Music for the Third Sunday after Pentecost: June 21, 2020

Opening Voluntary The Summons – Will You Come and Follow Me

(Kelvingrove) setting, Charles Callahan

Jesus’ charge to his disciples in today’s gospel reading is a troubling one. We find echoes of it in this text by John L. Bell – “Will you risk the hostile stare, should your life attract or scare?” In the hymn (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 798), the singer resolves to follow Jesus, to travel in his company, and to move, live, and grow in him.  May we all do the same.

The hymntune, Kelvingrove, has its roots in Scotland and we usually sing it with a Celtic lilt – a contrast to the reflective setting we hear today.

Gathering Hymn Give to Our God Immortal Praise (Duke Street)

ELW 848

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) is probably the most famous writer of early English hymns. He has 10 text in ELW, compared to 19 by Martin Luther. (For comparison, The Hymnal 1982 – the hymnal of the Episcopal Church) has 17 hymns by Watts and 9 by Luther.)

The tune, Duke Street, is also English and named after a street in Lancashire where the composer, John Hatton (d. 1793), lived. You can find this street on Google Maps! Enter “Duke Street, Lancashire, UK.)

Psalm Refrain Let Us Break Bread Together (Break Bread Together)

ELW 471

I don’t normally comment on the psalm but do so here to say that today’s refrain is pulled from one of the best known African American hymns. Its history is uncertain, and the author’s name has long been lost. It ends with, “Lord, have mercy on me” – a cry that is as familiar to the psalmist as it is to all of us.

Hymn of the Day How Clear Is Our Vocation, Lord

ELW 580

Pastor H. Alfred Weltzin
1915-2001

We are singing the text from ELW, but the tune is Weltzin, written by me and named for the pastor who confirmed me at Bad Axe Lutheran Church in rural Wisconsin. You can read more about my growing up years at Bad Axe in this post: http://smljax.blogspot.com/2019/06/what-kind-of-lutheran-am-i.html

Sending Hymn How Firm a Foundation (Foundation)

ELW 796

 Closing Voluntary Chorale Prelude and Chorale on Es ist das Heil

Gerhard Krapf (1924-2008), Etlich christlich Lieder, Wittenberg, 1524

Krapf came to America in 1953. His life before then includes being drafted in the German military in 1942, then being captured by the Russians in 1945. He taught organ at the University of Iowa and the University of Alberta. Read a more detailed biography here: https://www.lorenz.com/more-information/meet-our-composers/composers?itemId=Composer:238

I love his organ works because they always take surprising harmonic and rhythmic turns.

Sources:
Isaac Watts portrait: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=308062

Evangelical Lutheran Worship

The Hymnal 1982

Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship