Alessandro Scarlatti,Exaltabo te Domine The Offertory for both Ash Wednesday and the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity is a text from Psalm 30: Exaltabo te Domine, quoniam suscepisti meI will magnify thee, O Lord, for thou hast set me up:nec delectasti inimicos meos super me.and not made my foes to triumph over me.Domine clamavi ad te et sanasti me.O Lord my God, I cried unto thee: and thou hast healed me. Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) is best known for his operas, but he also composed choral music for liturgical use, including a setting of this Offertory text. It is sung here by the Pro Arte Singers (New Canaan, CT), directed by Arthur…
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Johann Sebastian BachSchauet doch und sehet, ob irgendein Schmerz sei“Behold and see if any grief is like my grief” Bach composed at least three cantatas for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity. We have the works he wrote for his Leipzig congregation in 1723, 1724, and 1726. Of the first of these, John Eliot Gardiner has written: Just once in a while in the course of the Trinity season, with its almost unremitting emphasis on the things every good Lutheran should believe, from the Nicene Creed to the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Catechism and so on, comes a vivid shaft of New Testament history and narrative reference to the…
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Charles TournemireAcceptabis sacrificium The text for the Communion proper for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity is a paraphrase of verses from Psalm 51. Acceptabis sacrificium iustitiae,Thou shalt accept the sacrifice of justice, oblationes et holocausta,oblations and whole burnt offerings,super altare tuum, Domine.placed upon your altar, O Lord. Here is the traditional Gregorian chant of this Communion proper: Composer and organist Charles Tournemire (1870–1939) is best known for his improvisations on Gregorian melodies. Between 1927 and 1931, he compiled a collection published as L’Orgue mystique, a group of 51 sets of five pieces each. The pieces in each set correspond to one of the days (mostly Sundays) in the Church calendar,…
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Giovanni Pierluigi da PalestrinaAd te levavi animam meam A text from Psalm 27 is sung as the Offertory on the First Sunday in Advent and on the Tenth Sunday after Trinity: Ad te levavi animam meam, Deus meus, in te confido:non erubescam neque irrideant me inimici mei.Etenim universi qui te expectant non confundentur. Unto thee, O Lord, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee:O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed. Below is a performance of a setting of this text by Palestrina, sung by The Sixteen,…
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Josef RheinbergerAd te levavi animam meam A text from Psalm 27 is sung as the Offertory on the First Sunday in Advent and on the Tenth Sunday after Trinity: Ad te levavi animam meam, Deus meus, in te confido:non erubescam neque irrideant me inimici mei.Etenim universi qui te expectant non confundentur. Unto thee, O Lord, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee:O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed. One of the many composers who has set this text for choirs is Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839–1901). Born…
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Giovanni Pierluigi da PalestrinaJustitiae Domini rectae The Offertory for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity is a text from Psalm 19: Justitiae Domini rectae, laetificantes corda et judicia eius dulciora super mel et favum. Nam servus tuus custodit ea. The statutes of the Lord are right, and rejoice the heart;his judgments sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb.For thy servant keeps them. The most celebrated composer of the late Renaissance was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525–1594). He composed motets based on the texts of the Offertories used in our services, many of which — including this one — are in our choir’s repertoire. Justitiae Domini rectae is sung here by the the Choir…
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Thomas Tallis“Verily, verily, I say unto you” Throughout his career, Thomas Tallis was forced to adjust to new standards for the composition of church music (read more about those changes in “Sacred song and the Tudors”). One of his best-known anthems, “Verily, verily, I say unto you” is an example of the style that emerged and matured after the Reformation, influenced greatly by the precedent set by Tallis. The text comes from St. John 6:53–56. It is sung below by the Tallis Scholars, conducted by Peter Phillips.
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Johann Sebastian BachWas frag ich nach der Welt“What do I ask for from the world”(Cantata BWV 94) In composing this cantata for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity, Bach had (as usual) the biblical readings for that Sunday in mind. The Epistle for that day is from the tenth chapter of I Corinthians. St. Paul reminds his readers how, during the long sojourn in the wilderness awaiting entry into the Promised Land, God was displeased with the sinful behavior of many of the Israelites. Believers should heed what must be learned from the bad exampled of their predecessors. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust…
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Ralph Vaughan Williams“O taste and see” The text sung at Communion on the Eighth Sunday after Trinity is from Psalm 34: “O taste and see how gracious the Lord is: blessed is he that putteth his trust in him.” This text was set to music to be be sung at Holy Communion during the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, on June 2, 1953. The composer was Ralph Vaughan Williams. For the occassion, Vaughn Williams also composed a grand setting of the Psalm tune OLD HUNDRETH, sung to the familiar words of “All people that on Earth do dwell.” By contrast, his setting of “O taste and see,”…
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Johann Sebastian BachWo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält“If the Lord God does not stay with us”(Cantata BWV 178) The Gospel reading for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity is St. Matthew 7:15–21, the text that inspires the vigorous spirit evident in this cantata composed for this Sunday. Conductor John Eliot Gardiner characterizes the mood of the cantata as one of “dire warning against hypocrites and false prophets.” The opening chorus is quite clear about the necessity of divine protection: If the Lord God does not stay with uswhen our enemies rageand if he does not support our causein heaven high above,if he is not Israel’s protection|and does not himself…