November 11, 2012 - Proper 27

An American Sonata - Charles Callahan
How Can I Keep From Singing? - Bradley Ellingboe
Give Me Jesus - Larry L. Fleming

Hymns: #686 Nettleton, #705 Forest Green, Slane

The music through the month of November is taken from different traditions in American music. This week the prelude and postlude are taken from Charles Callahan’s American Sonata, a setting of several traditional American hymn tunes. Staying in this vein, the gradual anthem is a setting Robert Lowry’s How Can I Keep From Singing? The communion anthem is a setting of the Spiritual Give Me Jesus.

The prelude and postlude are taken from An American Sonata by Charles Callahan, one of the leading composers of organ music in the country. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute and the American Catholic University. He is a noted expert on church music and organ buildings with two books on the latter to his record which have become standards in the field. The prelude, Canticle: Meditative, is a quiet setting of the hymn He Leadeth Me. The flute takes the melody while the organ plays sustained colorful chord underneath. The piece just kind of sits and creates a nebulas image of calm peacefulness.

The Finale: Joyful is just a fun romp. It combines the spiritual Now Let Us Sing (Robeson) with the more traditional Charlestown (All Who Love and Serve Your City). This allows the chance and the challenge to combine two disparate styles of music into a cohesive piece. For this movement I am trying to make the organ sound like a Hammond B3 and then a Victorian Era American Organ. The end of the movement combines the two sounds and ends with full on theatre organ style tremolo.

The gradual anthem is a setting of How Can I Keep From Singing? written by the Baptist minister and hymn writer Robert Lowry.  This arrangement is from the pen of Bradley Ellingboe, a singer/conductor/teacher/composer. He is known for his choral arrangements and has had a successful career in academia serving at the University of New Mexico since 1985. He has received several honors and commissions from many noted choral organizations. This arrangement creates a dialogue between the flute, organ and choir. The repeated refrain builds in confidence each time leading to the climax that then dissipates and ends with the flute and voices “singing”. This text serves as a reminder that throughout everything singing is something that provides comfort. It begs the question “What can keep me from singing?” because Love is lord of heaven and earth. This is a gentle reminder that in all things we can find joy and we can find song.

The communion anthem is a plaintive arrangement of the spiritual Give Me Jesus. The arrangement by Larry L. Fleming (1936-2003) is filled with quiet subtle detail. The dynamics within a phrase sometimes range from pianissimo to fortissimo in the span of two measures. The thick, rich writing creates a grounded supported sound that helps anchor the soring soprano line of the last verse. It also creates a smooth texture that feels very comforting. The message of the piece is simple as are the harmonies. To me this is what makes this piece so beautiful. It feels like the kind of thing that would be sung by someone alone and afraid, looking for solace and choosing to sing their prayer. Like the prelude there are parts of the piece that just sit there and create a mood. I think that is what three out of the four musical offerings this week have in common. They are simple and provide comfort because of the text but also the simple harmonies that are easy to hear and easy to follow.

November 4, 2012 - All Saints Day and A Concert of Remembrance

Requiem - Bob Chilcott
I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes - Howard Boatwright
Psalm 117 - Brian Israel
Suite Gothique - Leon Boellmann

Bob Chilcott (b.1955) is an active composer and conductor Chilcott began his involvement in choral music as a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge. He later went on to be named Choral Scholar and then to sing with and compose for the King’s Singers. Chilcott left the King’s Singers in 1997 to pursue a career as a full time composer. Among his compositions are several commissioned works including The Angry Planet which was commissioned for the BBC Proms and was premiered on August 5, 2012. Since 2002 Chilcott has served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers and continues to remain active as a clinician throughout the world.

The Requiem was commissioned by the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas in honor of Cynthia Cole Finley and The Oxford Bach Choir. The UK premiere took place at the Sheldonian Theatre on March 13, 2010. The US premiere followed on March 21. Although the Requiem is a commissioned work it bears the dedication “In loving memory of Samantha Verschueren (1985-2009),” the composer’s niece who died while the composer was writing the piece. The composition combines the traditional text of the Latin Mass for the Dead with sentences from the funeral service in the Book of Common Prayer. Noticeably absent from the composition is the Dies Irae section making for a more contemplative and reflective work that provides comfort and peace for both performer and listener.

Chilcott taps into the human side of the Latin texts for an intimate work that honors those who have died and consoles those of us that have been left behind. The work in seven movements opens with a quiet Introit and Kyrie reminiscent of the Durufle and Faure Requiems. It then moves from a fiery Offertorio to a simple and beautiful Pie Jesu featuring the soprano soloist. The dance like Sanctus is a sharp contrast to the quiet tenor solo of the Agnus Dei. The only movement of the piece in English, Thou Knowest, Lord paints a beautiful picture with a text from The Book of Common Prayer which opens with a fervent cry and then moves into a quiet plea. The work closes just as it opened with a simple and peaceful Lux Aeterna which closes with a final appeal for “rest eternal.”

The prelude and postlude by Leon Boëllmann (1862-1897) are taken from his Op. 25 Suite Gothique. Boëllmann was educated at L'École Niedermeyer where he studied piano, organ, composition, and counterpoint. After graduating he was hired as substitute organist at St. Vincent-de-Paul. After six years he was named organist titulare, a position he held until his death. The Suite Gothique is perhaps his most well-known composition. The work opens with a Chorale played on full organ followed by a Menuet Gothique. The prelude for this week is the third movement, Prière à Notre-Dame, a beautiful soft movement played on the string and flute stops of the organ. The final movement and this week’s postlude is the fiery Toccata. The piece opens with running sixteenth notes in the right hand accented by chords on the beat in the left hand. The theme is then introduced in the pedal. This theme sounds like something out of an old black and white horror film (perfect for the Sunday following Halloween) the movement begins to build and concludes with four crashing chords played on full organ.

Howard Boatwright (1918-1999) was well known as a violinist, composer and professor. Born in Newport News, Virginia, he played a New York debut recital on violin and the age of 24 and subsequently joined the faculty of the University of Texas and then went to Yale University to study composition with Paul Hindemith. After receiving his master’s degree at Yale, he taught at Yale for many years and was also a conductor of the Yale Symphony, concertmaster of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and first violinist of the Yale String Quartet. In 1964 he became Dean of the Syracuse University School of Music and remained there until he retired from teaching in 1988. He is well remembered as the author of several books on music theory. Howard and his wife, the well-known soprano Helen Boatwright, were long-time members of St. David’s Church.

As with much of Boatwright's choral music, this is likely a product of his time in New Haven. The piece is for SSATB choir a cappella. The piece opens with imitative entrances on the text "I will lift up mine eyes" before coming together on "unto the hills." Another imitative phrase leads us into the B section. This section features the men in unison on the melody with the ladies floating above in three part harmony. For me this is reminiscent of Mendelssohn's setting of this text in Elijah for a ladies trio. It is possible that Boatwright had this in the back of his mind but who can say. The imitation comes back and the piece closes with a quiet but initially unsettling Amen. The piece is very specific in its musical direction and the demands on the singers. It is a beautiful piece that I have grown to love.

Brian Israel (1951-1986) was a faculty member as the Syracuse University School of Music from 1975-1986 and a noted composer of symphonies, chamber, choral and solo works. Born in the Bronx, New York, he received his MFA and DMA from Cornell University. His final work, Symphony No. 6 for soprano, baritone, and orchestra was premiered three days before his death. St. David’s member Donna Miller was the soprano soloist from this premiere. Brian had many friends at St. David’s; his works were often performed by Donna Miller and James Shults. Today’s work was commissioned by St. David’s Church and first performed at the Church the Sunday following his death and again at his Memorial Service. Brian was married to Christine Day, a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York. His ashes are interred in St. David’s Memorial Garden.

Notes on Howard Boatwright and Brian Israel provided by James Shults.

October 28, 2012 - Proper 25

Paulus Op. 36: "I Praise Thee, O Lord"
                                                               - Felix Mendelssohn
O Taste and See - John Goss
Songs Without Words: "Confidence"and "Hope"
                                                               - Felix Mendelssohn

Hymns: #429 Old 113th, #306 Sursum Corda,
              LEVAS #207 By and By

This week’s music is completely Victorian English music. The gradual anthem and postlude were written by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). Strictly speaking, Mendelssohn is a German Romantic composer but during his brief lifetime he made ten trips to England. During these trips he revolutionized the English organ world to the extent of causing a change in their approach to organ building. Before Mendelssohn’s trips to England, English pedal boards were just pull down pedals, meaning that they played whatever stops were on in the rest of the organ rather than being their own individual division. In fact, some British organs didn’t even have a pedal division. In addition to his career as an organist Mendelssohn found success with the composition of oratorios.

I Praise Thee, O Lord is taken from Mendelssohn’s Op. 36 Paulus written between 1832 and 1836. The text is derived from Biblical texts and was assembled by Julius Schubring. The work received its first performance on May 22, 1836 at the Rhenish Music Festival in Dusseldorf. It tells the story of Paul’s conversion and ministry, a story that may have had special meaning to Mendelssohn, the grandson of a Rabbi. In 1816 the Mendelssohn family moved to Berlin and added the surname Bartholdy although Felix resisted this. I Praise Thee, O Lord opens with a baritone aria sung by the newly converted Paul in praise of God. The chorus’s part of this movement is typical Mendelssohn. The choir sings a fugue alternating between two themes on two different texts, the first from the book of Revelations and the second from the Gospel of Matthew. After both themes have been presented and developed they are combined. The altos finish the movement the same way they started before the final statement of the choir, “for His word shall not decay” fades off into nothingness.  

For the postlude I have chosen two of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words that I feel complement each other while at the same time making a statement. Mendelssohn published eight collections of these “songs” each consisting of six pieces. As the piano grew in popularity it became common for composers to write short lyric pieces that were accessible to the general public. While subsequent publications of these pieces has paired titles with them that were not intended I think that the “titles” attached to the two pieces I will play does reflect the mood. The first is called Confidence. This light piece is assertive but also soft spoken and whimsical at the beginning and end, I think this speaks to our interpretation of confidence. I have often found that confidence comes from honesty and honesty from being true to yourself – I hear that in this piece. The second piece is called Hope. Again this piece opens and closes with soft whisperings with a confident statement sandwiched in-between. It seems an appropriate pairing for Confidence and an appropriate selection going into an Election week.

The communion anthem is a setting of Psalm 34 by the British composer John Goss (1800-1880). John Goss is a composer that I first discovered through his setting of God So Loved the World. Goss is best known for his choral compositions and his hymn tunes including Praise My Soul the King of Heaven. This setting of O Taste and See is typical of Goss’s writing and makes use of simple harmonies with primarily homophonic writing. The B section introduces slightly unexpected harmonies into the mix on the text “the lions do lack and suffer hunger” but still the piece follows a logical progression to the resolution that “they who seek the Lord shall want for nothing.” The piece closes with a prolonged statement that reminds us that the "man" who trusts the Lord is blessed. This week's music has essentially covered many of the positive attributes of human character: hope, trust, confidence, faith and thanksgiving. All important things for us to remember in these uncertain times when human character is called into question and is of such vital importance.

October 21, 2012 - Proper 24

Creation: "Sing the Lord, Ye Voices All" - F.J. Haydn
b minor Mass BWV 232: "Agnus Dei" - J.S. Bach
Prelude and Fugue in c minor

Hymns: #379 Abbott's Leigh, #602 Jesu, Jesu,
              #583 Morning Song

This week the music comes from three monumental musical undertakings by two of the giants of classical music. All three pieces occupy a prominent spot in music history and have left a lasting impression on the Classical Western canon both because of the innovations and the music itself.

The gradual anthem is by Franz Joseph Haydn and is taken from his oratorio The Creation. This work was not Haydn’s first oratorio, but is certainly his most well-known. Haydn visited London in 1791-1792 and 1794-1795. On both visits he heard massed choir performances; the first in memory of Handel, the second a hymn sung by 4,000 children. Haydn brought a text from the Book of Genesis and John Milton’s Paradise Lost to Baron von Sweiten who translated the text into German. Die Schopfung received its first performance in 1798. Sing the Lord, Ye Voices All is the final chorus of this oratorio and adds an alto soloist to the trio of angels that has been singing throughout. The chorus opens with full choir stating “Sing the Lord, ye voices all, Magnify his name through all creation, Celebrate his power and glory, Let his name resound on high.” This then breaks into a joyous fugue on the text “Jehovah’s praise forever shall endure.” The exuberant fugue subject hops between voice part as the orchestra builds to the closing statement with flying sixteenth notes in the organ and big unison writing for the chorus.

The communion anthem is taken from J.S. Bach’s monumental b minor mass BWV 232. This mass is based on the Roman Catholic Mass but is far too substantial to be performed in the context of the church service. It is unclear why Bach wrote this music because most of it is not suited to the Lutheran church service at all. The Agnus Dei is the final solo in the nearly two hour work. It is taken from Bach’s Ascension Oratorio and precedes the chorus Dona Nobis Pacem. The aria is very chromatic and; despite starting and ending in g minor, drifts far from there.

The Postlude is taken from Book I of The Well Tempered Clavier.  Many people have assumed that this work was Bach’s argument for Equal Temperament, it is however his argument for a well tempered tuning system. The Prelude and Fugue in c minor showcases the key’s active and energetic character and the pain and bite of the key. I have always affectionately referred to the Prelude as the “typewriter prelude” because it is constant 16^th notes first played together, and then alternating hands. The Fugue is a chipper three voice fugue that serves as a perfect example of fugal writing.

October 14, 2012 - Proper 23

Canonic Variations on "Slane" - Larry Visser
Messiah: "He Trusted in God" - G.F. Handel
O Vos Omnes - Tomas Luis de Vittoria

Hymns: #492 Finnian, #475 Tysk, #488 Slane

The music this week is a bit on the dark side but is not without hope. The prelude and postlude are taken from a set of variations that have connections to both of the anthems as well as the closing hymn. The two anthems share key and theme despite being written 150 years apart. These anthems also have a great deal of drama packed into just a few measures. This is true of the organ music as well. It’s amazing how much can be packed into only a few measures of a variation.

The Gradual anthem is taken from the second part of Handel’s Messiah. It is one of the choruses that is quite often cut. He Trusted in God is a setting of Psalm 22 and following the tenor solo All They that See Him is a very sarcastic and biting chorus reminiscent of the mob choruses of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Handel left his mark on music history primarily through the composition of oratorio. This was mostly by default. Handel had gone to England as a composer of operas but the performance of opera was not allowed during Lent so he had to turn to oratorio; an unstaged opera on biblical texts. There are moments in Messiah that are very clearly opera set to Biblical text. The implied mob psychology and disdainful tone of this chorus is Handel’s way of illustrating the fear and pain of Christ on the cross. This text can also easily be applied to each of our lives and be seen as a reminder of the fact that, though the message is intended as sarcastic and biting that what is said is true. God will deliver those that have his favor.

The communion anthem is O Vos Omnes by Tomas Luis de Vittoria, one of the most prominent composers of the Renaissance. Despite being educated in Rome (possibly by Palestrina) he never lost the Spanish flare that was an integral part of his heritage. Musicologists constantly site the fact that his music is filled with “Spanish mysticism.” His setting of O Vos Omnes from Lamentations 1:12 from the collection of motets published in 1572 is beautiful because of its simplicity. This piece is the response of the Christ on the cross from He Trusted in God. The translation of the piece is:
“O all you that pass by the way, attend and see: If there is pain like as my pain. Attend all people, and see my sorrows if there is sorrow like as my sorrow.” This dialogue captures the pain and suffering of Christ as a response to the taunting mob. The juxtaposition of the taunting mob of He Trusted in God and Christ’s response of “who knows sorrow like unto my sorrows” is incredibly poignant.

The prelude and postlude are taken from Larry Visser’s Canonic Variations on “Slane” which is the closing hymn. The first variation is an overture, which reminds me of the overture to Messiah, something I had considered playing this week before finding this piece. It exploits the double dotted figure typical of the French overture of the Baroque period, and reminiscent of the opening of the Meesiah overture. The piece then gives way to a very simple trio titled Hymnus for solo reed and flute with pedal. The third variation, Prayer¸ places the tune in the pedal and the upper voice of the right hand. The manuals are exploiting the Voix Celeste, a string stop which composers like Guilmant and Boellmann had used for Priere’s of their own. The pedal plays the melody on a 4’ reed stop. The fourth movement is a trio which features the melody on two “gap” registrations bouncing between hands and an accompanying line in the pedal. Movement 5 is a Paean, a lyric poem of thanksgiving and triumph played on full organ sounds that play with the rhythm of the tune. The penultimate setting is a Lament, this movement features the Flute Celeste and the oboe taking turns on the melody in the excruciating key of eb minor. The melody is passed between the two voices throughout and ends with a statement combining eb major and minor in a way which draws parallels with the treatment of key and mode in the Vittoria. The concluding toccata opens with the canon split between the upper voice of the right hand and the pedal. The “B section” features a canon between left and right foot before reintroducing the canon between right hand and pedal to end. This piece exploits the full resources of the organ while capturing the many moods of pieces available to the organist and illustrating different aspects of the text. This hymn tune has been paired with Be Thou My Vision and Lord of All Hopefulness as well as exploiting the innate beauty of the hymn tune.

October 7, 2012 - Proper 22

Pavan - William Byrd
O Lord Our Governor - Benedetto Marcello
Ave Verum Corpus - William Byrd
Psalm 19 - Benedetto Marcello (arr. E. Power Biggs)

Hymns: #388 Hanover, #495 In Babilone, 
              #678 College of Preachers

The music for this week comes from two very different composers. Both of these composers completed a monumental composition which has left an indelible mark in the catalog of Sacred music.  The writing of William Byrd (1539/40-1623) represents the height of compositional achievement in England during the Renaissance. In fact, some musicologists argue that Byrd is the most influential British composer ever. William Byrd studied composition with Thomas Tallis and later the two shared duties as organist at the Chapel Royal. In 1577 he moved to Middlesex with his family. Byrd preferred to live outside of London because he was a devout Catholic at a time when Catholics were being persecuted by the government. Despite his faith his devotion to the monarchy was never questioned. He was so highly thought of by Elizabeth I that he and Tallis received a monopoly on the publishing and sale of all print music. In 1593 he retired to Stondon Massey, Essex where he lived until his death in 1623.

Byrd’s keyboard music was unrivaled at the time of its composition. The pieces rarely specified which keyboard instrument they were for, some for virginal and some for the organ. His musical style changed from the early works which resembled the more austere vocal writing of the time. His later worked became more idiomatic and virtuosic incorporating scalar runs and more advanced rhythms. One of his favorite compositional genres is the dance pair, Pavan and Galliard. The pavan is a slow stately dance in duple meter often used to open a ball. This is followed by the faster galliard in triple meter. The Pavan that I am using as the prelude is in ABC form (the repeats have been omitted) and exploits some of the ensemble sounds that could be found on an English organ from that time period. These organs were typically very small. They had only one or two manuals and no pedal board. The stops of these instruments were primarily flutes and principals of small scale and high pitch. This pavan begins with a ponderous minor variation followed by a slightly lighter and faster section. I have registered the third and final section on a single 4’ flute. The section is in major and creates tension through the use of gentle dissonances.

All of Byrd’s compositions were recognized for their quality but it is felt that his Latin motets are among his greatest achievements both in quality and creativity. Byrd’s greatest contribution to sacred music was his two volume Gradualia (1605 and 1607). This collection contains proper cycles, as well as settings of the ordinary of the mass for every major feast day and votive mass of the Roman Catholic Rite. Byrd’s setting of the Corpus Christi hymn Ave Verum (Hail the true body) shows the great care that Byrd took with setting the Latin text. One compositional technique that is frequently employed is that of “false relation” – a note and its chromatically altered pitch appearing in close proximity. The first instance of this is between the soprano and bass of measure one and two. This highlights the word verum (true) which as a Catholic would be a particularly important distinction for the Catholic Byrd (Atrium Musicologicum). Byrd also includes a great deal of text painting in this motet. The text in cruce (on the cross) literally forms a cross in the music with the tenor entering first followed by soprano and bass [aligned vertically] and the altos after. The entrances of unda fluxit sanguine (flowed water and blood) are staggered descending lines. The pitches of Jesu and Mariae are the highest pitches of the piece giving greater importance to the settings of these names. It is incredible to note the care taken to set texts in a work that was written basically for private devotion as it is unlikely that it would have ever been performed because Latin motets were not a part of the liturgy in the newly formed Church of England.

Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739) was born into an influential aristocratic family in Venice. Both he and his brother Alessandro enjoyed success as composers but were not allowed to pursue music as more than a hobby. Marcello instead enjoyed a successful career as a lawyer, the governor of Pola and at the end of his life chancellor of Brescia. Most of his compositions come from his early life where music played a larger role and was encouraged as part of his studies. The most enduring of Marcello’s contributions is his Estro poetico-armonico. This work is a setting of the first fifty Psalms as translated by his friend Girolamo Ascanio Giustiniani. It was published in eight volumes between 1724 and 1726. The texts are very free translations of the Latin thought to make the Psalms more accessible to the general public. The setting of Psalm 8 O Lord Our Governor is a light dance like piece originally for alto solo and unison choir with basso continuo. This arrangement features soloists alternating with full choir.

The postlude is an arrangement for organ solo by E. Power Biggs (1906-1977) of another of Marcello’s Psalm settings from this collection, Psalm 19. As with the setting of Psalm 8 there is a lot of back and forth between the full organ and the softer secondary manual. This is representative of the concertato style of writing popular in Italy during the Baroque period. In this style of writing a small group (the ripieno) alternates with the full ensemble (tutti). This is a through back to the earlier polychoral styles of the Gabriellis. At St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice instrumental and vocal ensembles would be placed throughout the church and would play or sing antiphonally, exploiting the possibilities of having ensembles in different parts of the church and in essence creating the first stereo sounds.

September 30, 2012 - Proper 21

Suite No. 7 in g minor HWV 432: "Andante" and 
                                                   "Passacaille" - G.F. Handel
Messiah HWV 56: "If God Be For Us" - G.F. Handel
Elijah Op. 70: "He Watching Over Israel"
                                                               - Felix Mendelssohn

Hymns: #546 Siroe, #509 Nun Danket all und Bringet,
             #344 Sicilian Mariners

Three of this week’s four pieces are by the same composer (and incidentally are in the same key – this part was an accident.) The prelude and postlude are taken from the seventh of G.F. Handel’s (1685-1759) “Grand Suites” for harpsichord. The prelude is the “Andante” and the postlude, the “Passacaille from Suite No. 7 in g minor HWV 432. The gradual anthem is taken from the third part of Messiah, the soprano aria If God Be For Us. Although the communion anthem is not by Handel, his influence is clearly present in the piece. He Watching Over Israel from Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) epic Elijah Op. 70. complements the Handel very well.

The two movements of Suite No. 7 which serve as bookends to the service are perhaps the two most dissimilar movements in the suite. The tenderness of the Andante is a stark contrast to the fire of the final variations of the Passacaille. The Andante is a simple two part piece in binary form. The right hand plays a lyrical ornamented melody above a continuo like bass line. The Passacaille is a piece that I first encountered as a harp student. It is a set of sixteen variations built on a repeated chord progression. This movement has more in common with the traditional definition of the chaconne in that it is not a piece built on a repeated bass line but rather a repeated chord progression. It is also not in triple meter, one of the other characteristics of both the chaconne and passacaille. Each variation becomes more rhythmically active and propels the work to an exciting climax with both hands playing arpeggiated sixteenth notes all the way to the end of the movement.

If God Be For Us, is one of the lesser known, frequently cut movements in Messiah. Alfred Mann refers to it as “the epilogue to the epilogue.” The aria is sandwiched between two choruses, But Thanks be to God and Worthy Is the Lamb which leads into the “Great” Amen. This puts a great deal of pressure on the soloist to hold the audience’s attention going into the big finale of the work. The aria is essentially a series of rhetorical questions sung by the soprano. “If god be for us, who can be against us” is really a clever line which asks and answers its own question. The soprano basically gets to have a whole conversation with herself. This coupled with the communion anthem and the gentle prelude makes for a day of comforting music.

Mendelssohn’s anthem brings about a more serene image of the God that the soprano sings about in the Handel aria. However, this chorus is not without its turmoil. The opening theme is one of the most beautiful melodies in the whole oratorio but unlike the trio that the angels sing before this chorus, this piece makes no effort to gloss over the suffering. The comfort comes from the idea that God has a plan for helping us deal with that as well. If we are grieving he will rejuvenate us. This is reminding us that sometimes things are bad but that God will be there to restore us – and better yet he is always there to do this for us. He does not sleep. I think that in order to truly appreciate this chorus you have to consider both the aria and the trio which precede it. At this stage of the oratorio Elijah has given up and wants to die. God sends a trio of angels to comfort him but then we get this chorus. I think that Elijah must have needed not one message of comfort but like so many of us, he needed to hear it twice – the second time in a different way to truly grasp it.

This is something to think about as you hear the music this week. Both anthems bring comfort although in different ways. It is my hope that they make you think about something from a different point of view and that you can then draw on this somehow. I know that for me hearing the same phrase a different way can make all the difference.