Music Notes – Sunday, May 4th:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder/We Are Dancing Sarah’s Circle
“We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” (Singing the Living Tradition #211) is among the best-loved and most familiar songs within the Spiritual tradition. As with many Spirituals, there are innumerable versions of the song that have been sung over the centuries, but the common ground between all renditions of “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” is the idea that we are on a shared journey from struggle to salvation.
“We Are Dancing Sarah’s Circle” (Singing the Living Tradition #212) is an adaptation of “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder”, with an adapted text is by UU songwriter and activist Carole Etzler Eagleheart (b. 1944), who was herself inspired by the writings of feminist theologian and educator Nelle Katherine Morton (1905-1987). The words we’ll sing on Sunday are based on the Old Testament story of Sarah (Genesis; chapters 17 and 18).
Song: #1051 We Are… (Barnwell)
#1051 in Singing the Journey, “We Are…” was composed by Ysaye Barnwell (b. 1946) for Sweet Honey in the Rock. “We Are…” was originally the last song in a suite that began with the lyric, “Lawd, it’s midnight. A dark and fear filled midnight. Lawd, it’s a midnight without stars.” Dr. Barnwell wanted to create a complete circle of experience, and so she wrote “for each child that’s born, a morning star rises…” This phrase is meant to establish hope, and it defines the uniqueness of each one of us. No matter what our race, culture or ethnicity, each one of us has been called into being and are the sum total of all who came before. In the composer’s words, “Each and every one of us stands atop a lineage that has had at its core, mothers and fathers and teachers and dreamers and shamans and healers and builders and warriors and thinkers and, and, and…so in spite of our uniqueness, we come from and share every experience that human kind has ever had. In this way, we are one. (from uua.org)
Centering Music: Thumbnail Sketches of a Day in the Life of a Washerwoman – Price
Florence Price (1887-1953) was an American composer, keyboardist, and music educator. Born in Arkansas and trained at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music, Price was a pioneer, notably becoming the first African American woman to have one of her works performed by a major orchestra. Price composed more than 300 works, including symphonies, concertos, choral works, and chamber music. Composed around 1939, Thumbnail Sketches of a Day in the Life of a Washerwoman was one of many pieces Price composed for solo piano. The multi-movement piece is largely written using European form and structure, but shows the clear influence of Black American music, with elements of blues and gospel intertwined with the more traditional aspects of the composition.
Offertory Music: In the Presence of the Past – Page
A native of Boston, Nick Page (b. 1952) is a UU song leader, composer, conductor and author. His choral works have premiered everywhere from Lincoln Center to humble school cafetoriums. Nick is the author of three books and has nearly 100 published choral pieces. (from nickmusic.com) Inspired by the 1851 public storming of a Syracuse jail to free a runaway slave who had been captured and held for extradition to the south, “In the Presence of the Past” blends original material with two familiar southern American tunes: “Amazing Grace” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”.
Postlude: One More Step – Poley
Canadian UU Composer Joyce Poley (b. 1941) wrote “One More Step” in 1986 and its message of commitment and perseverance still rings true today. “One More Step” is #168 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal and is a favorite of many UUs.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director