Music Notes – Sunday, March 23rd:
This Sunday’s musician is UUCC Pianist Karin Tooley
Prelude: Meditation on Breathing – Jones
#1009 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook, “Meditation on Breathing” is more of an interactive mantra and centering than it is a hymn in the traditional sense. There are three written parts in the score, but participants are also encouraged to improvise and branch off to find their own way within the group meditation. UU musician and songwriter Sarah Dan Jones (b. 1962) composed “Meditation on Breathing” in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Song: Wake Now, My Senses – Irish folk tune/Mikelson
#298 in Singing the Living Tradition, “Wake Now, My Senses” is a setting of “Slane”, an Irish folk song that is most commonly associated with “Be Thou My Vision” (which is also in our hymnal as #20). “Slane” is named for a hill in County Meath, Ireland, where St. Patrick’s lighting of an Easter fire – an act of defiance against the 5th Century pagan king Loegaire – led to his unlimited freedom to preach the gospel in Ireland. The words you’ll be hearing – and hopefully singing along with – this Sunday were written by the Rev. Thomas Mikelson (1936-2020), a UU Minister and native of Iowa who was also an educator and activist for racial justice and LGBTQ rights.
Centering Music: True Colors – Steinburg & Kelly, arr. Sharon
“True Colors” is a song primarily written by American songwriters Billy Steinberg (b. 1950) and Tom Kelly (b. 1952), which was made famous by American singer/songwriter, actress, and activist Cyndi Lauper (b. 1953). The song was the first single released from Lauper’s second album (also titled True Colors) and became a major hit, spending two weeks at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earning Lauper a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. “True Colors” has been covered by numerous other artists, including Phil Collins, Jenna Ushkowitz (for the television show Glee) and Kasey Chambers.
Offertory Music: Honest – Prendergast, May, Garrigan & Lee
“Honest” is a 2015 song by the Irish alternative rock group Kodaline. It was the first single released from the band’s second LP Coming Up for Air. Although it did not chart in the U.S., “Honest” was a top 40 hit in the U.K. and made the top ten on the Irish pop charts. As a band, Kodaline is not widely known outside of Ireland and the United Kingdom, but their music has been featured in the soundtracks of numerous movies and television shows, including Grey’s Anatomy, The Fault in Our Stars, and The Vampire Diaries.
Song: Touch the Earth, Reach the Sky – Lewis-McLaren
Classically trained at the renowned Eastman Conservatory of Music, Maine native Grace Lewis-McLaren (b. 1939) is a Unitarian Universalist musician who has served our faith in many different roles for numerous congregations. McLaren wrote “Touch the Earth, Reach the Sky” (Singing the Living Tradition #301) to support the theme of the 1988 UU General Assembly in Palm Springs, California, where it was first sung as part of the opening ceremony.
Postlude: A Matter of Trust – Joel
“A Matter of Trust” is a song by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and 5-time Grammy Award-winner Billy Joel (b. 1949). It was the second single released in 1986 from Joel’s album The Bridge, and rose to the top ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. “A Matter of Trust” differs from much of Joel’s other work in that the harmonic and rhythmic ‘bed’ of the song is based more on guitar and bass than it is on piano.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director