Hello members and friends of UUCC,
I hope you all had a safe and happy Thanksgiving and came through our recent snowstorm in one piece! Our service this Sunday, December 6th will be centered around themes of stillness and quiet, and to help set the tone, we’ll have gentle and meditative music from UUCC Pianist Karin Tooley, from me, from our Chancel Choir, and from cellist John Gibbon. Please join us online for this special service. Read on for this week’s Music Notes…
Music Notes for December 6th, 2020
Music 1: Dark of Winter – Denham
A native of Cincinnati, Shelley Jackson Denham (1950-2013) was a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, composer and performer. No fewer than six of Shelley’s hymns can be found within our two hymnbooks, including the gently introspective Dark of Winter (#55 in Singing the Living Tradition), which she composed in 1988. The adaptation of Denham’s song you’ll be hearing in this week’s service features the UUCC Chancel Choir.
Music 2/Offertory: Largo (I) from Cello Sonata in E Minor – Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was one of the most important composers of the Baroque period. A native of Venice, Vivaldi’s career followed a different path than that of most composers. He began studying to become a Catholic priest at the age of 15 and was ordained a few years later. However, a chronic respiratory condition made it nearly impossible for Vivaldi to deliver Mass, so he began serving in a Venetian orphanage as a music educator – in fact, most of his early compositions were written for the young residents of the orphanage. The same respiratory condition had prevented Vivaldi from playing wind instruments, so his musical training was focused on string and keyboard instruments, and by the age of 25 Vivaldi had become well-respected as a virtuoso violinist. Due to his red hair and original career in the clergy, Vivaldi became known as “Il Prete Rosso” (“The Red Priest”). His most famous and influential works were instrumental concerti, and Vivaldi is considered to be the primary architect of the Baroque concerto style and had a profound influence on the instrumental works of Bach, Handel, and many other composers of the era. Vivaldi also composed a good amount of chamber music, including a set of six sonatas for cello and continuo believed to have been written between 1720 and 1730. Sonata No. 5 in E Minor is from that set, which was first published in Paris in 1740. You’ll hear the first movement (‘Largo’) from that sonata in this Sunday’s service, performed by John Gibbon on cello with Mike Carney (piano).
Music 3: Improvisation (Stillness) – Karin Tooley
UUCC members already know that Karin Tooley is a highly talented and versatile musician. What some may not know is how skilled she is as an improviser. When I told Karin that Rev. Joe wanted approximately five minutes of gentle piano music to accompany a guided meditation, I thought she might choose something from her repertoire to match that request. Instead, Karin said, “this is right up my alley!” and created her own original improvised piece to fill the need. On Sunday, you’ll hear this newly minted Karin Tooley original during the middle section of the service. #1055 in Singing the Journey, “How Sweet the Darkness” is one of two UU hymnal settings of the same text by British poet Rachel Bates (1897-1966), the other being “When Windows That Are Black and Cold” (Singing the Living Tradition #165).
Postlude: How Sweet the Darkness – Shelton/Bates
The music for “How Sweet the Darkness” was written by Rev. Jason Shelton (b. 1972). Many of Jason’s hymns are upbeat and triumphant, but this one is quietly contemplative, composed in 2001 in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. This Sunday, the hymn will be led by the UUCC Chancel Choir with soloists Mike Carney and Molly Watkins.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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