Music Notes: Congratulations to Jim Ottilege, who last Sunday, (and then, Tuesday, December 7), celebrated his 80^th birthday and most significantly, 72 years singing in the choirs of Emmanuel Church since he was 8 years old. Thank you to all who helped make last Sunday a very special day for Jim. He continues singing valiantly, to ‘Prepare the way, O Zion’ and he has been blessed, as have we all by his service, as Caroline sang from the Messiah, ‘Blessed are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things,’ Thank you Jim and Caroline. As we continue our Advent preparations toward Christmas, our hymns, again typically Advent, have a sense of growing expectation in volume, even as we hear strains of Christmas music all around us in shops. This sense of expectation grows…as with Mary, who when she received the word from the Angel Gabriel that she would bear the Son of God, pondered all she was told in her heart and then, responded with the words we call today, Magnificat, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord…’ A Mag & Nunc, as they are affectionately called by choirs, have been sung at every Evensong (‘Vespers’ from the Roman tradition), in the Episcopal Church since that service format’s inception and although some think of Mary in a quiet meditative mood, many composers throughout the past 350-400 years or so, have set the Magnificat’s stirring words in a wide variety of choral and solo, ways. For those of you in attendance on Friday, August 6^th, the version we sing will sound familiar and our choristers, Curtis & Ben, couldn’t wait to sing it again. George Dyson composed this stirring unison setting in c minor and one can sense the drive of emotion as the choir sings the words; check the text at: Canticle 15. More can be read about Mr. Dyson at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dyson_%28composer%29.

To start our worship, we sing another rousing, minor keyed hymn, (d minor - its precursor being Dorian mode, one of the first written music scales of the church), in the words, ‘Watchmen, tell us of the night,’ and continuing in prayer, we next sing the ‘Trisagion,’ pronounced tree-sah-yahn, meaning Thrice Holy, by John Rutter, (S-101). Starting dark and low in pitch, but with a bold full sound, the melody is proclaimed (crying out) on the organ’s Great Division, solo Trumpet stop, building to a mighty climax, as we cry, Thrice Holy to God for ‘mercy.’ The day’s psalm is sung in cantor/response style lead by our boy choristers, Mitchell, Curtis and Ben, using the earliest music from the church, chant, specifically Psalm Tone VIII and the psalm is unaccompanied except for ringing bells for pitch & emphasis on the text where appropriate. Longer pauses between the verses allow quiet contemplation on King David’s words 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. Although we sang the Agnus Dei two years ago for a short time, it is perhaps a little less known than the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy), by Mr. Shepherd, so its melodic themes will be used prior to the service in the organ Prelude and we will have a brief ‘run-through’ of it before we sing our opening hymn. May this music and all of our hymns and liturgy in worship, guide us closer to God as we yearn and ask Him to come 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

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Music Notes - December 12, 2010 Advent 3