Music for the Third Sunday after Epiphany: January 26, 2020

Dosso Dossi
1489-1542

Opening Voluntary Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies (Ratisbon)

Setting, Benjamin M. Culli (See the text and tune at Evangelical Lutheran Worship 553)

In this Time after Epiphany, we continue to sing hymns filled with biblical images of light – although in this case the organ does the singing! Just in the first stanza of this Charles Wesley text we see:

Christ, whose glory fills the skies, (Matthew 24:30)
Christ, the true and only light, (John 1:9)
Sun of righteousness arise, triumph o’er the shades of night: (Malachi 4:2)

Dayspring from on high, be near; Daystar in my heart appear. (Luke 1:78 – but you’ll need to use the KJV)

Gathering Hymn I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light (Houston)

ELW 815

Kathleen Thomerson’s hymn was written in 1966 and first appeared in the hymnal Songs for Celebration in 1980. Now it appears in more than 30 hymnals used by a variety of denominations.

Hymn of the Day You Call to Us, Lord Jesus (Aurelia)

Joy F. Patterson, author of the text, is an elder of the Presbyterian Church USA. Her concern for inclusiveness in the church and justice are apparent in the third stanza. You can read her bio here: https://www.hopepublishing.com/70/

Today we pair this unfamiliar text with Samuel Sebastian Wesley’s familiar tune – Aurelia.

Musical Offering Jesus Calls Us K. Lee Scott

Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew - Caravaggio ca. 1603

Sung by the Festival Choir
You’ll find the text at ELW 696, but K. Lee Scott has paired it with a tune named “Sion’s Security.” The tune’s earliest origins are unknown since even in the New Harp of Columbia (pub. 1867) it is listed as a folk tune.  New Harp’s tunes were mostly drawn from English, Scottish, and American traditions and the tune sounds like it could have come from either of those sources.

Communion Hymns

You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore (Tú has venido a la orilla)  ELW 817

Will You Come and Follow Me (Kelvingrove) ELW 798

Sending Hymn I Love to Tell the Story (Hankey) ELW 661

ELW 673

We don’t come to worship of our own accord, rather we are gathered by the Holy Spirit. During worship we hear and proclaim the word, and we are nourished at the Lord’s table. Then the Holy Spirit sends us in mission to the world! Part of the mission is telling the story of Jesus Christ, who still bids us to follow him in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.

Johann Gottfried Walther

Closing Voluntary Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Lobe den Herren)

setting, Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748)
See the text and tune at ELW 858
This is one of 132 chorale preludes written by J. G. Walther, a contemporary of J. S. Bach (1685-1750) and his cousin. Listen for snippets of the melody as it moves back and forth in echoes between the hands and pedalboard.

Do you love to sing, especially in service to the gospel of Jesus Christ and his church? New voices are always welcome in the Festival Choir. Please help us lead the church’s song at St. Mark’s! Contact Tony Cruz or any choir member for more information.

Come join in the singing!

Sources:

Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship published by Augsburg, Fortress. Edited and compiled by Paul Westermeyer.

Wikipedia

Art credit:

By Attributed to Dosso Dossi - http://www.bigli.com/quadro/279/dosso-dossi/ascensione-di-cristo.aspx, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9954138

By Caravaggio - Caravaggio, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1734712

By http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Lib-BIG/Walther-Johann-Gottfried-01.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1276550

Music for the Second Sunday after Epiphany: January 19, 2020

Opening Voluntary Christ, Be Our Light     

setting, Nancy Raabe

Gathering Hymn O Day Full of Grace (Den signede dag)

ELW 627

Hymn of the Day The Only Son from Heaven (Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn)

ELW 309
Elizabeth Cruciger (c. 1500 – 1535), is credited with being the first female poet and hymn writer of the Reformation. She married Caspar Cruciger the elder, Martin Luther’s student and assistant. After his death, she married Han Luther, son of Martin Luther.

Musical Offering O, the Lamb John L. Bell

Sung by the Festival Choir

Communion Hymns

Jesus, Come! For We Invite You (Union Seminary) ELW 312

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed (Freut euch, ihr lieben) ELW 311

Sending Hymn O Jesus, I Have Promised (Munich)

ELW 810

Closing Voluntary Fanfare and Pastorale on “In Thee Is Gladness”

setting, Harold Rohlig

Biographical information on Elizabeth Cruciger via Wikipedia

A Concert of Harpsichord Music: March 1, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

Is there a sound more distinctive than the delicate notes from a harpsichord? Is there an instrument more closely associated with a historical style than the harpsichord is with Baroque music? Probably not.

A concert at St. Mark’s will feature our harpsichord and music by three master composers of the Baroque period: J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, and Domenico Scarlatti.

The concert is Sunday, March 1^st, at 7:00 p.m. It is free and all are welcome. An offering will be taken to support future musical events at St. Mark’s.

Dr. Anita Boyle Renfroe of Fernandina Beach, last heard at St. Mark’s during our recent Bach Vespers service, is our performing artist.

St. Mark’s harpsichord was built in 1977 by Brian Stout and members of the congregation. You can read more about its construction and artwork on the Music from St. Mark’s blog at http://smljax.blogspot.com/2020/01/instruments-of-st-marks-harpsichord.html.

Please join us for this special event and the reception that follows.

Dr. Renfroe’s bio follows:

Dr. Anita Boyle Renfroe earned degrees in piano performance with honors from Florida State University, Memphis State University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Music. Teachers include Edward Kilenyi, Maurice Hinson, Nelita True and Marvin Blickenstaff.

Anita has performed solo piano, harpsichord, and organ concerts and with orchestras in the United States and Europe. Venues in Washington DC include the Kennedy Center, British Embassy, Folger Library, Fairfax and the Arlington Symphony Orchestras.  Performances in Europe include concerts in England, France and Germany.

In 2016 Dr. Renfroe retired after 22 years as Director of Keyboard Studies/ Professor of Piano at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Fernandina Beach, is President of the Jacksonville Music Teachers Association and accompanist for the Amelia Island Chamber Singers and the Songspinners.

Dr. Anita Renfroe

Music for Baptism of Our Lord: January 12, 2020

Opening Voluntary Chorale Prelude and Chorale on “Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam”     

settings: Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau (prelude), Johann Walther

This hymn by Martin Luther is not included in Evangelical Lutheran Worship so it may not be familiar to many at St. Mark’s. It appears in several hymnals used by other Lutheran churches.

J. S. Bach wrote a cantata based on this tune. It was sung in our very first Bach Vespers service in 1990, and then again in 2016.

Grigory Gagarin ca 1840-1850

To Jordan came the Lord, our Christ,

To do God’s pleasure willing,

And there was by St. John baptized,

All righteousness fulfilling;

There did He consecrate a bath

To wash away transgression,

And quench the bitterness of death

By His own blood and passion.

He would a new life give us.

Martin Luther, Translated by Richard Massie (1854)

Gathering Hymn O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright (Wie schön leuchtet)

ELW 308

Hymn of the Day When Jesus Came to Jordan (King’s Lynn)

ELW 305

Musical Offering Come, Gracious Spirit Alfred V. Fedak

Sung by the Festival Choir

Communion Hymns

O Living Breath of God (Vårvindar friska) ELW 407

Wade in the Water (Wade in the Water) ELW 459

Sending Hymn God, Whose Almighty Word (Italian Hymn)

ELW 673

Closing Voluntary Wie schön leuchtet

setting, Mark Sedio

Reminders of our baptism are all around us.
This one is at a rest stop in North Carolina.

Grigory Gagarin painting: By Grigory Gaagarin - http://lj.rossia.org/users/john_petrov/680833.html#cutid1, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1780791

Instruments of St. Mark's: The Harpsichord

St. Marks’ harpsichord was built in 1977 while Brian Stout was the Music Director. The instrument, assembled from a kit, took about 2,000 human hours to build and cost about $1,000.00. The heaviest work was the sanding of the legs and stringing the instrument. 

Artwork by Saralyn Landquist, Fran Oglesby, and Connie Smith gave the instrument an authentic finish – making it look more like an instrument from the time of Bach than one built from a kit in 1977.

The artwork includes a bouquet of flowers on the soundboard with Luther’s rose in the center and delicate flowers along the edges of the music stand. The Reformation principles of “Sola Fide” (faith alone), “Sola Gratia” (grace alone), and “Sola Scriptura” (scripture alone), are boldly inscribed on the inside cover.

A nice finish is a listing of the names of those who helped build the instrument painted above the keyboard. Many of these persons have since joined the church triumphant, but their dedication and talent still inspire us.

Money was obtained from a memorial fund in honor of the late Hugh Alderman who was the Music Director at St. Mark’s for 24 years. This was certainly an appropriate way to honor his legacy.

Why a harpsichord? According to a quote in the Jacksonville Journal, Brian Stout gave this explanation:

J. S. Bach, also called the "fifth evangelist"

“First of all, the music in the (early) Lutheran church was written for chamber-type instruments. Bach wrote much of the music we use and much of what he did was for the harpsichord.”

Harpsichords are very different from pianos. With pianos the strings are struck by hammers. Harpsichord strings are plucked by a small device called a “plectrum.” This gives the instrument a delicate, almost tinny sound, that has more in common with a guitar than with a piano. 

Today our harpsichord is nearly always heard at our Bach Vespers service (a tradition that started in 1990). It is also often used by the San Marco Chamber Music Society for their chamber music concerts.  

The harpsichord is closed when it’s not in use, but if anyone wants to see it, I am happy to open it after church services.  It can also be viewed by appointment during the week.

Thank you to Eric Olson who does the tuning - and it has to be tuned every time it is used.

This harpsichord is a beautiful gift to the people of St. Mark’s and to the Jacksonville community. We are indebted to Brian Stout and all who helped build this beautiful instrument. May it always remind us that our music is “Soli Deo gloria” – for the glory of God alone.

Bach Vespers 2013 with the harpsichord in the center.

An earlier version of this post was titled "Hear Our Harpsichord Twice in February." This version was posted to be less event-specific.

Music for Epiphany of Our Lord: Monday, January 6, 2020

In recent years Epiphany has come to be understood as a day, rather than a season. And it’s a special day – one that celebrates the revealing of Jesus Christ as a light for ALL nations.

The Sundays that follow are Sundays AFTER Epiphany, rather than Sundays “in” or “of.” They are also referred to as “ordinary” time because the Sundays bear ordinal designations. (First Sunday after Epiphany, Second Sunday after Epiphany, Third. . .)  As such, they are mostly “green” Sundays – except for Baptism of Our Lord and Transfiguration of our Lord. Both of these Sundays are white.

Holy Communion Setting Two, composed by Marty Haugen, is the source of our liturgical music this year beginning with Epiphany of Our Lord.

I am grateful for St. Mark’s longstanding tradition of observing the Lord’s Supper on the day of the Epiphany. It can be tempting to skip these principal festivals – especially when they fall on a Monday! – but we hope that you and your family will join us to hear the story of the Magi and sing some of the hymns specific to this day.

Opening Voluntary O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright (Wie schön leuchtet)  setting, Niels Wilhelm Gade

Gathering Hymn Brightest and Best of the Stars (Morning Star)

ELW 303

Adoration of the Magi
Vicente Gil, 12th century

Hymn of the Day The First Noel (The First Nowell)

ELW 300

Musical Offering Saw You Never in the Twilight

Mark Schweizer

Text by C. F. Alexander, 1853

Communion Hymns

All My Heart Again Rejoices (Warum sollt ich) ELW 273

Bright and Glorious Is the Sky (Dejlig er den himmel blå) ELW 301

Sending Hymn Arise, Your Light Has Come (Festal Song)

ELW 314

Closing Voluntary O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright (Wie schön leuchtet)
setting, Johann Christoph Bach
Adoration of the Magi credit: http://www.matriznet.dgpc.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=155947, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134525