Music for the Liturgy of Ordination
Jun. 24, 2025 - Pastor Brian Hamer
This past April several men in our seminaries received their Divine Calls into the ministerium. Following graduation ceremonies in May, many pastors-elect are being ordained into the office of the holy ministry this month. There is much to sing about here, so please join me to explore three accessible choral works for the parish choir, following selected readings from the ordination service in Lutheran Service Book Agenda.
The Institution of the Office of the Holy Ministry
Cantatas Over Coffee
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Welcome to Around the WordAround the Word paints a Biblical and joyful picture of teaching and life. We have our Bibles open, and we believe with simplicity what the Lord speaks there. We endeavor to have a thoughtful and generous, historical and current approach to the Lord’s word, understanding that theological integrity is the best way that we can serve the church at large.
We are Lutheran, that is, we let the Law and the Gospel echo in the full voice with which God speaks it, and we are on the lookout for error because we love to hear the truth, the life-giving voice of Jesus. So we care about their families and their neighbors and the world, both in this life and in the life to come. We are working to recover the joy and delight of doctrine, of the Gospel. |
Anniversaries in Sacred Music:
Lamenting Over Jerusalem with Robert White
Mar. 21, 2024 - Pastor Brian Hamer
Jerusalem, my happy home, when shall I come to thee?
When shall my sorrows have an end? Thy joys, when shall I see?
– Sixteenth-century Hymn
When shall my sorrows have an end? Thy joys, when shall I see?
– Sixteenth-century Hymn
Jerusalem has been the city of deep wailing and great rejoicing for thousands of years. The Lamentations of Jeremiah are a case in point, and the angst of the prophet’s lament has not been lost on composers for the church. Sixteenth-century Europe, for instance, was blessed with settings by the finest composers of the day, including Alfonso Ferrabosco (the elder), Thomas Tallis, Antoine Brumel, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and Robert White. Since this is an anniversary year for White (c. 1538—1574), please join me in a lament over the old Jerusalem with his setting of Lamentations 1:8-13 for five voices.
White was a Roman Catholic composer in England, often mentioned in the same breath with John Sheppard, Christopher Tye (whose daughter he married), Thomas Tallis, Robert Parsons, and Gyles Farnaby. He served three major posts as church musician: Ely Cathedral (please see the image above), Chester Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey. Choral works by White that are fitting for Lutheran worship include several settings of the Mass, Latin motets (including two settings of Lamentations, one for five voices and one for six voices), and about half a dozen English anthems. David Mateer and Irwin Spector describe his two sets of Lamentations as “particularly fine” and “a high point of Elizabethan choral music” (Grove Music Online).
White was a Roman Catholic composer in England, often mentioned in the same breath with John Sheppard, Christopher Tye (whose daughter he married), Thomas Tallis, Robert Parsons, and Gyles Farnaby. He served three major posts as church musician: Ely Cathedral (please see the image above), Chester Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey. Choral works by White that are fitting for Lutheran worship include several settings of the Mass, Latin motets (including two settings of Lamentations, one for five voices and one for six voices), and about half a dozen English anthems. David Mateer and Irwin Spector describe his two sets of Lamentations as “particularly fine” and “a high point of Elizabethan choral music” (Grove Music Online).
Cantatas over Coffee:
“O Joyful Time of the New Covenant“
J. S. Bach Cantata 83 for Candlemas
Jan. 29, 2024 - Pastor Brian Hamer
We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
– Psalm 48:9 (Introit for Candlemas)
– Psalm 48:9 (Introit for Candlemas)
I am categorizing this column as part of my occasional “Cantatas Over Coffee” series, but it actually does triple duty as “Cantatas Over Coffee,” “Anniversaries in Sacred Music,” and “Hymns of the Reformation.” In addition to being a wonderful cantata, it was written and performed 300 years ago for Bach’s first Candlemas in Leipzig. And the work incorporates a stanza from Martin Luther’s Nunc Dimittis hymn, “In Peace and Joy I Now Depart,” which is 500 years old this year. Please join me to explore briefly all three facets of Candlemas under the theme, “We have thought of Thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.”
Candlemas is a principal feast of Christ in the church year, taking precedent over any Sunday that might fall on the same day. The custom of lighting candles for Christ, the Light of the world, dates at least back to Egeria, a fourth-century pilgrim whose famed travel diary documented the celebration in Jerusalem. The title “Candlemas” appears to be a later addition to an older title, “The Meeting,” which indicated the fulfillment of the Old Testament reading, Malachi 3:1-4, “The Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple” (v. 1). The gospel lesson for the day, St. Luke 2:22-32, which includes the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and Simeon’s canticle, the Nunc Dimittis.
Candlemas is a principal feast of Christ in the church year, taking precedent over any Sunday that might fall on the same day. The custom of lighting candles for Christ, the Light of the world, dates at least back to Egeria, a fourth-century pilgrim whose famed travel diary documented the celebration in Jerusalem. The title “Candlemas” appears to be a later addition to an older title, “The Meeting,” which indicated the fulfillment of the Old Testament reading, Malachi 3:1-4, “The Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple” (v. 1). The gospel lesson for the day, St. Luke 2:22-32, which includes the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and Simeon’s canticle, the Nunc Dimittis.
Anniversaries in Sacred Music:
Three Christmas Carol-Anthems by Herbert Howells
Nov. 16, 2023 - Pastor Brian Hamer
Herbert Howells (1892–1983) followed in the footsteps of Ralph Vaughan Williams as a leading English composer of the resurgent English tradition of the twentieth century. He exhibited great musical talent as a child and studied organ at Gloucester Cathedral. He studied composition at the Royal College of Music with Charles Villiers Stanford, who probably had more impact on Howells than any other figure. Howells later taught at the Royal College of Music and St. Paul Girl School in London, where he followed Gustav Holst. He composed for nearly seventy years, making significant contributions to every genre except opera. It seems fitting that he is buried at Westminster Abbey alongside Gibbons, Purcell, Stanford, and Vaughan Wiliams. Please join me in this, our final journey for 2023, to explore three Christmas works (arranged according to the church year) by the composer whom David Willcocks described as “the foremost British composer of church music of his day” (Church Music Quarterly, July 1983, p. 4).
Anniversaries in Sacred Music:
Singing the Canticles of William Byrd (d. 1623) with The Tallis Scholars (est. 1973)
Nov. 16, 2023 - Pastor Brian Hamer
England has never produced a greater composer than William Byrd.
– Peter Phillips
– Peter Phillips
For the August 2023 issue of BBC Music Magazine, the editors polled 167 professional musicians and asked them to name their top five British composers. When the votes were tallied, the top five were (5) William Byrd (4) Ralph Vaughan Williams (3) Henry Purcell (2) Edward Elgar and (1) Benjamin Britten (pp. 34–37). When one looks at the score sheet of who voted for whom, one cannot help but notice that among choral musicians (e.g., Bob Chilcott, Harry Christophers, Paul McCreesh, et al.) William Byrd (1543–1623) is consistently in the top five (pp. 38–41). In the header quote above, Peter Phillips ranks Byrd as England’s best. While instrumentalists and symphonists appear to disagree, those who have explored Byrd’s choral music have emerged with a renewed appreciation for the flowering of genius at the height of the English Renaissance. Please join me this month to explore Byrd’s settings of the canticles for Christian worship.
Hymns of the Reformation
“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word”
Oct. 27, 2023 - Pastor Brian Hamer
Jane Schatkin Hettrick
When Martin Luther penned “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word” (TLH 261; cf. LSB 655) around 1541, Lutherans faced numerous threats, and needed to be unwavering in their faith. The Islamic Ottoman Empire was advancing on the West, having taken Buda (today Budapest), and were poised to seize Vienna. At the same time, the Catholic Church posed its own threat, in that Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was pressuring Lutherans to return to their “true faith.” In a further unholy alliance, King Francis I of France joined Sultan Suleiman against Charles V. The Elector Friedrich directed Luther and John Bugenhagen (Wittenberg pastor, from1523 to1558), to instruct all pastors in Wittenberg to pray for protection against the Turks. In response, Luther wrote an “Admonition to pray against the Turks” (Vermahnung zum Gebet wider den Türken).
Sacred Music for Child-Loss Month: Music Inspired by the Litany of the Unborn Christ Child
Oct. 18, 2023 - Pastor Brian Hamer
When I first began recognizing Child-Loss Month and sharing the healing power of sacred music at my Naval duty station in central California (2015–2018), I was pleased to happen upon a two-sided, laminated card in a Roman Catholic bookstore, “Litany of the Unborn Christ Child.” Consider a few versicles from this litany, which apparently presumes the congregational response “Thank you for the gift of life” to each petition:
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Jesus, conceived in love by God’s Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
Jesus, beloved son of a humble carpenter, Jesus, source of immeasurable joy for Mary and Joseph, Jesus, the aging Elizabeth rejoiced in Your presence, Jesus, You filled the unborn Baptist with gladness. . . . [Thank you for the gift of life.] |
Anniversaries in Sacred Music
Singing the Songs of Zion in Babylon with William Byrd (d. 1623)
Sept. 25, 2023 - Pastor Brian Hamer
+ In Loving Memory: Stephen M. Black, 1967—2023 +
The first conductor I worked for in New York City was Stephen M. Black, whom many of us knew best as Music Director of the Central City Chorus. He first introduced me to the musical dialogue between Philippe de Monte (1521–1603) and William Byrd (1529/30 –1623) in his penultimate concert with the Central City Chorus, “Hidden Messages: The Music of William Byrd,” 20 March 2010. This column is dedicated to his memory, with thanksgiving for his kindness, musicianship, and friendship, knowing that he now joins the choir of angels to sing the songs of Zion in the new Jerusalem.
Henry VIII was the type of monarch who would execute three Protestants on the same day that three Roman Catholics were scheduled to be executed, just to keep the score even. After the death of Henry VIII, the blood bath between Protestants and Catholics continued unabated, both inside and outside of England. This tenuous situation shaped the mature years of William Byrd. Byrd, a faithful Roman Catholic in his adult years, enjoyed the patronage of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I for most of his life, and, in contrast to composers and theologians named “Thomas,” Byrd avoided the dreaded Tower of London and the inevitable execution of its prisoners.
Cantatas Over Coffee - J. S. Bach Cantata 75, “The Poor Shall Eat and be Satisfied”
Jun, 8, 2023 - Pastor Brian Hamer
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek him will praise the Lord!
Let your heart live forever!
- Psalm 22:26 (NKJV)
Those who seek him will praise the Lord!
Let your heart live forever!
- Psalm 22:26 (NKJV)
On Saturday, 22 May 1723, the newly elected Cantor of Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) arrived in Leipzig, along with his wife, Anna Magdalena, their five children, their household goods, and one sister-in-law. After the relatively short trip from Cöthen, they made their way to the south wing of the St. Thomas School to move into the Cantor’s three-floor apartment. Bach and his growing family would need the free space as well as his stipends for weddings and funerals; his fixed salary at Leipzig was a quarter of what he had been paid in Cöthen. The next day, Trinity Sunday, Bach and his family probably attended services at St. Thomas or St. Nicholas Church, where they might have sat together for the first and last time as a family in Leipzig. Starting the following Sunday he would serve the city with what John Eliot Gardiner rightly calls a “white-knuckled energy” (BACH: Music in the Castle of Heaven, p. 297), managing the music of multiple churches, teaching music and Latin at the St. Thomas School, raising a large family, directing the Collegium Musicum, and much more until his death in 1750. His Leipzig heritage began on 30 May 1723 with Cantata 75, “The Poor Shall Eat and be Satisfied.”
“Jesus, Passing through their Midst” Sacred Music for Eastertide from the Eton Choirbook
Apr, 23, 2023 - Pastor Brian Hamer
Most of our readers have probably heard of Eton College near London, but the Eton Choirbook may be less familiar. Harry Christophers and his choir, The Sixteen (the ensemble began as sixteen singers singing sixteenth-century music, in case you were curious), have recorded five remarkable CDs of music from the Eton Choirbook. It seems fitting, then, to give Mr. Christophers the first word in this column:
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The Eton Choirbook was compiled around 1500 for use in the chapel at Eton. There would have been chapels that had books like it all over the country, but because of the [English] Reformation most of them were destroyed [by Henry VIII]. It was only because a miracle that the Eton Choirbook survived. (A New Heaven: Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, p. 46)
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And what was this providential miracle?
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It’s thought that [the book] was sent away to the bookbinders, because the leather was wearing away, and that’s how it escaped. It wasn’t found until 1895, and was discovered by the writer M. R. James, who was later to become Provost at Eton. He was cataloguing the library, and there it was, gathering dust on the bottom shelf. (A New Heaven, p. 46)
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Singing the Praise of Him Who Died:
“Make Clean, My Heart” by J. S. Bach for Good Friday
Apr, 3, 2023 - Pastor Brian Hamer
There is one thing to preach, the wisdom of the cross.
– Martin Luther
– Martin Luther
Robin Leaver describes the St. Matthew Passion of J. S. Bach (1685–1750):
[It is] A setting of the Passion story from St. Matthew’s Gospel, BWV244, probably performed on Good Friday 1727. The St. Matthew Passion is by any standard a remarkable composition—one of the most complex of all Bach’s vocal works and for many the most profound. Mendelssohn considered it to be ‘the greatest of Christian works’, and many other superlatives have continued to be accorded this emotionally powerful music, which almost every choral group aspires to perform. (Oxford Composers Companion: J. S. Bach, p. 430).
Likewise, Michael Maul writes that the Passion introduced the congregation and musicians to “perhaps the greatest test of the Bach era, but which also strained the attention span of the congregation with it three-hour length” (Bach’s Famous Choir, p. 190). Attention spans have arguably shortened significantly since the Enlightenment, so I will treat our journey through Bach’s Passions as a long-term project. Please join me this Holy Week to explore a magnificent aria from this high point of the liturgical year in Leipzig, “Make Clean, My Heart” from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
Anniversaries in Sacred Music: Bach Behind the Iron Curtain A Musical Post Card from Russia, 1962
Dec, 26, 2022 - Pastor Brian Hamer
The music sings of life.
– Robert Shaw on the Music of J. S. Bach
– Robert Shaw on the Music of J. S. Bach
One Bach scholar claims that “[J. S.] Bach is known as the Fifth Evangelist [because] his music and his message go where the preacher cannot go, namely, to the concert hall” (Logia XXX:2, p. 13). This writer drew his conclusion in part based on the 1962 tour of the Robert Shaw Chorale behind the Iron Curtain. The ensemble was dubbed “a sleeper act” by the Department of State, but it caused a sensation, especially with its ten performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Please join me on the sixtieth anniversary of this “mission trip” to explore how Bach’s music sings of life.
Robert Shaw (1916–1999) conducted the Robert Shaw Chorale from 1948 until 1967 and toured thirty countries at various times, all sponsored by the U. S. State Department. During this time the Chorale became a household name, with a popularity akin to today’s best known classical musical performers. Keith C. Burris did not overstate the situation when he wrote, “The Robert Shaw Chorale became the nation’s, and then the world’s, best-known and most-respected professional touring vocal ensemble” (Deep River: The Life and Music of Robert Shaw, p. 118). For Shaw, the highlight of the Chorale was the choir’s tour of Russia in 1962. “Shaw said so many times” (Burris, Deep River, p. 121).
Robert Shaw (1916–1999) conducted the Robert Shaw Chorale from 1948 until 1967 and toured thirty countries at various times, all sponsored by the U. S. State Department. During this time the Chorale became a household name, with a popularity akin to today’s best known classical musical performers. Keith C. Burris did not overstate the situation when he wrote, “The Robert Shaw Chorale became the nation’s, and then the world’s, best-known and most-respected professional touring vocal ensemble” (Deep River: The Life and Music of Robert Shaw, p. 118). For Shaw, the highlight of the Chorale was the choir’s tour of Russia in 1962. “Shaw said so many times” (Burris, Deep River, p. 121).
Anniversaries in Sacred Music: A ‘Triduum’ of Eucharistic Anthems with The Dale Warland Singers
Nov, 15, 2022 - Pastor Brian Hamer
Of thy mystical supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a partaker.
– Liturgy of Holy Thursday
– Liturgy of Holy Thursday
It is probably sui generis (“without generation,” i.e., without precedent) to use the words “triduum,” “eucharistic,” and “Dale Warland” (b. 1932) in one title, but I am confident in my logic here. Although this professional chamber choir from Minneapolis–St. Paul was not a church choir, the treasury of sacred music from the Dale Warland Singers (hereinafter DWS) is significant for maintaining the highest possible quality of choral music through attention to detail. The hours that went into programming, rehearsing, and even editing programs for the DWS is immediately evident to anyone who has ever heard their music, live or via recording. Their “Christmas with the Dale Warland Singers” series was especially beloved in the choral community, so I will devote a column to their Christmas music this December. For this month, please join me on the fiftieth anniversary of their ‘birthday’ and the year of Warland’s ninetieth birthday to explore three anthems for the Lord’s Supper: sacred music for Great and Holy Thursday (“Of Thy Mystical Supper”), for any given Friday (“Salvation is Created”), and for the Feast of Corpus Christi (“O Sacred Feast”), thus creating a triduum or “three-day” cycle of music for the Lord’s Supper.
Use and action test for virtual communion
Nov. 14, 2022 - Pastor Brian Flamme
A recent dispute among the churches of the Missouri Synod made me dive back into the wisdom of our Lutheran Fathers as articulated in the Formula of Concord, one of the confessional documents to which we have promised to adhere in this congregation and throughout the Synod. The dispute was over whether the Sacrament of the Altar can be administered virtually or remotely. You may have heard of churches that do “online communion.” The practice became popular during the heart of the COVID lockdowns when pastors were frustrated with not being able to commune their congregations.
Presumably, they were under tighter restrictions than what we had here in New Mexico. Here in Roswell we gathered as small groups to receive the Sacrament. Of course, this was not ideal since the whole congregation should weekly gather around Word and Sacrament as the Scriptures teach (Exodus 20:8; Acts 2:42; Heb. 10:25), but I don’t think anyone went without the Sacrament who desired it. Once the restrictions ended, we gladly resumed the practice of communing at the same time on Sunday. On the other hand, other pastors thought it best to try something different and new.
Presumably, they were under tighter restrictions than what we had here in New Mexico. Here in Roswell we gathered as small groups to receive the Sacrament. Of course, this was not ideal since the whole congregation should weekly gather around Word and Sacrament as the Scriptures teach (Exodus 20:8; Acts 2:42; Heb. 10:25), but I don’t think anyone went without the Sacrament who desired it. Once the restrictions ended, we gladly resumed the practice of communing at the same time on Sunday. On the other hand, other pastors thought it best to try something different and new.
Anniversaries in Sacred Music: Singing the Agnus Dei with Frank Martin and Ralph Vaughan Williams
Grant peace, we pray, in mercy Lord;
Peace in our time, O send us
Peace in our time, O send us
—Martin Luther (after a Latin hymn)
Peter Bender describes the text of the Agnus Dei, “Lamb of God”:
[The Agnus Dei] is the fifth and final great hymn of the Divine Service. The words, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” were first spoken by John the Baptist in the public announcement of Jesus’ ministry. These words are the sum and substance of what our Lord came to do. (Lutheran Catechesis, p. 119)
In Christ, the Lamb of God, the two-part plan of the Passover is fulfilled: kill the lamb and eat the lamb. The death the of Lamb of God is a once-for-all, calendar-day event. But the eucharistic eating of the Lamb continues around the world until Christ returns. We are accustomed to singing the three-fold Agnus Dei one time, but Art Just notes the Medieval precedent for singing it ”as long as there was bread to break” (Christ’s Gifts in the Liturgy: The Theology and Music of the Divine Service, p. 41). How fitting that Jesus is described as the Lamb of God thirty times in the eschatology of the book of Revelation, where Jesus is enthroned as the Lamb who is worthy “to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (Rev. 5:12).
Anniversaries in Sacred Music: Singing the Sanctus with Frank Martin and Ralph Vaughan Williams
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty: Which was and is and is to come.
—Antiphon for Trinitytide
Peter Bender describes the role of the Sanctus (please see the Latin and English text below) as the fourth of the five pillars (along with the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, and Agnus Dei) of the Divine Service:
[The Sanctus] was sung by the angels when Isaiah the prophet was called by the Lord to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins to sinners (Isaiah 6). In Isaiah’s vision we are taught that heaven, which had been closed to us because of sin, is now open for the sinner through the good news of Christ’s forgiveness. This forgiveness is given to us in the Word of Christ which comes to us in His gifts of preaching, Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper. (Lutheran Catechesis, p. 107)
Isaiah’s encounter with the holy set the precedent for the Lord’s Supper as “the holy things for the holy ones,” i.e., the holy body and blood of Christ are only for those who have been made holy through Baptism and have heard the cleansing word of Absolution. The Lord’s words to Isaiah in his temple vision also apply to us in the means of grace: “Your sin is taken away and your guilt is atoned for.”
Anniversaries in Sacred Music: One Hundred Years of Singing the Gloria with Frank Martin and Ralph Vaughan Williams
We beheld the glory, as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
—St. John 1:14
Recall from the first installment of this special series on settings of the Mass for double choir by Frank Martin (1890–1974) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) that these two choral masterworks overlap historically and stylistically. Martin began writing his Mass in 1922, finished it in 1926, but curiously concealed it until the early 1960s. Vaughan Williams (hereinafter RVW) wrote his Mass in G minor in 1922, but with no idea that Martin was writing a similar work, much less any notion that the two works would become unofficial ‘choral companions’ a century later. Stylistically, both works draw upon older compositional methods, perhaps most notably the motet, a compositional process in which the musical themes change with each word or phrase of the text. But both composers also employed newer compositional methods, earning both works a permanent place in the choral repertoire. Please join me during this, the latter portion of the Easter season, to explore how these composers treat the Gloria.
Cantatas Over Coffee: J. S. Bach Cantata 104 for Good Shepherd Sunday
When the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory
— I Peter 5:4
The liturgical context for Cantata 104, “Thou Shepherd of Israel, Hear Us” is Misericordias Domini Sunday, informally called “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Most modern readers probably associated the Good Shepherd theme with the Fourth Sunday of Easter, placing the theme of Christ the Good Shepherd at the very center of the seven Sundays of the Easter season. But the flock in Bach’s day, and almost universally from Medieval days to the 1960s, expected the portrait Jesus as the Good Shepherd on the second Sunday after Easter. The Introit declares that the “earth is full of the goodness of the Lord; by the word of the Lord were the heavens made,” declaring from the start of the service that every good gift in this world is under the auspices of the risen Shepherd. The Epistle (I Peter 2:21–25) reminds the faithful of their true calling and their identity as Christ’s sheep: “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (v. 25). The Verse (St. Luke 24:35b; St. John 10:14) and the Gospel (St. John 10:11–16) draw from John 10, declaring the good news that the Shepherd knows, loves, and even dies for His sheep. His sheep (i.e., the elect), in turn, know their Shepherd, hear His voice, and follow Him. Psalm 23 is curiously absent from the historic propers for this Sunday, but church musicians can easily incorporate it as a choral response or attendant music, as J. S. Bach (1685–1750) did with the Good Shepherd theme in Cantata 104.
Singing the Praise of Him Who Died: “It is Finished” by J. S. Bach for Good Friday
Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered,
so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.
so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.
—Revelation 5:5
22222“There is one thing to preach, the wisdom of the cross.” These oft-quoted words of Luther come from a sermon fragment from 1515, wherein Luther was answering the question, “What shall I preach?” Hermann Sasse (1895–1976) summarizes what this means for the church, especially as she prepares yet again to ponder on Jesus’ Holy Passion: “The wisdom of the cross, the word of the cross, a great stumbling block to the world, is the proper content of Christian preaching, is the Gospel itself. So thinks Luther and the Lutheran Church with him.” To be sure, the centrality of the cross does “does not mean that for the theologian the whole church year shrinks to Good Friday.” Rather, Sasse says, it means that “one cannot understand Christmas, Easter, or Pentecost without Good Friday” (Letters to Lutheran Pastors, 1:387).
Anniversaries in Sacred Music: One Hundred Years of Singing the Kyrie with Frank Martin and Ralph Vaughan Williams
“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
—St. Luke 17:13
Among the significant anniversaries in sacred music in the year 2022 are two musical settings of the Mass, both with origins in the year 1922. Frank Martin (1890–1974) began writing his Mass in 1922. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1974) wrote his Mass in G minor in 1922. Both are scored for double choir, are similar in scope and sequence, and have risen to the top of choral gems of the twentieth century. Please join me this year to explore each movement of both settings, beginning with the Kyrie, with four more issues to follow, arranged according to the seasons and readings of the church year.
On Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs:
Psalm 130, “From Depths of Woe”
A Musical Post Card from Dresden
O God, condemn us not according to the multitude of our iniquities,
but quicken with Thy plenteous compassion those who confess and return unto Thee.
but quicken with Thy plenteous compassion those who confess and return unto Thee.
—From a Collect after Psalm 130
As the church approaches Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent, it is fitting to explore one of the penitential psalms, Psalm 130, with special focus on Luther’s hymn after this Psalm, “From depths of woe I cry to Thee.” Composers of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries have worked wonders with Luther’s hymn. This issue will focus on three composers—Johann Walter, Matthäus Le Maistre, and Heinrich Schütz—who worked in Dresden and who set Luther’s hymn to music.
Cantatas Over Coffee: J. S. Bach, ‘It is Enough’ Cantata 82 for Candlemas
In His temple now behold Him, See the long-expected Lord!
— Hymn by Henry J. Pye
Nota Bene: During my ministry in Queens, NY, my wife and I developed a close friendship with Rev. John Stoudt (Emmaus Lutheran, Ridgewood) and his wife, Faith, who taught at my church’s elementary school. During this time (2002–2015), we attended the annual Candlemas service and banquet at Emmaus. Faith was diagnosed with cancer about two years ago and fell asleep in Jesus after suffering a stroke last month. This column on Candlemas and departing this world in peace is dedicated to her memory, 1958–2022.
According to the Gospel Lesson for this day, St. Luke 2:22–40, forty days after his birth, the infant Lord was presented in the Temple to fulfill the promise of Malachi, “The Lord whom ye seek will suddenly come to His temple” (3:1), as well as the Mosaic Law for purifying mothers after child birth (Lev. 12:2–5). Jesus’ parents offered the alternative sacrifice of two turtledoves or two pigeons, the offering of the poor who could not afford a lamb, showing the poverty and humility of Joseph and Mary. And yet, no lamb was necessary because the infant Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Simeon prayed the Nunc Dimittis, a prayer of great comfort and consolation for all who hold Christ in the arms of faith and in the Holy Eucharist.
According to the Gospel Lesson for this day, St. Luke 2:22–40, forty days after his birth, the infant Lord was presented in the Temple to fulfill the promise of Malachi, “The Lord whom ye seek will suddenly come to His temple” (3:1), as well as the Mosaic Law for purifying mothers after child birth (Lev. 12:2–5). Jesus’ parents offered the alternative sacrifice of two turtledoves or two pigeons, the offering of the poor who could not afford a lamb, showing the poverty and humility of Joseph and Mary. And yet, no lamb was necessary because the infant Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Simeon prayed the Nunc Dimittis, a prayer of great comfort and consolation for all who hold Christ in the arms of faith and in the Holy Eucharist.
“The Word Made Flesh, the Flesh Made Word”: Three Choral Settings on John 1
By the mystery of Your holy incarnation . . . Help us, good Lord
— The Litany
Hymns for Christmastide are generally based on St. Luke’s Christmas narrative (Luke 2:1–21) or St. John’s Prologue on the Word made flesh (John 1:1–14). Hymns expounding on Luke 2 (“Once in Royal David’s City,” “What Child Is This,” et al.) generally focus on the history of the Christmas story and the response of penitent faith. Hymns based on John 1, however, usually proclaim the theology of the incarnation and how the Christ is enfleshed among us: “Not by human flesh and blood, By the Spirit of our God, Was the Word of God made flesh” and “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity.” Sacred choral music for the season also follows these two complementary theological paths, which the church year traces from Christmas Eve (usually focused on Luke 2) to the Christ-Mass, with its appointed Gospel Lesson from John 1. Christmas Eve having passed this year, please join me during the Twelve Days of Christmas to explore three settings of selected verses of John 1 in Latin, German, and English, all coincidentally written by composers whose last name starts with the letter “H.”
Cantatas Over Coffee: “Wake, Awake” by Dieterich Buxtehude
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end
—Revelation 22:13
Dieterich Buxtehude (1636/37–1707) was a Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period, whose works for the organ represent a central part of the standard organ repertoire. As a composer who worked in various vocal and instrumental idioms, Buxtehude's style greatly influenced other composers, such as his student, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), who once walked 260 miles to learn from an elderly Buxtehude, just two years before Buxtehude died. Bach had permission from his employer to be gone for three weeks. He was so impressed with his teacher and the Evening Music series (Abendmusiken), however, that he stayed for three months. Bach’s admiration of Buxtehude, even to the point of being absent without leave and risking his employment in Arnstadt, is just one indication of why Buxtehude, who served St. Mary’s Church in Lübeck from 1668 until his death in 1707, “ranks as the leading composer in Germany between Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach” (Karela J. Snyder, as quoted in German Studies Review 12:2, p. 358).
Cantatas Over Coffee: “The Lord God is Sun and Shield,” Cantata 79 for Reformation Day
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory;
no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
— Psalm 84:11
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata 79 is one of three sacred cantatas he wrote for the celebration of Reformation Day in Leipzig. In the general scheme of things, it probably lives in the shadow of his Cantata 80, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” with its textual substance drawn from Luther’s famous hymn and a splendid opening chorus that seems to reverberate in heaven itself. But Cantata 79, with a superb chorus, two chorale texts, and fine solos is not to be missed.