Music Notes – Sunday, November 5th:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Opening Winds Be Still – Wesley/Kimball
#83 in Singing the Living Tradition, “Winds Be Still” is a hymn that blends a 19th-century Methodist melody with a 20th-century UU text. The tune was written by English organist and composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876), who was the grandson of Charles Wesley (1707-1788), a prolific hymnist and leader of the Methodist movement. The younger Wesley named his tune “Lead Me, Lord”, which is still a much-beloved hymn in Methodist and other Protestant Christian churches to this day. In our hymnal, Wesley’s tune is set with words from Richard S. (Rick) Kimball (1934-2007), a UU educator and author who wrote and co-wrote many curricular materials for youth and adult RE programs, including Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for Adults.
Centering Music: Open My Heart – Flurry
#1013 in Singing the Journey, “Open My Heart” is a simple round written by Henry Flurry (b. 1964), an award-winning UU composer, educator, and pianist based in Prescott, Arizona. Flurry has composed in response to commissions from the Atlanta Wind Symphony, University City Symphony, Camarata Singers, and others. He has also collaborated with various artists to create multimedia children’s software for many different publishers, including Disney, Scholastic, IBM, and Harper Collins. Flurry and his wife Maria regularly perform together as the duo Sticks and Tones. (includes material from henryflurry.com)
Offertory music: When We Are Singing – Folk song, arr. Padworski
“When We Are Singing” is an arrangement of a folk hymn that is believed to be of Mexican origin (it first appeared in print within the 1983 songbook Celebremos II). The lyrics and harmonic treatment were written by American composer, conductor, and performer Kevin Padworski (b. 1987), and published in The Justice Choir Songbook.
Closing Hymn: # 1021 Lean on Me
First released in 1972, “Lean on Me” was the first and only number one hit for R&B legend Bill Withers (1938-2020). In 1987, a remake by the reggae band Club Nouveau won Withers a Grammy Award for Best Song and made “Lean on Me” one of only a handful of songs to have reached #1 both in its original form and then later as a cover version. The song was notably performed by Mary J. Blige at the concert celebrating the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009, and is in our Singing the Journey hymnbook as #1021.
Postlude: Lord, Make me an Instrument – Willcocks
Jonathan Willcocks (b. 1953) is a celebrated British conductor and composer who is primarily known for his choral works. “Lord, Make Me an Instrument”, Willcocks’ musical setting of a famous Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, is part of a larger work by Willcocks titled Lux Perpetua (Perpetual Light). This Sunday, our Chancel Choir will sing “Lord, Make Me an Instrument”, accompanied by Lucy Carney and featuring solo/duet parts by Kristen van Kranenburgh, Maggie Nash, and Ron McClellan.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director