Seventh Sunday After Epiphany - February 23, 2025

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Seventh Sunday After Epiphany

Since 1930, the US has celebrated Black History Month in February. We honor The Rev. Absolom Jones, the Episcopal Church’s first black Priest, on February 13 each year. So, in honor of Black History and Rev. Jones, this Sunday all of the special music will be by African-American composers.

The Gospel reading this Sunday is from Luke, and we will hear Jesus tell us to love not only those who are easy to love, but we should also love and pray for our enemies, those who hate us, and those who harm us. When giving, we are to give more than was asked of us and to do so without regard to any payback. The Gospel reading for February 13 (Absalom Jones) is from John, and here Jesus tells us “love one another as I have loved you.”  So with this over-riding theme of love, the choir will sing “I Choose Love” by African-American composer Mark Miller.  Mark is Professor of Church Music, Director of Chapel, and Composer In Residence at Drew University in Madison NJ, and is the Minister of Music of Christ Church (UCC & Am Baptist) in Summit, New Jersey. He believes that everyone is a Child of God and that music is instrumental in healing the world. 

In the midst of pain, I choose love. 

In the midst of pain, sorrow falling down like rain,

 I await the sun again, I choose love.

 

In the midst of war, I choose peace.

 In the midst of war, hate and anger keeping score, 

I will seek the good once more, I choose peace.

 

When my world falls down, I will rise.

When my world falls down, explanations can’t be found,

I will climb to holy ground, I will rise.

Lindy Thompson

 

At Communion, Alan and I will sing a Moses Hogan arrangement of “Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees”. Born in New Orleans in 1957, Hogan had an early passion for music. He was an accomplished pianist by age 9, graduated from New Orleans Center for Creative arts High School, and was awarded a full scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He began graduate studies at Julliard, but left to study classical music in Vienna. Over his lifetime, he published 88 arrangements for voice, eight of which were solo pieces. Moses Hogan died from a brain tumor in 2003. 

 

You are in for a special treat at the Prelude and Postlude. Jack will play two pieces by Florence Price, the first African-American woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra. Florence Beatrice Smith learned piano at a young age, playing in her first recital at the age of 4. She went on to graduate as valedictorian at the age of 14. She then enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music, majoring in organ performance and piano teaching. In 1932, she won the Wannamaker competition in Chicago, which led to her Symphony No. 1 in E Minor performance by the Chicago Symphony in 1933. 

 

At the Postlude, Jack will play  the Finale from the First Sonata for Organ. In 1904 while studying at the New England Conservatory, Florence Price was selected to play Alexandre Guilmant’s Sonata No. 1 in d minor for a student organ recital for the visit of this esteemed French organist and composer. Guilmant in turn publicly expressed his congratulations on Price’s accomplished performance. Composed in 1927, Florence Price’s First Sonata is a tribute to Guilmant as she modeled the work after his own First Sonata.

 

Price died from a stroke in 1953, and her music was mostly forgotten after her death. However, in 2009 a couple who was renovating the Price family’s former vacation home in St. Anne, Illinois, found a trove of Price’s sheet music and manuscripts that were thought to have been lost. The discovery led to renewed interest in Price’s work.  Later that year the music publishing company G. Schirmer, Inc., acquired the worldwide rights to Price’s catalog and began publishing her solo piano compositions and other works. The International Florence Price Festival, which honors Price’s contributions to classical music, was launched virtually in August 2020. In 2022 the Philadelphia Orchestra’s recording of Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor and Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, won a Grammy Award for best orchestral performance.

 

 

Prelude – Adoration                                                                         Florence Price (1887-1953)

Communion – Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees      arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003)

Offertory – I Choose Love                                                                           Mark Miller (b. 1967)

Postlude - Finale (Organ Sonata 1)                                                                      Florence Price

 

Hymns    God Is Love, Let Heaven Adore Him

                Father All Loving, Who Rulest In Majesty

                I Come With Joy

               Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love

               Lord, Make Us Servants Of Your Peace

               Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service

The Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 22, 2024

The Fourth Sunday Of Advent

December 22, 2024

 

Here we are on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, where our readings are all about Mary. The Canticle for this Sunday is Canticle 15 – The Song of Mary, or Magnificat. The Magnificat is one of the Canticles used at Evening Prayer, and there are many setting composed specifically for use during Evensong. This Sunday we will use the setting found in the Hymnal 1982 on page S247.

 

The offertory anthem is by one of our favorite composers, Elaine Hagenberg. Based on the text O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Elaine has written a beautiful, haunting melody that beautifully enhances the text. Here are Elaine’s thoughts on the anthem:

In composing "O Come, Emmanuel," I sought to evoke the feeling of a desolate desert, capturing the profound sense of anticipation for a Savior. The opening measures feature the raw, open strings of the cello, while the low, understated tones of the piano ground the piece in somber depth. The soprano entrance portrays a distant voice crying out in the wilderness, and as the full choir enters, I aimed to create choral parts that embody the timeless hope and yearning echoing through generations, striving to tell the story of longing throughout the ages.

 

 

The Postlude is a piano/organ duet on the Ukrainian Bell Carol, more popularly known as Carol of the Bells. “Carol of the Bells" is a popular Ukranian Christmas carol, which is based on the Ukrainian New Year's song "Shchedryk". The music for the carol comes from the song written by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914. The song was first performed by the Ukrainian students at Kyiv University in December 1916. 

The song premiered in the United States on October 5, 1922,  to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall and the American audience fell in love with the Ukrainian song.

 

Prelude - On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry                    arr. Charles Peery

Offertory – O Come, Emmanuel                                         Elaine Hagenberg

Communion – Even So Come

Postlude – Fantasy on “Carol of the Bells”                   arr. Sandy Wilkinson

Hymns –    Blest Be the King Whose Coming

                  Canticle 15 – The Song of Mary

                  The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came

                  O Heavenly Word, Eternal Light

                  All Earth Is Waiting

                  Ye Who Claim the Faith of Jesus

                  Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

 

The Third Sunday of Advent - December 15, 2024

The Third Sunday of Advent

December 15, 2024

We have quite a bit of music planned for this Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent.  I would like to share a little from our choir devotional book. In this Sunday’s gospel, John warns of the “wrath to come”, dismissing the people’s defense that being children of Abraham is enough to save them. They ask, “What should we then do?”. John answers that instead of self-examination or denial or penance, we should treat others with fairness and with benevolence. Giving something away to benefit someone else is the type of preparation he has in mind. 

 

As musicians, we certainly have something to give away to the benefit of others. We share our talents and our music, and we use melody, harmony, and rhythm to communicate God’s love.

 

So, this Sunday we are blessed to have the Trinity Orchestra and the Choristers sharing their gifts with you. You will also be gifted with the beautiful harp music by one of our vergers, Dustin Koonce. 

 

Prelude – O Come, O Come Emmanuel, arr. Jeff Cranfill.

Our orchestra is slowly growing, and this week we will play the most popular Advent hymn in Christendom! The hymn has it’s origins over 1,200 years ago in monastic life in the 8^th or 9^th century. Seven days before Christmas Eve monasteries would sing the “O antiphons” in anticipation of Christmas Eve when the eighth antiphon, “O Virgo virginum” (“O Virgin of virgins”) would be sung before and after Mary's canticle, the Magnificat (Luke 1:46b–55). The Latin metrical form of the hymn was composed as early as the 12th century. The 1851 translation by John Mason Neale from Hymns Ancient and Modern is the most prominent by far in the English-speaking world, but other English translations also exist. Translations into other modern languages (particularly German) are also in widespread use. While the text may be used with many metrical hymn tunes, it was first combined with its most famous tune, often itself called Veni Emmanuel, in the English-language Hymnal Noted in 1851. Later, the same tune was used with versions of "O come, O come, Emmanuel" in other languages, including Latin. This is also our opening Processional hymn.

 

The Canticle this week is Canticle 9 – The First Song of Isaiah. We will chant it at the appointed time, and then at the offertory, the choir, joined by the Choristers, will offer Jack Noble White’s well-known arrangement.

Isaiah 12:2-6

Surely, it is God who saves me; *
       I will trust in him and not be afraid. 

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, *
       and he will be my Savior.

 

At communion, Dustin and Jack will offer a duet of Savior of the Nations, Come, arranged by Charles Peery. Peery is a graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, where he studied choral music education, organ, and composition. He has performed as harpist with the Webster University Symphony Orchestra, the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra, Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), and the Gateway Men's Chorus. He is past Dean of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and director of the Gateway Ringers, St. Louis's premier community/auditioned handbell ensemble.

 

Savior of the Nations, Come also first appeared in hymnals in the 8^th or 9^th century. The original text is attributed to Ambrose of Milan (340-397), and then was translated into German by Martin Luther (1483-1546).

 

Prelude – O Come, O Come Emmanuel, arr. Jeff Cranfill

Offertory – The First Song of Isaiah, Jack Noble White

Communion Meditation – Savior of the Nations, Come, arr. Charles Peery

Postlude – Prepare the Way, O Zion, arr. Paul Manz

 

Hymns:

O Come, O Come Emmaunuel

Canticle 9

On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry

Watchman, Tell Us Of the Night

Sleepers Wake! A Voice Astounds Us

What Is the Crying at Jordan

Rejoice, Rejoice Believers

 

December 14, 2024 - A Service of Leave-Taking for The Rev. Dr. Gerry Sevick

Passacaglia and Fugue BWV 582, J.S Bach

                  When Fr Gerry asked me to play for his farewell service, one of his requests was that the prelude be about 20 minutes long. As soon as he had asked of that, the first piece I considered was Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, and for good reason!

                  This work of Bach consists of 20 variations!!  Albert Schweitzer advised that "Each of the twenty sections ... must have its own characteristic tone colour (but) ... no colour must be sharply differentiated from its predecessor or its successor." The work opens with a stately eight-bar theme followed by the 20 variations and an overwhelming tutti. The double fugue is built on the first part of the passacaglia theme in combination with a countertheme in eighth notes. The work closes with a massive climax of suspended harmonies and full instrumental sonority.

                  Although this work has 20 variations, I thought it seemed necessary to add in representation to the 17 years Fr Gerry has been at Trinity, with each year he had served here having something unique to them and intensifying each year. And with the excitement and triumph of the last variation representing his last year spent here at Trinity before going out with great exultation.

 

Love, M. Balog

 Several years ago, Kay Sevick approached me about commissioning someone to compose an anthem for the occasion of Fr. Gerry’s 30^th Anniversary to the priesthood. She wanted to use his favorite George Herbert text, “Love Bade Me Welcome” from a collection of poems written in 1633. After discussing who could write it and the commission involved, we both agreed that I would write it! The song, written originally for solo voice, consists of 3 verses, the first two verses ending with Love (God) questioning the listener. These verses end on a dominant chord, leaving the listening waiting for the answer. The final verse ends on a Major Tonic chord, as in answer, Love invites us all to the table. Micki and Alyssa premiered this piece, 2017(?), and will offer it together at this service.

 

Lacrimosa, W.A.Mozart (From Requiem)

                  One of the requests Fr Gerry had asked me to play for him is an arrangement for solo organ on Mozarts Lacrimosa (from Requiem). This was requested by him shortly after I started my position here at Trinity as Organist. Mozart composed part of the Requiem in late 1791, but it was unfinished by the time of his death on December 5^th of that same year, We do know that Mozart did compose the first 8 bars of the Lacrimosa, one of the most beautiful movements of the Requiem. Lacrimosa translates to “Full of tears”, and the beauty of the music written shortly before Mozart’s own death brings to mind all of the emotions that a person can feel as they examine the joys and sorrows of their own life. The piece culminates in a crescendo to a final “Amen”. This will be the last prelude offered before the service.

 

I Can Only Imagine, Bart Millard

                  “I Can Only Imagine” was originally recorded in 1999 by the Christan band, Mercy Me. Written by lead singer Bart Millard, it imagines what it would be like to be in front of God in heaven. Released in 2002, it received Dove Awards for song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. It is the most-played song in the history of Christan radio, as well as the best-selling Christian song of all time. I asked Fr. Gerry his thoughts on the song, and he explained that it brings to mind not only the times in the service that we want to raise our hands in praise, but also to kneel in reverence. On Saturday Alan will bless us with his singing of this song.

 

I Believe, Mark Miller

                  When Fr. Gerry and I pondered an anthem for this service, of course my mind went straight to “I Believe”, by Mark Miller. The first time I heard this anthem at a conference, I went immediately to the vendor booth and purchased their remaining copies. When I introduced it to the choir, it became a favorite. It was the first anthem that we recorded during Covid. The text is linked to writings found in a cellar where Jewish families hid during the Holocaust. “I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining," is a powerful phrase often used as a poem, signifying unwavering hope and faith, even amidst darkness. The music begins simply, with a solo voice. As the music swells and grows with additional voices, we sing about love. Finally, we return to the solo voice, and sing “I believe in God, even when God is silent”. Alyssa will be our soloist.

 

Rubrics- “The Peace Be Exchanged” Dan Locklair

                  This is the other organ compostion Fr Gerry had asked requested for his service of leaving (along with the Lacrimosa).  You will be hearing this during communion. The first time he heard this piece was during the organ installation concert here at Trinity, which was played by guest organist, Joseph Painter. Commissioned in 1988 for the Organ Artists Series of Pittsburgh, Rubrics has quickly become a staple in the American organ repertoire. Each of its five movements is based upon the rubrics (liturgical instructions) present in The Book of Common Prayer. “The Peace may be exchanged”
is the fourth movement in the suite, and its text is taken from a brief rite entitled “A Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child.” In this striking beautiful aria, Locklair utilizes simple rhythmic and melodic motives to great effect, using dense writing in the manuals and double pedal to create a sonic tapestry that is subtle and moving.

 

 

Finale - Organ Sonata No. 1, Alexandre Guilmant

                  For the postlude of this service, I decided on Alexandre Guilmants third movement “Finale”, from his Sonata No. 1. I couldn’t think of anything more fitting for Fr Gerry’s 17 years of service here at  Trinity, and over 30 years all together as priest. To me, this work expresses much of the emotion and challenges a rector could experience, as well as the uplifting and inspiring supernatural moments created working as a servant of the Holy Spirit and disciple of God. The frenetic Finale in D minor speeds along in an ABA-coda form, with the A sections almost entirely blanketed in running 16th notes, with the small finger of the right hand in charge of presenting a forceful tune by stretching and phrasing it all together. This momentum suddenly stops so that a solemn chorale can be heard in the B section, consisting of mostly half notes with a pedal flourish at the end of each phrase. The piece culminates in an overpoweringly visceral Maestoso as coda.

All of the hymns selected are Fr. Gerry’s favorites:

I Bind Unto Myself Today

The Servant Song

Now My Tongue the Mystery Telling

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Be Thou My Vision

King of Glory, King Of Peace

I Want to Walk As a Child of the Light

December 8, 2024: The Second Sunday of Advent

Well, here it is. December 8. Fr. Gerry’s last Sunday with us before his retirement. We wish him well on this next stage of his life!

 

The Trinity Ringers will offer the Prelude this Sunday. We will be playing a piece by Judy Phillips – Advent Fantasy. Advent Fantasy combines the tunes GENEVAN 42 (Comfort, Comfort Now My People), PICARDY (Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence), NUN KOMM, DER HEIDEN HEILAND (Savior of the Nations, Come) and PUER NOBIS (On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry). Fr. Gerry loves the Advent hymns, so it is particularly nice to offer a medley on his last Sunday. Following the service, the Trinity Ringers will be playing in Butler Hall as part of the Angel Gift Market.

 

The choir will sing  an anthem by John Ness Beck that directly quotes Sunday’s Gospel reading. It is my guess that a multitude of churches around the world will be singing Every Valley on this, the Second Sunday of Advent. It is one of his best known anthems. John Ness Beck was born in Warren, Ohio in 1930. After high school he enrolled at Ohio State University, graduating in 1952 with a BA in English. After a stint in the Army, he returned to OSU, graduating with a BA in Music with composition as his major. He spent 7 years teaching at OSU, then opened his own Music store in Columbus. As his compositions found their way into print and popularity, he joined forces in 1972 with John Tatgenhorst in the creation of Beckenhorst Press, my personal favorite music publisher. He remained active as a clinician and guest conductor until his death  in 1987.

The Postlude, Eternal Source of Light Divine forms the majestic opening statement of G.F. Handel’s cantata, Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, HWV 74. The aria is a kind of ceremonial call to order. The angelic vocal line is echoed by the trumpet, which seems to emerge from timeless, celestial expanses. Occasionally, the two voices weave together in near canonic counterpoint. Handel composed this music in January of 1713. It was intended to celebrate the Queen’s February 6 birthday, but Queen Anne took little interest in music, and her illness prevented the work from being performed. However, in gratitude, she awarded Handel an annual pension.

 

Eternal source of light divine
With double warmth thy beams display
And with distinguish’d glory shine
To add a lustre to this day.

Hymns:

65 – Prepare the Way, O Zion

75 – There’s a Voice In the Wilderness Crying

54 – Savior of the Nations, come

60 – Creator Of the Stars Of Night

67 – Comfort, Comfort Ye My People

657 – Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

October 27, 2024 - 23rd Sunday After Pentecost

Prelude

Every Praise  arr. Jeff Cranfill

Offertory

He Comes To Us  Jane Marshall

Communion Meditation

More Than Amazing  Lincoln Brewster and Mia Fieldes

Postlude

Toccata in D Minor, BWV 565  Johann Sebastian Bach

Hymns

7 - Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies 

371 - Thou, Whose Almighty Word 

466 - Eternal Light, Shine In My Heart 

538 - God Of Mercy, God Of Grace 

671 - Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound 

410 - Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven

This Sunday will mark the debut of the Trinity Orchestra! They will play Jeff Cranfill's arrangement of "Every Praise', which incorporates the tune "Old 100th". The orchestra rehearses every 2nd and 4th Sunday at 3:00pm. If you play an instrument, we'd love to have you join us!

Jane Marshall

Albert Schweizer

The Offertory will be sung by the Trinity Choir. Written by Jane Marshall, "He Comes to Us" is rooted in the words written by Albert Schweitzer in his book, The Quest for the Historical Jesus. Schweitzer, who gave up two brilliant careers, one as a gifted writer and theologian, and that of an accomplished organist and musician, to become a medical doctor in Africa, wrote of what it means to hear and respond Jesus' call:

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside. He came to those men who knew him not. He speaks to us the same word: "Follow thou me!" and sets us to the tasks which he has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in his fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience who He is.

The anthem concludes with the famous chorale, "O Morningstar! How Fair and Bright"

O Morning Star, how fair and bright 

thou beamest forth in truth and light! 

O Sovreign meek and lowly.

Thou Root of Jesse, David’s Son, 

my Lord and Master, Thou hast won

my heart to serve Thee solely!

Thou art holy, fair and glorious, all-victorious, 

rich in blessing, rule and might o’er all possessing.

It's the Sunday before Halloween, so by popular request, Jack will play the Toccata in D Minor at the Postlude. The composition is widely accredited for its propelling rhythm, dramatic authority, and majestic notes, and rose to prominence when it appeared in “Fantasia,” a Disney cult classic. It was adapted by Leopold Stokowski for orchestra and was utilized in the opening sequence of the film. The piece was first published by Felix Mendelssohn in 1883 and went on to become one of the most celebrated creations in the organ repertoire. The first section of the composition, which you will hear on Sunday,  is a “toccata,” derived from the Italian word “tocacare,” which reads - “to touch.” It refers and represents a musical form that is crafted for keyboard instruments and is pre-designed to uncover the performer’s virtuosity - “touch.” Johann Sebastian’s take offers a typical essence, and is enriched with several fast “arpeggios,” - notes of the chord that is played in a series, not simultaneously. These notes are generally in a free form and provide the composer with more creative freedom. The Toccata starts in the upper ranges of the keyboard, predominantly with a single voice, which is subsequently doubled at the octave. It is then marked with the appearance of a diminished seventh chord, which is crafted “one note at a time.” This portion resolves into “D major.” It is further followed by three short passages, which are doubled at the octave and reiterates a short motif. The section reaches its climax by resolving into “D minor,” albeit with a flourish. The second section comprises of multiple figurations offering minimal connections, subsequently switching into “A minor,” the dominant key. The final section consists entirely of reiterations of the “three-figure note,” with profound similarity to the opening section. The piece concludes with “D minor,” which follows a short pedal flourish.

Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost

Prelude: Kingsfold Te Deum,   Sondra Tucker

 

The Prelude Sunday morning, Kingsfold Te Deum, will be offered by our Trinity  handbell ringers.  Both the KINGSFOLD (Hymn 292/480) and TE DEUM  (Canticle 21) tunes are heard separately in the beginning, then together in the final stanza. A great festival piece! This will be the Trinity Ringers first time playing together in service again since before summer, so we are excited to have them back! 

 

Processional Hymn: Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation/Westminster Abbey

 

The opening hymn Sunday morning is a very familiar hymn tune we know here at Trinity- Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation. The hymn tune was written by none other, Henry Purcell, who  was perhaps the greatest English composer who ever lived, though he only lived to the age of thirty-six. The hymn tune, Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation, was  translated in 1851 by John Mason Neale from the second part of the 6th- or 7th-century Latin monastic hymn Urbs beata Jerusalem.

 

Anthem: The Majesty and Glory of Your Name   Tom Fettke

 

The Choir Anthem on Sunday is the classic by Tom Fettke. The text is based on the Psalm appointed for Sunday, Psalm 8. This anthem came out in the early 90's and has become a favorite and church choirs throughout the world. Fettke took the text by Linda Lee Johnson and married it with music that paints a perfect picture of creation and our place in it. 

Tom Fettke

Here is a link to a story by Tom Fettke on the writing of this song.

https://marthagrimmbrady.com/2014/02/04/majesty-glory-name/

Be sure to listen to this arrangement sung on YouTube.  It is different from most because it sung by an all male group, but I found it to be most helpful because it helped me focus on the words, not the instruments. 

 

 

Closing Hymn: Hymn to Joy

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is based on a simple musical theme, yet it has magic beyond words! Not only grabs the heart, but its message represents everything humanity should stand and fight for! The Ode to Joy (A die Freude) is an ode composed by the German poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller in the summer of 1785 and published the following year in the magazine Thalia. A slightly revised version was published in 1808, changing two lines of the first stanza and removed the last one.

Beethoven

The poem in the first version was composed of 9 stanzas of eight lines each and then reduced to 8 in the second version. Each verse is followed by a 4-line refrain, which is characterized as “chorus.”

It is well known throughout the World for having been used by Ludwig van Beethoven as a text of the choral part of the fourth and final movement of his Ninth Symphony. Micki was blessed to sing this with the Dallas Symphony in the early 90's!

 

 

Postlude: Concerto No II in a minor, Movement III,     J.S Bach/Vivaldi

 

Vivaldi's original concerto's figured bass continuo part was fleshed out by Bach, with the two solo parts and accompaniment spread out over the manuals of the organ. It is interesting to compare the original with Bach's transcription, as it gives some idea of Bach's skill and knowledge of what the organ was capable of. Bach was a literal 'one man band' when he played the instrument. Bach maintained the Italian style of the originals as well as most of the notes contained in the two solo violin parts. The violin and organ are two vastly differnet instruments, so the literal transrciption of most of the solo parts causes some real difficulties for the organist, but as Bach made these transcriptions for his own use, that was probably of no concern. The concerto is in three movements, but Sunday morning you will be hearing the third.

III. Allegro - The music returns to a brisk tempo and the key of A minor. After the initial statement is repeated, Bach changes the chords played by one of the solo violins to running sixteenth notes while keeping the original eighth notes of the original, one of the few actual alterations to the notes of the original. This adds brilliance to the music, perhaps Bach was flexing his organ playing muscles. He must have liked the effect for he repeats the changes later in the movement.