May 16th, 2021
Our worship this week is a mix of 19th century music, with new arrangements of classic hymns and a newly written offertory.
This morning’s prelude is a short piece by the famous Belgian-French composer, César Franck (1822-1890). A child prodigy at the piano, he became one of the most influential composers and organists in France in the mid-19th century. Although his works for organ are few, they are a keystone of the repertoire to this day. Today’s prelude is a “Poco andantino,” which is simply a tempo indication meaning around walking pace. It comes from Franck’s collection “L’Organiste,” a collection of attractive pieces for harmonium (a type of pump organ) or small pipe organ. He left the set uncompleted at his death, but the 63 completed pieces are each a wonderful miniature in this great composer’s distinctive language.
The text of our opening hymn, “Hail the day that sees him rise,” was written by the great hymnwriter Charles Wesley and originally titled “Hymn for Ascension Day.” Over the nearly 300 years that have passed since the text was written, the 10-stanza poem has been abbreviated, reworded, and paired to the 19th century Welsh hymn tune “Llanfair.”
Today’s offertory was written by our very own Paul Zach, who says:
"His Love Endures Forever" is a meditation from Psalm 90 and Psalm 136. I wrote this song over zoom with my friend Kate Bluett a few months ago and then collaborated with some amazing musicians to create the split screen video. It was like Christmas morning getting this video and seeing what each of these musicians added to my song.
Our closing hymn, “Crown him with many crowns,” has words from two sources. The original hymn text was written in 1851 by Matthew Bridges, but only the first stanza of the present version is by him. The rest of the words were composed in 1871 by Godfrey Thring, who was inspired to complete the poem somewhat differently than the Bridges version. The music, to the tune name “Diademata,” dates to 1868, and was composed specifically for this text by George J. Elvey.
Our postlude today is a work by the relatively obscure German composer Peter Piel (1835-1904). Working in Roman Catholic churches in Germany in the mid-19th century, Piel wrote many sacred compositions, including masses, liturgical music, and over 250 organ pieces. This piece, “Andante maestoso,” was composed for either harmonium or organ, much like the Franck prelude, and is eminently suited to be played on our exquisite Andover/E&G.G. Hook organ.
