkerley) in 1939. As a setting for that text, the tune was published in The Hymnal 1940. Burleigh named the tune after Elmer M. Mc Kee, rector of St. George's Episcopal Church, New York, where Burleigh was the baritone soloist from 1894-1946.

Burleigh began his musical career as a choirboy in St. Paul's Cathedral, Erie, Pennsylvania. He also studied at the National Conservatory of Music, New York City, where he was befriended by Anton Dvorak and, according to tradition, provided Dvorak with some African American musical themes that became part of Dvorak's New World Symphony. Burleigh composed at least two hundred works but is most remembered for his vocal solo arrangements of African American spirituals. In 1944 Burleigh Was honored as a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.

Closing Voluntary: "Trumpet Tune in C” David N Johnson (1922-1987)

"Trumpet Tune in C” Is an energetic piece written in baroque style. this melody sounds centuries old, but is completely original.

David Nathaniel Johnson was a composer, organist, and college lecturer, who studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and held positions at Syracuse University, St. Olaf College, and Arizona State University. His most famous piece is “Trumpet Tune in D Major”, however, the majestic “Trumpet Tune in C” which is slightly lesser known is a wonderful composition also. Johnson is also known for his hymn tune Earth and All Stars.

During February, Black History Month, we are celebrating each week the contribution African Americans have made to our worship either in our hymns, anthems, preludes or postludes, through musical compositions and/or texts rooted in this history and culture.

Today’s Opening Voluntary is an organ work by Florence Price.

Hymn of the Day: “God, Whose Almighty Word” ELW 673
Text: John Marriott (1780-1825)
Tune: ITALIAN HYMN, MOSCOW, Felice Giardini (1716-1796)

John Marriott was educated at Rugby, and Christ Church, Oxford. He was the second of two who obtained honors in the schools in 1802, the first year in which there was a public examination for honors at Oxford. He was also Student of Christ Church, and for about two years a private tutor in the family of the Duke of Buccleuch. The Duke presented him to the Rectory of Church Lawford, Warwickshire. This he retained to his death, although his wife's health compelled him to reside in Devonshire, where he was successively curate of St. Lawrence and other parishes in Exeter, and of Broadclyst, near Exeter, where he died March 31, 1825. His published works include a volume of Sermons which he issued in 1818, and a posthumous volume of Sermons, published by his sons in 1838. His hymns were never published by himself, nor in book form by any one. A few appeared in print during his lifetime, but without his permission.

The hymn, “Thou Whose almighty word”, or "Thou Whose eternal word," was quoted by the Rev. Thomas Mortimer, M.A., Lecturer of St. Olave's, Southwark, and afternoon Lecturer at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, at the meeting of the London Missionary Society in Great Queen Street Chapel, London, and was printed with a digest of the speech in the Evangelical Magazine in 1825. It was probably copied from the Magazine into the Friendly Visitor of July, 1825, where it bore the title "Missionary Hymn," without signature.

Felice Giardini was born in Italy. When young, he studied singing, harpsichord and violin. By age 12 he was playing in theatre orchestras. In a famous incident about this time, Giardini, who was serving as assistant concertmaster during an opera, decided to show off his skills by improvising several bravura variations that the composer, Nicolò Jommelli, had not written. Although the audience applauded loudly, Jommelli, who happened to be there, went up and slapped Giardini in the face. Giardini, years later, remarked: "It was the most instructive lesson I ever received from a great artist." He became a composer and violin virtuoso. He toured Europe as a violinist, considered one of the greatest musical artists of his time. He served as orchestra leader and director of the Italian Opera in London, giving concerts. He tried to run a theatre in Naples, but encountered adversity. He went to Russia, but had little fortune there, where he died.

Giardini was a prolific composer, writing for virtually every genre which then existed. His two main areas, however, were opera and chamber music. Virtually all of his music is out of print with the exception of a few songs and works of chamber music. Giardini is known among Christian churches for his "Italian Hymn" or "Moscow", which often accompanies the text to the hymn "Come, Thou Almighty King" and also John Marriott's hymn "Thou whose almighty word".

Offertory: “Christ Is the World’s True Light” William Stanton (1891-1978)

The text, Christ is the World’s True Light, was penned in 1931 by George Wallace Briggs, a Canon of Worchester Cathedral. He wrote this text as a "missionary hymn" to emphasize one of the concepts of modern missions: “In Christ all races meet.” It was published in the Advent section of Oxford's Songs of Praise (1931) and in Briggs's Songs of Faith (1945), in which it was entitled "The Light of the World." The text begins by affirming Christ's own saying, "I am the Light of the world" (John 8: 12). Christ is the light and daystar who brings his people salvation from the darkness of sin. Borrowing one of Paul's memorable teachings in Galatians 3:28 and Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17, the text confesses the essential unity of all humanity and especially the oneness of the family of God. Only when the nations and all peoples submit to Christ's reign will our "groaning" world experience true peace and redemption.

Walter Kendall Stanton was educated at Choristers' School, Salisbury before undertaking an Organ Scholarship at Lancing College and was then at Merton College, Oxford, between 1909 and 1913. He was Director of Music at St. Edward's School, Oxford, from 1915-1924, and later at Wellington College, Berkshire from 1924-1937, and Reading University from 1927-1937. He was also Director of Music for the Midlands Region of the BBC from 1937-1945. He was Professor of Music at the University of Bristol from 1947 until 1958.From 1956 to 1958, he served as City Organist for the City of Bristol. From 1958 until 1960, he was Conductor of the Bristol Choral Society. Professor Stanton was active in a number of musical societies, and was President of the Incorporated Society of Musicians in 1953, as well as its treasurer from 1959 until 1971. He also served as President of the Union of Graduates in Music from 1953-1957. Professor Stanton was also examiner in Music for the Universities of Oxford, Durham and Edinburgh and the University of Wales. He was on the Management Board of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and served as its chairman from 1967-1968. As well as his numerous commitments to musical societies, he was Editor-in-Chief of the BBC Hymn Book.

Christ is the world's true light,
its Captain of salvation,
the Daystar clear and bright
of every land and nation;
new life, new hope awakes,
for all who own its sway:
freedom her bondage breaks,
and night is turned to day.

In Christ all races meet,
their ancient feuds forgetting,
the whole round world complete,
from sunrise to its setting:
when Christ is throned as Lord,
all shall forsake their fear,
to plough-share beat the sword,
to pruning hook the spear.

One Lord, in one great name
unite us all who own thee;
cast out our pride and shame
that hinder to enthrone thee;
the world has waited long,
has travailed long in pain;
to heal its ancient wrong,
come, Prince of Peace, and reign.

Opening Voluntary: “Adoration” Florence B. Price (1887-1953)

In 2009 a dusty treasure was uncovered during the renovation of a dilapidated home in St. Anne, Illinois. Workers discovered boxes containing music by Florence B. Price previously considered lost, including two violin concertos and her fourth symphony. Although the quality of her compositions was recognized during her lifetime, her works were not widely heard. Writing to Serge Koussevitzky, the conductor of the Boston Symphony, she plainly addressed the prejudice that stunted her career, “I have two handicaps – those of sex and race. I am a woman; and I have some Negro blood in my veins.” Now, 70 years later, the labor of activists, scholars, and performers has changed the musical landscape of the United States, and Price’s music is frequently heard in orchestra halls across the nation.

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price studied organ and piano at the New England Conservatory of Music, one of the only music institutions of the time that admitted Black students. She taught music at Black-serving institutions in the South after graduating. In 1912 she married and moved back to Little Rock. However, her hometown was not safe, and threats of racial violence compelled the family to flee to Chicago in 1927. Inspired by the culturally rich Black community in Chicago, Price renewed her study of music at the American Conservatory and the Chicago Musical College.

In 1932, she won the Wanamaker competition with her Symphony in E Minor, thus gaining national recognition. She is best known as a song composer, however, including her arrangement of the spiritual “My Soul’s been Anchored in de Lord” and a setting of Langston Hughes’ poem “Songs to the Dark Virgin.” Marian Anderson frequently sang her works and adopted Price’s arrangement of “My Soul’s been Anchored in de Lord” as a personal signature, often ending recitals with that spiritual. Price’s compositions combine a romantic vocabulary with African and African American musical traditions such as call and response and Juba dance rhythm patterns.

Published in 1951, Adoration was initially written as a short piece for organ in ABA form intended for use in church. It has proven attractive for arrangers, including Jim Gray, who has orchestrated it for solo violin and string orchestra.

Closing Voluntary: St. Denio (Immortal, Invisible) J. Bert. Carlson

“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" is a Christian hymn with words by the Free Church of Scotland minister, Walter Chalmers Smith, usually sung to the tune, "St. Denio", originally a Welsh ballad tune, which became a hymn. ST. DENIO is based on "Can mlynedd i nawr" ("A Hundred Years from Now"), a traditional Welsh ballad popular in the early nineteenth century.

Pastor J. Bert Carlson ministered to many congregations for over 50 years in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Indiana. He was also an accomplished musician and published composer.

Hymn of the Day: “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise” ELW 310
Text: Christopher Wordsworth, 1807–1885, alt.
Tune: SALZBURG, Jakob Hintze, 1622–1702; arr. Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685–1750

Christopher Wordsworth, nephew of the great Romantic poet William Wordsworth, wrote this hymn in five stanzas. It was published in his Holy Year (1862) John 3:13-17 with the heading "Sixth Sunday after Epiphany." Wordsworth described the text as follows:

"[It is a] recapitulation of the successive manifestations of Christ, which have already been presented in the services of the former weeks throughout the season of Epiphany; and anticipation of that future great and glorious Epiphany, at which Christ will be manifest to all, when he will appear again to judge the world."

The didactic text teaches the meaning of Epiphany–the manifestation of Christ in his birth (st. 1), baptism, miracle at Cana (st. 2), healing of the sick, power over evil, and coming as judge (st. 3). Originally the refrain line was "Anthems be to thee addressed, God in man made manifest." The revised refrain borrows Peter's confession, "You are the Christ!" (Mark 8:29), and makes that our corporate confession as we acknowledge the 'Word become flesh" who lived among us.

Wordsworth was a prolific author and the most renowned Greek scholar of his day. Included in his works are Memoirs of William Wordsworth (1851), Commentary on the Mole Bible (1856-1870), Church History (1881-1883), innumerable sermons and pamphlets, and The Holy Year (1862), which contained 117 of his original hymns as well as 82 others written for all the Sundays and Christian holy days according to the Book of Common Prayer. Wordsworth was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, where he distinguished himself as a brilliant student. He later taught at Trinity College and was headmaster of Harrow School (1836-1844). Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1835, he was canon of Westminster in 1844, a country priest in Stanford-in-the-Vale, Berkshire (1850-1869), and then Bishop of Lincoln (1869-1885).

The tune SALZBURG, named after the Austrian city made famous by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was first published anonymously in the nineteenth edition of Praxis Pietatis Melica (1678); in that hymnbook's twenty-fourth edition (1690) the tune was attributed to Jakob Hintze. Partly as a result of the Thirty Years' War and partly to further his musical education, Hintze traveled widely as a youth, including trips to Sweden and Lithuania. In 1659 he settled in Berlin, where he served as court musician to the Elector of Brandenburg from 1666 to 1695. Hintze is known mainly for his editing of the later editions of Johann Crüger's Praxis Pietatis Melica, to which he contributed some sixty-five of his original tunes.

Offertory: “Laudate Nomen Domini” Christopher Tye (1505-1572)

The musical source for this well-known piece is Tye’s 1553 publication The Actes of the Apostles, a rendering of that New Testament book in metrical verse together with a musical setting for each chapter. The music for ‘Laudate nomen’ is the setting for Chapter 4 in Tye’s version; however, the Latin text with which the music is now generally associated is a later anonymous contrafactum, or substitute text, being a paraphrase of the first verse of Psalm 112; an English translation of this, beginning ‘O come, ye servants of the Lord’, is also frequently encountered.

Laudate nomen Domini, vos servi Domini;
ab ortu solis usque ad occasum ejus.
Decreta Dei justa sunt, et cor exhilarant:
laudate Deum principes et omnes populi.

Translation:

Praise the name of the Lord, you servants of the Lord;
from the rising of the sun until the same setting.
The decrees of the Lord are just, and [their] heart is glad:
Praise the Lord you princes and all you people.

Opening Voluntary: “In dir ist Freude” Theodore Beck (1929-2003)

The chorale tune, IN DIR IST FREUDE, was composed by Giovanni G. Gastoldi (1582-1609) who served as a deacon and singer in the chapel of the Gonzaga family in Mantua. Gastoldi composed a considerable body of court music, such as madrigals, and some church music, but he is best known for his Balletti, which influenced composers such as Monteverdi, Hassler, and Morley.

The earliest record of this text is found in Johannes Lindemann’s 1594 collection of 20 Christmas carols appearing as the German sacred text replacing Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi’s Italian secular text from a collection of vocal dance songs. No wonder this chorale invites one to dance!

Theodore A. “Ted” Beck taught and composed music for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod for more than 50 years and is remembered as a quiet and humble man who had a wry sense of humor and was a demanding but kind teacher. He taught music at Concordia Teachers College (which became Concordia University in 1998) in Seward, Nebraska, from 1953 until his full retirement in 2001. He also composed many pieces for organ as well as for church choirs. He taught at Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University-Chicago) in River Forest, Ill., from 1950-1953.

Closing Voluntary: “Hyfrydol” Ralph Vaughn Williams

The tune "Hyfrydol", which means "cheerful" in Welsh, was first published in 1830 by Rowland H. Prichard. He was a Welsh composer born in 1811 just outside of Bala, North Wales; Graenyn, North Wales to be exact. The tune is often set to Charles Wesley's hymn text, "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling", Ralph Vaughn Williams' "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus", and William C. Dix's "Alleluia! Sing to Jesus".

The tune HYFRYDOL, which means "cheerful" in Welsh, was first published in 1830 by Rowland H. Prichard. He was a Welsh composer born in 1811 just outside of Bala, North Wales, where he lived for most of his life serving as a loom tender's assistant in Holywell, North Wales where he eventually would pass away in 1887. It wasn't until 1844 that Prichard published his only known work Cyfaill Y Cantorion (The Singer's Friend). His most famous tune was HYFRYDOL, which is most commonly used with "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus." The best known arrangement came from none other than English Composer Ralph Vaughn Williams. Vaughn Williams was known for his adaptations on several original hymn tunes, creating new arrangements for wind bands and for brass bands all across England.

In 1954, the 82-year old Ralph Vaughan Williams was taken to hear The International Staff Band. He was suitably impressed and agreed to write something which the Salvation Army could publish. The result was Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes, for which he re-worked and expanded material that had originally been published as two organ preludes – Calfaria and Hyfrydol. The setting of Ebenezer at the start was new and sets the tone for a work which despite its brevity, is characteristically expansive and festive.

Hymn of the Day: Go to the World! ACS 991
Text: Sylvia G. Dunstan, 1955–1993
Tune: SINE NOMINE, Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872–1958

Sylvia Dunstan was a hymnwriter and a United Church of Canada pastor who died tragically of liver cancer at age thirty-eight. Alan Barthel, her mentor and collaborator, with less than a week’s notice commissioned a text built on the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) for the 1985 Emmanuel College (Toronto) Convocation. Written to Ralph Vaughan Williams’s expansive SINE NOMINE (“For all the saints”), it gives this beloved tune an alternate text pairing.

Offertory: “Grant Us Thy Peace” Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

The original text for Mendelssohn’s beautiful motet was Martin Luther’s prayer for peace, "Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich" ("Da nobis pacem, Domine"; also known as "Grant Us Thy Peace"). This composition has been published also as "Gebet nach Lutherschen Worten für Chor und Orchester" (librettist, Martin Luther). Mendelssohn originally scored the piece for SATB chorus, orchestra and Organ.

Grant us your peace, O loving Lord,
our Rock and firm foundation.
Our faith is in your excellent word,
speaking to every nation.
Your promise of sure salvation.

Opening Voluntary: “Let Us Ever Walk With Jesus”, Thomas Geischen (1931- 2006)

Thomas Geischen earned a B.S. in Education from Concordia Teachers College and a master’s and doctorate in music from Northwestern University.

Dr. Gieschen was a professor of music for 40 years at Concordia University in River Forest, where he served as department chair and head of the Music Department. He retired in 1993.

As Kapelle Choir director, he performed for President Lyndon Johnson at the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, on a world tour for the King of Thailand, and at Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

As founder of OrganArt, he created designs for church organs throughout the Midwest. He was also a published composer, arranger and organ recitalist, and a member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and the American Guild of Organists.
In his spare time, he was an amateur locksmith and harpsichord builder. He also designed and built his island summer home in Door County, Wis.

Closing Voluntary: "Morning Star” Wayne L. Wold (1954)

"Brightest and Best" (occasionally rendered by its first line, "Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning") is a Christian hymn text written in 1811 by the Anglican bishop Reginald Heber to be sung at the feast of Epiphany. It appeared in Heber's widow's compilation of hymns entitled Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Service of the Church Year in 1827. It can be sung to a number of tunes, including "Liebster Immanuel", "Morning Star" by James P. Harding, "Epiphany" by Joseph Thrupp, and "Star in the East" by William Walker. It appears in many hymnals across different Christian traditions. The Kentucky traditional singer Jean Ritchie often sang this and told of her childhood memory of her grandmother sitting by the fire and singing it quietly to herself on Twelfth Night; the Library of Congress collected it from her in 1951.

Wayne L. Wold taught at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, from 1990 to 2020 where he taught organ, harpsichord, composition, music theory, form and analysis, and humanities topics in the graduate school. Wold has performed widely on organ and harpsichord, with solo recitals across the United States and in Europe, and he has performed in ensembles including the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Frederick Symphony Orchestra, Bach in Baltimore Orchestra and Hood Chamber Players. He is also in demand as a hymn festival leader featuring his own improvisations. Wold has been a church musician since the age of sixteen, serving churches in Minnesota, Ohio, and Maryland, including seventeen years as director of chapel music at Camp David, the presidential retreat.

Hymn of the Day: “Will You Come and Follow Me?” ELW 798
Text: John Lamberton Bell (1949)
Tune: KELVINGROVE, traditional Scottish melody

Though he is not certain of it, John Bell is "fairly confident" that this text was written “for the sending out of one our youth volunteers. This was a scheme sponsored by the lona Community whereby young people gave a year or two to live in impoverished parts of Scotland, on the dole, and work out their discipleship in hard places. When they finished, my colleague and I would often write a song for their farewell ceremony always held in the house where they had been working. The words of this song therefore reflect the experience of the volunteer concerned. But we only wrote it for one-off use. It probably goes back to around 1986-87.” Bell then adds, "If I had kept a record of people who have spoken of how a particular line in this affected their life, I could have published a book of very moving testimonies by now, but I'm glad I didn't."

John Lamberton Bell is a Scottish hymn-writer and Church of Scotland minister. He is a member of the Iona Community, a broadcaster, and former student activist. He works throughout the world, lecturing in theological colleges in the UK, Canada and the United States, but is primarily concerned with the renewal of congregational worship at the grass roots level.

Kelvingrove is a place in Glasgow, Scotland, perhaps best known for the museum with that name. The tune that bears the name KELVINGROVE is a traditional Scottish one linked with a text by Thomas Lyle (1792-1859), "Let us haste to Kelvin Grove, bonnie lassie, O," published in The Scottish Minstrel (1811) as KELVIN WATER. Before that in the eighteenth century it was paired with "Bonnie Lassie-O (The Shearing's Nae for You)," which is about a young woman being raped. The tune, darkly, paradoxically, works very well with this text by John Bell, and one has to believe that the irony of such a tune for a story of rape was not lost on those who sang it in the eighteenth century.

Offertory: “Consecration” Frederick Chatfield

This is a lovely, compelling setting of Frances Havergal's hymn-text "Take my life and let it be." Here is how author Frances Havergal describes the events that inspired the writing of this hymn: “I went for a little visit of five days. There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for; some converted, but not rejoicing Christians. He gave me the prayer: ‘Lord, give me all in this house.’ And He just DID! Before I left the house everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit, after I had retired, the governess asked me to go to the two daughters. They were crying, etc. Then and there both of them trusted and rejoiced. It was nearly midnight. I was too happy to sleep, and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration; and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart one after another till they finished with ‘ever, only, all for Thee.’”

Frederick Chatfield has served as Director of Music and Organist of Christ United Methodist Church in Kettering, Ohio, a position he held for thirty years. Mr. Chatfield holds a Bachelor of Music in Organ from New England Conservatory in Boston and a Master of Arts in Religion (Music and Worship) cum laude from Yale University where he was named the 1985 Hugh Porter Scholar. One of his great enjoyments is his 1982 BMW R100RS motorcycle which he restored in the spring of 2006.

Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for Thee.

Opening Voluntary: “Prelude on MUNICH” Aaron David Miller

Aaron David Miller is noted for his highly imaginative and creative style, found in his performances, improvisations and compositions. Prize winner of several prestigious competitions, including the top prize at the AGO National Improvisation Competition, and the Bach and Improvisation prizes at the Calgary International Organ Festival Competition, he is also noted for his fine performances of repertoire spanning all periods. He has also received rave reviews when accompanying silent films. His recital performances have taken him across the country performing in concert halls, churches, and collaborating with ensembles of all sizes. Aaron serves as the Director of Music and Organist at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota and maintains an active recital schedule. He is a forensic musicologist for Donato Music in Scarsdale, NY.

Closing Voluntary: “Voluntary #4” Arlen Clarke (1954)

This is one of a group of 10 Voluntaries written during the COVID quarantine. Conductor, composer, and singer, Arlen Clarke was born in upstate New York. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Belhaven College in Jackson, MS. After a year of graduate study with Lloyd Pfautsch at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, he went on to receive his Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX. Upon completion of six years of active duty as an officer in the US Army he was a singer and later, the composer-in-residence during the1989-90 season at Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Kansas City, MO. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed to the post of Director of Choral Activities at his alma mater, Belhaven College. He currently lives in Greenville, SC and is the Director of Music at St. Mary's Catholic Church. In addition to composing, he maintains an active schedule as a conductor, singer and vocal coach, choral clinician, and adjudicator.

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