WORSHIP FOR OCTOBER 11, 2020
Please view the embedded video of our service below by clicking on the grey arrow in the middle of the image.
About the Music:
Today's Prelude, the "Prelude on Rhosymedre" by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) is based on the hymn tune of the same name, composed by the Welsh Anglican parish priest John David Edwards (1805-1885) and named for the town in Wales where Edwards served as vicar for many years. The word Rhosymedre means “lovely.” This beautiful piece, often heard at funerals and weddings, is one of a set of three Welsh hymns arranged for organ by English composer Vaughan Williams in 1920. It's long, graceful phrases wind upwards and downwards like rolling British hills in a light mist, or the beautiful countryside surrounding Trinity Church. The tune appears as #587 in The Hymnal 1982 with the text "Our Father, by whose name".
Both the hymn and anthem this Sunday are chosen for their references to God's banquet or feast, in support of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet from the appointed Gospel of Matthew 22:1-14.
Hymn 487 "Come My Way, My Truth, My Life" is a poem by the great English mystic, priest, and poet, George Herbert which was originally set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams as #4 of his "Five Mystical Songs" for baritone solo, choir, and orchestra. Arranged as a congregational hymn, the title of the tune is The Call, which is also the title of both the original song and the Herbert poem. It is presented here in Vaughan Williams' original setting as a baritone solo.
The anthem "I Sat Down Under His Shadow" by English composer Sir Edward Bairstow (1874-1946) was written in 1925 using the text from the Song of Solomon 2:3-4. Bairstow served as the organist at York Minster from 1913 until his death where he followed T. Tertius Noble who went on to serve as the renowned organist at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York City. It is said that when asked if he might also emigrate to the United States, he replied he would "rather go to the devil".
The Postlude, "And again I say, Rejoice!" was written in 2011 by award-winning composer and concert organist Brenda Portman (b. 1980). Dr. Portman is the Resident Organist at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, OH, and Adjunct Organ Instructor at Xavier University. This work is based on the hymn tune Marion, written by nineteenth-century English-American organist Arthur Messiter, and relates to today's Epistle lesson, Philippians 4:1-9. The tune is best known in connection with the text “Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart”.