May 12, 2024 - The Seventh Sunday of Easter

The Seventh Sunday of Easter

 

The seventh Sunday of Easter continues with Jesus praying for his disciples, asking of them to remember his words and to continue to teach them when he is gone. The music selections you will hear revolve around the words of Christ in today’s Gospel, John 17:6-19, and Psalm 1, as well for all the Mothers of the world and here at Trinity for Mother’s Day.

Prelude: Prelude in E Flat “St. Anne”, BWV 552, J.S Bach

 J.S Bach Prelude and Fugue in E Flat Major, is the longest of Bach’s Preludes.  It combines the elements of a French overture (first theme), an Italian concerto (second theme) and a German fugue (third theme), although adapted to the organ. Originally possibly written in the key of D major, a more common key for a concerto or overture, Bach might have transposed it and the fugue into E♭ major because Mattheson had described the key in 1731 as a "beautiful and majestic key" avoided by organists. The piece also has three separate themes (A, B, C), sometimes overlapping, which commentators have interpreted as representing the Father, Son and Holy Ghost in the Trinity. Other references to the Trinity include the three flats in the key signature, like the accompanying fugue.

The first theme has the dotted rhythms, marked with slurs, of a French overture. It is written for five parts with complex suspended harmonies.

The second theme, representing God, the Son, the "kind Lord", has two bar phrases of staccato three-part chords in the galant style, with echo responses marked piano.

The third theme is a double fugue based on semiquavers, representing "the Holy Ghost, descending, flickering like tongues of fire." The semiquavers are not marked with slurs, according to North German conventions. In the final development (C3) the theme passes into E♭ minor, presaging the close of the movement, but also harking back to the previous minor episode and anticipating similar effects in later movements of Clavier-Übung III, such as the first duet BWV 802. The older style two- or three-part writing forms a contrast to the harmonically more complex and modern writing of the first theme.

The nickname “St Anne” for this Prelude, is because the Fugue  is strikingly similar to William Croft's English hymn of the same name. 

This prelude was chosen this morning for the appreciation of Mother’s Day. St. Anne is the patron saint of unmarried women, housewives, women in labor, grandmothers, childless people, equestrians, lace makers, miners, the poor, and seamstresses.  The most well-known patronage of St. Anne is that of grandmothers.  Certainly as the mother of the Virgin Mary and the grandmother of Jesus Christ, St. Anne was a woman of great virtue and love, as for all the mothers here at Trinity.

 

Opening Hymn: #483,  The Head That Once Was Crowned With Thorns

 "The head that once was crowned" fills in the gaps of the scriptural account by describing Christ's presence in heaven and the glory of those who "dwell above" (stanza three) with him in "heaven's eternal light" (stanza two).

Dan Forrest

Anthem: Shalom, Dan Forrest

Todays Choral anthem, Shalom, written by Dan Forrest, was written as choral prayer for peace and wholeness during the events of 2020, Shalom alternates between sections of very simple melody floating over gentle accompaniment with polyphonic refrains featuring whispers of the word "peace." No matter how complex the texture gets, it always returns to a single unison note, picturing the meaning of shalom: not merely a surface-level peace, but wholeness in every aspect of one's being (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually) and in all our relationships with each other.

Recessional Hymn: #477,  All Praise To Thee, For Thou, O King Divine

The Recessional Hymn, All Praise To Thee, written by Episcopalian priest F. Bland Tucker (1895-1984) is based off one of the great biblical hymns, Philippians 2:5-11, the Kenosis Hymn, or hymn of self-emptying.  The King James Version is cited here since it was the basis of Tucker’s hymn:

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:5-11).

Tucker’s paraphrase draws directly from this central passage of the incarnation for its language in several places. Stanza three begins, “Let this mind be in us which was in thee,” a rewording very similar to the beginning of the passage.

Stanza four is strongly reminiscent of the final section, “and given the name to which all knees shall bow.” Stanza five begins, “Let every tongue confess with one accord/in heaven and earth that Jesus Christ is Lord,” capturing the essence of the final phrases of the passage beautifully.

This text was written to accompany the famous hymn tune SINE NOMINE by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). Tucker wanted to provide a text for this stirring tune in addition to “For all the saints” by Anglican Bishop William Walsham How (1823-1897). At the time of the writing of his new text (1938), the hymnal committee for the Hymnal 1940 discovered that SINE NOMINE, then under copyright, could only be used with How’s text. The committee instead substituted the tune ENGLEBERG by Charles Villiers Stanford. Not knowing this restriction, the 1966 Methodist Hymnal committee honored the original intent of the author and matched his text with SINE NOMINE. By the time of the publication of The UM Hymnal in 1989, SINE NOMINE was public domain in the United States and the text/tune pairing could be maintained unchallenged.

 

Postlude: Fanfare, Jaques-Nicolas Lemmons

            Jacques-Nicholas Lemmens (1823-1881) was an eminent Belgian organist, recitalist, composer, and educator. His first organ training was with his father, then he studied at the Royal Brussels Conservatoire, where he was appointed organ professor at age 26. His distinguished students included Alexander Guilmant and Charles-Marie Widor. During 1852 he presented numerous stunning organ recitals in Paris. His astonishing pedal technique was mostly due to his studies of Bach’s organ works, which were not well-known in France at the time. Fanfare is Lemmens’ most famous composition, which was very popular when he performed it in recitals, and is probably his most famous work today. 

From start to end, this Fanfare is nothing but excitement, showing off the organ at its most full. It is one of the first French Organ works our organist, Jack Balog, has learned and is also one of his most favorite pieces to play.