Music Notes – Sunday, May 1st:
This Sunday’s musicians are The Chancel Choir and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney.
Opening Hymn: #1008 When Our Heart Is in a Holy Place – Poley
#1008 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook, “When Our Heart Is in a Holy Place” was written in 1996 by UU musician and composer Joyce Poley (b. 1941). This song “invites us to see ourselves in others. As we come to understand that all people have wisdom to share and stories to tell—regardless of culture, race, social status, or faith—we begin to realize how important our commonalities are, and how interwoven our lives. When we open ourselves to this sacred idea, then ‘our heart is in a holy place’.” (from uua.org)
Offertory Music: Opus 26 – O’Halloran
Dustin O’Halloran (b. 1971) is an American pianist and composer. He released his first EP Sundoor with renowned classical musical label Deutsche Grammophon in 2019, and followed that up with his solo album Silfur in 2021. O’Halloran’s film career began with Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006), and since then he’s worked on multiple films and TV shows, including Like Crazy (2011), and George Tillman Jr.’s critically acclaimed The Hate U Give (2018). He’s the winner of a 2015 Emmy Award for his main title theme to Amazon’s comedy drama Transparent (2014–2017), and was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Critics Choice Award for his score to Lion (2016), written in collaboration with Volker Bertelmann, aka Hauschka (from dustinohalloran.com). Written in Italy in 2006, “Opus 26” was one of O’Halloran’s first compositions for solo piano. Its melodic and rhythmic scarcity give this piece an open, meditative feel.
Sung Meditation: #352 Find a Stillness – Seaburg
#352 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, “Find a Stillness” is based on a traditional Transylvanian hymn tune, with words by Carl G. Seaburg (1922-1998), a UU Minister and historian who spent several years as president of the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society and is responsible for seven of the hymns in Singing the Living Tradition, including #124 “Be That Guide” and #338 “I Seek the Spirit of a Child”.
Sung Meditation: #1013 Open My Heart – Flurry
#1013 in Singing the Journey, “Open My Heart” is a simple round written by Henry Flurry (b. 1964), an award-winning UU composer, educator, and pianist based in Prescott, Arizona. Flurry has composed in response to commissions from the Atlanta Wind Symphony, University City Symphony, Camarata Singers, and others. He has also collaborated with various artists to create multimedia children’s software for many different publishers, including Disney, Scholastic, IBM, and Harper Collins. Flurry and his wife Maria regularly perform together as the duo Sticks and Tones. (includes material from henryflurry.com)
Centering Music: Meditation on Breathing – Jones
#1009 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook, “Meditation on Breathing” is more of an interactive mantra and centering than it is a hymn in the traditional sense. There are three written parts in the score, but participants are also encouraged to improvise and branch off to find their own way within the group meditation. UU musician and songwriter Sarah Dan Jones (b. 1962) composed “Meditation on Breathing” in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Closing Hymn: Peace! The Perfect Word – Shepard
“Peace! The Perfect Word” is a setting of the American hymn tune “Charleston”, which first appeared in The Southern Harmony in 1835. The words we’ll sing on Sunday are by American educator, poet, and statesman Odell Shepard (1884-1967), who won a 1938 Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Bronson Alcott, and served as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1941 to 1943. “Peace! The Perfect Word” is #161 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal.
Postlude: May Your Life Be as a Song – arr. Scott
#1059 in our Singing the Journey hymnal, “May Your Life Be as a Song” is an adaptation of a Russian folk melody, created by UU composer, performer, activist, and friend of UUCC Jim Scott (b. 1946). Jim is also responsible for several other songs found in our hymnbooks, including “Gather the Spirit”, “Nothing but Peace Is Enough”, and “The Oneness of Everything”. Mike and the choir will sing Jim’s samba arrangement of the song, which is quite different from the simple round in Singing the Journey. However, the familiar melodic refrain is the same, and you’re invited to sing along with the choir this Sunday, whether you’re attending in person or watching online.
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director