Music Notes – Sunday, Oct 26th:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir and UUCC Pianist Karin Tooley
Song: 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 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 hymn writer Frederik Kaan (1929-2009).
Special Music: Uninvited – Morrisette
Alanis Morrisette (b. 1974) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress. She has sold more than 60 million records to date and has received numerous accolades, including 14 Juno Awards and 7 Grammy Awards (five of them for her breakthrough 1995 album Jagged Little Pill). Released in 1998 from the soundtrack of the film City of Angels, “Uninvited” is built around a simple but haunting four-note piano motif, gradually building in intensity throughout the song. “Uninvited” reached the top ten in both Canada and the U.S., and won Grammy Awards for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song.
Offertory music: The Road Home – Paulus
Stephen Paulus (1949-2014) was a prolific American composer of classical music. He wrote over 600 works, receiving premieres and performances throughout the world as well as a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2015. His musical style has been described by The New York Times as “lush and extravagant,” and critics from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and many others have praised his work. He was a recipient of both NEA and Guggenheim Fellowships. (from stephenpaulus.com) “The Road Home” is Paulus’s choral setting of the Southern Appalachian hymn tune “Prospect”. Our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal uses this tune for hymns 15 (“The Lone, Wild Bird”) and 232 (“The Hills Are Bare at Bethlehem”).
Song: Woyaya – Amarfio, Amoa, Bailey, Bedeau, Osei, Richardson, & Tontoh
Primarily written by Ghanaian drummer Sol Amarifio (1938-2022), “Woyaya” (also known as “We Are Going” or “Heaven Knows”) is the title song of a 1971 album by Oisibisa, a group of Ghanaian and Caribbean musicians. The song was frequently heard in work camps throughout central West Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. The word “Woyaya” has no literal English translation but can have multiple meanings, as is the case with many scat syllables (a common feature of West African music). The arrangement of “Woyaya” used in our service (and appearing as #1020 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook) comes from Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Postlude: Love Is Little – Shaker tune, arr. Siegfried
“Love Is Little” is a traditional Shaker melody arranged by American composer/educator Kevin Siegfried (b. 1969), who is currently serving as composer-in-residence with the Capitol Hill Chorale in Washington, DC, and also teaches songwriting, piano, and music theory at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Siegfried is deeply involved in the research and performance of early American music, and his arrangements of Shaker music have been performed and recorded by choirs across the globe.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director