Year C: Music for the Sixth Sunday of Easter - May, 22, 2022

OPENING VOLUNTARY Shall We Gather at the River (Hanson Place)

setting, Robert A. Hobby

Bad Axe River - near my Wisconsin home

Twelve years ago, just after Easter, my brother, Adam, died unexpectedly. The lectionary was a constant blessing to me in the weeks that followed. I found comfort in stories of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, but I found even more in the readings from Revelation, like the second reading today. "Shall We Gather at the River" is a common hymn at funerals, and we often think of it in terms of crossing the River Jordan. Clearly, that's not what Robert Lowry had in mind when he wrote the text.
Since this river is "flowing by the throne of God," he speaks of the river in John's revelation, the river that flows through the holy city of Jerusalem.

The tune, Hanson Place, is named for Hanson Place Baptist Church in Brooklyn

GATHERING HYMN Glorious Things of You Are Spoken (Blaenwern) ELW 647

Even though the text has been slightly modified for contemporary worshipers, many will remember singing it to the tune Austria. I never heard this hymn until I was in college, and we sang through it in a Church Music class. I was surprised to know that my Baptist friends all knew it and seemed to like it. 

Franz Joseph Haydn

When the Nazis came to power in Germany and Austria, this tune was used as the national anthems for both countries. It's said that this association is the reason many modern hymnals have paired the text with a new tune. Blaenwern is an excellent choice. Its longer notes and phrases draw attention to the text and allude to God's grandeur.

Even though I prefer Blaenwern, I'm saddened that Austria has disappeared from our hymnals. It's a sturdy tune by a celebrated composer, Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). I hope it will come back in a future generation of hymnals, but I also hope it's paired with a different text.

In my mind, Blaenwern and Glorious Things of You Are Spoken, are a perfect pairing.

HYMN OF THE DAY Come Down, O Love Divine (Down Ampney) ELW 804

MUSICAL OFFERING O Living Breath of God (Vårvindar friska)

arr. John Helgen

Osvaldo Catena (1920-1986), a Roman Catholic priest in Argentina, did most of his work among some of Argentina's poorest citizens in Sante Fe, Argentina. He was known as a gifted musician who organized workshops and retreats. His compositions helped to renew Latin American liturgy. When a military dictatorship came to power in the late 1970s, he became a victim of harassment. He found refuge in a monastery where he later died. 

The tune is a folk song from a completely different part of the world - Scandinavia. It is probably Norwegian or Swedish in origin.

This photo, showing the Holy Spirit descending over a rainbow background, was a community art project at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. You can read more about it on a previous blog post: http://smljax.blogspot.com/2016/07/one-more-story-from-columbus-doing-art.html

COMMUNION HYMN My Life Flows On in Endless Song (How Can I Keep from Singing)

ELW 763

SENDING HYMN I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light (Houston) ELW 815

Light, light, light! If singing this hymn doesn't call today's second reading to mind, you should probably go back and read it again!

CLOSING VOUNTARY Scatter the Darkness, Break the Gloom (Besançon)

setting, Matthew Machemer

You can be forgiven if, upon hearing this postlude, you think the organist has lost his mind and accidentally pulled out one of his Advent books - but that isn't the case.

This arrangement of the tune, Besançon, was written with a different text in mind.
An Easter version of "People, Look East," it is found in the Lutheran Service Book, the most recent hymnal from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Sources:
Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship, edited by Paul Westermeyer
Wikipedia