Music Notes – Sunday, April 5th:
This Sunday’s musicians are Steve Sanford, The Chancel Choir, and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Centering Music: Introductory Voluntary – Clarke
Hamilton Clarke (1840-1912) was a British conductor, composer and keyboardist who was best-known during his lifetime as the music director and arranger for several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, among other musical theatre and opera productions in London. Clarke was also an accomplished organist and pianist and composed extensively for both instruments (he also wrote operettas, ballets, part-songs, and symphonies). Clarke’s “Introductory Voluntary” for organ first appeared in 1898 in volume 2 of The Village Organist, an eight-book collection of works published by Novello and Company between 1897 and 1907.
Processional: Yonder Come Day (Spiritual, arr. Cook Tucker)
“Yonder Come Day” is a Spiritual that has its roots in the music of the Georgia Sea Islands of the southeastern United States. In the words of the arranger, Judith Cook Tucker: “It is an exciting, elusive song with the interweaving of musical phrases and lyrics as the Sea Islanders use overlapping call-and-response, anticipated entrances, improvised phrases, and rhythmic and harmonic embellishments. It stuck with me for years and I decided to borrow just one musical phrase (“yonder come day”) and the inspiration from other melodic fragments and bits of lyrics and meaning to create the foundation for my transformed version.”
Song: Praise in Springtime – Benjamin/Gannett
One of the best-known living UU composers, Thomas Benjamin (b. 1940) remains an active performer, educator, and composer. Many of his works can be found in our Singing the Living Tradition and Singing the Journey hymnals. Published both as a composer and an author and the recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Benjamin taught for many years at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and also taught music theory and composition at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. “Praise in Springtime” (#1005 in Singing the Journey) is a musical setting of words by Unitarian minister, transcendentalist and social reformer William Channing Gannett (1840-1923). The energy and restlessness of springtime are reflected in Benjamin’s upbeat tempo and unconventional 7/8 meter.
Carol (III) from Five Bagatelles – Finzi
Now the Green Blade Riseth – French tune, arr. Morris
British composer Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) was primarily known for his choral works, but also wrote a few notable instrumental works, including his Clarinet Concerto and Cello Concerto. This contemplative piece for clarinet and piano was first published in 1945 as part of a collection titled Five Bagatelles. Finzi’s Five Bagatelles became very popular in England after their publication, and were later arranged for clarinet with string quartet, clarinet with wind ensemble, and clarinet with string orchestra. These pieces remain an essential part of clarinet repertoire to this day.
“Now the Green Blade Riseth” is based on a French folk-dance melody that dates back 500 years or more. It was first published as a Christmas hymn called “Noel Nouvelet” in 1721 and remains popular today both in France and England. The same melody is also used for the Easter hymn “Now the Green Blade Riseth”. Both versions appear in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, as #254 and #266.
Offertory Music: For This Joy (Labarr/Silvestri)
A native of Missouri, Susan LaBarr (b. 1981) is an American performer and composer primarily known for her choral works. She has completed commissions for Seraphic Fire and the National ACDA Women’s Choir Consortium, among others and served as the Missouri Composer Laureate for 2012 and 2013. Written in memory of choral singer, clarinetist, and friend George Olin, “For This Joy” is a modern arrangement of the German hymn tune “Lobe Den Herren”, with a new text written by poet Charles Anthony Silvestri (b. 1965). Silvestri’s text focuses on the richness of life and creation and the joy that is found in all aspects of life. (includes material from giamusic.com)
Song: We Are… – Barnwell
#1051 in Singing the Journey, “We Are…” was composed by Ysaye Barnwell (b. 1946) for Sweet Honey in the Rock. “We Are…” was originally the last song in a suite that began with the lyric, “Lawd, it’s midnight. A dark and fear filled midnight. Lawd, it’s a midnight without stars.” Dr. Barnwell wanted to create a complete circle of experience, and so she wrote “for each child that’s born, a morning star rises…” This phrase is meant to establish hope, and it defines the uniqueness of each one of us. No matter what our race, culture or ethnicity, each one of us has been called into being and are the sum total of all who came before. In the composer’s words, “Each and every one of us stands atop a lineage that has had at its core, mothers and fathers and teachers and dreamers and shamans and healers and builders and warriors and thinkers and, and, and…so in spite of our uniqueness, we come from and share every experience that human kind has ever had. In this way, we are one. (from uua.org)
Postlude: We Are the Ones – Reagon/Jordan
“We Are the Ones (We Been Waiting For)” is a song about justice and empowerment, originally written as tribute to the women of South Africa. The words come from renowned Jamaican American poet, teacher, and activist June Jordan (1936-2002) and were set to music by composer, song leader, and activist Bernice Johnson Reagon (b. 1942) for Sweet Honey in the Rock, the afro-feminist a cappella group she founded in 1973.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director