Music Notes – Sunday, May 3rd:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Centering Music: Ambre – Frahm
German musician, producer, and composer Nils Frahm (b. 1982) is known for his innovative piano music and for blurring the lines between Classical and electronic music. He is a prolific creator, having released 17 full albums and 7 additional EPs since 2005. “Ambre” is one his earlier works for solo piano, and was released as part of the 2009 EP Wintermusik.
Song: Gather the Spirit – Scott
#347 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, “Gather the Spirit” is one of the most familiar and well-loved hymns of our UU faith. The song was written by UU composer, performer, activist, and friend of UUCC Jim Scott (b. 1946), who also wrote and arranged several other songs found in our hymnbooks, including “May Your Life Be as a Song” and “Nothing but Peace Is Enough”.
Special Music: Coming Home – Woodbury/Kumamoto
“Coming Home” was written by UU Minister Shari Woodbury (b. 1974), who is currently serving at First Unitarian of Omaha, Nebraska. About this song, Rev. Woodbury says: “This song was intended for liturgical use in Unitarian Universalist settings. It has been used as a chalice-lighting song, gathering song, or centering song. Among the many possible interpretations of the lyrics are that of coming home to a church where one’s whole self finds belonging, and that of coming home to the Spirit of Love that is nurtured in that place”. The arrangement you’ll hear (and hopefully sing along with) this Sunday is adapted from the one created by pianist and music educator Yuki Kumamoto (b. 1984) for the UUA’s new virtual hymnal Sing Out Love.
Offertory: A Cosmic Prayer – Cooman
Carson Cooman (b. 1982) is an American composer with a catalog of hundreds of works in many forms—from solo instrumental pieces to operas, and from orchestral works to hymn tunes. Cooman’s music has been performed on all six inhabited continents in venues that range from the stage of Carnegie Hall to the basket of a hot air balloon. His music also appears on over forty recordings for a wide variety of record labels, including many complete CDs of his original works. (from www.carsoncooman.com). Cooman composed “A Cosmic Prayer” in 2002, which is a setting for unaccompanied mixed chorus of a prayer by Howard Georgi, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University. The text of Georgi’s poem is:
“O God of the heavens and the earth,
of the astronomical and the subatomic,
of the living and the dead,
of science and history, of life and love.
We give you thanks for the miraculous variety of your creation.
We pray for the energy and time and patience and talent
to learn more about the world you have made,
and for the humility always to recognize how little we know. Amen.”
Song: This Boat – Zucker
“This Boat” is a song by award-winning American folk musician Laura Zucker (b. 1958). The song is included in Sing Out Love, a digital UU hymnal first published in 2025.
Postlude: How Did the Rose – Szymko/Hafiz
Joan Szymko (b.1957) is a composer and conductor from the Pacific Northwest. With over 100 published choral works, her music is performed by ensembles in North America and around the world. Abundant lyricism, rhythmic integrity and a vigorous attention to text are hallmarks of Szymko’s diverse and distinctive choral writing (from joanszymko.com). “How Did the Rose” is Szymko’s 2004 setting of a poem by Hafiz (1324-1389), considered by many scholars to be the greatest poet of ancient Persia. This Sunday, you’ll hear “How Did the Rose” sung by our Chancel Choir, accompanied by Lucy Carney at the piano.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director