As many readers may know, the Gospel and Epistle readings assigned in the Lectionary of our Prayerbook are the same texts that were used in Lutheran churches in the early eighteenth century, when Johann Sebastian Bach was composing hundreds of cantatas for use in worship. Those cantatas often resonate with the theological themes of the liturgy in our own church, which is one reason why I dedicate so many pages on this site to Bach’s cantatas. There are two cantatas from Bach’s collection that were composed for this Sunday: Es ist das Heil uns kommen her (“Salvation has come to us”) and Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust (“Contented peace”). You can…
-
-
The Fifth Sunday after Trinity
On this page, you can read all of the Propers that are appointed to be chanted during this Sunday’s Mass. That page also includes some links to hymns, motets, and cantatas associated with this Sunday. The hymns that we’ll sing this Sunday are: PROCESSIONAL HYMN: O God of earth and altar (#521) SERMON HYMN: O God of truth (#547, MARTYRS) COMMUNION HYMNS: Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest (#207, EDSALL) O God, unseen yet ever near (#198, ST. FLAVIAN) CLOSING HYMN: Jesus shall reign where’er the sun (#542) Our Processional Hymn is a setting of a poem by G. K. Chesterton, first published in…
-
The Fourth Sunday after Trinity
The anthem sung during the Offertory today is a setting of the Offertory Proper by a little-known Renaissance composer, Ivo de Vento (1545–1575). The text is taken from Psalm 13: Illumina oculos meos, ne unquam obdormiam in morte, Lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death.Ne quando dicat inimicus meus, Praevalui adversus eum. Lest my enemy say “I have prevailed against him.” Vento’s compositional style is reminiscent of one of our choir’s favorite composers, Orlande de Lassus (1532–1594). Lassus also composed a setting of Illumina oculos meos, and our choir has sung it twice in recent years. A rocording of that setting is on the page containing today’s Propers,…
-
The Third Sunday after Trinity (June 21, 2026)
This Sunday the choir’s Offertory is an anthem composed by Thomas Tallis (1505–1585). You can read about Tallis’s life and work in an article I wrote for Touchstone in 2018 which is posted here, a post that includes embedded performances of musical works mentioned. This week’s anthem is “A new commandment give I unto you,” a text taken from St. John 13:34–35: A new commandment give I unto you, saith the Lord, that ye love together, as I have loved you, that e’en so ye love one another. By this shall ev’ry man know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. At Communion we will…
-
The Second Sunday after Trinity (June 14, 2026)
The Propers for this Sunday and all of the Psalms appointed for the Daily Office this week are displayed here. The Gradual for this Sunday is taken from the first two verses of Psalm 120. Many Latin-language settings of the text for this Gradual are designated as Ad Dominum cum tribularer, “To the Lord, in trouble.” The verb clamavi (“I called”) used in the opening verse is implied in the title of these works. To learn about and listen to three remarkable settings of this text, see the page for Psalm 120. This page introduces one of the cantatas J. S. Bach composed to be sung on the Second Sunday…
-
Reflections on music and silence
In a tiny essay called “Music and Silence,” the Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper observes: “Music and silence: these are two things which, according to C. S. Lewis, cannot be found in hell. We ought to be somewhat surprised when we first read the phrase: music and silence — what a strange pairing! But then the heart of the matter becomes more and more clear. Obviously, what is here meant by silence, stillness, hush, is something quite different from that malignant absence of words which already in our present common existence is a parcel of damnation. And, as far as music is concerned, it is not difficult to imagine that in…
-
Music for the Annunciation and for Passiontide
This Saturday, the Church will celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation. Then on Sunday, we enter the two-week period of Passiontide. Given the dramatic character and theological significance of both points of reference in the Church calendar, it is not surprising that there is an abundance of music tied to both commemorations. The following pages on this site may thus be of interest: On this page, you can hear an interview with baroque violinist Fiona Hughes about a remarkable set of violin sonatas inspired by the fifteen mysteries in the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Together, the works — composed by Heinrich Biber (1644–1704) — are known as the…
-
O great mystery
In past years, on Christmas Eve, our choir has often sung O magnum mysterium, a motet by Tomás Luis de Victoria (c.1548–1611). The text for this motet has been set to music by dozens of composers, and below, I’ve embedded recordings of many of them. The text — presumably an exclamation from astonished shepherds — is one of the responsories for Matins on Christmas Day. As composers have set these words to music, they have often amended or compressed the text. Here is the version that Victoria set: O magnum mysteriumet admirabile sacramentum,ut animalia viderent Dominum natumjacentem in praesepio.O beata Virgo, cujus viscera merueruntportare Dominum Jesum Christum.Alleluia! O great mysteryand…
-
“The melodies and the notes are precious”
On the First Sunday in Advent, our congregation will sing (at the 10:30 Mass) a hymn that is not included in our Hymnal. “Savior of the nations, come” has a very interesting history, a genealogy which I explored in a recent audio program produced for Mars Hill Audio. You may listen to that program below. And you may download a pdf of the hymn here. Part of that history involves a plainchant setting of an Advent hymn written by St. Ambrose (340–397). Our choir will be chanting that hymn during Communion in the 10:30 service tomorrow. Here is the audio of the feature about “Savior of the nations, come” and its…
-
Mary visits Elisabeth; music ensues
“At the end of the day when twilight falls, and again at the beginning of a new day when the lustre of the rising sun becomes visible, the beautiful song of the birds is heard in the open. Accordingly it does not surprise us that in the twilight of the Old Testament dispensation and in the morning splendour of the New Testament dispensation we hear various persons, favoured by God, of Elisabeth, Mary, Zacharias and Simeon and the hymn of the angels.” So wrote Norval Geldenhuys in his commentary on the Gospel of St Luke. This observation introduces his remarks on verses 39 to 56 of the first chapter of…