Llanfair and Truro and Bohm (oh my!)

The Easter celebration continues! One of the great things about Easter is that we don't have to hear our greatest hymns corrupted by pop singers, Muzak, and even barking dogs for weeks and weeks prior to the holiday, so we can instead continue to sing them with gusto and glee for several Sundays.

Llanfair is the tune of the hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today; Alleluia!" (ELW 369), which we'll be singing and which you can also hear in the postlude. It's a perrenial favorite, and in the best tradition of Easter hymns it includes plenty of Alleluias. We have to make up for Lent, after all. So as always I encourage everyone to sing it loud and proud - even if you don't think you have a "great voice," follow Luther's advice and sin boldly. Wrong notes are awfully minor sins.

Truro is another great Easter hymn. You'll hear phrases from it in the prelude. The prelude is a musical rendition of both Good Friday and Easter. Echoes of "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" at the beginning remind us of the confusion and fear that surrounded Holy Week, but the piece resolves in a joyous ending of another familiar Easter hymn.

Finally, Bohm is the composer of the second prelude. He was a 17th century precursor to Bach, and I'll be playing one of his arrangements of the Lord's Prayer. (Incidentally, that spot in our service could really use a name - is it the second prelude, the short prelude, contemplation music? Leave a suggestion in the comments!)