Alleluia!

It's after Valentine's Day and we can still sing Alleluia in church, because Lent is still weeks away.  Hard to believe, isn't it?  The weather this week has only made it harder yet, because the only snow drifts left in my neighborhood are the remnants of snow piles next to driveways.  Maybe that groundhog knew what he was talking about?  (Or maybe it'll be back to reality next week, but we can still enjoy it for now!)

This week we get to open and close the service with two of my favorite hymns.  The opening hymn will be "O Holy Spirit Enter In" (ELW 786), a text that seems like such a perfect opening prayer that it will also be the meditative prelude.  The composer of this great tune is Phillip Nicolai.  He was born a decade after Martin Luther had died, and he served as a Lutheran pastor in Germany in the late 16th century.  His tunes have inspired composers ever since, particularly the chorale tune we're singing this week, which is sometimes referred to as "the queen of chorales."

Our closing hymn will be "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" (ELW 631).  The Welsh hymn tune by Rowland Prichard will be well known, and the particular text here is by the prolific Charles Wesley.  I think the strong 3/4 meter has a great lilting, lusty quality that makes it a joy to sing.

That upbeat 3/4 tempo will be echoed in the postlude as well, when I play an arrangement of the Easter tune "O Sons and Daughters of the Lord" by Deshayes.  Despite being an Easter text, the hymn is in a minor key which may be part of why it no longer appears in our hymnal.  But it's a beautiful chorale, and the setting has plenty of fun flourishes for the organ and a big ending, if you stick around for it.

Palm Sunday music

I think of Palm Sunday as a holiday of hope and expectation. It's not quite a celebration - we'll save that for Easter - but the kids and the choir will symbolically reenact the procession, and we'll sing optimistic hymns of faith, most notably "All Glory, Laud, and Honor."

Musically, it will be an exciting day at Bethany. The Rainbow Ringers will play along on our opening hymn. As far as I know, it's the first time that they will play along with a congregational hymn, and I hope you enjoy the experiment. (Thanks in advance to Sue and the kids for all their work!) We'll also have two guest trumpet players from Baldwin Wallace, who will accompany our hymns and liturgy.

I hope that some of you will stick around to hear the postlude, as well. One of the trumpet players and I will be playing a cutting from the fourth movement of Eben's trumpet sonata, titled Golden Window. It's a modern piece that few people are familiar with, but David is an exceptional player and I think you'll enjoy the unique opportunity to hear this piece played.

How did a week go by so quickly?

I don't suppose I can blame the way time has sped up this week entirely on Daylight Saving Time. But if you throw in our upcoming spring break and midterms, a little bit of yard work, and all the music of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, there just hasn't been much free time left. I didn't even comment on Bach's recent birthday.

You have been hearing plenty of Bach in church lately, though, with more to come. First, David's solo this past Sunday was a great Lenten meditation during communion. The postlude was a selection titled "Sanctify Us" from Cantata 22. And tonight, the postlude will be a portion of the St. Matthew Passion, titled Wir Setzen Uns. The text is a bit ahead of the Passion narrative, but we've reached our last Wednesday Lenten service, so I think our focus appropriately shifts to the events of Holy Week.

The text of the chorale I'll be playing is translated as follows:
In tears of grief, dear Lord, we leave Thee.
Hearts cry to Thee, O Savior dear.
Lie Thou softly, softly here.

Rest Thy worn and bruised body.
At the grave, O Jesus blest,
May the sinner, worn with weeping
Comfort find in Thy dear keeping,
And the weary soul find rest.
Sleep in peace,
Sleep Thou in the Father's breast.

We've entered a season of contrasts: cold nights and sunny days, bitter rains and blooming crocus flowers, the crucifixion and the resurrection. Tonight we'll sing hymns of trust and confidence: "Restore in Us, O God," "Jesus, Refuge of the Weary," and "Now the Day is Over." The prelude will be based on Wondrous Love, contrasted with the postlude mentioned above. Our prayers and thoughts should be spurred on by this contrast and variety, as we await Easter.

Happy Birthday, Chopin

Today may or may not be Chopin's birthday. He always claimed that it was March 1, though church records put it earlier. No matter what the date, though, this year marks the bicentennary of the great composer's birth.

Chopin composed only for the piano, which is only one of the reasons we don't associate his work with church music. I actually did play one piece of Chopin's during my time at Bethany, employing the A major Polonaise as a postlude (Op 40, No 1, nicknamed the Military Polonaise). It's about as close to a march as we could ever claim he composed and worked as a change of pace, I believe.

However, some people would shun Chopin's music for its romanticism. His pieces plumb the depths of the passions (in the broad, classical sense of the passions, not simply amorous). Despite his fondness for Bach and classical influences, Chopin's piano music was fully steeped in 19th century Parisian salon culture. The turmoil of the era can be heard in the etudes and the romance in the waltzes, as well as the nationalism of the Polonaises and mazurkas.

I find it intriguing that much of the famous and beloved classical music of the concert hall is from the romantic era, but the church largely shuns it in favor of earlier work (or its modern revival and reinterpretation). A Washington Post article on Chopin today might have touched on the problem when it described the challenge of his work as "walking the fine line between emotion and sentiment, between feeling something and looking back, fondly, on the way it felt." The romantics urge us to action and emotion, not contemplation. Romantic music could inspire liberation theology, perhaps, but not push us toward meditative prayer. Thus, the cliche remains of yoga and prayer to the strains of chant or Bach. Is that fair to the composer's intentions? And is it fair to us that such music is not part of our worship experience?

In other words, do you ever feel that church music (or perhaps even the worship experience in general) intellectualize faith too much (exclude too much romanticism), and thereby diminish the experience? Or does such an emphasis wisely avoid the irrational whirl of personal emotions in order to instruct us and learn God's will?

From Purcell to Handel

It has been a busy week. It's amazing how one deadline and one night out can quickly send the week into a tailspin. I also seem to be just on the verge of picking up the virus that is making its rounds at work. Throw in a coming snowstorm, a pile of laundry, and all I want to do is get to a keyboard and make some music!

Music in general is a personal sanctuary for me. Time spent at the piano can be as good as a nap or a jog to recharge my day. My hope is always that church music provides the same effect. After all, stress relief is one of the scientifically measured benefits of church attendance.

This week my prelude and postlude come from a book titled "From Purcell to Handel." Purcell is an English composer of the late 17th century, while Handel is a German who spent a great deal of his professional career in England in the early 18th century. So for a musical compilation to have that title is a bit like saying from Herman's Hermits to the Beatles. This will be an opportunity to hear several pieces from the same era. The choir will be singing a Bach chorale, who lived during the same period, of course. After last week's plethora of modern music, this week will balance it out with a classical sound. I hope it inspires and refreshes you, so that we can all have a fresh start to the new week.

Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty

The opening hymn this weekend is providing the inspiration for much of the service music. I was rereading the text of the hymn "Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty," confident in my memory of a simple and straightforward hymn, just a joyous gathering tune and text. And that certainly is the overall mood of the hymn.

The middle of the first verse, however, caught my attention with these words, "...where my soul in joyful duty waits for God who answers prayer." The concept of "joyful duty" doesn't pervade the zeitgeist of modern America. Our psyches and daily actions are more geared toward "the pursuit of happiness." But it has long been my belief that the Christian faith is, at its heart, about joy in all things, even foreign ideas to us like "duty."

Suddenly the hymn took on more depth as I continued my reading. The final verse begins, "Speak, O God, and I will hear thee, let thy will be done indeed." Coming together at worship on Sunday is about duty and joy, praise and service, and all those ideas should be ever-present in our prayers.

Both the meditative prelude and the postlude will be arrangements of this hymn tune, the former by Jan Bender and the latter by Paul Manz, both well-known modern organ composers. I hope the music helps you hear the tune in a new way and that you pay special attention to the text when we sing it so that the music helps guide your prayer and worship.

A royal march, et al.

I thought I'd start my entry on this week's music by proceeding backward from the postlude. I'll be playing "Festive Voluntry" by Henry Purcell, who is a 17th century British composer. Purcell is not known as a church composer; he was principally a court musician and composed music for the royal family. Because of that, he's known mostly for marches and voluntaries.

It's precisely the non-sacred source of the music that made me stop to think this week. Why do we (meaning church organists, principally) still play non-sacred classical music like this for a postlude? It can be difficult to justify in some situations. My answer would be threefold: 1. it's good music that has stood the test of time; 2. not a lot of people are paying much attention to a postlude anyway; 3. royal marches symbolize Christ as king. Do you agree with those reasons? Do you have more of your own to add?

There's no such sense of unease about this week's prelude, which is a fugue by Walcha on the tune "Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern." The most common text to this tune is "O Morning Star How Fair and Bright." This particular arrangement doesn't literally spell out the whole tune, but you can hear snatches of the well-known tune among each of the three voices in the fugue. Listen carefully for how Walcha has updated and added to the tune, or hum along when you hear familiar snippets.

A Manz tribute and a choir repeat

A few weeks ago, the world lost one of the greatest organists and sacred music composers in recent history, Paul Manz. He had a profound influence on Lutheran church music and earned numerous awards, including an honorary docterate from my alma mater.

Manz was actually born in Cleveland, though he became most well known for his work in Chicago and Minneapolis churches, as well as concerts around the world. As a Lutheran, he was steeped in the hymn tunes, literature, and traditions that we all know so well, but he updated them with a spicier, more rhythmic sound for a fun change of pace.

His work has a large following - certainly, he is admired and idolized by Lutheran organists everywhere. I often use Manz's hymn arrangements; in fact, when you hear a hymn arrangement with a "modern" sound, you can probably safely assume that it's his. This week, the postlude will be "Lord, You I Love with All My Heart." It seems like an appropriate tribute for a church musician, since it epitomizes the church musician's philosophy since the time of Bach: "Soli deo gloria" (To God alone by the glory).

The choir will be reprising the anthem from last week: "Go, Ye, Into all the World." By repeating the anthem, we can focus on other places we can enhance worship, including the acclamation and antiphon, as well as a hymn descant. We're also hard at work preparing music for Thanksgiving. Make sure Nov. 25th is on your calendar for the Wednesday night service!

Grace is a way of life

I drove by a church with that quote on its sign the other day: "Grace is a way of life." I think it sums up Reformation Sunday and Lutheranism pretty well. Of all the church holidays, this is the most artificial; it isn't based on Gospel events. Sometimes, though, I like to think of it as a fall celebration that echoes the themes of Easter. Plus, it's a favorite of mine as a musical highlight of the fall.

This Sunday's prelude will be my personal favorite arrangement of "Ein Feste Burg" (before I put the tune away for a few months, I promise). It's by David Johnson, a great modern composer and organist, and it features a pedal cadenza in the middle of a bombastic arrangement that I just love to play. It's a big piece for a prelude, but I think it will get the morning off to a great start and have us all humming and smiling as worship begins.

The meditative prelude, on the other hand, will be a lyrical piano piece titled "Berceuse" (French for lullaby) by the French composer Godard. I'll also be playing the piano during communion - a great piano arrangement of "The Church's One Foundation." For those of you who prefer modern sounds from the piano, I think you'll really enjoy both.

The choir will be joined by a guest trumpet player to enhance several parts of the service: a descant on the opening hymn, the Psalm antiphon, and of course the anthem, which this week will be "Upon the Rock of Faith." On Wednesday night, Lisa commented that Reformation is "all about the rock," which is a great way to summarize the music and the hymns this week. Remember to wear red and come ready to sing and celebrate!

Continuing our Reformation theme this Sunday

I wonder what Martin Luther would think about our unofficial, month-long recognition of the theme of Reformation (both in Pastor's sermons and in the music). I suppose in some ways the existence of our church is a perpetual notice of Reformation and its themes, the "solas."

At any rate, the Reformation theme will continue in this week's postlude. I'll be playing an arrangement of "Ein Feste Burg" by Pachelbel. As I play multiple versions of the piece this month, I hope it's a fun challenge for you to listen to the melody as it transfers between the voices - from soprano to the bass pedal line. The various composers will also invert the tune, add ornamentation, and insert their own interludes or episodes. I'll be playing the piece in many different styles, but all of them are meant to evoke the text of Psalm 46 and the foundations of our faith.

The choir will be singing at the late service this week, a piece by the 18th century British composer William Crotch. The anthem repeats the same brief prayer several times as its text:

Comfort, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant
For unto Thee do I lift up my soul.

I hope, as always, that all the music lifts up your soul and aids your prayers and worship at the beginning of a new week.

Vincent Lubeck Prelude and Fugue

My regular readers and listeners will know that I tend to draw heavily from hymn-based materials for my service music selections. I take great pleasure in weaving together the hymns and service music in coordination with the choir, readings, and sermon to present a unified message for the week. On some occasions, however, it's a nice change of pace to play a piece from the standard classical organ repertoire, providing a chance to enjoy the music and your own personal silent prayer and meditation.

When you think of Baroque organ music, and in particular German organ music of the 17th and 18th centuries, the only name to spring to mind is likely Bach. If you're a regular reader of my blog or a real music connoisseur, you might know of Buxtehude as well. However, that place and period were a hotbed of organ composition. Bach is the acknowledged master of the craft, but he flourished amid very talented contemporaries.

One of those fellow organ composers was Vincent Lubeck. He was the organist at St. Nikolai in Hamburg, which was home to one of the world's largest organs at the time. Unfortunately, much of his music has been lost over the centuries. There is also added confusion because his son shared his name and profession, and it's unclear whether some pieces were composed by the father or son.

This Sunday, I'll be playing a Prelude and Fugue in a minor believed to be composed by Vincent Senior, splitting it between the prelude before the service and the fugue after. The music demonstrates several characteristics of the period - the ornamentation, virtuosic scales (particularly the opening few measures), and inversion and episodes in the fugue. It may sound like Bach to a casual listener, but it's a great opportunity to expand your repertoire of Baroque organ composers.

Back to the creed

This past Wednesday, Pastor's sermon returned to our series on the Creed. After a break for the hymn sings, picnics, and anniversary services, we'll spend the remainder of the summer with meditations on the third article. So in honor of that theme I challenge you, quick, to name a Pentecost Hymn...or any hymn that mentions the Holy Spirit specifically...

The fact that it's so difficult to think of a Pentecost Hymn illustrates Pastor's sermon from Wednesday that the Holy Spirit can sometimes seem like the minor member of the Trinity. That provides a challenge and opportunity these next few weeks to introduce and emphasize music about the Holy Spirit.

The prelude this Sunday will reflect that theme by including possibly the most famous hymn tune regarding the Holy Spirit, the chant Veni Creator Spiritus (or its slightly more metrical version in the hymnal, Komm Gott Schopfer). The tune originated in the 8th century, but it will still be familiar to most people in the congregation, I would guess. Isn't it amazing that the church has managed to preserve such melodies for over a millenium?

The other thing I love about church music, though, is that it can continually be updated in new settings and arrangements. I will be playing Helmut Walcha's prelude on the chant, which utilizes modern rhythms and chords to feature the tune in a new setting. You may want to flip open your ELW to 578 to read along with the text during the prelude. The first verse begins "Creator spirit, heav'nly dove, descend upon us from above." The text as a whole is a prayer to the Holy Spirit, just perfect for our return to the Creed.

The postlude this week will be a little ditty titled "Trumpets in Praise" by Hughes. It comes from the latest issue of The Organ Portfolio. While I love playing Bach and Buxtehude and while the Cleveland Public Library helps provide plenty of arrangements by a variety of composers, my subscription to that journal helps ensure that new pieces are constantly available for consideration. They cycle through my repertoire, sometimes getting a trial offering during a service to see if they deserve repeat consideration. I think this particular piece should provide an upbeat note to end the service, and I hope you enjoy.

Wedding season and hymns

May and June are going to be busy months at Bethany for weddings, which means a busy few weeks for me. By the time you consider all of the prelude and postlude music, most weddings involve almost as much organ music as a month of Sunday services.

This weekend's wedding featured two things I found notable. First, there was a congregational hymn. Too many weddings have shied away from direct musical participation, but I think it's a vital part of the service. A wedding congregation is not an audience; they are still part of a worship service as well as witnesses to the marriage ceremony. They make a promise to support the couple and welcome them into the community. A congregational hymn can express that collective attitude musically.

Second, Pastor Uhle's sermon referred not only to the Gospel text but also to the text of a hymn. He made explicit reference to the hymn "Abide with us, Our Savior," as it related to the readings and to his message for the couple. For me, that direct quotation of a 16th century hymn demonstrated to what degree our faith reveres our musical heritage as a source of knowledge and inspiration.

When so much wedding music is either "background music" or a familiar tune chosen from a perennial list of a few favorites, it was great to have these two examples of music serving a higher function in today's wedding service.

Mendelssohn juvenalia

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn's birth. As a consequence, you'll be hearing quite a bit of his organ music over the course of the year.

Mendelssohn's reputation has varied immensely over the past 200 years. During his life, he was touted and admired as among the best composers of his day. He was a child prodigy, popular in his home country of Germany, and beloved by Queen Victoria. In fact, her daughter's wedding ceremony in 1858 included his now-classic Wedding March.

His reputation declined partly due to anti-Semitism (particularly the blistering criticism of Wagner), but also to his musical conservatism. He lived and worked at the dawn of the romantic age, the era of Berlioz and Liszt, but his music still reflected the classical and baroque eras, more akin to Mozart and Bach than his contemporaries. The final blow to his status may just have been his association with and love of Lutheran chorales.

Mendelssohn's family converted to Christianity, and he firmly embraced Lutheran music. Among his familiar works are the "Reformation" Symphony and the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Musical critics may occasionally sneer or sigh at the number of works that echo a chorale, but Lutherans can listen to it from a different perspective, finding additional layers of meaning and emotion in the familiar tunes.

This Sunday I'm playing two of Mendelssohn's early works, composed while he was still a teenager. The prelude is a basic chorale, sweet and consoling, while the postlude is a jaunty march. For Transfiguration Sunday, a day when Jesus appears with Elijah and Moses, we can contemplate the faith of this convert and the beautiful music he composed in praise of God.