From the Worship Team: Take our 1-minute survey about Acceptance of Gifts songs
We’ve been “test driving” some different options for our offering response (Acceptance of Gifts) during summer services. Click here to take a 1-minute online survey to give your feedback on these options. Thanks for your time!
Save the date! Emma’s Revolution will be at UUCC for Ingathering on September 10th!
If you were at General Assembly in Pittsburgh this June, you might have had the chance to hear some great music from Pat Humphries and Sandy O, better known as Emma’s Revolution. If you didn’t catch them at GA, all you need to do is come to church on Sunday, September 10th, because Pat and Sandy will be right here at UUCC providing very special music before and during our Ingathering/Water Communion Service that morning. Pre-service music from Emma’s Revolution will start at 10:00 that morning and continue right through our worship service. Don’t miss this very special musical treat!
Come, Sing a Song with Me!
I’m very happy to say that the UUCC Chancel Choir will return to regular 7:00 Wednesday evening practices this week (Wednesday, August 30th)! Our choir will be singing with Emma’s Revolution during our September 10th Ingathering Service and on several other upcoming Sundays. The UUCC Chancel Choir is open to all adults and high school youth who are interested, regardless of experience level. Rehearsals are at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday evenings in the Worship Center (Room 208), and professional childcare is available for any who need it.
New and returning choir members and their families are also invited to join us for a welcome back potluck, beginning at 5:45 on Wednesday, August 30th. If you have any questions, please get in touch with UUCC Music Director Mike Carney. I hope to see you on Wednesday!
Music Notes – Sunday, September 3rd:
This Sunday’s musician is Fern Jennings
Prelude: Awake, Awake to Love and Work – arr. Owens
“Awake, Awake to Love and Work” is a setting of an old hymn tune (most commonly known as “Consolation” or Morning Song”) which first appeared in print in 1813 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania within the Repository of Sacred Music, although it is likely years or even decades older than its first publication. The exact origins of the tune are uncertain, but it is often attributed to Presbyterian minister and hymn writer Elkanah K. Dare (1782-1826). The tune has appeared in well over 100 hymnbooks, frequently set as “The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns” and “O Holy City, Seen of John”. It appears in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal as #53 “I Walk the Unfrequented Road”. The arrangement Fern will play on Sunday is from American organist, composer, and music educator Sam Batt Owens (1928-1998).
Opening Hymn: As Tranquil Streams – Ham
The lyrics for “As Tranquil Streams” were written in 1933 by Unitarian minister and Ohio native Marion Franklin Ham (1867-1956) for Hymns of the Spirit, the first hymnal written for and used by both of our parent faiths. Interestingly, Hymns of the Spirit was published in 1937, nearly 25 years before the official merging of the Unitarian and Universalist faiths. Ham wrote “As Tranquil Streams” to celebrate the growing relationship between the two denominations, and years later, when the final votes were cast and the Unitarian Universalist Association was formed, this is the hymn that was sung to celebrate the merger. “As Tranquil Streams” is #145 in our current hymnal: Singing the Living Tradition.
Centering Music: “Air” from Orchestral Suite no. 3 in D major – Bach
It’s no exaggeration to say that the “Air” (II) from the Orchestral Suite no. 3 in D major (BWV 1068), more commonly known as “Air on the G String”, is one of the most familiar and beloved melodies ever written. Composed by Baroque master Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), “Air” was originally written for strings and continuo, but has since been arranged and transcribed for and recorded by a plethora of musical forces, from full orchestral versions to brass quintets, jazz ensembles, accordion choirs, and heavy metal guitar renditions.
Offertory music: “Larghetto” (No. 1) from Four Fleeting Pieces – C. Schumann
Clara Schumann (1819-1896) was a German musician and composer, considered by many to be among the most important European Romantic era composers. Her large body of work includes piano concertos, chamber works, and choral pieces. She was closely connected with two other celebrated composers of the time, as she was married to Robert Schumann (1810-1856) and maintained a close lifelong friendship with Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). Clara Schumann composed her Four Fugitive Pieces (Op. 15), also titled Quatre pièces fugitives, in 1840, shortly after her marriage to Robert Schumann, although they were not published until 1845. The Four Fugitive Pieces are short compositions for solo piano, each presenting a contrast in mood and style to the previous piece, not intended to connect musically like the movements of a sonata.
Closing Hymn: #323 Break Not the Circle – Benjamin/Kaan
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 esteemed Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Benjamin wrote the music for “Break Not the Circle (#323 in Singing the Living Tradition), setting words by Dutch minister and prolific hymnwriter Frederik Kaan (1929-2009).
Postlude: Fanfare – Lemmens
Jacques-Nicholas Lemmens (1823-1881) was an eminent Belgian organist, recitalist, composer, and educator. His first organ training was with his father, then he studied at the Royal Brussels Conservatoire, where he was appointed organ professor at age 26. His distinguished students included Alexander Guilmant and Charles-Marie Widor. During 1852, Lemmens presented numerous stunning organ recitals in Paris. His astonishing pedal technique was mostly due to his studies of Bach’s organ works, which were not well-known in France at the time. First published in 1862, Fanfare was very popular when Lemmens performed it in his own recitals, and is probably his most famous work today. (includes material from rodgersinstruments.com)
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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