Music Notes – Sunday, October 9th:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Women’s Ensemble and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney.
Opening Hymn: #53 I Walk the Unfrequented Road – Hosmer/American folk tune
“I Walk the Unfrequented Road” (#53 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal) is a setting of words from Unitarian minister Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1840-1929), who served as minister of our congregation from 1878-1892. Hosmer’s text describes the beauty of journeying down the proverbial ‘road less traveled’ on an Autumn day. The hymn tune (usually known as “Consolation” or Morning Song”) first appeared in print in the 1813 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 hymnals, most frequently set as “The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns” and “O Holy City, Seen of John”.
Centering Music: Wondrous Love – Folk hymn, words by Hart, arranged by Carney
“Wondrous Love”, often titled “What Wondrous Love Is This”, is an American hymn that is believed to have originated in southern Appalachia some time during the late 18th century. We have no way of knowing exactly who wrote the melody or lyrics or when, but we do know that it was first published in 1811 in two different hymnbooks, A General Selection of the Newest and Most Admired Hymns and Spiritual Songs Now in Use (printed in Lynchburg, Virginia), and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Original and Selected (published in Lexington, Kentucky). Today, “Wondrous Love” appears in the hymnals of dozens of denominations – including our own Singing the Living Tradition, where it is hymn #18. The words in our hymnal are a new interpretation of “Wondrous Love”, written by UU musician Connie Campbell Hart, and those are the words you’ll hear from UUCC’s Women’s Ensemble this Sunday, singing a new arrangement of “Wondrous Love” by UUCC Music Director Mike Carney.
Offertory music: Beautiful Dawn – Moody
Two-time Juno Award winning singer and songwriter Ruth Moody (b. 1975) was born in Australia but raised in Manitoba, Canada. She is a founding and current member of the Canadian country/folk trio The Wailin’ Jennys. Moody wrote “Beautiful Dawn” in 2004 for The Wailin’ Jennys and the song was released in August of the same year on the group’s debut album 40 Days.
Closing Hymn: When I Am Frightened – Denham
“When I Am Frightened” (#1012 in Singing the Journey), also titled “Then I May Learn”, was commissioned in 1999 by the First Unitarian Church of Dallas. Because of her lifelong commitment to working with and empowering youth, UU composer Shelley Jackson Denham (1950-2013) took the opportunity to write a piece based on children’s yearning for truth, respect, and engagement with adults. In keeping with a philosophy that “children are watching, what are they learning?”, the song is meant as a reminder that all children deserve and need compassion, acceptance, commitment…and that they often learn to both give and receive these essential elements of relationship through the simple act of observation. (includes material from uua.org)
Postlude: Bluesette – Thielemans/Gimbel
“Bluesette” is a jazz standard written by Belgian-born guitarist and harmonica player Jean-Baptiste “Toots” Thielemans (1922-2016), who first rose to fame as the guitarist for the Benny Goodman Orchestra. The song was originally conceived as an instrumental, but lyrics were added a few years later by Norman Gimbel (1927-2018). “Bluesette” was recorded multiple times by Thielemans himself, and has also been covered by many other artists, including Bill Evans, Hank Jones, and Sarah Vaughan.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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