We’re singing two hymns this week in honor of St. Luke the evangelist, both of them relatively unfamiliar. Our opening hymn, “Come, pure hearts, in sweetest measure” (#134 in The Hymnal), presents three stanzas from a nine-stanza twelfth-century sequence hymn. (Traditionally, sequence hymns have been sung between the Epistle and the Gospel.) Unfortunately, the abbreviated form of the hymn that we sing eliminates the rich imagery of the original text. That text is based on the imagery presented in Ezekiel 1:4–28 and 10:9–22 and Revelation 4:6–8. The bizarre vision of Ezekiel includes a reference to four living creatures, each with four faces — a man, a lion, and ox and…

The Offertory Proper for this Sunday is a verse from Psalm 138: “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet shalt thou refresh me, O Lord: thou shalt stretch forth thy hand upon the furiousness of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.” As our Offertory Anthem this week, the choir will sing the entire Psalm in an Anglican chant setting by James Turle (1802–1882). In addition to composing a number of chant settings, Turle was organist at Westminster Abbey in London from 1831 until his death (a 51-year tenure!). Here is a recording of the setting our choir sings. The singers of the choir of St.…

We will be singing all of our hymns without an organist this week, as Wallace is out of town and David Heetderks, our usual substitute, is unavailable. It is helpful to remember that the term a cappella means literally, “in the chapel style,” that is, singing as it was for centuries experienced within churches, i.e., without any instrumental accompaniment. Since we won’t have the benefit of accompanied singing this week, I thought it might be fitting to consider how and why organs became a standard part of Christian worship In the second volume of his treatise Syntagma musicum, published in 1619, the composer and musician Michael Praetorius wrote the following:…

The Offertory for this Sunday is from Psalm 40: “Make haste, O Lord, to help me: let them be ashamed and confounded together, that seek after my soul, to destroy it: make haste, O Lord, to help me.” Later in the Psalter, this plea for protection from one’s enemies is developed more extensively. The five verses of Psalm 70 read: Haste Thee, O God to deliver me, make haste to help me. O Lord, let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul.Let them be turned backward and put to confusion that wish them evil.Let them for their reward be soon brought to shame, that cry over me: “There,…

At the Offertory today, the choir will sing a polyphonic setting of Psalm 40, verses 1 and 3, the text chanted as the Offertory proper: “I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me: he heard my calling, and he hath put a new song in my mouth, even a thanksgiving unto our God.” The setting we’re singing (in Latin) is by the versatile and prolific Renaissance composer Orlande de Lassus (1532–1594). On this page, you can read an article I wrote about him in 2018 for Touchstone magazine. At Communion, we’ll sing a setting of the fourteenth-century Eucharistic hymn, Ave verum corpus. Ave, verum corpus natum de…

This Sunday, our choir returns after our brief Summer break. To begin our new “season” of singing, our Offertory anthem is the same work we sang on the last Sunday we worshiped together in the nave at All Saints: William Byrd’s Prevent us, O Lord. You can look at the post for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity for some interesting details about this work. That Sunday’s post included an embedded video of a performance of this remarkable work during the coronation of King Charles III. Here’s another recording of the work, this time sung by the Tallis Scholars. At Communion, we’ll sing another piece by William Byrd: his Eucharistic motet…

We’re happy to welcome Wallace Hornady back from his summer travels. Our sojourn at the Greencroft will be enriched by his participation in our music. And, if all goes as planned, our choir will be back in gear by next Sunday. The hymns for this Sunday are listed below. You’ll see a link on the title of the closing hymn that will take you to a page with some historical and theological background to this confident hymn. PROCESSIONAL HYMN:Holy Father, great Creator (#267) COMMUNION HYMNS:Only-begotten, Word of God eternal (#228, ROUEN)Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless (#213)I heard the voice of Jesus say (#424, THIRD MODE MELODY) CLOSING HYMN:The Church’s one…

This Sunday we will have our first a cappella Mass at the Greencroft. Wallace Hornady will be back in two weeks, and David Heetderks — our substitute organist — isn’t able to join us this week. Here are the hymns we‘ll sing together: PROCESSIONAL HYMN:Now that the daylight fills the sky (#159, HERR JESU CHRIST) COMMUNION HYMNS:Sion, praise thy Saviour (#193, LAUDA SION)Very Bread, good Shepherd (#194, BONE PASTOR)Lord, for ever at thy side (#451) CLOSING HYMN:Go forward, Christian soldier (#553) One of the cantatas that J. S. Bach composed for use on this Sunday is BWV 94, Was frag ich nach der Welt (“What do I ask for from the…

This Sunday’s Mass will have significantly different external characteristics. In addition to our meeting in the banquet room at the Greencroft, we will be commencing our season from our beloved nave without the benefit of a choir assisting our worship. Every summer, the choir takes 4–5 weeks off, and tomorrow is the first of four Sundays during which singers will catch a breath (metaphorically). If we were singing this week, we may have sung a setting of the text appointed as the Offertory Proper, a verse from Psalm 34: “O taste and see how gracious the Lord is: blessed is he that putteth his trust in him.” The setting we…

This Sunday will be our last time together in our nave for many months. We’re commencing something like a pilgrimage together — the distance isn’t great but the ambience will be far, far away from what we usually experience. When the plans for the changes being made to our building were first announced, Fr. Sean appointed a prayer that would accompany us in this season. The prayer is a Collect on page 49 in the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer.  Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help;that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee,we…