Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Music for the Second Sunday after Pentecost: June 14, 2020


During this time of a pandemic, our services are being premiered on our YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkaDHCDK26DaOTqxX21qiXA

A service bulletin is available on our website at www.stmarksjax.org.


Opening Voluntary Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ
(I Trust, O Christ, in You Alone)
Lutheran Book of Worship 395
Geystliche Lieder, published in 1545, is known as the finest hymnal of the Reformation period. The volume includes many hymns by Martin Luther – who also wrote the preface.

Also included is this hymn whose tune first appears around the same time. Like many hymns of that era, the composer’s name is lost to history and the authorship of the text is questionable.

Still, we can consider it as one of the first Lutheran hymns.

Its selection was inspired by today’s reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, a story of Abraham and Sarah receiving the promise of a son. Famously, Sarah laughs. God still fulfills the promise and we know that we can also rely on God’s promises. As the first stanza of Allein zu dir concludes, “I trust, O Lord, your promise true.”

The prelude presents this hymn in three ways: first the organ plays the chorale with the melody heard clearly in a solo voice; second, the hymn is sung with its English translation, third as a chorale prelude by Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706).


Gathering Hymn We All Are One in Mission (Kuortane)
ELW 576
Rusty Edwards is a retired Lutheran pastor and a prolific hymnwriter. This hymn pairs one of his texts with a tune from Kuortane, a province of Finland. Five hymns by Rusty Edwards appear in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

Hymn of the Day In Christ Called to Baptize (St. Denio)
ELW 575

Sending Hymn God Is Love, Adored by Heaven (Blaenwern)
Timothy Rees (1874-1939) was Bishop of Llandaff, located in Wales. We recently sang his text Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling. (ELW 582) God Is Love is paired with the Welsh tune Blaenwern.

The text has been altered to use expansive language for God and inclusive language for humankind.

Closing Voluntary Fanfare and Trumpet Voluntary David Lasky
Our organ’s festival trumpet is featured in this postlude.

Sources:


Hymnal Companion to the Lutheran Book of Worship

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