An oops!

Today I was leafing through the binder where I record the hymns/songs we sing each week at St. Andrew's looking for a certain hymn. I came across this: "O breath of life, come (swapping) sweeping through us". Something or someone must have distracted me while I was writing down the title! (You might think for a musician, particularly an organist, I'd be able to do more than one thing at once...) I burst out laughing :) Then I thought, this is not a bad mixup of words, in a rather funny way. God's Spirit can sweep through us, and before we know it, things are replaced or swapped for other things. Priorities change, attitudes change, we change - through the power of the Holy Spirit. A good reminder during the season of Pentecost, eh?

"Rabbi, carest Thou not that we perish?"

Sunday's gospel lesson was Mark 4:35-41 where we learn of a stormy boat trip taken by Jesus and his disciples. I have always liked this passage for many reasons. 1. Christ seemed oblivious to the storm; He was asleep. 2. The disciples accused Him of not caring what happened to them. 3. Jesus commanded the wind and waves to be still and they were! 4. The disciples were filled with awe. (And they apparently still did not understand who Jesus was.)

While choosing hymns for the service I recalled this hymn from my early years and would like to share it with you, my reader. It has been many years since I have sung it! You can read a little about how the words were written and hear the tune here.

Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o'ershadowed with blackness, No shelter or help is nigh;
Carest Thou not that we perish? How canst Thou lie asleep,
When each moment so madly is threat'ning A grave in the angry deep?

Chorus
The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will, Peace, be still!
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,
Or demons, or men, or whatever it be,
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies:
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, peace be still!

Master, with anguish of spirit I bow in my grief today;
The depths of my sad heart are troubled - Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish Sweep o'er my sinking soul,
And I perish! I perish! dear Master - Oh, hasten, and take control.

Master, the terror is over, The elements sweetly rest;
Earth's sun in the calm lake is mirrored, And heaven's within my breast;
Linger, O blessed Redeemer! Leave me alone no more,
And with joy I shall make the blest harbor, And rest on the blissful shore.

Words by Mary A. Baker Music by H.R. Palmer

Here might I stay and sing

A wonderful man of God, Dr. Hugh Rae, went home this week. Over the many years that I have known the Rae family, I have one enduring picture in my mind of Dr. Rae. In my mind's eye I see him standing, hands clasped, singing heartily from memory all the verses of CRIMOND. He has walked through "death's dark vale" to the other side and could he still speak, I am sure his testimony would be, "Goodness and mercy all my life [have] surely follow[ed] me."

Earlier this week I had planned to write about another hymn, the one in the title of this post, "My song is love unknown". It will be used during Communion on Sunday and so I have been singing it often this week. There are times when it seems like a good idea to just stay at church singing about God's love rather than facing the world with its struggles. For the Christian, the place and time for unending praise will come in eternity where our only focus will be God - "in whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend."

Over the last couple days, these two hymns have come together for me. Dr. Rae, who so obviously loved God and loved singing His praise is now spending all his days doing just that.

Jesus Shall Reign

We sang "Jesus shall reign" on Sunday and ever since this post has been stewing in my brain. Until I went to St. Andrew's in 1998 I had always sung these words to DUKE STREET. In The Book of Praise (1997) however, the words are married to the tune WARRINGTON. I find myself humming the second tune more easily than the first when I think of the text these days and that seemed rather strange to me given the fact that I have spent more decades of my life singing DUKE STREET.

This pondering led me down the metrical road. I'm not talking kilometers here! Of course, the text is in the same meter no matter what the tune. (This is 8888 or Long Meter.) My focus has been on the tune and how the melodic flow seems to emphasize different words.

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
does its successive journeys run;
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.

(When you sing it to WARRINGTON in 3/4 time, the bold type is what you get for syllabic emphasis.)

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
does his successive journeys run;
His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

When you sing it to DUKE STREET in 4/4 time, the bold type is what you get for syllabic emphasis.)

Quite honestly, I was surprised at the results when I went through the words. I thought there would be more difference in the emphasis in the words between the 2 tunes, especially given the different time signatures. So maybe, in the end, it just comes down to which tune you are accustomed to singing at any given time. Oh, incidentally, I found another tune used for these words in The Hymnary of the United Church of Canada which was published in 1930 - old to us now, but then it was a brand new hymnal for a brand new denomination! That tune is RIMINGTON, a tune which is new to me.

Victoria Day

Up here north of the 49th we are approaching the first long weekend of 'summer'. (I write this with tongue in cheek as the temperature at 9:40 a.m. is only 2C (36F) - so far below normal it's disgusting!) We still observe Queen Victoria's birthday, which is actually May 24th, although the holiday is designated as the Monday preceding the 24th. In researching her well known connection with Felix Mendelssohn, I learned a little more about her husband Prince Albert. I knew that he was a musician of sorts and that he played the organ. Organists know this kind of thing! What I learned was that he also wrote music. You can read a little more about that here. I don't know that I have ever heard any of Prince Albert's compositions although apparently they are performed from time to time. So, happy Victoria Day; enjoy the fireworks!

Dreaming in Music

Last night I was dreaming in music. Sunday's anthem was floating somewhere in my subconscious - maybe in the state of "This music is so glorious, I can't let it go, even when I'm asleep!" I rarely accompany the choir on the organ, but this week I am and maybe that is part of what makes the music so wonderful. It's also the fact that it is written by John Rutter and I've never met a Rutter anthem I didn't like.

"So what is this glorious music?" you may ask. The title is Eternal God, c. 1999 by Collegium Music Publications. I have an edition printed by Hinshaw Music, Inc. All the verses have great lyrics, but a few lines in particular stand out for me.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for music,
Blest gift from heav'n to all your servants here on earth...

and

As we are blest, so may our gift bless others:
May hearts be touched and spirits lifted up anew.

I hope you, my reader, will have an opportunity to hear this piece sometime.