Good Company‘s fall concert and master class with composer Sarah Quartel are happening next weekend. Click here for information about these events.
Music Notes – Sunday, November 7th:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir, The Women’s Ensemble, and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney.
Opening Hymn: #1002 Comfort Me (Bornstein-Doble)
#1002 in our Singing the Journey hymnal, “Comfort Me” was written in 1995 by American UU director, performer, and composer Mimi Bornstein-Doble (b. 1964), who currently serves as director of music ministries at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Virginia. In the composer’s own words, the song “was written on a day when I wasn’t doing my life very well or very gracefully. My partner and I were being quite snarly with each other; I didn’t want to be around people and was generally feeling intolerant. I was in no mood to be nice, loving, or anything of the sort. We were visiting friends who lived on a mountaintop in Northern California. The house had no power or running water, but, luckily for me, I did have a baby grand piano in fairly good tune. (It was glossy white, no less. I kept expecting Liberace to walk in). Music has always had the ability to take me out of myself (or more into myself as the case may be). It was in this spirit that I went to the piano that day. I sat there for a while and just let my fingers wander around the keys. After a while, a chord progression presented itself. As I began to feel better, I decided to ask for guidance in how to get out of the terrible mood I had succumbed to. And then came the words. They were a combination of a prayer and a plea. As I began to believe the words that I was singing, I was able to lighten up and find compassion for myself, then my partner, then the others we were with. I continued to sing the song to myself until I felt ready to carry that gentle, compassionate energy with me.” (includes material from uua.org)
Centering Music: Autumn of Kyoto – Kunimatsu
“Autumn of Kyoto” is a 2014 piece for solo piano by Japanese composer Ryuji Kunimatsu (b. 1977). The historical capital city of Japan, Kyoto is famous for its stunning fall foliage, which peaks in mid- to late November each year. Kunimatsu, himself a native of Kyoto, is well-known internationally as a guitarist and primarily composes for that instrument.
Offertory: We Choose – Lea Morris
“We Choose” is a song about courage in the face of adversity, written by award-winning performer and composer Lea Morris (b. 1978), also known simply as LEA. Born in Baltimore to a father who toured the world playing trumpet in the funk band Black Heat and a mother who dreamed of opera while performing with her siblings in the Jones Family Gospel Singers, LEA was singing on the pulpit of the Baptist church where she grew up as soon she could speak. When she discovered the acoustic guitar as a teenager, she began teaching herself to play by writing songs. LEA’s final year in high school in Germany at a classical conservatory, where she sang with the jazz ensemble Black & White and co-wrote with the British pop trio Indigo Wild. Having shared the stage with luminaries including Odetta, Mavis Staples, Dar Williams and Anthony Hamilton, LEA performs at a far-ranging array of venues, including arts centers, universities, festivals, places of worship and beyond. She performs solo and with her band, The Moment. (includes material from thisislea.com)
Closing Hymn: I Am Willing – Near
Born in Ukiah, CA in 1949, Holly Near began singing in high school, and soon built on her performing career with acting parts on Mod Squad, Room 222, and The Partridge Family, and later as a cast member of the Broadway musical Hair. In 1972, Holly was one of the first women to create an independent record company, paving the way for other female recording artists like Ani DiFranco. Often cited as one of the founders of the Women’s Music movement, she not only led the way for outspoken women in the music world, but also worked for peace and multicultural consciousness. Another significant arena of Holly’s activism is the LGBTQ community, and in 1976 she became one of the first celebrities to discuss her sexual orientation openly. Throughout her long career Holly has worked with a wide array of musicians, including Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, and many others. She has received honors from the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Organization for Women, and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; she was named Ms. Magazine’s Woman of the Year and received the Legends of Women’s Music Award. (from hollynear.com). “I Am Willing” originally appeared on Holly Near’s 2003 album Cris & Holly, a collaborative project with fellow folk artist and activist Cris Williamson (b. 1947). “I Am Willing” has since become one of Holly’s best-loved songs and has been performed all around the world.
Postlude: Vum Vive Vum – Shaker tune, arr. Siegfried
“Vum Vive Vum” is a Shaker melody arranged by American composer/educator Kevin Siegfried (b. 1969), who is currently serving as composer-in-residence with the Capitol Hill Chorale in Washington, DC, and also teaches songwriting, piano, and music theory at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Siegfried is deeply involved in the research and performance of early American music, and his arrangements of Shaker music have been performed and recorded by choirs across the globe. “Vum Vive Vum” is the central movement of Angel of Light, a cantata based on Shaker themes. The vocal sounds in “Vum Vive Vum” represent a form of American “mouth music” – a style of traditional folk or hymn singing where nonsense words are used to mimic the sounds of instruments or the rhythms of a dance.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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