Music Notes – Sunday, December 7th:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir, Aaron Burkle, UUCC Pianist Karin Tooley, and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Centering Music: Adagio – (Albinoni)
The Adagio in G Minor is one of the best-known melodies in the world of classical music, and it has been used in numerous film scores, commercials, and other bit of popular culture, including Rollerball (1975), Gallipoli (1981), and Manchester by the Sea (2016). The piece is usually attributed to the Italian Baroque composer Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751), although there is reason to believe it may actually have been written by the 20th– century musicologist Remo Giazotto (1910-1998). Giazotto was the world’s foremost expert on Albinoni’s music and claimed to have discovered a partial manuscript of the Adagio while sorting through post-World War II wreckage in Dresden, Germany. Giazotto’s ‘discovery’ was never independently verified by other sources, and so the true authorship of this well-loved piece of music remains a mystery.
Song: Joy in the Morning – Podd
Adam Podd (b. 1986) is a Vermont-bred, Brooklyn-based composer, performer, and director, who currently serves as Music Director for the First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn. Podd has worked with some of the top artists and organizations in his field including National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, New York Pops, Houston Symphony, Cynthia Erivo, Ingrid Michaelson, Zedd, Idina Menzel, Heather Headley, Macy’s Entertainment, Vancouver Youth Choir, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, and others in such venues as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Apollo Theater, United Palace, New World Stages, and others. As a choral composer, Adam works closely with his twin brother Matt (as Podd Brothers Music) writing and publishing music for choirs of all shapes and sizes. Their works have been performed around the world and sung by ensembles ranging from small church choirs to huge festival choirs and everything in between. (includes material from adampodd.com) “Joy in the Morning” is a gospel-inspired song that is also part of the UUA’s new Sing Out Love virtual hymnal.
Special Music: Pavane – Fauré
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) was a highly influential and respected French composer and educator who helped to bridge the gap from 19th century Romanticism to the musical Impressionism of the early 20th century. Some of his best-known works are the Sicilienne, piano Nocturnes, and his unconventional Requiem Mass setting. Another of Fauré’s most familiar melodies is the Pavane in F-sharp minor (Op. 50), originally written for piano, but perhaps better known today as transcribed (by Fauré) for orchestra and chorus.
Offertory Music: Draw the Circle Wide – Miller/Light
American composer, conductor, and performer Mark Miller (b. 1967) believes passionately that music can change the world. He also believes in Cornell West’s quote that “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Mark’s dream is that the music he composes, performs, teaches and leads will inspire and empower people to create the beloved community. Mark serves as Assistant Professor of Church Music at Drew Theological School and is a Lecturer in the Practice of Sacred Music at Yale University (from markamillermusic.com). First published in 2011, “Draw the Circle Wide” is Miller’s reimagining of an earlier piece of the same name by Canadian songwriter and Anglican minister Gordon Light (b. 1944). The song’s refrain reminds us that “no one stands alone, we’ll stand side by side.” This Sunday, “Draw the Circle Wide” will be sung by UUCC’s Chancel Choir with some help from pianist Lucy Carney and percussionist Aaron Burkle.
Song: Up to the Light – Morris
Written for the installation of Rev. Ali Peters at Southwest UU Church on Cleveland’s west side, “Up to the Light” is a 2025 song 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)
Postlude: When We Are Singing – Folk song, arr. Padworski
“When We Are Singing” is an arrangement of a folk hymn that is believed to be of Mexican origin (it first appeared in print within the 1983 songbook Celebremos II). The lyrics and harmonic treatment were written by American composer, conductor, and performer Kevin Padworski (b. 1987), and published in The Justice Choir Songbook.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director