Music Notes – Sunday, March 2nd:
This Sunday’s musicians are Aaron Burkle, The Chancel Choir and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Prelude: Come and Go with Me – African American Spiritual
“Come and Go with Me” (also known as “Go with Me to that Land”) originated as an African American spiritual. The song features call-and-response singing and lyrics expressing the hope of a better world to come, and has been recorded by many artists, including Bernice Johnson Reagon, Blind Willie Johnson, and Peter, Paul and Mary. “Come and Go with Me” is also #1018 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook, arranged by Kenny Smith (b. 1965).
Song: For All That Is Our Life – Rickey/Findlow
#128 in Singing the Living Tradition, “For All That Is Our Life” has been a favorite UU hymn for many years. The song resulted from a collaboration between composer Patrick Rickey (b. 1964), a California-based songwriter and church musician, and Rev. Bruce Findlow (1922-1994), a British author, educator and UU Minister who wrote the song’s lyrics.
Centering Music: Selections from Cirandinhas (Villa-Lobos)
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, guitarist and cellist who is widely considered to be the most significant South American composer of all time. Villa-Lobos composed more than 2,000 works in his lifetime, from small-scale pieces for solo instruments and voices to fully realized symphonies, concerti, choral works, and operas. His compositions were influenced by Brazilian folk music as well as music from the European classical tradition. Written in 1925, the Cirandinhas were adaptations of twelve traditional Brazilian folk songs for solo piano.
Offertory Music: Swimming to the Other Side – Humphries, arr. Carney
“Swimming to the Other Side” is perhaps the best-known of the many songs which have been performed and recorded by Emma’s Revolution. The song carries a beautifully powerful message about our shared journey with each other and with our home planet. Here’s a link to a 2022 mini-pod by NPR music commentator Marika Partridge about this remarkable song.
Song: The Fire of Commitment – Shelton
Jason Shelton (b. 1972) is an award-winning composer, arranger, conductor, song and worship leader, workshop presenter, and coach. He served as the Associate Minister for Music at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville, Tennessee from 1998-2017, and is now engaged in a music ministry at-large, focused on serving the musical resource needs of UU (and other liberal) congregations around the country (from jasonsheltonmusic.com). The Fire of Commitment (#1028) is one of many contributions Rev. Shelton has made to our Singing the Journey hymnbook. The unrest of its irregular meter and the insistent rhythmic pulse drive home the call to action that is at the core of the song’s message.
Postlude: Lead With Love – DeMore
Friend of UUCC Melanie DeMore has traveled the world, was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, and is constantly amazed by her life. But nothing is closer to Melanie’s heart than bringing people together wherever she is to experience the healing power of music. Melanie has been a formidable presence onstage at such noted venues as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, international folk music festivals from Europe to Cuba to New Zealand. She has shared the stage with some of the world’s most notable musicians and political activists from Gloria Steinem, Odetta, Pete Seeger, and Judy Collins to Ed Asner, Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert, and Ani DiFranco. (from melaniedemore.com) Written in 2016, “Lead With Love” is one of Melanie’s best-known songs and is a favorite of her audiences whenever she performs. In the composer’s own words: “I was inspired by the great movements that were started out of the love their people, not out of the hatred of others.”
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director