Musical Musings: Nov 7 – 13, 2021

Music Notes – Sunday, November 7th:  

“The Poet Sings” – online concert with Good Company and composer James Mulholland

Please join me next Sunday, November 14th at 4:00 p.m. (EST) on Zoom for “The Poet Sings”: an online choral concert and master class featuring acclaimed composer and conductor Dr. James Mulholland along with Good Company: A Vocal Ensemble. Many of you know that I direct Good Company, and several UUCC members and friends sing with the group as well, including Barbara Bradley, Amy Collins, Leon Michaud, Anne and Steve Sanford, Pam Schenk, and Holly Walker.

This concert and webinar will explore the significant connection between poetry and choral music, and will feature music of James Mulholland, Eric Whitacre, Joan Szymko, and Morten Lauridsen, including settings of Emily Dickinson, James Agee, Octavio Paz, W.B. Yeats, and others. Attendees will have an opportunity to be part of a Q&A session with Dr. Mulholland and our other panelists.

This event is part of Good Company’s Contemporary Composers Series and is made possible in part by funding from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Ohio Arts Council.

Event link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82088327959

Music Notes for November 7th, 2021

This Sunday’s musicians are UUCC Music Director Mike Carney and members of UUCC’s Chancel Choir.

Opening Hymn: #1026 If Every Woman in the World

#1026 in our Singing the Journey hymnbook, “If Every Woman in the World” is a country/folk style waltz written by American singer, songwriter and storyteller Karen Mackay (b. 1952) with additional lyrics by Nancy Nordlie (b. 1953). The song grew from Karen MacKay’s deep connection to the living tradition of West Virginia women’s music; a tradition that, in Karen’s hands and voice, continues to be the means for perpetuating the simple ancient wisdom of mountain women. In 1982, suffering harassment at work and unsure of her life’s direction, Karen spent a weekend with “Aunt Jenny” and received the wisdom that has guided her life and music ever since. “Just git out there and play yer banjo. Git out there and play yer music and give ‘em all you’ve got!” Two weeks later Karen had quit her job, and a year later she had written and recorded the songs on her first album, Annie Oakley Rides Again, which included “If Every Woman in the World”. Karen’s strong belief in the power of women to influence global culture and bring peace to the world found a deep expression in this song, and women all over the world have responded by passing it on from woman to woman, country to country. It has been sung at the 1985 International Women’s Conference in Nairobi, as well as at retreats and gatherings throughout Canada and the United States. The most important thing to remember when singing this music is to heed the simple wisdom of “Aunt Jenny” Wilson, “Just git out there…and give ‘em all you’ve got!” (includes material from uua.org and from Hot Wire Magazine, July 1985)

Centering Music: Now Light Is Less – Smith/Roethke

Our centering music on Sunday will be a piano arrangement by UUCC Music Director Mike Carney based on one of the hidden gems in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, #54 “Now Light Is Less”. The tune, known as “Sursum corda” (Lift Up Your Hearts), was composed by Alfred Morton Smith (1879-1971), who was a native son of Pennsylvania and served as a musician and later as an ordained priest for the Episcopal Church. Although you won’t hear them this Sunday, the words for “Now Light Is Less” celebrate the quiet beauty of late autumn, and are excerpted from “Slow Season”, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and poet Theodore Roethke (1908-1963).

Hymn: #292 If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking – Smit/Dickinson

#292 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnbook, “If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking” is a setting of the famous poem of the same name by celebrated American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). The musical setting is by Leo Smit (1921-1999), an American composer, educator, and photographer. This song is one of over 100 settings of Dickinson’s poetry that Smit composed during his lifetime.

Offertory music: Cuando el Pobre – Manzano and Olivar

“When the Poor Ones” (Cuando el pobre; #1027 in our Singing the Journey songbook) is a song by author and composer Miguel Manzano (b.1934) with words by José Antonio Olivar (1939-2019). This Sunday, members of the UUCC Chancel Choir will sing an adaptation of an arrangement of the song that was written in 2010 by American composer and organist David Cherwien (b. 1957).

Closing Hymn: The Fire of Commitment – Shelton

Jason Shelton is an award-winning composer, arranger, conductor, song and worship leader, workshop presenter, and coach. He served as the Associate Minister for Music at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville, Tennessee from 1998-2017, and is now engaged in a music ministry at-large, focused on serving the musical resource needs of UU (and other liberal) congregations around the country (from jasonsheltonmusic.com). The Fire of Commitment (#1028) is one of many contributions Rev. Shelton has made to our Singing the Journey hymnbook. The unrest of its irregular meter and the insistent rhythmic pulse drive home the call to action that is at the core of the song’s message. 

Postlude: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free – Taylor and Dallas         #151 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnbook, “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” is a jazz-gospel song written in 1963 by Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas. The song became one of the anthems of the American Civil Rights Movement and has since been recorded by dozens of artists, most famously by Nina Simone in 1967.

                                                                                    -Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director