A Look at November Worship Music

We open the month with one of the most beautiful Sundays in our year: All Saints Sunday. This is the day where we honor those who have passed away in the previous year and have become saints. The saints look down from Heaven and continue to be in our hearts. We traditionally have the bell choir ring the All-Saints roll call; after each name a bell dings. The Choir will present a special anthem called Entertain the Angels, which reminds us about God’s call to take care of those less fortunate than ourselves. This also matches our Commitment Sunday theme, as we think about all the good FPC does in the city and world. We will also sing a traditional All Saints Hymn, For All the Saints, or known by its tune name, Sine Nomine. This hymn was written by Thomas Tertius Noble who served for over 40 years as Organist and Choir Master at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City. This hymn is known for its running pedal line, making it one of the most difficult in hymnody for the organist.

On November 10th, we will focus on Psalm 23, as we consider David and his output of psalms. Psalm 23 is of course the most famous psalm and used frequently for funerals and other special services. There are numerous settings of this text in hymn and anthem form. We will sing two famous settings of it as a hymn. The first is the King of Love My Shepherd is based on an old Irish melody, that first appeared in the English hymnal at the turn of the 20th Century. The second is My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, which comes from an old collection called Southern Harmony and is based upon an American folk melody. Isaac Watts, who is a noted and prolific hymn writer, is credited with the textual adaptation.

On November 17th we will be focused on the prophet Elijah, so Choir will be singing a movement from the great oratorio called Elijah written by Felix Mendelssohn. There will also be a prelude from a different section of Elijah. As we near Thanksgiving, we will hear the famous hymn We Gather Together, or Kremser as its known by its tune. We will end with a round-style hymn based upon Thomas Tallis’ famous canon.

On November 24th, we will celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday, with special bell choir music based upon Thanksgiving Hymns. We’ll also celebrate Reign of Christ Sunday with Jesus Shall Reign. Then we will end the service with the famous German Lutheran chorale, Nun Danket Alle Gott (Now Thank We All Our God) and Dan will play a setting of that chorale tune as the postlude.

A Look at October Worship Music

We open October with World Communion Sunday, which is one of our first major holidays in the Liturgical year.  World Communion Sunday is a day where the whole Christian world comes together around a big table and experiences communion together.  It’s a day for celebrating diversity, both within the Christian religion, and of the wider world, and remembering that God makes room at God’s table for everyone, regardless of nothing.  We will also be exploring the story of Moses, beginning with his birth and early life. 

It’s always a day where we try to purposefully use diverse music.  The day will open with Retrospection by Florence Price.  Price was an African American composer, who after many decades is finally receiving the attention she’s been due for awhile.  She is an innovative composer, utilizing several different music styles while writing for the organ. The Choir will then sing William Dawson’s setting of Ezekiel Saw da Wheel, a very famous gospel spiritual, and Rollo Dilworth’s setting of the famous hymn His Eye is On the Sparrow.  

On October 13th, we will explore the exodus story, of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt.  When thinking about the Exodus Story, many will think of the movie, the Prince of Egypt, which is one of the best tellings of the story in cinema out there.  It also doesn’t hurt that because of the voice cast, that Captain Picard, happens to be Voldemort and Batman’s father (check the cast list, its kind of amazing that this is indeed true).  Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Wicked) wrote the music, and the Choir will sing When You Believe, which contains a Hebrew prayer.  Egan Torres and Dan Brownell will also present Vesperale from Claude Bolling’s Toot Suite for mellophone and piano. 

October 20th will be a Bell Choir Day as we consider the 10 Commandments.  The Bell Choir will present two pieces, a setting of All Night All Day by Susan Geshke and an arrangement of Amazing Grace.  

A Glimpse at September Worship Music

We have a great deal of exciting music coming your way in worship this September. Check out what’s coming (and check back because as more is planned more will be added to this post)

We will begin the month with Labor Day Weekend. We will formally conclude our sermon series on the Vision and focus on Worship (Into the Feast). The hymns chosen will include the familiar hymn The Church’s One Foundation (Tune: Aurelia), which is a famous hymn written by Samuel Wesley. This hymn reminds us that Jesus Christ is at the center of our worship and gives us foundation. Then we will end with the famous hymn-tune Ora Labora, (Come Labor On) written by Thomas Tertius Noble, who served for 35 years as Music Director at St. Thomas Church, New York City. The expansive meter, electrifying harmonies and raw power remind us of the greatness of the work we do, especially that which serves God, and that God reminds us that the work is good. Dan Brownell will share Debussy’s First Arabesque on piano, to conclude a summer of piano offertories, as well as improvised settings of hymns for the rest of the service music.

September 8th is Rally Day, an exciting day that brings the church back together after the summertime. Our program year will officially launch the week after. We will also begin our new year-long lectionary series based upon the Godly Play series. Our theme for September is Creation, and we will hear such classic stories as the story of the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, and Abraham. September 8th is the Creation story. We will sing classic hymns All Creatures of Our God and King, God of the Sparrow, and Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee. All Creatures is based on a text called the Canticle of the Sun penned by the great St. Francis of Assisi, and includes musical harmonizations by the English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams. God of the Sparrow reminds us how the creatures of God’s creation respond to their creator. And Joyful Joyful contains the famous choral setting of Schiller’s poem “An die Freude.” Beethoven set this to a simple choral texture, to end his magnificent 9th Symphony. Up until that point in orchestral history, a choral ensemble had never been featured in a major symphony, and in some ways the final movement that includes the Choir is a symphony all unto itself.

September 15th will be about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Since our overarching theme is about the Creation, it seemed fitting to use a famous movement from one of the most famous oratorios in history that just happens to share the same name. Franz Joseph Haydn’s Creation, tells the story in music of God’s wondrous work creating the universe in Genesis 1, and “The Heavens Are Telling” is a sort of hommage to that work, where a trio of angels and an angelic chorus sing praises of God’s universe. Dan will play the beautiful Pastorale movement from Guilmant’s First Organ Sonata, which includes a peaceful treatment of reeds and string sounds, and end with the energetic Toccata in d minor by Gaston Belier. Belier was a fairly minor player in the Parisian organ circuit, but did receive his training from the great Eugene Gigout.

September 22nd will be the story of Noah and the flood. As we consider the impact of God’s new covenant with humanity, the Choir will present an anthem called “We Will Be A Shelter” by Allen Pote. It was written as a call for unity after a natural disaster and that we as neighbors can come together and be a shelter for each other. Dan will play the lyrical Largo movement from Bach’s second Trio Sonata in c minor for the prelude. The Trio Sonatas represent some of Bach’s finest writing because the three voices (each hand and the pedal) are completely independent voices. Rather than being written as a melody and accompaniment like in most music (something we call heterophonic), the voices act as a purely independent contrapuntal trio. Dan will end the service with the Allegro Maestoso movement from the Second Sonata of Mendelssohn. This sonata with its unusual title of being both in major and minor, is basically two works in one; with the minor components as the first two movements and the second two movements (the Allegro being the first of these two) in the very uplifting major key and with power.

September 29th will be a really exciting day because it will not only be a conversation about Abraham and the stars, but also the launch of our weekly Contemporary Service. In our traditional service, you’ll hear Dan present improvisations, something he’s truly gifted with doing. These improvisations may be settings of hymns, or flat out new piece written in the moment, for the moment. The Jubilate Ringers will also perform a setting of All Night All Day arranged by Susan Geschke, which will feature just about everything you can do with handbells, from shakes, to marts, to mallets. Congregants will then have the opportunity to try out the bells after worship, before checking out the contemporary service in the Cafe.