When I sit to write Music Notes, I never know what I’m going to write. I often dread it, honestly. I feel helpless because the bulletin information is due. I feel it’s my job to help you hear the music more deeply. How can I do that when I feel helpless? As you study music, […]

I used to love making art projects in Sunday school, Advent calendars that would help us count down the days until Christmas. I loved Christmas because of the element of surprise. But once Santa came, it was a letdown. No more surprise to look forward to! As an adult, I look forward to taking down […]

Today, we celebrate our Highest. As Mendelssohn reminds us in today’s communion anthem, it’s above all praise and all majesty. It’s like a thief in a house. When the police try to catch them on the first floor, the thieves ascend to the second. When police go into the second floor, the thieves are already […]

In contemplating today’s Psalm and anthem, “setting the Lord always before me” is difficult to explain. I have Amanda Cohen to thank for this image; but it’s like an hourglass that seems to have been flipped and steadied. Your average human is “heady,” and is often led by compulsion. And when the hourglass rights itself, […]

Bob Chilcott was a founding member of The King’s Singers, a famous, all-male, British vocal ensemble known for their exquisite sound and immaculate vocal refinement. I’ve heard them sing on several occasions and have always been wowed by their blend, tone, and artistic sensitivity. In my days at The University of Kansas, I had the […]

John Rutter’s Requiem has remained one of his most popular works. Rutter conducted the first performance of it in 1985, at Lovers’ Lane United Methodist Church, Dallas, where the director of Music Allen Pote prepared the Sanctuary Choir and orchestra. I was surprised to learn that the premier was in the US, given that Rutter […]

Today’s communion anthem is a gem. Herbert Howells’, “My Eyes for Beauty Pine,” is one of those pieces that is simply divine because of its simplicity. The text is intriguing. To think that our eyes pine! When we notice something beautiful, something breathtaking – our attention is captivated, engulfed in the present moment, in awe. […]

A few weeks ago, we sang an anthem by Parry, and this morning we are once again treated to another fine work of his, “My Soul There is a Country.” This piece comes from a larger cycle called Songs of Farewell, which were composed between 1916 and 1918 and were among his last compositions before […]

Today’s offertory is an arrangement of “Repton,” one of Parry’s most beloved tunes. He wrote the tune in 1888 for an oratorio. And in 1924 George Gilbert Stocks, director of music at Repton School, set it to “Dear Lord and Father of mankind,” hence the tune’s name, “Repton.” Parry had no clue that his melody […]

In today’s Music Notes, I felt compelled to write about S.S. Wesley, son of Samuel Wesley, the composer and organist, grandson of Charles Wesley, the hymn writer and theologian, and great nephew of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. I especially love Samuel Sebastian’s hymn tunes, notably “Aurelia,” the music for the hymn, “The Church’s […]