Refracted Light: "Advent" by Stan Curtis

I have always been fascinated by the intersection of different art forms and the new creation that results when two or more are juxtaposed and set in conversation. The power of art forms to express that which is unsayable is one we are all well aware.  When such forms are intermingled with each other through the creativity of God's people, these artistic "windows" of God's divine transcendence, God's immanence - God's holiness - become transformative icons for us and our faith journey.  Such artistic icons have been central to shaping my faith.
 
So, you can imagine my excitement when about five years ago, Stan told me of his plans to write different pieces inspired on our beautiful stained glass windows.  Such a marvelous idea!   I was excited to see and hear the results. 

Stan's album Refracted Light, is forthcoming and includes his pieces based on the windows of Saint George's.  ou will want to get a copy when its released! 

Over the past year, I've had the pleasure of working with Stan on three of his pieces based on our windows. We have performed them in recital and last June spent several days (and nights!) recording them in our newly renovated nave.  

This week Stan Curtis and myself, along with soprano Tia Wortham, are in San Antonio to present Stan's composition "Advent" at the International Trumpet Guild Conference.  This beautiful work by Stan for trumpet, soprano, and piano won a composition award and the honor of having it presented on one of the conference's New Works recitals on Thursday morning, May 31st.  So we take a little of St. George's to San Antonio this week to share with the world.  Congratulations and thank you, Stan!

Stan writes:

In 2012, I began to compose Advent, which, despite its name, is the piece I wrote to go with St. George’s Crucifixion Window. I was greatly moved by a poem of the same name by the American Poet Laureate Donald Hall. My intention was to provide a “Trinity” of variations for each of the three stanzas (three flexible interpretations based on the concepts of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost). Each stanza, therefore, has a set of three variations, making a total of nine iterations of the melody first sung at the beginning by the soprano.

Regarding the text, “rood” in the first stanza is a cross; “Tenebrae” in the second stanza refers to a Christian religious service celebrated during Holy Week marked by the gradual extinguishing of candles; “Horror vacui” in the third stanza literally means “fear of empty space” and usually describes artwork which fills the entire space with visual detail.

The original version of this extended aria featured an extremely unsettling phase-shifting mixed-meter melody between trumpet and piano with soprano singing in the rests, in an effort to imitate the artistic meaning of “horror vacui”, but an alternative, lyric, ending proved more effective in the long run.
 
 

Advent
(text by Donald Hall)
 
When I see the cradle rocking
What is it that I see?
I see a rood on the hilltop
        Of Calvary.
 
When I hear the cattle lowing
What is it that they say?
They say that shadows feasted
        At Tenebrae.
 
When I know that the grave is empty,
Absence eviscerates me,
And I dwell in a cavernous, constant
        Horror vacui.
 
“Advent” from The Back Chamber by Donald Hall. Copyright ©2011 by Donald Hall.
sed by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Celebrating the good work of our musicians

On Thursday evening, May 17th, Saint George's held our first-annual Choir banquet for all choirs and their families to celebrate our year of music ministry together.  It was a most wonderful occasion that packed the parish hall with over 90 people in attendance.  We had a wonderful time sharing in fellowship and celebrating our singers, ringers, and volunteers.

This past year, the choirs did some wonderful work.  Together our 5 choirs

• Consist of 70 singers, 9 ringers, 60+ families, including parents we are well over 100.
• That means we have 70 some vestments to care for (Thank you Valerie Troiano!)
• Sang over 75 services,
• Sang 215 anthems (Thank you Missie Burman, our Music Librarian)
• Sang over 300 hymns
• Chanted over 70 psalms  - on 770 chords!
• Rehearsed for over a total of 230 hours
• Consumed over 245 Pizzas

Our Senior Warden, Don George, gave a word of thanks to the choirs on behalf of the Vestry, and I shared greetings and thanksgivings from our Rector, Rev. Shearon Williams who was on vacation.  A very special part of the evening was the recognition of  some of our younger singers who are moving to new choirs.  The Saint Cecilia Choir welcomed Ellagrace Price and Zachary McCabe from Angel Choir and bestowed upon them their cassocks as a sign of welcome.  The Choristers welcomed Maddie Frank and Ellianna McCabe with the giving of their choir surplice.   

We also recognized and gave great thanks for our volunteer directors, Rebecca Hill and Jen Grotpeter, Angel Choir accompanist, Marge Miller,  Missie Burman our music librarian and Valerie Troriano, our vestment manager.  The excellent and dedicated work of these people enable us to have the dynamic music ministry of which we are so proud.  Thank you!

It was a pure joy for me, your Minister of Music to recognize and give thanks for each of our singers and ringers and the hard work and commitment - the time they give - to making not only great music, but Saint George's such a great place.  It continues to be my honor to work with each of you and lead our sung musical prayers and praises in this place.

SOLI DEO GLORIA!
Ben Keseley, Minister of Music

Singing together, affirming our faith

I recently ran across an article by Diana Butler Bass written several years ago which spoke on the benefit of hymn singing and how communities who regularly sing hymns together, affirm and strengthen their faith.  Over the past two weeks I, and many of you have experienced both profound joy and sadness from the same hymn, Love, Divine, All Loves Excelling as we sang it in entirely different settings: a wedding and at two funerals.  

Its text has been floating through my mind these past two weeks, especially the words that begin the final stanza:
             “Finish then thy new creation pure and spotless let us be;
                      … let us see thy great salvation
                             … lost in wonder love and praise.” 

What wonderful words of comfort for us as we send loved ones to their heavenly life; and, what wonderful words to usher a new couple into life as one in holy marriage.  I love that the whole hymn exudes praise and love for God, and fits both of these occasion so well.  

Singing this hymn in these different contexts these past two weeks has reminded me that music, and specifically hymnody, fills our lives from infancy to death and that songs and these hymns carry our memories.  I think we would lose something of incredible value if these important poems of faith became disconnected from our spirituality.  And so, it is important that we continue to sing together the hymns of our faith, teach them to our children, and talk about them and what they mean to each of us and our community as a whole.  For in doing this - sharing the church's song - our faith, and the faith of our brothers and sisters in Christ - our community is further strengthened to live out our call to change the world.

                          It is not you that sings; it is the church that is singing, 
                                           and you, as a member…may share in its song.
                                                        - Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer
 
Here are a few more excerpts from our community’s favorite hymns:
 
Hymn 516 – Come down O Love Divine
 
Lyn Crawford writes:  
 
For some time, now, this is the hymn that springs from my unconsciousness whenever I am troubled, sad, anxious or frightened.  It's words and music take me to a safe, enveloping place where I immediately feel God's presence, usually as the Holy Spirit or in the words of Jesus spoken as if they are for me alone.  And never, never have I failed to be comforted; never,  never have I failed to find my center again.

Hymn 423 - Immortal, Invisible
 
Rev. John Shellito writes:
 
This spring, I'm particularly appreciating “Immortal, Invisible, God only Wise.”  I don’t entirely know why I feel so connected to God’s majesty and sovereignty in that song. I also like the beautiful reminder that God’s gracious, restorative justice is like mountains. I imagine God’s justice also soaring above our limited conceptions of “justice” whether retributive, legalistic, punitive, or otherwise. Even if we can’t always see God’s work in our lives, that doesn’t mean that God’s goodness and love isn’t there: guiding, and correcting, and helping us do better, by the grace of God, across a variety of areas and seasons of life. I also appreciate the closing: “ ‘tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.” 
 
 

St. George’s Favorite Hymn Project:
We are collecting YOUR favorite hymns.  Submit yours today.
Tell us what it is here and why.

Alleluia! Sing to Jesus - Hymn 460

On Sunday we sing the great hymn, "Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!" as we observe the Ascension and the 7th (and last) Sunday of the Easter season. 

The text of this well-loved hymn was written by William Chatterton Dix, and first appeared in his collection Altar Songs, in 1867.   Dix was the manager of a marine insurance company, as well as a gifted writer.  His fine contributions to hymnody are contained in several collections.  He is also the author of the popular Christmas Carol, “What Child is This.”
 
“Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!” is a text rich in biblical imagery and centered in the following New Testament passages: John 6: 41-59; Hebrews 9:11-14; and Revelation 5:9.  Dix’s originally titled the hymn, “Redemption by the Precious Blood.”
 
The tune HYFRYDOL, meaning “good cheer” or “joyful,” was written by Rowland Hugh Prichard at the age of twenty.  Prichard was well-known as precentor and writer of fine hymn tunes, many of which were printed in Welsh periodicals.  Later in his life he was a loom-tender’s assistant in the Welsh Flannel Company.
 
The structure of HYFRYDOL is unique in that its entire range is entirely within a fifth, or a five-note range, except for a rise to the sixth scale degree in the last line.  At its onset the hymn’s structure appears to be a common AABA pattern, yet its last two phrases provide interesting variants on B, which provide for an effective conclusion.

I look forward to singing this great hymn with all of you on Sunday!  Its tune is rousing.  Its text is a great summation of the our Lenten and Easter journey, and for me, provides a foundation for our work in this world.  I'd love to know your thoughts about this hymn, too.  Leave them in the comments below.
 
Soli Deo Gloria!

Ben Keseley
Minister of Music

Have you ever been to Evensong?

Think Evensong isn’t for you?   Try it this Sunday at 4pm.  Kids encouraged to attend!

If you ever resonate with the choirs’ musical offerings on Sunday morning, you will find Evensong to be an especially rich revelation of the glory and presence of God. With the exception of several hymns in which the congregation joins, Choral Evensong is almost entirely sung by the choir, which means the tone of the service can vary dynamically each time we sing it—it may be overflowing with exuberant praise one time, and rest in contemplative reflection the next. In Evensong the choir offers prayers on behalf of the gathered congregation, allowing you to mediate and move deeper into prayer through the words and music. 

Evensong is a uniquely Anglican form of worship, conceived in the sixteenth-century as part of the English Reformation, but its roots are actually the much more ancient daily prayer offices of Vespers and Compline. An enormous portion of the most glorious sacred choral music written in the English language over the past 450 years has been composed specifically for this service. At St. George's we offer Evensong monthly on the third Tuesday of the month (September–May) and quarterly on Sundays during the school year. Evensong lasts just under an hour and provides a great opportunity to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” later in the day. It's also a wonderful way to introduce your friends to the St. George's!  

This Sunday's Evensong & Moonbounce with District Taco (at 4pm) is an excellent time to bring friends and children to discover this wonderful service and the fellowship that follows.  I hope to see you all there! 

Soli Deo Gloria!
Ben Keseley, Minister of Music