Music Notes – Sunday, September 24th:
This Sunday’s musicians are UUCC Music Director Mike Carney and The Chancel Choir
Opening Hymn: #218 Who Can Say (Janowski/Partain)
#218 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, “Who Can Say” is a hymn that celebrates the Jewish roots of Unitarian Universalism. The music for was written by Max Janowski (1912-1991), a German-American composer, conductor, music educator, and temple musician. Janowski composed in a variety of forms, but he is best-remembered today for his sacred Jewish choral music, which includes “Avinu Malkeinu” (“Our Father, Our King”) and “Sim Shalom” (“Song of Peace”). In Singing the Living Tradition, the words for “Who Can Say” are adapted from one of the prayers in Gates of Repentance: The New Union Prayerbook for the Days of Awe, published in 1984 and edited by Chaim Stern. This Sunday, we’ll also sing an additional verse written by our own Rev. Randy Partain.
Centering Music: No. 1 (Andante) from Six Preludes for Organ – Bloch
Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) was a composer and music educator primarily known for his orchestral and chamber music. Originally from Geneva, Switzerland, Bloch moved to the United States in 1916 and became the first musical director of the Cleveland Institute of Music upon the founding of the school in 1920. His Six Preludes for Organ were first published in 1948. You’ll hear the first movement of this work on Sunday, which Bloch dedicated to American organist, composer, and educator John Stark Evans.
Offertory music: L’Dor Vador – Finkelstein, arr. Jacobson
Born in Israel, Meir Finkelstein (b. 1951) is a cantor, composer and musical producer who currently lives in California. He is known for his Jewish liturgical music but has also composed scores for movies and television. With words from the Hebrew Liturgy, “L’dor Vador” (From Generation to Generation) is one of Finkelstein’s best-known sacred works. The arrangement for soloists and mixed voices you are hearing today was written by Joshua Jacobson in 1999.
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: Joyful Alleluia Canon – Liebergen
“Joyful Alleluia Canon” is an adaptation of a traditional folksong from Israel, which is frequently performed with the Hebrew text “Hine ma tov umanayim, shevet achim gam yachad” (‘How good and pleasant it is for brethren to live together in harmony’). This adaptation and arrangement was written in 2005 by American composer and educator Patrick Liebergen (b. 1949).
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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