Come, Sing a Song with Me!
We’re very happy to say that the UUCC Chancel Choir has returned to regular Wednesday evening gatherings after a nearly two-year hiatus, and the choir will be singing in several upcoming UUCC services. The UUCC Chancel Choir is open to all adults and high school youth who are interested, regardless of experience level. The choir rehearses at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday evenings in the Worship Center (Room 208), and professional childcare is available for any who need it. If you have any questions, please get in touch with UUCC Music Director Mike Carney. We hope to see you next Wednesday!
Music Notes – Sunday, April 3rd:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney.
Opening Hymn: #1067 Mother Earth, Beloved Garden – Udis-Kessler
Amanda Udis-Kessler (b. 1965) is a hymnwriter, songwriter, composer, and writer who specializes in music and lyrics for liberal/progressive religious people and communities, including inclusive, social justice-minded Christians, Unitarian Universalists, and other open-hearted religious traditions. Amanda’s religious music is in use across the US and in Canada, the UK, South Africa, and New Zealand. (from queersacredmusic.com) #1067 in Singing the Journey, “Mother Earth, Beloved Garden” is a 2004 piece by Udis-Kessler, expressing reverence for the Interdependent Web and outlining the Pagan earth-centered ritual of Calling the Corners.
Centering Music: Alabanza (As the Rain Is Falling) – Fernández Badillo
“Alabanza” (Singing the Journey #1065) is a song written by Pablo Fernández Badillo (1919-2006), a Presbyterian missionary, educator and judge from Puerto Rico who composed in traditional and contemporary hymn styles, often including elements of folk and popular music. Like Haydn’s great oratorio The Creation, Alabanza celebrates the glory of the Creator in the magnificent flowering of the natural world. The lyrics of “Alabanza” are filled with the particular accents of Fernández Badillo’s native Puerto Rico, including the duende (a smallish, purple flower) and the coquí (a small frog-like animal that makes singing sounds). “Alabanza” is one of 104 hymns Fernández Badillo published in the 1977 Himnario Criollo (Creole Hymnal). This Sunday, you’ll hear a piano arrangement of “Alabanza” by UUCC Music Director Mike Carney. (includes material from uua.org)
Meditation Response: Sioux Prayer – Szymko
Joan Szymko (b.1957) is an award-winning composer and conductor from the Pacific Northwest. With a catalog of over 100 published choral works, her music is performed by ensembles across North America and abroad. Szymko lives and works in Portland, Oregon and is entering her 26th season as the Artistic Director of Aurora Chorus. Set to a traditional Lakota Sioux text, “Sioux Prayer” calls on the spirits of the sky, the earth and the four directions of the compass. (from www.joanszymko.com)
Offertory Music: In Deep Woods – MacDowell
Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) was an American pianist and composer of the Romantic period. He was best known for his piano music, though he also wrote for orchestra, solo voices and chorus. His most famous compositions were the piano works Woodland Sketches, Sea Pieces, and New England Idylls, which is a suite of ten pieces first published in 1902. The fifth of MacDowell’s New England Idylls is “In Deep Woods”. In the score, each of these pieces are prefaced by a short poem written by MacDowell. The verses he wrote for “In Deep Woods” are:
Above, long slender shafts of opal flame,
Below, the dim cathedral aisles;
The silent mystery of immortal things
Broods o’er the woods at eve.
Closing Hymn: #207 Earth Was Given as a Garden – Prichard/Bard
#207 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, “Earth Was Given as a Garden” is a favorite hymn in many UU congregations. The tune is Hyfrydol, a hymn tune composed in 1844 by Welsh musician Rowland Prichard (1811-1887). Today, most Protestant Christians associate Hyfrydol with “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”, whereas UUs are more likely to think of Hyfrydol as the tune for “Blue Boat Home”. The rolling tune is set here to words by UU Quaker Roberta Bard (b. 1940) celebrating the beauty and abundance of our Mother Earth.
Postlude: The Garden Song – Mallet
“The Garden Song (Inch by Inch)” is the most famous composition by American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist David Mallett (b. 1951). Mallet wrote “The Garden Song” in 1975 and it has since been performed and recorded by many artists, including Arlo Guthrie, Paul Stookey, and even The Muppets. The song is often attributed to John Denver, whose recording of “The Garden Song” became a hit in the U.S. and Canada in 1979. This Sunday, you’ll hear our Chancel Choir singing a new arrangement of “The Garden Song” by UUCC Music Director Mike Carney.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director