Year C: Music for the Second Sunday of Christmas January 2, 2022

 

OPENING VOLUNTARY Prelude on “Divinum mysterium”

Wilbur Held, 1914-2015

This voluntary is based on a plainchant tune from the 13^th century. Plainchant melodies are written in a flowing style that may have rhythmic pulses, but does not have a meter. (You can’t count 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4.) Plainchant was the primary expression of the church’s song and existed long before modern hymns came on the scene.

“Divinum mysterium” comes back in the service as the tune for the Hymn of the Day.

 

GATHERING HYMN O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste fideles)
ELW 283

Nativity window at Trinity Lutheran Church
Jacksonville, Florida

HYMN OF THE DAY In a Deep, Unbounded Darkness (Divinum mysterium)

This text that originated as the theme song for a Bible study institute in China is a meditation on the eternal nature of God. Like the hymn “Of the Father’s love begotten,” with which this tune is often paired, we begin in the time before creation when God claimed us. After praising God’s steadfastness in stanza two, our joy overflows at the incarnation in stanza three. Finally, stanza four returns us to the realm of eternity, joining together the beginning and final chapters of the Bible by connecting references to stories from Genesis and Exodus with the wedding feast of the Lamb in Revelation. (from Sundays and Seasons)

Christ with the Eucharist
Vicente Juan Masip
16th century

COMMUNION HYMN What Feast of Love (Greensleeves)

ELW 487
It might be helpful to look at this hymn as 3 questions with 3 answers.
Q: What feast of love is offered here. . .?
A: This, this is Christ the king. . .

Paired with the English ballad Greensleeves, it keeps us clearly still in the mindset of Christmas – something the author, Delores Dufner, did on purpose! She says, “By using this melody already associated with the Christmas mystery, I wanted my text to show the close relationship between the historical gift of Godself in the Incarnation, and Christ’s ongoing gift of self in the scriptural word and in the Eucharistic bread and wine.”

The Christmas trees at my house are adorned with angels.

SENDING HYMN Let All Together Praise Our God (Lobt Gott, ihr Christen)
ELW 287

 

CLOSING VOLUNTARY O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste fideles)

setting, Sigvart A. Hofland

Sigvart Hofland was born in Bergen, Norway in 1889 and came to the United States as a teenager. In addition to being a composer, he taught at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

sources:
Wikipedia
nordic.luther.edu
Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship
sundaysandseasons.com
Masip painting: By Juan de Juanes - The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=153313

Year C: Music for Christmas Eve December 24, 2021

 

A Service of Music for Christmas Eve (10:30 p.m.)

Theme and Variations on Sussex Carol Philip M. Young (organ)
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day Berkley Guse (Festival Choir)

Angels We Have Heard on High Fred Gramann (St. Mark’s Ringers)

Good King Wenceslas (Assembly)
The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy arr. Alan Smith (FC)
Now the Heavens Start to Whisper Thomas Keesecker (FC)

In the Bleak Midwinter arr. Sandra Eithun (SMR)

All Praise to Thee Wesley D. Peters (FC)

 GATHERING HYMN O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) ELW 283

 

PSALM Psalm 96 – Sing to the Lord a New Song (Es ist ein’ Ros)

 

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Angels We Have Heard on High (Gloria) ELW 289

 

HYMN OF THE DAY O Little Town of Bethlehem (St. Louis) ELW 279

 

MUSICAL OFFERING A Virgin Most Pure Carl Halter (Festival Choir)

 

OFFERING HYMN When a Star Is Shining (Where the Promise Shines) ACS 915

 

COMMUNION HYMN In the Bleak Midwinter (Cranham)
I did not choose the version in ELW so that we could sing a verse that is missing there:
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;

but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,

worshipped the Beloved with a kiss.   Christina Rossetti, 1874-1934

 

CANDLELIGHT HYMN Silent Night (Still Nacht) ELW 281

 

SENDING HYMN Joy to the World (Antioch)

 

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Joy to the World Gordon Young

 

 

Year C Music for the Fourth Sunday of Advent: December 19, 2021

 

opening voluntary

Two Settings of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” 

(Forest Green and St. Louis)

Eric Olson, oboe                                                         

arr. Anne Krentz Organ, Christina Shehi

 

gathering HYMN                                                                                              ELW 242

Awake! Awake, and Greet the New Morn                       rejoice, rejoice     

Text: Marty Haugen, b. 1950; Music: Marty Haugen

 

HYMN OF THE DAY

Unexpected and Mysterious                                                   jefferson         

Text: Jeannette M. Lindholm, b. 1961; Music: W. Walker, Southern Harmony, 1835

 

MUSICAL OFFERING The White Dove         Johannes Brahms, arr. Mark Schweizer

 

communion hymn                                                                                          ELW 266
All Earth Is Hopeful                          toda la tierra                                                                                                   

Text: Alberto Taulé, b. 1932, tr. Madeline Forell Marshall, b. 1946
Music: Alberto Taulé, b. 1932

 

SENding Hymn                                                                          ELW 723

Canticle of the Turning                                   star of the county down

Text: Rory Cooney, b. 1952, based on the Magnificat; Music: Irish traditional

Year C: Advent Lessons and Carols with Birthday for Christ for the Third Sunday of Advent, December 12, 2021

 The tradition of Christmas Lessons and Carols began at Truro Cathedral in England, so it’s only natural that I consult The Book of Occasional Services from the Episcopal church when I begin to plan a service of Advent Lessons and Carols.

There are ominous rules like The lesson from the third chapter of Genesis is never omitted.

My usual starting place is with the Episcopal list of designated readings. I choose the readings I want to use (trying not to repeat them every year) and then choose carols that match the readings.

This year, I tried a different approach.

I began with the Advent hymn Savior of the Nations, Come. It’s a staple of Lutheran Advent hymnody, although the hymn is much older than the Augsburg Confession.

Paul Westermeyer says this about the hymn:

This is one of the longest-running hymns in the church. It has generated a huge repertoire of music. The text scans the whole story by taking us into the manger while assuming the victory of the cross and resurrection. The result is to make ‘Come’ refer to Advent’s paradox: Christ’s first coming, second coming, and coming to us here and now.

By starting with a hymn theme, I suppose this morning’s service has more in common with a Paul Manz hymn festival than it does the ancient Episcopal service. Still, the Anglican influence can be felt by the inclusion of the final reading from Baruch – one of the apocryphal texts.

With the inclusion of Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming and Once in Royal David’s City, you can even see a little Christmas slipping into our Advent worship.

 

The format is easy to follow. We all sing one stanza of Savior of the Nations, Come and it’s followed by a reading. After the reading, we all stand to sing a hymn.

I also have to say a word about carols. The definition of what is a carol has changed over hundreds of years. Early carols were secular in nature and often involved dance rhythms. Even the religious ones were never sung in church.

But today, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, even though it’s based on chant, is generally considered a Christmas carol.  The songs we sing today are rightly called “Christmas hymns,” rather than “Christmas carols.”

Today we use a very loose interpretation of the word “carol.” Whether we call them hymns or carols, let us sing with gusto and full hearts, for Jesus has come, and is coming again.

 

OPENING VOLUNTARY Savior of the Nations, Come (Nun komm der Heiden Heiland) setting, Jacob Weber

 

LESSONS AND CAROLS

Isaiah 40:1-11 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Picardy) ELW 490

Isaiah 7:10-15 Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (Es ist ein Ros) ELW 272

Galatians 4:1-7 He Came Down ELW 253

1 Corinthians 15:12-26 Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus (Jefferson) ELW 254

Micah 5:2-4 Once in Royal David’s City (Irby) ELW 269

Baruch 4:36-5:9 O Come, Divine Messiah (Veni, divin messie)

The final hymn is not in ELW. I learned it a few years ago while performing with RareSong. We sang a concert of music that French and Spanish colonists may have sung when Fort Caroline and the city of St. Augustine were founded. In published form, this French carol dates at least to the 1600s. I was determined to add it to our modern repertoire and began looking for sources. I was happy to discover our Roman Catholic siblings in faith have been singing it all along!

I  have the privilege of performing with this group of musicians
called RareSong. We perform Renaissance and Medieval music -
basically anything before the Baroque era.

MUSICAL OFFERING Hail to the Lord’s Anointed Thomas Keesecker

COMMUNION HYMN O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Veni, Emmanuel) ELW 270

SENDING HYMN Prepare the Royal Highway (Bereden vag for Herren) ELW 264

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Prelude and Chorale on “Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding” (Merton) Kevin Hildebrand / William H. Monk

Gifts have already begun to gather
around the tree in Hart Hall for our Birthday 
for Christ celebration.

BIRTHDAY FOR CHRIST

Today’s service also includes our annual “Birthday for Christ” procession. A long-standing tradition at St. Mark’s (nobody knows exactly when it started), gifts from our congregation help to brighten the holidays for children who are homeless or under protective custody. A series of Christmas carols, a verse for each month of the year, is sung while the assembly brings their gifts forward.

sources:
Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship (Augsburg Fortress)
Hymnary.org
Wikipedia
The Book of Occasional Services (Church Publishing, Inc.)

Year C Music for the Second Sunday of Advent: December 5, 2021

 

OPENING VOLUNTARY Meditation on “Picardy”

arr. Barbara Werner

A handbell arrangement of “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” played by the St. Mark’s Ringers.

GATHERING HYMN On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry (Puer Nobis)

ELW 249

 

HYMN OF THE DAY Comfort, Comfort Now My People (Suo Gan)

The music is a Welsh tune with a text by Mark Sedio.

 

MUSICAL OFFERING Advent Canticle

Lloyd Larson

 

MUSIC DURING COMMUNION Comfort, Comfort Now My People (Suo Gan)

This piano arrangement, also by Mark Sedio, is a nice complement to the Hymn of the Day.

 

SENDING HYMN Hark the Glad Sound (Chesterfield)

ELW 239

 

CLOSING VOLUNTARY On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry (Puer Nobis)

setting, Michael D. Costello