Music Notes – Sunday, February 27th:
This Sunday’s musicians are Amy Collins, UUCC Music Director Mike Carney, and The Chancel Choir.
Opening Hymn: #354 We Laugh, We Cry – 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 joyfully rolling “We Laugh, We Cry” (#354 in Singing the Living Tradition), which she composed in 1980.
Centering Music: No. 1 from Six Preludes for Organ – Bloch
Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) was a composer and music educator primarily known for his orchestral and chamber music. Bloch moved to the United States in 1916 and became the first musical director of the Cleveland Institute of Music upon the founding of the school in 1920. His Six Preludes for Organ were first published in 1948. You’ll hear the first movement of this work on Sunday, which Bloch dedicated to American organist, composer, and educator John Stark Evans.
Sung Meditation: #323 Break Not the Circle – Benjamin/Kaan
#323 in Singing the Living Tradition, “Break Not the Circle” combines the words of renowned Dutch theologian Fred Kaan (1929-2009) with music by Thomas Benjamin (b. 1940), a celebrated American UU composer and conductor and retired professor of music theory and composition at the esteemed Peabody Institute in Baltimore.
Offertory Music: A Map of the World – Metheny
“A Map of the World” is a 1999 song and album by American jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny (b. 1954). Metheny’s music incorporates many different styles, including contemporary jazz, Latin jazz, and fusion. Still active as a composer and performer, Metheny has released 11 studio albums as a solo artist and 14 others as the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and Pat Metheny Trio. Among many other accolades, Metheny has received 20 Grammy Awards to date, and is the only artist who can claim to have won a Grammy in ten different categories. Metheny wrote “A Map of the World” as part of the soundtrack for a little-known 1999 movie of the same name.
Closing Hymn: #1017 Building a New Way – Sandefer
Martha Sandefer (b. 1952) is an American vocalist and composer who is currently involved with the Work o’ the Weavers project. She wrote “Building a New Way” in 1986 and her song was later arranged by Jim Scott (b. 1946) and included as #1017 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook.
Postlude: Let This Be a House of Peace – Scott
Jim Scott (b. 1946) is a UU composer, author and activist. Classically trained at the Eastman School of Music, Jim’s compositional styles range from classical to jazz, pop and folk music. He was the guitarist for the Paul Winter Consort for many years and has produced multiple solo recordings and songbooks as well. He has also written music for stage and screen, as well as choral works and songs for children, and is responsible for many of the songs in our hymnbooks, including “Gather the Spirit”, “Nothing but Peace Is Enough” and “May Your Life Be As a Song”. #1054 in Singing the Journey, “Let This Be a House of Peace” was inspired by a poem written by UU minister and author Kenneth Patton (1911-1994).
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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