Music Advent 2 - Dec. 5, 2010
Emmanuel Church, Newport, RI
Second Sunday of Advent, RCL Year A (violet or light blue)
Choir call 8:45 to rehearse for the
10 AM Eucharist
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Hymn 65 Prepare the way, O Zion Bereden vag fur Herran
Trisagion S-101 Holy God Setting: John Rutter
Psalm 122 Chant Tone VIII.1 sung by the Choir & Choristers
Sequence Hymn 473 Lift high the cross Crucifer
Anthem Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming Michael Praetorius
Presentation Hymn 454 Jesus came, adorned by angels Lowry
The Great Thanksgiving - Sursum Corda
Eucharistic Prayer
Sanctus Addington Service Setting: Richard Shephard
Lords Prayer
Fraction Anthems Agnus Dei Addington Service Setting: Shephard
Choir - The tree of life my soul hath see Apple Tree Daniel Pinkham
Communion Anthem & Hymn
‘How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace’ Handel
Caroline Goddard, Soprano
67 Comfort, comfort ye my people Psalm 42
Dismissal Hymn 75 There’s a voice in the wilderness crying Ascension
Music Notes: Last Sunday, Advent launched into our ‘Year A’ lectionary readings with a penitential, more aptly called, ‘serious’ mood, as we prepare to proclaim the coming of Christ, born into the world at Christmas. This week, we hear John the Baptist declare, ‘Prepare the way…’ and our music reflects this preparation as Caroline Goddard sings Handel’s Air for soprano, ‘Blessed are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things,’ from his monumental work, Messiah. Our hymns are typically Advent although we hear strains of other carols we love all around us in stores and shops as the sense of expectation grows…I know I feel it every year. Commencing our worship with the rousing, ‘Prepare the way, O Zion,’ 65, we continue in prayer and sing the ‘Trisagion’ pronounced tree-sah-yahn, set by John Rutter, (S-101), with the organ starting dark and low in pitch. Building to its mighty, imploring climax, it cries out to God our creator, for ‘mercy.’ Then, the day’s psalm is sung in cantor/response style using the earliest form of music known in the church, chant, specifically Psalm Tone VIII. The chant of the psalms is unaccompanied with the exception of the ringing of bells for pitch and emphasis on the text and longer pauses between the verses allow quiet, reflective contemplation on King David’s expressions singing to God his creator of praise, and the concerns we share of longing God to be with us. We use two parts of the Ordinary from Richard Shephard’s, Addington Service, which are majestically serious and then, in what may seem like a complete turn away from the Advent-Christmas preparations, we sing the glorious tune Crucifer and one may wonder, why? Our second lesson has one of the reasons, read Romans 15: 4-13. There we see it is the banner of the gentiles to ‘Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim,’ a fitting response to Paul’s closing words,
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The other reason we are singing it…well, let’s say you’ll just have to come Sunday to find out. It will be a Sunday Not To Miss! May this music and all of our hymns and liturgy in worship be a guide for us bringing us closer to God as we yearn and ask Him to come and be closer to us; O come, O come, Emmanuel.
Peace and see you at worship – AJH
The Chorister Creed & Prayer
‘I will sing with the spirit and with understanding also’
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 14:15
Bless, O Lord, us your servants who minister in your temple;
Grant that what we sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts,
And what we believe in our hearts we may show forth in our lives;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
