Music Notes Advent I, November 28, 2010
Emmanuel Church, Newport, RI
First Sunday of Advent 1, RCL Year A (violet or light blue)
Choir call 8:45 to rehearse for the
10 AM Eucharist
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Hymn 56 O come, O come, Emmanuel 1-4 Veni, veni, Emmanuel
Trisagion S-101 Holy God Setting: John Rutter
Psalm 122 Chant Tone VIII.1 sung by the Choir & Choristers
Sequence Hymn 61 “Sleepers, wake!” A voice astounds us Wachet auf
Anthem Once he came in blessing Michael Weisse
Presentation Hymn 59 Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding Merton
The Great Thanksgiving - Sursum Corda
Eucharistic Prayer
Sanctus Addington Service Setting: Richard Shephard
Lords Praye
Fraction Anthem Agnus Dei Addington Service Setting: Shephard
The tree of life my soul hath see Apple Tree Daniel Pinkham
Communion Hymns 333 Now the silence Now
454 Jesus came, adored by angels Lowry
Dismissal Hymn 486 Hosanna to the living Lord! Hosanna
Music Notes: This Sunday, Advent launches into the ‘Year A’ lectionary readings. The start of a new liturgical year begins with a penitential, serious mood, an expectation of the coming of Christ, born into the world at Christmas. Last Sunday, we completed another year of grace in God through Christ Jesus and we commence the cycle again, adjusting our liturgy to sing the ‘Trisagion’ pronounced tree-sah-yahn, at the beginning of our worship in a setting by John Rutter, (S-101), and the singing of the day’s psalm to one of the earliest forms of music known in the church, chant, specifically Psalm Tone VIII. The choir offers these in a solemn style, softly serene and at ease, reflective of the quiet expectation that God does and will… ‘…come to us...’ in Emmanuel. The organ accompanied Trisagion starts darkly and low in pitch, building to a mighty, imploring climatic crying out to God our creator, for ‘mercy.’ The chant of the psalms is unaccompanied with the exception of the ringing of bells for pitch and emphasis on the text. Longer pauses between the verses will allow for more reflective contemplation on what King David is expressing in his songs to God his creator, singing of praise, and crying out about the myriad of life’s concerns we all still share to this day in longing for God to be with us. Also, to signify and further highlight the changing of the season, we will use two parts of the Ordinary from Richard Shephard’s, Addington Service, which he wrote as a Eucharist service setting. We have sung before and its very memorable tunes will perhaps be instantly recognizable, as they are contemporary, while yet maintaining a sense of solid liturgical grounding. Today’s hymns speak to this yearning as well in, ‘O come, O come, Emmanuel,’ ‘Sleepers Awake!’ ‘Now the silence,’ ‘Jesus came, adored by angels,’ ‘Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding,’ and our anthem, the tranquil and peaceful, ‘Once he came in blessing,’ the text of which was written over 400 years ago and may be followed at Hymn #53. May this music and all of our hymns and liturgy be for us a guide toward 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
