Music Notes – Sunday, February 5th:
This week’s musicians are The Chancel Choir and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Opening Hymn: Deep in my Heart (African American Spiritual, adapted)
“Deep in my Heart” is an adaptation of “Over My Head” (sometimes titled “Up Above My Head”), an African American Spiritual thought to have originated sometime during the 18th century in the southern United States. Like many Spirituals, the song expresses an optimism that hardship and trouble are part of a larger divine plan and that better days are yet to come. “Over My Head” is featured in numerous hymnals, including as #30 in our own Singing the Living Tradition.
Centering Music: Salut d’Amour– Elgar
Salut d’Amour was written by Edward Elgar (1857-1934), a British composer who wrote primarily orchestral and choral music, and is most famously known today as the composer of the Enigma Variations and of the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, the first of which is frequently played at commencement ceremonies in North America. Elgar composed Salut d’Amour (op. 12) in 1888 as an engagement gift to Caroline Alice Roberts. Elgar and Roberts married in 1889 and remained so until her death in 1920. Elgar originally titled Salut d’Amour as Liebesgruss (‘Love’s Greeting’) because of his bride-to-be’s fluency in German. Originally composed for violin and piano, Salut d’Amour has since been arranged for a variety of performing forces and has been recorded dozens of times by a plethora of artists. It remains one of Elgar’s best-known chamber works.
Offertory: I Choose Love – Miller
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). Miller wrote “I Choose Love” as a prayer in response to a 2015 mass shooting that occurred at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and dedicated the song to the members of that congregation.
Closing Hymn: #296 O Ye Who Taste That Love Is Sweet – Tisserant/Rossetti
For many UU congregations, “O Ye Who Taste That Love Is Sweet” (#296) is one of the lesser-known hymns found in Singing the Living Tradition. The tune, known as “O Filii et Filiae”, dates back to 15th-century France, and is believed to have been written by Franciscan friar Jean Tisserand (?-1497). The melody has been published in well over 100 hymnals of various faiths, and is most commonly set to the Easter hymn “Ye sons and daughters of the King”. In Singing the Living Tradition, this ancient French tune is set to words from English poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894).
Postlude: Lord, Make me an Instrument – Willcocks
Jonathan Willcocks (b. 1953) is a celebrated British conductor and composer who is primarily known for his choral works. “Lord, Make Me an Instrument”, Willcocks’ musical setting of a famous Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, is part of a larger work by Willcocks titled Lux Perpetua (Perpetual Light).
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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