OPENING VOLUNTARY Creator of the Stars of Night (Conditor alme siderum)
setting, Carlton R. Young
Advent and Christmas seem
to pull our hearts to older, ancient even, music of the church. This hymn is no
exception. Christians were singing it about 900 years before the Reformation began
– that means some 1,400 years before our present day. ELW places it in the
Advent section, but it’s also suitable for Christ the King Sunday. Our choir
sang an arrangement of it last week.
The melody has four short
phrases and they rise and fall with notes that stay close to each other.
Carlton Young’s setting features an ostinato accompaniment (a short phrase that
repeats throughout a piece of music) while the melody is in the pedal.
Conditor alme siderum is also the basis for the Kyrie that we’ll be singing
throughout the season of Advent.
GATHERING HYMN O Lord, How Shall I Meet You (Wie soll ich dich empfangen)
ELW 241
This is one of nine hymns
in ELW by Paul Gerhardt who is known as Germany’s greatest hymn writer. (I bet
you thought it was Martin Luther, didn’t you?) Gerhardt played a role in German
Church history by attempting to bring together Lutheran and Reformed clergy – a
task that ultimately failed because of their diverging theological viewpoints.
Still, Gerhardt was well-liked on both sides of the protestant aisle.
Gerhardt’s faith combined “a
deep personal piety and filial trust in God with the love of nature of the true
poet. . . “We can see this throughout this hymn, but especially in the second
stanza:
HYMN OF THE DAY Hark!
A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding (Merton)
ELW 246
The gospel reading opens
with a terrible scene: darkness, falling stars, and a shaking heaven. Then we
see Jesus coming with “great power and glory.”
According to this hymn, it is seeing Jesus that allows us to cast off
the darkness and rise from our bondage.
MUSICAL OFFERING God
of Still Waiting
Music: Alfred V. Fedak
Text: Carlton R. Young
MUSIC DURING COMMUNION Let
All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Picardy)
setting, Robert Hebble
This hymn is even older
than Creator of the Stars of Night, possibly dating to the second or
third century. The familiar tune, Picardy, is of French origin and not
quite as old since it comes from the 17th century.
We will encounter Picardy three times in today’s liturgy since it is the
basis for the gospel acclamation and the Holy, holy, holy. (Sanctus)
Robert Hebble, the composer, died in Atlantis, Florida on February 17, 2020. Here
is a link to his obituary:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/west-palm-beach-fl/robert-hebble-9043903
SENDING HYMN Lo! He
Comes with Clouds Descending (Helmsley)
ELW 435
It would be hard for me to
tell you how much I love this hymn. I first heard it on a CD by the Cambridge
Singers with an arrangement by John Rutter. You can hear this arrangement, with
its stirring brass and organ introduction, at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBAG0TXu2AE
One day, as I was browsing
the Episcopal Hymnal 1982 (I worked at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in
Jacksonville at the time), I was playing through hymns and recognized Helmsley.
I was so excited to discover it was actually a congregational hymn and it has
been an important part of my Advent season since that day.
There is a stanza missing
in ELW so I usually print a four-stanza version when we sing it; however, with COVID-19
concerns we are also trying to limit assembly singing. I included the missing
stanza, from the pen of Charles Wesley, here:
CLOSING VOLUNTARY Trumpet Tune on “Wake, Awake!”
Martha Sobaje
OTHER MUSIC
Kyrie Eleison
Our Kyrie has been
composed from “Creator of the Stars of Night.” This is a new setting so I’ve done
a short “tutorial video” to help you learn it.
Light One Candle to Watch
for Messiah Tif in veldele –
lighting of the Advent Wreath
Psalm Setting
An assembly refrain with an
ELW tone sung antiphonally between the choir and assembly
Gospel Acclamation Picardy
Sanctus Picardy
Sources:
Wikipedia
Painting of
Madonna with Child by Lorenzo Monaco, Florence, c.1410
By Unknown author - Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche Lübben, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1410833
Portrait of
Paul Gerhardt, Wikipedia
The Oxford
Dictionary of the Christian Church Oxford University Press
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