Rejoice and Be Merry - The MTC Has A New Recording!

Looking for a new and exciting recording to add to your holiday music collection? Then get Rejoice and Be Merry! by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir featuring The Kings Singers. If you get it, please don't let it be background music to dinner and household chores. . .at least the first time. Sit down with a cup of coffee, dim the lights, turn off the the phone, and just LISTEN. My favorite cuts: Sussex Carol (1) is an exciting arrangement by Mack Wilberg that really raises the roof. Wilberg's arrangements continue to amaze me year after year, recording after recording. Wonder what his inspiration could be? Perhaps it's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! La Peregrinacion (The Pilgrimage) (6) is from a 1964 cantata by Argentine composer Ariel Ramirez. The lyrics are by Felix Luna and tell the story of Mary and Joseph making their journey, but relocated to the pampas of northern Argentina. Elements of jazz and latin music combine. The harmonies will make any last remaining "humbug" leave your bloodstream immediately. Read the English lyrics too. In part, "Tread the path, tread the path, Joseph and Mary, with God hidden within. Nobody knew." It's stunning.
O Holy Night (11) will blow you away. I Saw Three Ships (16) is a virtuosic organ piece that will make you think the organist, Richard Elliot, has seven fingers on each hand and an extra foot!
The rest of the album is entirely worth your time.
Disclaimer: I'm not making any money from the sales of this album. Too bad too cause it's gonna be a hit!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Almighty God our Father, your generous goodness comes to us new every day. By the work of your Spirit, lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.
Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 61

Last night's combined Thanksgiving Eve service with All Saints Episcopal church was a success. With about 90 people in attendance, joyful music, good preaching and reverent liturgy, we gave thanks to God for his many blessings. Thank you to all of the Festival choir members who came and sang "With A Voice of Singing." Thank you to our new friends at All Saints for initiating this venture: Father Thomas W. Deppe, Father Gee Alexander, and Interim Parish Musician Sharon Murawski. We look forward to worshiping with you again soon!

As you give thanks today, remember to happily feed the angels and not worry so much about the vacuuming!

A New Carol for Advent Christmas!

Sung to the tune: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

If you like to sing at Christmas, now’s the time that you should come.
Advent, Christmas move upon us, carols dear we start to hum.
If your goal is slightly higher, and you’d like to join the choir,
Learn some notes and tap your feet, join us in the music suite!
Christmas music we’ve begun. Practice is for everyone.

The Festival Choir is beginning to rehearse music for the Advent and Christmas seasons. If you’d like to sing during this special time of the year, please join us for rehearsals on Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the music suite. See Tony Cruz or any choir member for more information. Send email to vespers@comcast.net.

Thank You to Bach Vespers Participants

Another Bach Vespers service is behind us. The most recent service was on Nov. 9, 2008 and featured cantata no. 93 "Wer nur den lieben Gott laasst walten." Our hymns were "Evening and Morning" (Evangelical Lutheran Worship #761), "O Light Whose Splendor Thrills and Gladdens" (ELW #563) and "Lord, Thee I Love With All My Heart" (ELW #750). The first and last are hymns only recently added to the repertoire of St. Mark's (though old hymns to the Lutheran Church), but they were sung as if we had been singing them for years. The service also included the evening canticle (Magnificat) by Heinrich Schutz, and a setting of psalm 141 by Thomas Pavlechko from the St. Martin's Psalter.

The tradition of Bach Vespers, begun by Cantor Jim Rindelaub, is more than 20 years old at St. Mark's. It is also our tradition to invite singers from the community to join in these services and this year we were happy to have about 20 of them! Thank you to all of you for singing with us! Thanks also to the choir members from St. Mark's who participated. I'd also like to thank our orchestra members - and Ellen Olson for hiring them. Thanks to Eric Olson and Edie Hubert for voluntaries by G. F. Handel and Telemann. Thank you to Frank Starbuck for being the choir's German diction coach and for transcribing orchestral parts for the hymns.

Thank you to our soloists for their hard work and dedication : Jane Kilby (soprano), Emily Madigan (alto), William Adams (tenor), and Frank Starbuck (bass).

Hiring an orchestra and purchasing scores is an expensive proposition and we could not do it without the generous contributions from folks at St. Mark's and the community, so I sincerely thank each of you.

Thank you to Bill Daugherty for our pictures above. He does a great job of documenting the life of our parish.

Thank you to Pastor Peacock for leading our worship as he chanted, read the scriptures, and led the prayers. Thank you to Pastor Dow for extending the Welcome in our service.

Thank you to Laurie Aurand for organizing the reception that provided a great opportunity for fellowship. (I'm afraid our rehearsal schedule didn't permit much socializing, so this was a nice chance for our singers to meet each other!) By the way, if you want a good dip for apple slices, mix one cup of caramel ice cream topping with a block of cream cheese.

This year's vespers service was concurrent with the celebration of St. Mark's 70th anniversary. For more information about the history, present, and future of St. Mark's, please visit our web site at http://www.stmarksjax.org/.

If you would like to receive an invitation to sing with us in the next Bach Vespers service, please send an email to Tony Cruz at vespers@comcast.net.

Bach Vespers on November 9, 2008 at 6:00

On Sunday evening, November 9th, there will be a Bach Vespers service at 6 p.m. featuring J. S. Bach's cantata no. 93 "Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten." The choir will be comprised of singers from the Festival Choir of St. Mark's and many singers from the community. The orchestra will be instrumentalists from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and from the community.

Written for the fifth Sunday after Trinity while Bach was in Leipzig, this cantata is based on the chorale by the same name. It's English title is "If You But Trust In God to Guide You" and is hymn no. 769 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (the hymnal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).

Soloists are Jane Kilby (soprano), Emily Madigan (alto), William Adams (tenor) and Frank Starbuck (bass).

There is no charge, but an offering will be taken and a reception will follow. This service is in conjunction with the celebration of St. Mark's 70th anniversary! Please come and bring a friend!

Interview With A Choir Member

Note: This article appeared in the October "The Messenger." It appears here with Margaret's permission.

Nearly everybody at St. Mark’s knows and loves Margaret W. who has been singing in the choir since some time in the 1950’s. Margaret’s oldest son sang in a boy’s choir under the direction of Hugh Alderman. She found herself sitting next to Mr. Alderman once when it came time to sing a hymn and, from that time on she says, he was “on my case to join the choir.”

Finally, there was a Sunday when there were only a couple of sopranos in the choir and Margaret decided they needed help. . .and she’s been in the choir ever since.

Margaret is a native of Jacksonville and received musical training under Andre Thomas and Robert Shaw when she lived in Tallahassee. Singing with Robert Shaw required four rigorous auditions and she fondly remembers annual concerts featuring requiems by the old masters. She also studied applied voice at Jacksonville University.

Margaret’s husband, Arthur G., died in 1971. Since their sons were both in college, Margaret stopped her studies and worked hard to help them finish theirs. She admits she should have returned to college, but never did.

Margaret, now in her eighties, has considered dropping out of the choir, but people in the congregation (and those sitting next to her in the choir loft!) have told her how much they would miss her - so she keeps on singing. I know we would miss Margaret’s contribution terribly if she stopped singing with us. An excellent reader who is always right on pitch, she is one of our leaders – and she’s just a fun person to be around!

When I asked Margaret if I could do an article about our conversation for The Messenger, she said yes, but added, “I wasn’t ever anything special. I just worked and did what I was called to do.”

That sounds pretty special to me.

Blessing of the Animals for St. Francis Day

Holly, a 2-year-old Boxer, was part of the menagerie in the St. Mark's courtyard for the Blessing of the Animals service as part of the St. Francis' Day Holy Communion Service. Holly brought her humans (Ruth and Sterling C.) as well. Music was provided by the Behind the Pulpit Ensemble under the direction of Roger Feingold, Associate Music Director.

St. Francis was born into a wealthy family, but gave up his inheritance in order to serve the poor. He founded an order known as the Franciscans, charging them to preach the gospel "using words, if necessary." Francis loved God's creation as evidenced in his hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King." (Evangelical Lutheran Worship #835)

Some legends about St. Francis claim that he preached to animals, encouraging them to worship and praise God according to their nature. After these sermons, he would make the sign of the cross over them and send them on their way.

Holly would like to thank Pastor Dow, Pastor Peacock, and the people of St. Mark's for acknowledging and honoring her part in God's creation.