This week’s musicians are Becky Burns, Drew Watkins, Molly Watkins, Sophie Watkins, and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Opening Hymn: #128 For All That Is Our Life – Rickey/Findlow
#128 in Singing the Living Tradition, “For All That Is Our Life” has been a favorite UU hymn for many years. The song resulted from a collaboration between composer Patrick Rickey (b. 1964), a California-based songwriter and church musician and Rev. Bruce Findlow (1922-1994), a British author, educator and UU Minister who wrote the lyrics.
Centering Music: Notturno – Grieg
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) is considered by most musicologists to be the most historically significant composer of Norwegian descent. Like many composers of the Romantic era, Grieg incorporated folk melodies from his homeland into much of his music, and he played a large part in introducing Norwegian culture to international audiences. The “Notturno” (Nocturne) you’ll be hearing Sophie Watkins play this Sunday is perhaps the best-known of the 66 short piano works by Grieg that were published under the title Lyric Pieces. “Notturno” is from volume 5 (Op. 54) of what would ultimately become a 10-volume set of Lyric Pieces, and was one of four works from that set that was later adapted for orchestra by Grieg along with Austro-Hungarian conductor Anton Seidl (1850-1898) and titled Lyric Suite.
Sung Meditation: Heart Opening Song – Partain
“Heart Opening Song” is an original composition by UUCC Minister Rev. Randy Partain. In Randy’s own words: “In May of 2022, I attended the Spiritual Directors International conference in Santa Fe. Pat McCabe led a morning ceremony each day. One morning, she introduced a “heart-opening song” drawn from her Diné (Navajo) tradition. Participating in this beautiful communal song, the thought occurred to me that it would be wonderful to bring this song back to the congregation I serve. This thought was immediately followed by an awareness of how inappropriate this appropriation would be. So, in the open-hearted space of that morning’s plenary session, I conceived a more appropriate heart opening song in preparation for our summer series on Connection.”
Offertory Music: Flight – Carnelia, arr. Rafter
“Flight” was written in 1992 by Craig Carnelia (b. 1949), an American singer and composer who is best-known for his work on Broadway, where he has received numerous honors, including multiple Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. “Flight” was first recorded in 1994 by Karen Akers, and has since been recorded by many other artists, including Sutton Foster, Mark Evans, and Brian De Lorenzo. The duet arrangement you’ll be hearing Molly and Sophie Watkins perform this Sunday is by Carnelia along with Broadway director and songwriter Michael Rafter.
Closing Hymn: #1064 Blue Boat Home – Mayer
A native of Minnesota, folk musician Peter Mayer (b. 1963) is a guitarist and songwriter who specializes in earth-centered music. UU congregations know and love Peter as the lyricist behind “Blue Boat Home”, which first appeared on Mayer’s album The Great Story and is #1064 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook. The melody Mayer set his inspiring words to is called “Hyfrodol”, a popular Welsh hymn tune credited to Rowland Prichard (1811-1887). The piano accompaniment and choral harmonies are by Rev. Jason Shelton (b. 1972).
Postlude: Blowin’ in the Wind – Dylan
Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (b. 1941) is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential figures in the history of American popular culture. Dylan’s was among the most significant voices in the Counterculture movement of the 1960s and he has written dozens of iconic songs and received numerous honors, including twelve Grammy Awards, one Academy Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, inductions into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame, and the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. Dylan wrote “Blowin’ in the Wind” in April of 1962, first performing it at Gerde’s Folk City in the Greenwich Village district of Manhattan. The song became an underground hit among Dylan’s fans in New York, and the following year, “Blowin’ in the Wind” was released as a single and included on Dylan’s second studio album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. The lyrics pose a series of rhetorical questions, while the refrain (“The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.”) gives those questions an open-ended response that is subject to the listener’s own interpretation. “Blowin’ in the Wind” is one of Dylan’s best-known songs, and has been recorded by hundreds of other artists, most famously by Peter, Paul, and Mary, whose 1963 cover was released just three weeks after Dylan’s original, and reached #1 on Billboard’s U.S. Hot 100 Chart. “Blowin’ in the Wind” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994, and in 2004, it was ranked #14 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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