Music Notes

Hymn of the Day: ELW #365 Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
Tune: EASTER HYMN, J. Walsh, Lyra Davidica, (1708)
Text: Latin carol, 14th cent., sts. 1-3; tr. J. Walsh, Lyra Davidica, (1708), alt.; Charles Wesley (1707-1788), st.4

This version of the anonymous Latin hymn, "Surrexit Christus hodie," is first found in a scarce collection entitled: Lyra Davidica, or a Collection of Divine Songs and Hymns, partly new composed, partly translated from the High German and Latin Hymns and set to easy and pleasant tunes. London: J. Walsh, 1708. Nothing is known of the history of this collection but the character of its contents leads to the supposition that it was compiled by some Anglo-German of the pietist school of thought.

EASTER HYMN, an anonymous tune probably composed for the hymn text, originally appeared in the John Walsh collection Lyra Davidica (1708) as a rather florid tune. Tempered to its present version by John Arnold in his Compleat Psalmodist (1749), EASTER HYMN is now one of the best and most joyous Easter tunes.

Musical Reflection and Choir Anthem: Jubilate Deo, Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten’s 1961 Jubilate Deo, a setting of Psalm 100, was composed for St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. It is a spirited, joyous work. The organ music is filled with runs and detached, staccato notes, almost like birdsong. The choral parts are presented antiphonally, with sopranos and tenors answered by the altos and basses. The lines are almost unison, but the upper voice in each pairing has a slightly more ornamented line. A middle section is more hushed and introspective, but the joyful music quickly returns and the piece ends with a brilliant “Amen.”

O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands:
serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song.
Be ye sure that the Lord he is God:
it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his children and the sheep of his pasture.
O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise;
be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name.
For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting,
and his truth endureth from generation to generation.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Organ Voluntary: Toccata in D Minor “Dorian”, BWV 538, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The Toccata in D minor, BWV 538, is an organ piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. BWV 538 bears the title Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, although it is often referred to by the nickname Dorian – a reference to the fact that the piece is written without a key signature – a notation that leads one to assume the Dorian mode. It is nearly monothematic, opening with a motoric sixteenth-note motif that continues almost uninterrupted to the end of the piece, and includes unusually elaborate concertato effects. Bach even notates manual changes for the organist, an unusual practice in the day as well as in Bach's organ output.