Several audio samples of this week’s music are included for you to enjoy as you read.
At the Break of Day: Lauda, Laudé
How do you begin your morning? Do you bound out of bed in gratitude for the gift of the new day and in eager anticipation of all that will be revealed within it? Or are you someone like me, who never met a snooze button I didn't like or one which I wouldn't press repeatedly while summoning the courage to face the day's barrage of duties and deadlines? A few months ago I went through a phase of listening to a favorite Christmas song early each morning. It is entitled Born On a New Day. I wanted to awaken daily to the truth of its third verse: "This new day will be a turning point... if we let the Christ-Child in and reach for the new day." How we take that first breath and "reach for the new day" has much to do with how our day will unfold. Will we approach it as a perilous journey to be successfully navigated, or as a grace-filled adventure – perhaps even a turning point – to be thoroughly embraced?
This Sunday's offertory anthem by Z. Randall Stroope, All Who Dwell in the Shadow of the Lord, opens with these words: "At the first break of day, Lauda, laudé!" Of liturgical origin, a 'Lauda' (or 'Laudé' in its plural form) is a poem or canticle of praise. They were particularly popular in Italy in the 13th-16th centuries, and one of the earliest 'Lauda Spirituale' was St. Francis of Assisi's beloved Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon. At our Festival of Voices rehearsal last Monday evening we made a covenant with each other to greet each morning this week with the words 'Lauda, laudé' on our lips and with praise in our hearts. We gave each other pre-forgiveness lest we should forget; some of us need a jolt of Latte before we feel like saying 'Laudé!' Nevertheless, we agreed that before turning to face the imposing challenges that await us we will step into each new day in a spirit of mindfulness, praise and gratitude. God's mercies are new every morning; may both our physical and spiritual eyes be opened in order to see and receive them.
This Is the Day: Haec Dies
Introit: This Is the Day by Jacobus Gallus, aka Jacob Handl, aka Jakob Petelin (1550-1591) Not many people are known by three different names, but the origins of this family name are somewhat obscure. Jacob was born in Carniola, Slovenia, and in Slovenian the surname 'Petelin' means rooster, as does 'Gallus' in Latin and 'Handl' in German. He lived in Vienna in his early twenties and took up residence in the monastery for a time, or perhaps he actually became a monk; again the passing centuries cloud historical accuracy. We do know that Jacob eventually settled in Prague where he became a church Kantor and performed occasionally in the court of Emperor Rudolf II. His sacred works are comprised of 374 Latin motets and 20 masses, and he was known as being high-minded to the point where even his secular madrigals are in Latin. On Sunday the Festival of Voices will sing his motet in English however, and since it is composed for two antiphonal choirs we will be positioned in the north and south balconies.
[LISTEN]
The Haec Dies (literally, 'This Day') is taken fro Psalm 118:24: This is the day the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. The Haec Dies was commonly used as the 'Gradual' on Easter Sunday. In the Roman Mass there typically are three Lessons fro Scripture: Old Testament, Epistle (New Testament) and Gospel. The Gradual was sung in response to the reading from the Epistle, and its name refers to the fact that as the Gradual was being sung the priest moved into place for the reading (or chanting) of the Gospel. Our rendering of it this week has less to do with liturgical protocol and more to do with how we choose to enter into the gift that is today. Packed into this oft-quoted scripture are as least three central truths: 1) The present is all we have – yesterday is gone and tomorrow holds no guarantee; 2) God has made the day and we are the unmerited recipients of this divine gift; 3) We can choose to rejoice and be glad, surrendering the day's outcome to God and trusting that He will help us through every moment.
Singing a New Song: Canticum Novum
Hymn: Shout to the Lord by Darlene Zschech A headline this week in Alban Weekly caught my eye:
We Are What We Sing. In the article Charlotte Kroeker writes, "Music creates memory that is more lasting than words alone... Music helps us express emotion otherwise unknown. It takes us into another dimension where we can live more fully." We also know that music is a pathway by which the Holy Spirit is invited into our worship – through our physical breath, our sense of surrender to God, and the sacramental joining of our voices in the harmony of praise. Recently we have been sprinkling in Contemporary Christian hymns in Sunday worship, and I love sitting at the piano and hearing the congregation lean into this music will full voices and open hearts. The Australian worship leader
Darlene Zschech (b. 1965) has composed one of the most beautiful and powerful praise choruses in this genre,
Shout to the Lord, and here is the Marble congregation singing it in worship last summer.
[LISTEN]
For many years Zschech served as worship pastor of Hillsong Church, a Pentecostal mega-church with 14 satellite churches in Australia as well as branches in London, Kiev, Cape Town, Stockholm, Paris, Moscow and elsewhere. Hillsong Music has topped Austrialian charts, with albums achieving gold and platinum sales status. In addition to being a worship leader and recording artist, Darlene Zschech and her husband founded Hope Rwanda to assist developing nations in reducing poverty, achieving sustainable development and bringing spiritual strength and social justice.
God Is There: Deus Ibi Est
Anthem: Ubi caritas by Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978) There may be more choral settings of the Ubi Caritas than practically any other liturgical text: "Where there is charity and love, God is there." While its author is unknown, it is believed to have been written in France during the 10th century. Liturgically, the Ubi Caritas appears as the final antiphon sung during the Mandatum, or the Maundy Thursday rite commemorating Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet. 'Mandatum,' meaning 'commandent,' refers to Jesus' words, "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you." (John 13:34)
Though set to newly-composed usic, Ola Gjeilo's mystical setting of the
Ubi Caritas draws inspiration from the ancient Gregorian chant tradition.
[LISTEN] Of special note is the effective way in which Gjeilo juxtaposes phrases of unison singing which then expand into rich harmonic textures. It gives the music a timeless feeling, pairing the style of medieval chant with modern harmonies. Aside from being a striking compositional device, however, there is a deeper meaning. It is from our
ubi caritas – our love and unity, our
unison with each other – that there is born a divine
harmony in which God dwells
(Deus ibi est – God is there). Born in Norway, Gjeilo studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music and London's Royal Academy before moving to New York where he completed a Master's degree in composition at the Juilliard School. He currently lives in Los Angeles where he continues to explore his own musical language, influenced by many styles and centuries, from classical to jazz to folk music.
What’s in a Tune: Engelberg
Hymn: All Praise to Thee, for Thou O King Divine: Engelberg by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) [LISTEN] Every hymn is the sum of two crucial parts: text and tune. How the text and tune are paired together often determines the effectiveness of any given hymn. Hymn tunes have names and histories of their own, apart from the text. A hymn tune such as
Engelberg, which means
Angel's Hill, sometimes serves as the setting for several hymns. In fact, the Marble hymnal employs
Engelberg for three different hymn texts, none of which was the one originally intended for that tune. When Charles Stanford composed
Engelberg in 1904 he wrote it to accompany the hymn,
For All the Saints. That marriage of text and tune turned out to be a short-lived one, however. Two years later Stanford's own student, Ralph Vaughan Williams, upstaged his teacher by writing a new tune,
Sine Nomine. Eclipsing
Engelberg in popularity, it proved to be an instant hit and has become virtually synonymous with
For All the Saints ever since.
Prelude: Voluntary on Engelberg by Calvin Hampton (1938-1984) A brilliant organist and himself a major contributor to 20
th-century hymnody, Hampton was asked to perform an improvisation on
Engelberg at the 1983 American Guild of Organists' Convention. Since it was a favorite of his, he instead composed this Voluntary and presented the manuscript as a gift to those in attendance. The work opens with Hampton's own original theme, composed in the style of a brisk march.
[LISTEN] There follows a fughetta in baroque style based upon the
Engelberg tune. Finally, in the masterful command of counterpoint for which Hampton was known, the two themes are combined in a number of creative ways. In this audio sample I demonstrate Hampton's original tune, the fugue on the
Engelberg tune, and the way they are then combined.
Postlude: Chorale-Prelude on Engelberg by Aaron David Miller [LISTEN] like Calvin Hampton, contemporary American composer Aaron David Miller also begins his setting with a joyful march. A toccata in the manuals then accompanies the statement of the hymn tune
Engelberg in the pedals. Miller's music often contains surprising key shifts and harmonic twists and turns, and this piece is no exception. A middle section wanders through various tonalities that are shaded towards minor key; we recognize snippets of
Engelberg along the way. Eventually the opening march is reprised and the work is brought to a brilliant conclusion.
The hymn text that the congregation will sing to this majestic tune is All Praise to Thee, for Thou O King Divine. It was authored in 1938 by the American Episcopal priest, Francis Bland Tucker (1895-1984). Rev. Tucker based his hymn upon verses from Philippians 2: "Let this same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God... made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant... humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." I chose this text because of its close connection with Dr. Brown's sermon title, "Who Cares About Being Fair?"
Fairness and Justice
This Sunday's scripture lesson from Matthew 20 retells the parable of the workers in the vineyard who all got paid the same, despite their different arrival times and number of hours worked. That hardly seems fair! Similarly, this country's vast disparity of compensation between Wall Street and Main Street seems grossly unfair and has inspired recent protests in cities across the globe. However, it was Jesus Himself who wrote the book on unfair suffering. He was co-equal with God, according to scripture – and yet He was made to suffer the cruel fate of a common criminal. Luckily, the story doesn't end there. Scripture goes on to record: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (KJV)
Jesus serves as the perfect model of humility and love both through the Mandatum – his washing of the disciples' feet – and ultimately through His death on the cross. Then He goes on to demonstrate for us and for all the world that while there is no guarantee of fairness of justice in this life, there surely will be in the next. And for that sacred promise we can all wake up joyfully singing 'Lauda, laudé' today, tomorrow and every single day of our lives.