![]() On this Palm Sunday morning, we hear the aural depiction of Procession: an act of stately significance yet undertaken humbly on a creature of lowly stature— a donkey. "Processional in D" by David Johnson begins morning worship with a clear call of someone significant approaching: royalty, a person of honor, a bride walking down the aisle! The aptly-titled "Recessional" by Robert Hughes encompasses the musical exclamation point a rousing postlude displays at service's end: a call to action, movement into the world with trumpets blaring! The morning's Musical Offering is a medley of Lenten hymn tunes arranged by Charles Callahan for organ and flute. "A Lenten Prelude" offers three melodies of the season: "Ah, Holy Jesus," "My Song is Love Unknown," and "Kind Maker of the World, O Hear." The setting begins with a nod to jazz before settling into a more measured stoic Baroque-like treatment. Flutist Aaron McGrew joins us. At the 6:00 p.m. service, music by Coldplay, film composer John Barry, and others inadvertently relate a more personal tale of sacrifice and redemption as we ponder the events of the coming week. Bassist Peter Strening joins myself and cantor Blair Carpenter for a worshipful hour on Zoom on the eve of Holy Week.
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![]() This Sunday is Bach's birthday...or is it? It is not as easy to answer as one would think. However, Bach scholar and Harvard professor Christoph Wolff 's answer to this question posed by Michael Barone, host of "Pipedreams," settles it for me: "Moving Bach's birthday is absolutely ridiculous. True, his life was actually 11 days longer because Protestant Germany adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1700 — but with the legal stipulation that all dates prior to Dec. 31, 1699, remain valid...Hold on to March 21, and feel good about it!" And so we will! This Sunday morning, two works inspired by the very letters of Bach's last name and one by the man himself on the occasion of turning 336. The Bach motif originated with Bach himself as a way of "signing" his name into his compositions and to provide a challenging melodic fragment to compose with. The notes are Bb (in German musical terminology, called B). A, C, and B (called H in German musical terminology.) A respectable number of works have been composed over the centuries to honor Bach in this way including by Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, and Arnold Schoenberg. This Sunday, the third fugue in G Minor from Robert Schumann's "Six Fugues on the Name BACH" (1845) will be offered. The Plymouth Ringers play "A Zephyr on B-A-C-H", a work I composed which began with the conspicuous question of, "What would an enchanted windchime, given the chance in a warm breeze and a penchant for Bach, sound like?" Just in case you wondered... The morning service concludes with Bach's "Fantasia in C Major, BWV 570." This uncommon selection in Bach's repertoire has the musical flexibility to be played either quietly and delicately or with bombast and gravitas. We'll go with the latter this week. At the 6:00 p.m. service, songs from the Iona Community will gather us in with a short tribute to Bach as well in Jethro Tull's "Bourée" with flutist Aaron McGrew. A Celtic Sunday all around as we honor St. Patrick's Day and the beautifully haunting Celtic folk music tradition.
At 10:00 a.m., harpist Alaina Bongers and flutist Rebecca Quillen offer a wide breadth of Celtic and folk-inspired music including the Irish ballad "Star of the County Down" and "Wondrous Love." Though first appearing in the 1854 edition of The Southern Harmony, the melody for "Wondrous Love" was taken from a popular English ballad. At 6:00 p.m., violinist Abigail Morgan joins us for a Celtic tour-de-force of jigs, reels, and the lovely waltz "SÍ Bheag SÍ Mhór" by famed 18th century Irish harp composer Turlough O'Carolan. Sláinte! ![]() A line from Nirvana's 1992 hit "Come As You Are" could have been uttered by the Pharisees in the Gospel reading this Sunday: "Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be...." Hypocrisy incarnate as these self-appointed arbiters of souls decide who will receive salvation in God — a demand of conformity to a false sense of righteousness. Jesus begged to differ... An intense and gradual crescendo of earnest devotion and, well, the addition of organ stops runs through the prelude, a setting of the hymn "Just As I Am" by Paul Rutz. As if pleading to the Christ ("Lamb of God, I come, I come!"), the dramatic and moody work effectively portrays the hymn text's message of humble service to the Light despite one's perceived faults and unworthy attributes. Aaron Copland composed twelve settings of poems by Emily Dickinson published as a song cycle in 1950. This Sunday we hear the third song, "Why Do They Shut Me Out of Heaven?" The text first questions the petty reasons for not being admitted into paradise. This quickly turns into frustration and anger as heaven itself seems to simply ignore the noisy objector. One can see how some would face this injustice, even daily, in this world. The service ends with a blast from the 19th century in "Allegro maestoso," the penultimate movement from Organ Sonata No. 2 in C Minor by Felix Mendelssohn. An energetic and jubilant piece from the sonatas that were considered the finest organ works since J.S. Bach in this era. Mendelssohn like Schumann and Brahms were students of Bach and the Baroque era which sensibilities informed their compositions significantly. For Mendelssohn, his virtuosic pedal work owed much to Bach as displayed in this Sunday's postlude. Next Sunday at 6:00 p.m., folk music from the Celtic and American traditions will be offered with guitarist Bill DeMarco joining. ![]() William Bolcom and William Albright were colleagues in the composition department at the esteemed School of Music, Theatre, and Dance of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Their collaborations together produced the ragtime revival of the late 1960's as well as numerous organ works inspired by each composer's artistry. This Sunday morning, we experience a few examples of their eclectic catalogue. The Gospel Preludes by William Bolcom are a four volume collection of hymns and spirituals set in a gospel, blues, jazz, and even avant-garde manner. They are as spiritually compelling as they are artistic, even strange. For the prelude, the 19th century hymn "Jesus Calls Us; O'er the Tumult" is similar in form to a Baroque chorale prelude (cantus firmus on one manual, accompaniment on another with pedal) but harmonically evokes jazz, blues, and gospel. A gentle setting that beckons the ear to listen deeply to Bolcom's complex chromatic writing. The title "Carillon-Bombarde" by William Albright refers to the bell peal figure heard throughout the piece in both manual and pedal and the use of the large French reed stop: the Bombarde. Commissioned in 1985 for the re-dedication of the historic Chapman tracker organ at St. Margaret's Church, Straatsburg-on-Hudson, New York, the work is thrilling, almost typical, yet inescapably imbued with Albright's characteristic quirkiness. The Musical Offering this Sunday is a solace for prayer and reflection in George Frideric Handel's "Andante" from Sonata No. 1 with violinist Harmony Tucker. This Sunday at 6:00, join us for an eclectic evening worship experience with the musical sounds of gospel, jazz, blues, the Celtic folk tradition, and an ethereal instrumental from the early days of the band Genesis. Guitarist Alan Skowron returns to this newly reinstated evening service. ![]() Morning worship begins with the gentle yet playful strains of the second movement from Organ Sonate II (1937) by Paul Hindemith. Titled "Ruhig bewegt" (peaceful, with movement), the work's construction of elegant contrapuntal lines with 20th century sonorities owes as much to J.S. Bach as to compositional sensibilities of the time. To close the service, we hear Bach's setting of the 17th century German chorale "Wer nur den lieben Gott läst walten" (translated in The New Century Hymnal as "If You But Trust in God to Guide You") from the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) composed mostly from 1708-17. Bach employs an anapest (the "joy motif") continually throughout— two short notes followed by a longer note value—to clearly represent the elation of living in the Light. A moment of peace and tranquility will be found at the Musical Offering in "By Kells Waters" by Kelly Via. Flutist Aaron McGrew plays all the instruments in this flute choir work based on the traditional Celtic folk song. At the 6:00 p.m. Zoom service, the Celtic sounds carry over into the evening with bassist Peter Strening, cantor Blair Carpenter, and I offering songs from the Ionia Community and Irish rock band U2. Come join us for the return of this intimate and cherished service of evening worship and communion. A well-lit path to new beginnings: the message of this fleeting Epiphany season. Marching into the Light of God. Two venerable chorales of Light reinterpreted by 20th century composers for this Transfiguration Sunday: 17th century German hymn "O Jesu Christe, wahres Licht" (O Jesus Christ, True Light) is set in a Neo-Baroque style for manuals by Helmut Walcha. The cantus firmus plays distinctly in the right hand with contemporary flourishes dancing in the left hand throughout. The original text was essentially a prayer for those who are lost—a poem for enlightenment. The 15th century tune "Deo Gracias" (Thanks to God) is commonly associated with the Transfiguration Sunday text "O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair!" Also known as the "Agincourt Hymn," the original folk song recounted the English army victory over the French in the 1415 Battle of Agincourt. Lastly, the idiosyncratic flair of composer Daniel Pinkham's "Festive March" sends you out into the world with a spring in your step. Selections from the chorale partita "Jesu, meine freude" (Jesus, my joy) by Baroque composer Johann Walther will be heard at next week's 7:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday Zoom service. Please join us as we walk together into this season of Lent. Let us talents and tongues employ, reaching out with a shout of joy: bread is broken, the wine is poured, Christ is spoken and seen and heard. Jesus lives again, earth can breathe again, pass the Word around: loaves abound! - from the New Century Hymnal # 347, Fred Kaan (alt.) ![]() We gather once again in virtual worship at this Sunday morning's prerecorded service. Separated by time and space — ever in communion. The esoteric strains of "Communion" by Louis Vierne, famed titular organist of Notre Dame Cathedral from 1900-1937, begins worship with a meditation on the mysteries of the Eucharist. A virtual offering from members of the Chancel Choir in "Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ" greets you during the Musical Offering. Can you hear the steel drums in this Jamaican folk tune praising our nourishment at the table? I believe you will. A chorale-inspired voluntary from a member of the famous Wesley line of theologians and musicians, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, in "Choral Song" closes worship on a particularly jaunty note. Quite. And please join us for the last 7:00 p.m. Vespers service next Wednesday, February 10: a service of meditative chants by composer and UCC minister Kathy Eddy. Violinist Abigail Morgan joins cantor Blair Carpenter and I in this nurturing midweek oasis for a troubled time. A space of comfort and peace. And hope. ![]() Wake up to a "jig" in an ode to the Baroque gigue dance in Dietrich Buxtehude's "Fugue in C Major." A song of unity and connection in "Blessed Be the Tie That Binds," rung by the Plymouth Ringers, greets you after that morning cup of joe. A joyful toccata quasi-improvisation on the hymn tune "Lasst uns erfreuen" by Brenda Portman brings us to the virtual coffee hour (more coffee!) See you at the annual meeting. ![]() Following the Light in this Epiphany season and New Year—in unity and hope. Celebrated American composer Ned Rorem wrote for the organ sporadically throughout his decades-long career with several works becoming staples of the repertoire. One such collection is A Quaker Reader (1976), inspired by the ethos of his Quaker upbringing. As Rorem so thoughtfully describes: With the present suite my intention has been to meld, finally and practically, my nominal religion with my craft. Since no Song is used—no actual musicalizing of words—each piece is headed with an epigraph from Friends' writings, many of which, in their urge toward pacifism as solution, extol absolute quiet and absolute light. The music represents a blaze of silence. From the dying words of one James Naylor in 1660 comes the title of the Prelude this Sunday morning: "There is a spirit that delights to do no evil..." This fourth movement of the eleven part suite bestows upon the listener a sense of calm and peace. Simplicity. The words were uttered by a Quaker who was fatally wounded in a mugging and yet still clung to hope for a better world. From Ned Rorem's Organbook III (1989), the "Fanfare" closes the service in a triumphant flurry. The composer describes the object of his three organ books of the same year as "simplicity." He further expounds: Though I flatter myself that I compose with an experienced flair for the organ, I still hear it as an amateur. The timbre of all organ music, including my own, remains mysterious to me: I never know quite what to listen for. This ambiguity is at once irksome and thrilling, and will keep me forever intrigued. At 97, Ned Rorem has largely retired from composition with his last organ work written just a few short years ago in 2014: "Recalling Nadia." The Musical Offering will be presented by flutist Aaron McGrew in an arrangement of the Scottish tune "The Summons." Come join us for next week's 7:00 p.m. Wednesday Vespers service on January 27 with guitarist Bill DeMarco and songs of tranquil Americana. |
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