February 1, 2015 - Epiphany 4

Schmucke dich o liebe Seele - J.G. Walther

Messiah: "The Lord Gave the Word" - G.F. Handel

This Sanctuary of My Soul - Charles Wood

Hymns: #533 Lyons, #339 Schmucke dich, 

              #530 Gott Sei Dank

The music this week is German and English with Handel’s Messiah bridging the cultural gap. Two of the three hymns are of German origin and the prelude and postlude are settings of the German chorale tune Schmucke Dich which is the offertory hymn. The anthems are The Lord Gave the Word written by the German born but England influenced Handel; the communion anthem is by the British composer Charles Wood.

Schmucke dich o liebe Seele is a German chorale tune written by Johann Crüger ( 1598-1662). Cruger was one of the most important composers of his time. More than twenty of his grand and stately hymn tunes remain in use. This set of three variations by the German Baroque composer, Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748) exploits the delicate nature of the text as well as the grandeur of the tune. The first two variations are for manuals only. They sparkle with fluid running sixteenth notes. The third variation places the tune in the left hand with florid accompaniment in the right hand and scales in the pedal.

The gradual anthem was written by G.F. Handel (1685-1759) as part of his monumental oratorio on the life of Christ, Messiah. This chorus is from Part II of the oratorio. It is sandwiched between two arias in a section that deals with the dissemination of the gospel. The piece alternates between a declamatory unison melody which the men start the chorus with (it is later taken up by the women) and a light melismatic section that spreads out from the unison the way that the gospel was spread. The rapid but gradual movements suggest the energy with which the “company of the preachers” went out to spread the gospel. Although this piece is short, it paints an excellent image of the text that Handel is illustrating.

The communion anthem is a setting of a poem by Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895-1915) a Scottish born poet that was considered to be one of the most important poets of his time, and the greatest loss of all poets during World War I. The text for This Sanctuary of My Soul is taken from the last two stanzas of his poem Expectans Expectavi. This anthem by 

Charles Wood (1866-1926) shows the marked difference in compositional styles from the Victorian era composers to Wood and his contemporaries. Wood was a student of C.V. Stanford and C.H.H. Parry and passed his compositional knowledge on to his students Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells.  This anthem incorporates quickly changing dynamics that illustrate all the ways that we can open ourselves to God be it through meditation and prayer or acts of sacrifice large or small. This is to be sung by those that are truly open to God’s will and are ready for all that this may mean. It’s particularly poignant when the poet’s sacrifice is considered. He died in combat in World War I.