Music Notes – Sunday, November 8th:
This Sunday’s musician is UUCC Pianist Karin Tooley
Centering Music: Songs Without Words, Book VI, Op. 67, No. 5 in B Minor – Mendelssohn
Joys and Concerns Music: “Nocturne” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Mendelssohn
Offertory Music: Songs Without Words, Book III, Op. 38, No. 2 in C Minor – Mendelssohn
Postlude: Songs Without Words, Book II, Op. 30, No. 2 in B flat Minor – Mendelssohn
German composer, pianist, and conductor Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847), more commonly known simply as Felix Mendelssohn, was one of the most important musicians of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn’s most famous works include the concert overture A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the oratorio Elijah, the melody for the Christmas carol “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”, and Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte) for piano. Between 1829-1845, Mendelssohn composed 8 separate volumes of Songs Without Words, each containing six pieces for solo piano.
Song: Wake Now, My Senses – Irish folk tune/Mikelson
#298 in Singing the Living Tradition, “Wake Now, My Senses” is a setting of “Slane”, an Irish folk song that is most commonly associated with “Be Thou My Vision” (which is also in our hymnal as #20). “Slane” is named for a hill in County Meath, Ireland, where St. Patrick’s lighting of an Easter fire – an act of defiance against the 5th Century pagan king Loegaire – led to his unlimited freedom to preach the gospel in Ireland. The words you’ll be hearing – and hopefully singing along with – this Sunday were written by the Rev. Thomas Mikelson (1936-2020), a UU Minister and native of Iowa who was also an educator and activist for racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights.
Song: The Fire of Commitment – Shelton
Jason Shelton (b. 1972) is an award-winning composer, arranger, conductor, song and worship leader, workshop presenter, and coach. He served as the Associate Minister for Music at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville, Tennessee from 1998-2017, and is now engaged in a music ministry at-large, focused on serving the musical resource needs of UU (and other liberal) congregations around the country (from jasonsheltonmusic.com). The Fire of Commitment (#1028) is one of many contributions Rev. Shelton has made to our Singing the Journey hymnbook. The unrest of its irregular meter and the insistent rhythmic pulse drive home the call to action that is at the core of the song’s message.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director