A Lenten Walk - Hal Hopson
Hymns: #150 Aus Der Tiefe Rufe Ich, #143 Erhalt Uns Herr, #142 St. Flavian
This week's notes will be short. We have a guest musician that will be playing the prelude and postlude so I will not comment on these pieces other than to say that I am looking forward to hearing them myself.
The gradual anthem is a setting of Psalm 25, Show Me Thy Ways. The setting is from the pen of Walter L. Pelz(b. 1926), a recitalist and Professor Emeritus of music at Bethany College. The setting is scored for SATB choir, guitar and oboe. This very short composition (only 38 measures), in ABA form very simply offers a prayer to God to "show me thy ways." The B section is a bit stronger than the A section and affirms why we are asking God to show us "for Thou art the God of my salvation." The guitar provides mostly chordal accompaniment to the choir's rather simple vocal lines which start on a single note and then move in opposite directions to create lines that move up and down and allow for a very beautiful growth to the line. The oboe adds a supportive counter melody throughout that weaves in and out of the choir's lines.
The communion anthem, A Lenten Walk is by the distinguished church composer, Hal Hopson. Mr. Hopson is the former chairman of the church music department of Westminster Choir College. His cantata, "God With Us" was chosen by the Kennedy Center to be placed in a time capsule to be opened in 2076 (at the tricentennial). Mr. Hopson has over 1,200 published works to his credit. This setting of the spiritual Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley allows us to feature many different sections of the choir. The altos sing the first verse by themselves followed by a verse for full choir. The next verse features the "under 30 group" I thought we would give our younger choir members a chance to sing on their own. Then there is another verse for full choir. The piece starts and ends with the sopranos humming a lovely melody over sustained organ accompaniment accented by the occasional chime. This piece serves as an invitation for us to join Jesus on that walk. It is a reminder of the spiritual journey that we all have the opportunity to take during the Lenten season - whatever that may mean for each of us individually.
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