Music for the Fifth Sunday in Lent - April 7, 2019

Prelude: Out of the Depths I Cry to You (Aus tiefer Not)  ELW 600

setting, Kevin Hildebrand

Aus tiefer Not is one of the great hymns for Lent and one of just a handful of hymns penned by Martin Luther himself that can be found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Hildebrand’s setting uses two composition techniques simultaneously: ostinato and canon.

An ostinato is a part that repeats over and over again throughout a piece of music. The ostinato here is just four bars long and it undulates, perhaps like heavy waves over a deep part of an ocean. It’s played on the flute stops in the organ’s middle range.

The term “canon” may be better known by its more common name - “round.” One voice begins, then a second follows in exact repetition of the first at intervals – just like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

First we hear the ostinato, then the melody begins in the pedal with the organ’s clarinet stop. The second voice comes in on the top manual (the swell) using the organ’s oboe stop.  As the two voices sing the tune of the hymn, the ostinato continues in the middle.

I chose this for the prelude because we’ve been singing a piece of Aus tiefer Not during the psalm from Thomas Pavlechko’s St. Martin’s Psalter. The refrain is built on the tune, as is the tone we’ve been chanting during the psalm stanzas.

I also chose this as a prelude because it reminded me of our Wednesday night “Restless” theme. Last night one of our prayer stations focused on Jonah. (If anyone in the Bible prays “out of the depths,” it’s this character.)

Gathering Hymn: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less (The Solid Rock) ELW 596

Many church musicians work for a more somber tone in Lent. They don’t play preludes, they avoid bright sounds on the organ, they speak (rather than sing) certain portions of the liturgy. At St. Mark’s we typically “bury” the Alleluia, but I don’t avoid the organ’s trumpets and mixtures because Sunday is still a celebration of the resurrection. Most people know that Lent is a forty day season, but some aren’t aware that we don’t count the Sundays!

The last verse of this hymn begins “When he shall come with trumpet sound. . .” Expect to hear the organ’s trumpet sound on this stanza!

 

There are trumpets in here - and we'll get a taste on Sunday.

Hymn of the Day: Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart (Herzlich lieb) ELW 750

I never knew this hymn before coming to St. Mark’s. Now I love it so much that I have added it to the list of hymns for my own funeral. (You can read more about that here: http://smljax.blogspot.com/search?q=funeral)

The final stanza asks “that I may die unfearing.” It continues “and then from death awaken me. . .” Expect to hear the trumpet again, reminding us that “. . .the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised. . . (I Corinthians: 15:52)

Musical Offering: Bread of the World Richard Shephard (Festival Choir)

A meditative choral setting with lovely communion text by Reginald Heber.

Bread of the world, in mercy broken,

Wine of the soul, in mercy shed.

By whom the words of life were spoken,

And in Whose death our sins are dead.

Look on the heart by sorrow broken,

Look on the tears by sinners shed;

And be Thy feast to us the token,

That by Thy grace our souls are fed.

Communion Hymns:

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross (Near the Cross) ELW 335

The words and music are by Fanny Crosby who is one of America’s best known (and loved) gospel hymn writers.

Beneath the Cross of Jesus (St. Christopher) ELW 338

Elizabeth C. Clephane (1830-1869), author of the text, was born in Edinburgh Scotland. Frederick C. Maker (1844-1927) wrote the tune to complement Clephane’s text.

Sending Hymn: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Hamburg) ELW 803

Postlude: How Firm a Foundation (Foundation) ELW 796

setting, Gilbert M. Martin