The "Meditation" prelude is based on hymn 11, "Awake, my soul, and with the sun", a hymn appropriate for the day; it is by the contemporary American, Franklin D. Ashdown (b. 1942), who enjoyed 3 decades as both composer and medical doctor. Now he is retired from medicine and just writing music!
Read MoreIn keeping with the Fourth of July celebrations, there will be two Dale Wood settings of traditional American hymn melodies as prelude music: "God, who stretched the spangled Heavens" and "The gift to be simple". I have written about Mr. Wood (1934-2003) before. You might be interested that at the age of 13 he won a national award for hymn writing! He was a very prolific composer, and, although he was always closely associated with the Lutheran Church, his music is widely used.
Read MoreThe prelude has 5 short settings of the hymn, "The king of love my shepherd is" (645 in our hymnal), presumably one for each verse, although our rendition has 6 verses. The composer is Edwin T. Childs, who has his doctorate from the Eastman School of Music and resides, teaches, and composes in the Chicago area.
Read MoreThe prelude is a setting of the hymn, "Draw Us In the Spirit's Tether", which you will probably recognize because the choir sings a setting of it from time to time; however, it is unfortunately not in our hymnal. The arrangement is by the contemporary, James Biery (b. 1955), who has served in cathedrals in Hartford, Conn, and St. Paul, Minn.; currently he serves in a large Presbyterian Church in Michigan. Both he and his wife are organists and composers!
Read MoreThe prelude is two settings of familiar hymn tunes, 587 and 339 in our hymnal, and are by a contemporary American, Jacob B. Weber, who in addition to composing many settings of hymns is cantor at a large Lutheran church and also Associate Editor of Music and Worship at Concordia Publishing Co., widely known and used by church musicians. He is based in Dearborn, MI.
Read MoreThe prelude Sunday is based on a hymn some of you may recognize, "I received the living God". The setting is by a contemporary American composer, Edwin T. Childs, who is based in the Chicago area and holds advanced degrees from various schools, including the Eastman School of Music.
Read MoreMost people are probably familiar with the hymn tune on which the prelude is based — "This Is My Father's World", though it is not in our hymnal (sadly). The setting is by the prolific and talented American composer, Dale Wood (1934-2003), of whom I have written before.
Read MoreThe prelude is a setting of "Veni, Creator Spiritus", which is hymn 502 in our hymnal. It is "plainsong", or sometimes called "Gregorian chant", all from the 6th and 7th centuries and the Roman Church of course, and all originally having Latin texts. This is a setting many people like and one I have played many times for Pentecost; it is by the contemporary American, Wilbur Held.
Read MoreThe prelude is 2 settings of probably familiar hymn tunes — "Bread of Life" and "Lead Us O Father" — by Seth Bingham (1882-1972), who was a prolific composer educated at Yale and a fine organist, having served for 35 years at the famous Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in NYC.
Read MoreThe hymn tune used in the prelude, "On Jordan's Stormy Banks", is one many of you may recognize-- but it is not in our hymnal. Most unusual — the setting is by "Tom Birchwood", but this is just one of 6 pseudo names used by Lani Smith for his some 1000 compositions and arrangements. Why, I don't know! Mr. Smith was American (1934-2015) and educated at the University of Cincinnati.
Read MoreThe prelude Sunday, "Choral with Interludes", by Courtlandt Palmer, comprises of a hymnlike section at the beginning and end, with several short variations (hence "interludes") between. Mr. Palmer (1876-1951) was an American mostly known as a pianist who studied in Italy with a pupil of Franz Liszt. The piece is typical of a lot of music of the period, being in the neo-romantic style, despite what else was going on — like with Debussy, Ravel, and even Schoenberg!
Read MoreYou might check out the notes for last week, as Henry G. Ley (important to get the "G" in there as there are other musicians in his family), who wrote the arrangement -- but not the melody -- for last week's anthem, also composed the arrangement of this Sunday's prelude, which is based on the hymn tune, "St. Columba", 645 in our hymnal. You know the tune well, and the words are a paraphrase of Psalm 23. At the Gospel, we will sing this text to another tune (663), which is harmonized in 4 parts.
Read MoreWe are pleased to welcome Otho Hoyte as guest organist this Sunday. The prelude will be a set of variations on the 15th-century Easter hymn, "O Filii et Filiae" (O sons and daughters), which is both 203 and 206 in our hymnal. The tune is known to most people. The variations are by the English composer and organist, John E. West (1863-1929), who grew up in a very musical family and, among other musical accomplishments, founded the Northeast London Academy of Music.
Read MoreThe tune for the prelude is "Holy Manna", familiar to many, The setting is by the American composer Lynn L. Peterson (b. 1962) currently teaching at Carroll College in Montana but, beside composing (and sometimes delving into jazz), she travels often for festivals and workshops.
Read MoreThe music for Palm Sunday of course follows the mood of the service and its readings, from the procession with palms and the singing of "All Glory, Laud, and Honor" (154), to the Gospel hymn, "O sacred head, sore wounded" (168), the famous music by Hans Leo Hassler harmonized by J S Bach; note that there are 2 different authors of the text.
Read MoreThe prelude for this 5th Sunday of Lent is a J.S. Bach setting of "O Man, Thy Grievous Sin Bemoan". It should be remembered that at one time these chorales were sung and that the various settings or variations were often played between verses or at other times in the service. There was more tradition in Germany (and other parts of the continent) than in England to write settings of hymns. As usual, I will play the actual choral first.
Read MorePeggy White will be playing the prelude this Sunday, comprising of 2 works. The first is the Dietrich Buxtehude "Nun Bitten Wir" (We ask the Holy Spirit). Buxtehude (1637-1707) was Danish., of the "North German School", and was one of the most important composers of the 17th century, influencing later composers such as J.S. Bach. The second piece is a James Pethel setting of the hymn, "Ah, Holy Jesus". Pethel is American, born in 1936, and for 37 years taught at Carson-Newman College; he also won many awards for composition.
Read MoreWe are pleased to have Otho Hoyte playing both the prelude and postlude this 3rd Sunday of Lent. The prelude is a setting of the hymn tune known as "Canterbury", tune by the famous English composer Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), who was a sort of transition from the Renaissance Period to the Baroque period. This arrangement is by the English born Canadian, Healey Willan (1880-1968), who wrote operas, symphonies, and chamber music, but is best known for his church music. Some of his music can be found in our hymnal.
Read MoreThe Lenten prelude is a "Max" (shortened for several long names) Reger setting of a very melodious hymn tune "Come, Follow Me". Mr, Reger (1873-1916) was German and it was said about his music that "the counterpoint of Bach meets the harmonies of Schoenberg (1874-1951), who was famous for atonality and his "12 tone row" (which meant that a melody used every tone in the 12 tone octave. The harmonies and counterpoint of this prelude, however, are very easy on the ear! Our well-known opening hymn is 448 (first 3 verses), which as you will note is an 18th-century setting of a 15th-century Latin text.
Read MoreLent does not need to be a season that suffers musically; on the contrary, the choir will be providing hopefully even more inspiration than usual. What will be different is that near the beginning of communion there will be a second anthem or a solo (this Sunday a solo by Audy Walker), with the text printed for meditation following. There will be no communion hymns.
The prelude for Lent 1 is a set of short variations on the well-known hymn, "If thou but suffer God to Guide Thee" (635 in our hymnal), by the contemporary Robert Powell, still living in Greenville, SC. The original hymn and text by Georg Neumark dates back to the 17th century in Germany, as you may note.
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