Saturday, May 27, 2017

FW: Music for the OSHC Service of May 28, 2017, 7th Sunday of Easter

From: Richard Thomas
Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2017 1:40 AM
Subject: Music for the OSHC Service of May 28, 2017, 7th Sunday of Easter

 

                The introit will be “Father, Fill Us with Thy Love.”   The tune is HORSHAM. http://www.hymnary.org/media/fetch/183457


                “America, the Beautiful,” hymn no. 564, is the opening hymn.  The text is by Katharine Lee Bates, the daughter of a Congregational Church pastor.

                Katharine Bates was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on 12 Aug 1895.  She spent a year at Oxford University in England, then attended Wellesley College.  After graduating from Wellesley, she taught literature there.  She was also involved in social and labor reform.

                She never married, but did develop a romantic relationship, and for 25 years she lived with Katharine Coman, a dean at Wellesley.

From https://queerphc.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/lgbt-history-month-day-4-katharine-lee-bates/ :

                While teaching at Wellesley, Bates became involved with professor, poet and dean Katharine Coman.

                Bates described their relationship as a “romantic friendship.” The couple lived together for 25 years until Coman died. “So much of me died with Katharine Coman,” Bates said, “that I’m sometimes not quite sure whether I’m alive or not.” To honor her partner and celebrate their shared love and scholarship, Bates wrote “Yellow Clover: A Book of Remembrance” (1922).

You can read her poems in that book here: https://archive.org/stream/yellowcloverbook00bate#page/n7/mode/2up

Bates became chair of the English department at Wellesley and Coman of the Economics department. 

When Bates arrived at Wellesley College to teach English, she viewed the job as merely a way to earn enough money so that she could write poetry during the rest of the year. But Coman’s intelligence and determination gave Bates reason to view her career “as a woman professor and scholar, pulling her up several levels, modeling serious vocational and professional commitment to her teaching, and introducing her to the wider world of social, economic, cultural, gender, and spiritual issues [Mahoney, 1998].”

                Coman developed breast cancer in 1906, which metastasized by 1911.   After two  surgeries, Bates nursed Coman until her death in 1915.  Professor Bates remained at Wellesley until her retirement in 1925.  She died at age 70 in 1929.

                The words of “America the Beautiful” are now almost always sung to the tune MATERNA by Samuel A. Ward.  He composed the tune in 1882.  This tune is also used for the words of the hymn “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem.”

                https://youtu.be/7mTYfpXSQZg “America the Beautiful,” a cappella, multi-track version with one singer singing all the parts

                https://youtu.be/6ya9CettFNQ “America the Beautiful,” sung by the University of Utah Choirs (terrific ending)

                The words were first set to music by Silas G. Pratt.

                The composer of the tune MATERNA, Samuel Augustus Ward, was born 28 Dec 1848 in Newark, New Jersey.  As a child, he played the accordion.  At age 16, he became the organist of a church in New York City.  Later, he was the organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark where he also owned a music store.

                He wrote his tune while on a boat back to Newark after he had spent the day at the beach and amusement park on Coney Island in Brooklyn.  He wrote the music to be used with the words of the hymn “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem,” a 16th century hymn for which a Presbyterian minister in Scotland sometimes is given credit. (David Dickson, Professor of Divinity at Glasgow, is said to have authored it, but he may instead have translated and adapted the words of a Latin hymn.)  “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem,” was a moderately popular hymn and has appeared in 268 hymnals.

                You can see the words of that hymn here: https://youtu.be/FCix4LE-XeY “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem.”

                The hymn “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem” does appear in the green Presbyterian Hymnal (1933) that Old South Haven was using when I first began attending (hymn no. 436), and in that hymnal it is sung to the tune that Samuel Ward composed for it.

Samuel Augustus Ward

         (1848-1903)

                Samuel Ward died on 28 September 1903, before the tune was used as a setting for “America the Beautiful,” which did not take place (one source says) until November 1904. (Wikipedia and other sources say, however, that Samuel Ward’s tune and Katharine Bates’ words did not appear together until 1910.)

                Before that, the words were sung to a number of tunes written for “America the Beautiful,” including a tune by Charles S. Brown (1906), attached, and one composed in 1908, which fits the words even better, by William Sleeper, also attached.  Horatio Parker also composed a tune for the words, and the words have also been published set to the tunes REX REGUM by John Stainer and to WELLESLEY by Clarence G. Hamilton.

                After 1910, hymnals tended to use Sleeper’s, Ward’s, or Brown’s tunes, with Samuel Ward’s finally winning out over the others around 1917.


                The reading from Acts, which is in place of a reading from the Old Testament during Eastertide, is Acts 1:6-14.  The reading includes the story of Jesus ascending into heaven:

After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.  As they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly two men in white clothing stood near them  and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

You can see Jesus disappearing into the clouds in this painting by the German Renaissance painter Martin Schongauer.  It is a detail of the altar piece in the Dominican Church in Colmar. It is now the Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, Alsace, France.  (Colmar was in the Holy Roman Empire, but is now in France.)

                According to Schongauer’s painting, the clouds were rather low that day.

 

                Ascension of Jesus by Martin Schongauer, circa 1480

                The gospel reading is John 17:1-11.  The reading refers to a time after the triumphal entry, but before Jesus’ arrest.  First Jesus prays that God will “glorify” him, then he prays for the disciples.


                The second hymn is no. 434, “Today, We Are Called to Be Disciples.” The hymn was written by H. Kenn Carmichael in 1985.  It is sung to the tune KINGSFOLD, an English country song harmonized by Ralph Vaughn Williams.  We sang this hymn in January 2014.

                The tune is also used for “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem” and “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say.”  There is even one hymnal that has set “We Sing the Mighty Power of God” to the tune.

                Although said to be an English country song, it is nearly identical to the Irish song, “Star of the County Down.”  (See: http://youtu.be/Rc82kInq2rQ, http://youtu.be/HEt2XdN_TbQ .)

                There is also an instrumental performance of this tune on mandolin and guitar,  http://youtu.be/d-J1o9BTQEk .

                                https://youtu.be/nRXvyIjWEHQ hymn tune KINGSFOLD, a Celtic tune (maybe English, maybe Irish), “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem”

                Another hymn sung to the same tune:

                                https://youtu.be/6rr_4M5LQLo “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” sung to KINGSFOLD

                Ralph Vaughn Williams, harmonizer of the tune KINGSFOLD.

                The author of the words of the hymn, Herbert Kenneth Carmichael (b. 20 May 1908, Martin’s Ferry, OH; d. 20 Mar 1996) received a B.A. from Muskingum College (1928, New Concord, OH), an M.A. in speech from the University of Wisconsin (1930), and a Ph.D. in theater from the University of Minnesota (1941).  He taught at City College, Los Angeles, from 1947-1954.  From 1972-1979 he served as pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles.

                In addition to writing hymns, H. Kenn Carmichael wrote the script for the movie Saint of Devil’s Island in 1961 and the script of The Mark of the Hawk in 1957.  For the latter, he also served as the location unit manager while it was being filmed in Nigeria.

The Mark of the Hawk starred Sidney Poitier and Eartha Kitt.  Sidney Poitier played the part of Obam.

                                http://alchetron.com/The-Mark-of-the-Hawk-71912-W

Although he died in Los Angeles, he is buried in the Verona Cemetery in Dane County, Wisconsin.


The sermon title is  "Questions After the Excitement."


                The closing hymn is “Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song,” no. 314.  This is a new hymn for the Old South Haven congregation, I think.

                The words are by the Rev. Carl P. Daw, Jr.  The Rev. Dr. Daw is an Episcopal priest.  He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1944.  His father was a Baptist pastor and the family moved from town to town. Carl Daw, Jr., attended Rice University, where he received a B. A. in 1966. He has a M.A. from the University of Virginia (1967), and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia (1970).

Dr. Carl P. Daw, Jr.

                After teaching at the College of William and Mary in the English Department for eight years, he entered seminary.  He has a M.Div. from the University of the South (1981), and a D.D. (honoris causa) from Virginia Theological Seminary and a D.D. (honoris causa) from the University of the South.

                He has served as Assistant Rector of the Christ and Grace Church, Petersburg, Virginia, (3 years), Vicar-Chaplain of St. Mark’s Chapel at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, (9 years), and resident Companion of the Community of Celebration in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, (3 years).

                Dr. Daw was a consultant member of the Text Committee for The Hymnal 1982 of the Episcopal Church, and that is when he contributed this hymn to the new hymnal.

                From 1996 to 2009, he was Executive Director of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.

                He is currently Adjunct Professor of Hymnology and Curator of the Hymnological Collections at the Boston University School of Theology.

                The tune, BRIDEGROOM, is also relatively modern.  It was composed by Peter Warwick Cutts in 1969. Is his most well-known tune.  We also sing a hymn to another of his tunes, WYLDE GREEN.  (The hymn is  “Thanks to God Whose Word Was Written.”)

                Peter Warwick Cutts was born in 1937 in Birmingham, England.  He obtained a B.A. (1961) and M.A. (1965) from Clare College at Cambridge University.  He also received a B.A. from Mansfield College, Oxford, where he studied theology.  He then served as organist at a number of United Reform churches/

                In 1989, he moved to Massachusetts where he served as Director of Music at a number of churches (including the First United Methodist Church of Watertown, Massachusetts) and also taught at Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, Massachusetts. 

                Upon his retirement in 2005, he retired to the UK.  He has composed over 130 hymn tunes, the best known of which is BRIDEGROOM.

    Peter Cutts

                Here it is sung in Chinese by the choir of Cheung Lo Church, the Church of Christ in China, Kadoorie Hill, Hong Kong:

https://youtu.be/aK7uvwk0JwI “Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song,” words by Carl P. Daw, Jr., tune BRIDEGROOM by Peter Warwick Cutts


Instrumental Music


                The prelude is “Andante Religioso” by Henry Smith.  I found the sheet music on the internet, but I didn’t find an audio file.

                But as I had the sheet music (copyright 1916), I just fed it into SmartScore and produced a MIDI file, attached. 

                It sounds good as a piano piece too.  I may have missed some accidentals.  There were quite a few.


                The offertory is “Chanson Mantinale (Morning Hymn)” by Richard Lange.  There is a “Richard Lange” who was a German arranger and composer who lived from 1867 until about 1915, but I don’t know whether that Richard Lange is the arranger of this piece.

                This arrangement of “Chanson Mantinale,” was edited by Dr. William Carl and bears a copyright date of 1916.

                Here is the piece:

https://youtu.be/iBS5m4vJ1C0 “Chason Matinale” by Richard Lange, played by David Christensen


                The postlude is “Gothic March” by Gaetano Ferdinando Foschini.  Foschini was born in Polesella, Italy, on 25 Aug 1836, and died in Turin on 12 Mar 1908.  In addition to being a composer and musician, he was also a conductor.

   Gaetano F. Foschini

                At age 14, in 1850, he was appointed organist of the Cologna Veneta Cathedral in the Province of Verona.

                When he was 19, he moved to Milan.  He became Director of Music at the Asti School of Music and was also conductor of the opera at the Alfieri Theater from 1875-1889.

                He conducted the band of the town of Turin from 1889 to 1900 and also taught harmony.

                Foschini composed sacred music, dances, and symphonies.

https://youtu.be/j8Ewws0rUmI “Gothic March” by Gaetano Foschini, played by David Christensen

Richard

Thursday, May 25, 2017

This Week at Old South Haven Chrch

Saturday, May 27   9:00am-3:00pm         CHURCH  FAIR
(set-up help needed at 8:00am)
 
 
Sunday, May 28           10:00am                   Seventh Sunday of Easter/ Memorial Day
                                                                      Sermon:  "Questions After the Excitement"
                                                                      Lessons:  John 17:1-11  Acts 1: 6-14
                                                                      Sunday School
 
Monday, May 29                                                    MEMORIAL  DAY
                                       9:30am                   Parade in Brookhaven
                                     11:00am                   Parade in Bellport
 
Wednesday, May 31       6:00pm                   "Gang Information Forum"
                                                                      Suffolk County Police Department presentation
                                                                      Christ Episcopal Church Parish Hall
                                                                      Bellport
 
Friday, June 2                 8:30am                  Clergy for Choice Breakfast
                                                                      Community Reform Temple
                                                                      Westbury
 
                                      12noon                    Retired Presbyterian Clergy Lunch
                                                                      Presbytery Center, Commack
Saturday, June 3           4:00pm       2017  SPRING VOCAL CONCERT
with Featured Artists
Laura Lupinacci, Mezzo-Soprano
John Horton Murray, Tenor
and Amanda Duspriva as Guest Artist

Sunday, June 4             10:00am                           PENTECOST
   Sermon:  "Let's Be Pentecostal"
  Lessons: John 7: 37-39  Acts 2;1-21
  Confirmation of Jack Frankie
 
Sunday, June 11            10:00am                        Trinity Sunday
                                                                       Last Sunday School Class
                                       11:15am                  Church Picnic

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Music for the OSHC Service of May 21, 2017, 6th Sunday of Easter

From: Richard Thomas
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2017 4:28 PM

                The introit is the round, “Make a Joyful Noise (Singt dem Herren),” by Michael Praetorius (1571-1621).  It can be an up-to-five-part round.  We will be singing it in three parts.

                Here is a choir singing an arrangement of it:

https://youtu.be/YwK_QApurEs “Singt dem Herren” sung by the Emporia State University Chamber Choir (Emporia, Kansas)

(The arrangement they sing has a different ending.)

We are singing an English adaptation of the German words by Ann M. Gilman (b. 1932) and Lawrence Gilman (b. 1930).

  Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)

According to Wikipedia:

                Michael Praetorius was the youngest son of a Lutheran pastor. His birth name was Michael Schultze.  He attended the University of Frankfurt where he studied divinity and philosophy.  In 1587, he began serving as organist at the Marienkirche, Frankfort. 

                Then he obtained a position in the court of Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg at Wolfenbüttel.  Praetorius was the organist in the duke’s State Orchestra and (from 1604) master of the choir.

                He also worked in the court of the duke’s successor, Frederick Ulrich, and in the court of John George I, Elector of Saxony at Dresden.

                He died on his 50th birthday in Wolfenbüttel, Germany.   His tomb is a vault beneath the organ of the Marienkirche there.

People in the sixteenth century often adopted “Latinized” names.   As “Schultze” means “mayor” in German, the closest Latin equivalent was “Praetor,” a Roman official.


                The first hymn is “Open My Eyes that I May See,” no 324.   The words and music are by Clara H. (Fiske) Scott.

http://youtu.be/ODDfaAybNKk piano instrumental with lyrics, so you can sing along (relaxing scenic photos accompany the music)

http://youtu.be/UkXIjZERSnE Baptists singing it, with lyrics on screen, with direction, piano, and organ  (In the Southern Baptist Church I attended in Smithville, Missouri, the Director of Music would usually direct the congregation in the singing of each hymn, as happens here in Raleigh, North Carolina.)

    The tune was composed by Clara H. Fiske Scott, who died at age 55 on June 21, 1897, in Dubuque, Iowa, when she was thrown from a buggy by a runaway horse.  She is also the author of the words of the hymn.  Her book of anthems, the Royal Anthem Book, was the first book of anthems by a woman ever published.  It was published in 1882.

    Clara Fiske was born on December 3, 1841, in Elk Grove, Illinois. She studied music at the Music Institute in Chicago, then she taught music at the Ladies Seminary in Lyons, Iowa.

    In 1861 she married Henry Clay Scott.

   Clara H. (Fiske) Scott

         1841-1897


                We are still in Eastertide, so the Old Testament reading is replaced with a reading from Acts.  This week it is Acts 17:22-31.  It is the story of Paul preaching in Athens to the council of the Areopagus. (The “Areopagus” was the Rock of Ares, where, according to myth, the Greek god Ares had been tried by other gods for the murder of Poseidon’s son.  Before the 5th century BC, a council of elders of the city of Athens met there.  Later, it was where a council met that investigated corruption.)

                      St. Paul in the Areopagus by Mariano Fortuny (11 Jun 1838  – 21 Nov 1874)

                The gospel reading is John 14:15-21.  Jesus promises the disciples that he will ask the Father to send them the Holy Spirit, who will help them:

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,

that he may abide with you forever;

Even the Spirit of truth;    John 14:15-17a

Thomas Tallis composed a wonderful piece for these verses, but  one has to sing the word “spirit” on one note, and the “-er” of the word “another” on three notes.  We tried to sing it in 2008, but it was too difficult.  The young man in the video at the link below can sing it fine.  In fact ,he can sing all four parts:

                https://youtu.be/lLf4Y0wJ3ZI “If Ye Love Me” by Thomas Tallis, all parts sung by Josh Turner (multi-track)

The following link is to a performance of the piece that is very good (and the singers aren’t even native speakers of English):

                https://youtu.be/_7lZHByBB84 Harmony Quartet sings “If You Love Me”

There is a hymn on the subject with quite pleasant music by William J. Kirkpatrick:

                http://www.hymnpod.com/2009/05/30/the-comforter-has-come/ “The Comforter Has Come,” words by Francis Bottome, music by William J. Kirkpatrick

The harmonies are better in another hymn, which is less well-known, “Since the Comforter Has Come,” by James M. Kirk.  You can hear it by clicking the “play audio recording [.mp3]” play button icon at:

                http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Since_the_Comforter_Has_Come/ “Since the Comforter Has Come,” words and music by James McPherson Kirk


               The second hymn in no. 376, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”  The words are by Charles Wesley, “the bard of Methodism.”    It is one of the many hymns authored by Charles Wesley (1707-1788).  He wrote this one in 1747.  That was the year that the Presbytery of Suffolk County was formed.  (The town churches of Suffolk County had been thrown into turmoil by the Great Awakening of 1740 and had begun to recover in 1746. Much of the turmoil had been fomented by an acquaintance of the Wesleys, the Rev. George Whitefield, who had gone about the colonies preaching to huge crowds, often in the open air.)  Of the hymns in the 1990 blue Presbyterian Hymnal, those by Charles Wesley make up the second largest number.  (The largest number of hymns are by Fred R. Anderson who “versified” Psalms for the psalter part of the hymnal.)

                Charles Wesley was the son of Samuel Wesley and the brother of John Wesley.  Both John and Charles went to Georgia in 1735 as missionaries of the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Lands (Georgia being a foreign land in the eyes of the Church of England).  He returned to England in 1736.

                Charles Wesley was born at Epworth, 18 Dec 1707, and died in London, 29 Mar 1788.  He attended Christ Church, Oxford, obtained his degree in 1729, and was then a college tutor until he took orders and went to America with his brother John, who was secretary to General Oglethorpe.  He didn’t stay in America long, and after going back to England, he never returned.

                The tune HFRYDOL is by Rowland Huw Prichard.

                Rowland Huw Prichard was a native of Graienyn, Wales, born 14 Jan 1811.  He was a loom tender’s assistant in Holywell and died there 25 Jan 1887. 

                The tune appeared in Prichard’s song book, “The Singer’s Friend” which he wrote for use by children.  “Hyfrydol” means “cheerful,” and was composed by Prichard when he was 20.

                Wikipedia describes the tune as “impressively flexible . . with beautiful chord progressions.”

                Many different hymns are sung to the tune.  In the Baptist Hymnal alone, in addition to this hymn and “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus,” there are: “Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens, Adore Him,” “Jesus! What a Friend of Sinners,” and “I will Sing the Wondrous Story.”

                https://youtu.be/KM4FbaFTa2w “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” tune HFRYDOL, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir


The sermon title is “If You Love Me . . .”


                The closing hymn is a relatively new hymn, no. 398, “There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit,” by Doris Akers.  She wrote both the words and the music in 1962.

                You can watch Doris Akers herself singing her hymn at the link below. 

                I doubt if we will be singing it quite the same way.

                We will be singing a “presbyterianized” version.

https://youtu.be/5zJ8YeybpMQ “Sweet, Sweet Spirit” written, composed, and sung by Doris Akers

                Doris Akers was born in Brookfield, Missouri, on 21 May 1923,  and lived in Brookfield until age 5.  The family then moved to Kirksville, Missouri, which is 50 miles northeast of Brookfield. 

                She was one of ten children.  Her parents were Floyd and Pearl Akers.  The family was very musical.  Doris wrote her first song at age 10, “Keep the Fire Burning in Me.”

                In 1945, she moved to Los Angeles and, at age 22, was the pianist and vocalist for “The Sallie Martin Singers” for two years.  Then she formed her own group in 1947.  In 1948, she was a member of the Simmons-Akers Trio, with Dorothy Simmons and Hattie Hawkins.

                In addition to writing hymns, composing music, and playing the piano, Doris Akers was an excellent choir director.  In Los Angeles she directed an integrated choir called the “Sky Pilot Choir.”

                She wrote “I Found Something,” “Lead On (Lord Jesus),” and “Jesus is the Name.”  She co-wrote “Lord, Don’t Move the Mountain” with Mahalia Jackson.  (Doris Akers wrote the words, and Mahalia Jackson wrote the music.)  https://youtu.be/DzLvgPgTFec “Lord, Don’t Move the Mountain”

                You can see a long list of the hymns and music she created at http://us.search.ccli.com/search/author?Authors=4294895379&Sorting=Popularity .

                She moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1970.

                In her later years, Doris Akers was minister of music at Grace Temple Deliverance Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  She died in Minneapolis on 26 July 1995, age 72.

                In 1976, Kirksville celebrated the bicentennial with a concert by Doris Akers.  The celebration was called “Doris Akers Day.”


Instrumental Music


                The prelude is “Prelude on ‘Evan’” by “Gerald Peterson.”  The name “Gerald Peterson” is just a pseudonym.  The composer is actually Lani Smith.  Lani Smith had more than 4,000 of his compositions published.  He used many pen names, including Gerald Peterson, Edward Broughton, David Paxton, Franklin Ritter, Tom Birchwood, and Christopher Gale.

Lani Smith (alias Gerald Peterson)

                Lani Smith was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 09 Jun 1934.  He died on 24 Jun 2015 in Tucson, Arizona, where he lived with his wife of thirty-five years.  Even in semi-retirement, he wrote several arrangements for organ every week.

From http://www.lorenz.com/Composers/LaniSmith :

                Lani Smith earned Bachelor and Master degrees in composition from the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. From 1967 to 1982 Mr. Smith was a member of the editorial staff of the Lorenz Publishing Company, serving as editor of several choral and organ magazines. Throughout his career, Mr. Smith also served churches in Ohio, Michigan, and California as an organist and choir director.

                Mr. Smith composed and arranged thousands of organ, choral, and piano pieces, as well as over 30 cantatas, special worship services, and youth cantatas. While known primarily for his sacred music, he was equally at home in any musical genre, including rock, pop, jazz, and classical contemporary. He made many musical contributions in the secular field, including works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo voice, ballet, and musical theater.

                Commissions from various musical organizations, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, were received by Lani and many awards came his way, including an annual ASCAP award in recognition of his compositions efforts and the Bearns Prize in Composition awarded through Columbia University. He was also the recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation grant.

                I didn’t find the prelude arrangement for organ, but here is the hymn tune EVAN (1846) is by William Henry Havergal.

                                http://www.hymnary.org/media/fetch/182037 tune EVAN

The tune is used most with “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want.”  It is also used with “O for a Faith that Will Not Shrink,” “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” and this one:

                http://youtu.be/0gtYBTxT4XI  “Oh, that the Lord Would Guide My Ways,” hymn tune EVAN

                William Havergal was born at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in 1793, and died 18 Apr 1870.

                I liked the title of “O for a Faith that Will Not Shrink” so I looked that one up too: 

                https://youtu.be/NhQBP6K4I8s “O for a Faith that Will Not Shrink” (words by William Hiley Bathurst) sung to the tune EVAN.

 

O for a faith that will not shrink, tho’ pressed by ev’ry foe;

That will not tremble on the brink of any earthly woe;

 

That bears unmoved the world’s dread frown, nor heeds its scornful smile;

That seas of trouble cannot drown, nor Satan’s arts beguile.


                The music during the offertory is “Prayer Response” by Mark Davis, a contemporary composer/arranger.


                The postlude is “Chant” by Robert J. Powell.  This was also the prelude on February22.

                http://youtu.be/2E4O-oBJm1I “Chant” by Robert J. Powell

                Robert J. Powell was born in Benoit, Mississippi in 1932.  For 34 years, he was the organist/choir director at Christ Episcopal Church in Greenville, South Carolina. 

    Since retirement, he has been the organist at Trinity United Methodist Church.  He also served as organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.

    He has a Master of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music.

Robert J. Powell, currently organist at UMC, Greenville, SC.

 

Richard

Thursday, May 18, 2017

This Week at Old South Haven Chrch


 
Sunday, May 21       10:00am            Sixth Sunday of Easter
                                                           Sermon:    "If You Love Me..."
                                                           Lessons:  Acts 17: 22-31  John 14:15-21
 
                                   5:30pm            Pot Luck Supper
                                           conversation on Immigration and the Sanctuary Movement
                                                           Guest: Rev. Kathryn (Kate) Calone
                                                 Open Door Exchange: Setauket Presbyterian Church
 
Saturday, May 27   9:00am-3:00pm         CHURCH  FAIR
(set-up help needed at 8:00am)
 
Sunday, May 28       10:00am            Seventh Sunday of Easter
                                                           Sermon:  "Questions After the Excitement"
                                                           Lessons:  Acts 1: 6-14  John  7: 1-11
                                                           Sunday School
 
Monday, May 29                                               MEMORIAL  DAY
                                    9:30am           Brookhaven Parade
                                  11:00am           Bellport Parade
 
Wednesday, May 31    6:00pm           "Gang Information Forum"
                                                    presentation by Suffolk County Police Department
                                                           Christ Episcopal Church: Parish Hall, Bellport
                                                          (sponsored by Brookhaven, Bellport Clergy)
 
Friday, June 2              12noon          Lunch for Retired Presbyterian Clergy
                                                           Presbytery Center, Commack
 
Saturday, June 3           4:00pm       2017  SPRING VOCAL CONCERT
with Featured Artists
Laura Lupinacci, Mezzo-Soprano
John Horton Murray, Tenor
and Amanda Duspriva as Guest Artist
 
Sunday, June 4           10: 00am               PENTECOST
                                                          Confirmation of Jack Frankie
 
Sunday, June 11          10:00am       Morning Worship
                                                          Last Sunday School Class
                                     11:15am       Church Picnic
 
 

Friday, May 12, 2017

Music for the OSHC Service of May 14, 2017, (Mother's Day) and the 5th Sunday of Easter

From: Richard Thomas
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2017 10:57 PM

 

                               The introit is  "We Come before Thee" by Dr. Robert J. Hughes of Greenville, SC. He used the pseudonym “James Denton” for this work.  He also used the pseudonyms “James Moffat” and “John Johnson.”

                He was born in Canada (on 30 May 1916) and died in South Carolina.   During World War II, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was appointed Bandmaster of the Eastern Air Command Band.

                His doctorate was from Oxford University, England.  The subject of his dissertation was “the development of a volunteer music program.”

                According to his gravestone in Greenville, SC, he was “Promoted to Glory” on 31 July 1999.  There is part of treble staff on his side of the headstone.


                The opening hymn is no. 454, “Blessed Jesus, at Thy Word.”

                The words are by Tobias Clausnitzer.  He was born on 05 Feb 1619 at Thum in Saxony.  He attended several universities, including Leipzig, where he obtained a M.A. in 1643.    In 1644, he became chaplain to a Swedish regiment by appointment.  After the Peace of Westphalia in 1649, he became first pastor at Weiden, where he remained until his death on 07 May 1684.

                The hymn is an 1858 translation by Catherine Winkworth of “Liebster Jesu wir sind hier, dich und dein Wort anzuhören.”  Alterations were made to her translation in 1972.

                The tune LIEBSTER JESU was composed by Johann Rudolf Ahle in 1664.  Johann Rudolph Ahle was born at Mühlhausen in 1625.  He attended Erfurt University, where he studied theology, then became an organist at Erfurt. He later returned to Mühlhausen to take the position of organist at St. Blasius Church.  He served as mayor of Mühlhausen and died in 1673.

                https://youtu.be/GaRzEVOGMlA “Blessed Jesus, at Your Word” at Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota, 2nd Semester Opening Service

https://youtu.be/_rOdDO_g5TE “Liebster Jesu wir sind hier” played by Gert van Hoef


                The lessons are the same as last week.  John 10:1-10 (all about sheep and shepherds and Jesus being a door) and 1 Peter 2:11-25 (with the injunction to slaves to obey their masters, even when their masters were perverse, and the quotations from Isaiah 53).


                The second hymn is “How Happy Is Each Child of God,” no. 239, words by Dwyn M. Mounger, 1986.  The words are a versification of Psalm 128.

                The tune, WINCHESTER OLD, is very familiar.  It is the tune used with “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night, All Seated on the Ground.”

                We sang this hymn on Father’s Day last year and on Mother’s Day in 2015.

                https://vimeo.com/51459621 “How Happy Is Each Child of God” sung by Bellevue Presbyterian Church congregation, Bellevue, Washington

                https://youtu.be/IgYzJDxxzN8  WINCHESTER OLD

       Dr. Dwyn M. Mounger

                Dwyn M. Mounger was born in 1938 in Jackson, Mississippi, where he grew up.  He is the son of a Presbyterian minister.  He was a leader in the Mississippi civil rights movement in the 1960s.

                He has a B.A. (1960) in history and philosophy from Bellhaven College, Jackson, Mississippi, a masters (1961) from Mississippi State University, a B.D. and a M.Div. (1965) from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a M. Phil. And a Ph.D. (1976) in American religious history from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York.

                From 1961 to 1962, he was  Fulbright Scholar at the Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

                He has “regularly led services of worship in state prisons in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.”  He opposes the death penalty.  He served as pastor at Central Presbyterian Church, Anderson, South Carolina, and at the First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and as an interim pastor at Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Augustine, Florida.  He retired to Knoxville, Tennessee, and is engaged in independent writing and the study of religious history.  He wrote an article for a Knoxville newspaper in November 2015 advocating welcoming refugees.


                The sermon title is “Discerning His Voice.”


                The concluding hymn is “Lord Speak to Me, that I May Speak,” no. 426.  The words are by Frances Havergal (1836-1879), daughter of the Rev. W. H. Havergal.  She was born at Astley, Worcestershire.  She was very well educated and knew Greek and Hebrew.    Theologically, she is described as being “mildly Calvinistic.”

     Frances Ridley Havergal

                She also wrote:

                “Take My Life and Let It Be,”

                “Who Is On the Lord’s Side? Who Will Serve the King?,”  https://youtu.be/d2IK5isj1SU (great hymn)

                “Yes, He Knows the Way is Dreary,”

Yes! He knows the way is dreary,
   Knows the weakness of our frame,
Knows that hand and heart are weary;
   He, 'in all points,' felt the same.
He is near to help and bless;
Be not weary, onward press.

and

                “Tell It Among the Heathen.”  https://youtu.be/NhOjyor_PDs

                The tune for “Lord, Speak to Me, that I May Speak,” CANONBURY is derived from the fourth piano piece in Robert A. Schumann's Nachtstücke, Opus 23 (1839). 

                Robert Schumann (1810-1856) intended to be a concert pianist, but he injured his hand, and turned to composing instead.  He attempted suicide in 1854 and, at his own request, “was confined to a mental institution,” where he spent the last two years of his life.

                You can hear the hymn here:

                               http://youtu.be/4bfWclC8Kp8  “Lord, Speak to Me, that I May Speak” sung at Geneva Presbyterian in Laguna Hills, California


Instrumental Music


                The prelude is Marcel Dupré’s "Hilf, Gott, daß mir’s Gelinge (Help me God, that I may succeed)" from his 79 Chorales, Op. 28.

          Marcel Dupré

https://youtu.be/HMweCnrviTA  "Hilf, Gott, daß mir’s Gelinge" by Marcel Dupré played by Mark Pace at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee

https://youtu.be/th4dCC2F1s4 Marcel Dupré’s  "Hilf, Gott, daß mir’s Gelinge" played by Jeremy Filsell

                Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen, Normandy, France on 03 May 1886.  His father was an organist there and a friend of the famous organ-building family of Cavaillé-Coll.  The Duprés had an organ built in their house.  He studied at the Paris conservatory under Alexandre Guilmant, Louis Vierne, and Charles-Marie Widor.

                It is said that he was able to perform the complete works of J. S. Bach entirely from memory.  The John Wanamaker Store (Philadelphia) sponsored his transcontinental tour in the United States in 1924.

                In 1934 he became the organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, assuming the post previously held by Charles-Marie Wido.  He held that title until his death on 30 May 1971 at Meudon (near Paris)-- though he was often doing other things.

                He was the director of the American Conservatory at the Château de Fontainebleau near Paris from 1947 to 1954.

                Most of his organ compositions are moderately to extremely difficult, and some say his Évocation op. 37  and his Deux Esquisses op. 41 are impossible.

                https://youtu.be/qqCgPsPQqRI Deux Esquisses op. 41 by Marcel Dupré performed by Jean-Baptiste Robin, live, at Bonn-Beuel, 10 Nov 2013  (If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, go to 1:45 and start from there.)  He appears to have memorized the score.


                The offertory music is "Morning" by William Stickles.

                William Charles Stickles was born in Cohoes, New York, (north of Troy) on 07 Mar 1882.  He was a composer, arranger, teacher, and editor.

                He attended the Utica Conservatory and Syracuse University, then studied abroad.  For five years, he assisted Isadore Braggiotti, a voice teacher, in Florence, Italy.  Then he spent two years as a vocal coach for soloists with Felix Motti at the Hof Theater in Munich.  After that, he taught in Boston and New York. 

                In April 1912, he was the accompanist for Anna Chase of the Metropolitan Opera in her appearance at the White House for President and Mrs. Taft.

                On 01 Dec 1919, he married Clara Hazard of Los Angeles in Trinity Chapel, New York City.  She was a soprano and soloist at St. John’s Protestant Episcopal Church in Los Angeles.  He had been touring with her and Theodore Karie (tenor) as their accompanist.

                He produced many arrangements of standard works for chorus, organ, and piano, and also composed original pieces.  He did arrangements of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” (music: Jerome Kerns, words: Otto Harbach), “Bali Ha’i” (music: Richard Rogers, words: Oscar Hammerstein II), “Summertime” (SATB) (George Gershwin and Du Bose Heyward), “easy-to-play piano arrangements” of the songs of Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me Kate,” and also a collection of arrangements of “cowboy duets,” along with arrangements of the songs of many other popular musicals (“Oklahoma,” “West Side Story,” etc.). 

                His Book of Preludes, Offertories, Postludes for all Organs was published in 1957.  It was enlarged and published as The Deluxe Book of Preludes, Offertories, Postludes for all Organs ten years later with Chester Nordman as co-editor and composer.

                He died in Queens, New York, in October 1971.


                The postlude is “Moderato” by Jacques-Louis  Battmann (b. 25 Aug 1818, Masevaux, France; d. 07 Jul 1886, Dijon, France)  is the offertory music.

         Jacques-Louis  Battmann

                I think “Moderato” is No. 26 of his 72 Pieces for Organ, Op. 60.  Here is some music by Jacques-Louis Battman:

                                https://youtu.be/QYRxp0MMI7g J. L. Battmann’s “Morceau No. 60,” played on a harmonium by Chris

                Here’s some other very pleasing little pieces by Battmann played on a reed organ:

                                https://youtu.be/dbIneZeFdIU J. L. Battmann’s “Pastorale” played on a reed organ by Chris

                                https://youtu.be/atOGpG19pvE “Townsend March” by Jacques-Louis Battman played on a reed organ by Chris S.

Richard