Robert Morehead

June 21, 2015

5.  Our Hymn of Response~Reflections from the lyricist

"Jesus Sat and Watched The Crowd" is based on the story of the widow's offering.
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette states: "One of the wonderful Bible stories that many children learn in church school is " the widow's mite." It is one of the first stories we learn and perhaps one of the hardest to accept. As adults, we argue with the text: "Who would take care of her, if she gave everything away? Is it practical to give away everything? Isn't careful planning and saving a better approach?"
Sometimes people are reluctant to give to the church because they are not happy with how every penny is being spent by the institution. It is interesting that Jesus had problems with the Temple and yet he did not allow that to become an excuse for not giving to God. Jesus still commended the woman for her faithful and sacrificial gift. God knows what is in our hearts and our wallets. And we probably know, deep inside, that giving generously and trusting God completely will lead to the richness that the widow knew when she gave everything she had."

Sunday's Prelude: Scarlatti Piano Sonatas (L 457, L 217)
Sunday's Postlude: "Toccata" from God Who Blesses Us, His Name Be Praised-Richman

 

June 7, 2015

5.  Today's Musical Offering: E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come

Today's offering music is an arrangement for trumpet of Paul Manz's 1953 motet "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come." The text of the work was primarily adapted from Revelation 22: "And night shall be no more; they need no light nor lamp nor sun, for Christ will be their all."
Paul and Ruth Manz composed this motet during a severe illness of their three-year old son. Ruth Manz stated the following about this challenging valley of their lives: "I think we'd reached the point where we felt that time was certainly running out so we committed it to the Lord and said, 'Lord Jesus, quickly come.'"
Her husband Paul began composing the piece at his son's bedside setting it with a slow (adagio) tempo however allowing space for the phrases to "breathe."
The great news is that due to a dedicated spirit of prayer their son recovered.
We are not granted our next hour-when will we commit our time to the Lord completely by saying " E'en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come?"

May 31, 2015

5.  Connecting today's organ works to the story of Paul

As we study Paul's Final Days as part of our Story series, we are reminded that Paul never wasted a moment. As Adam T. Barr mentions, "whether writing letters or witnessing to Roman soldiers, Paul spent his entire life sharing the gospel and caring for the young, growing churches he had planted." Today's Gathering Music  is based upon the creed of the church. The first version is an earlier work of Bach and is a fugue that includes a distinctive leap of a fifth which could possibly represent a type of leitmotif of faith.  It is also of interest that this same leap characterizes the later work of Bach (BWV 680) and one can hear it right at the beginning. A basso ostinato is added to the voices of the fugue and its firm tread (listen for it in the pedals) signifies a reliance on faith. 

Sunday's Prelude:  Wir glauben all an einen Gott (BWV 1098, 680)- J.S. Bach
Sunday's Postlude:  Allegro in B-flat- Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
 

May 17, 2015

5. In Christ Alone

"In Christ Alone" was written by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty in 2002 and is considered a modern hymn that encompasses the themes of life, death and the resurrection of Christ.  Townend and Getty capture biblical truth in this hymn which according to them "will not only cause people to express their worship in church, but will build them up in their Christian lives." Stuart Townend is particularly excited about the lyrics: "The lyric excites me because it places our hope, our assurance, our eternal destiny in the right place-on the solid foundation of Christ. I know in my own life I need reminding continually not to live by my feelings or my circumstances, but by the unchanging truth of the gospel."

Sunday's Prelude- All Who Are Thirsty (Brown)
Sunday's Postlude-"Allegro" from Water Music (Handel)

May 10, 2015

5. The transcendence of Handel's Messiah

Today, we will hear 2 movements from Handel's masterpiece that was composed in only 24 days and initially exhibited a low number of compositional errors before its first performance on April 13, 1742 in Dublin.  Handel stated the following on composing the oratorio with texts selected from the King James Bible by Charles Jennens: "I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God Himself." On composing the "Hallelujah Chorus" he exclaimed after weeping: "Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it I know not. God knows." When his assistant checked on him in his work area, Handel held up the famous chorus and proclaimed: "I have seen the face of God!"  There is no doubt that The Messiah  of the most performed works of any composer and interestingly enough Handel did not want the credit. At the end of his score, Handel wrote the letters "SDG" for Soli Deo Gloria, which means , "To God Alone The Glory."

Sunday's Prelude: Sonata-Cherubini (Arr. Chilla)
Sunday's Postlude: "Hallelujah" from Messiah -Handel

May 3, 2015

5. Ave Verum Corpus-A moment for Mozart to experience Christ?

Mozart, to our knowledge, did not hold strong beliefs of the Christian faith throughout his life. However, during the sickness of his wife Constanze (who was pregnant with their 6th child), he composed a short Eucharistic motet titled: "Ave Verum Corpus." The text of this motet focuses on Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for all people and the symbolism of water and blood in correspondence to communion. Wolff states that this motet "foreshadows aspects of (Mozart's) Requiem such as declamatory gesture, textures, and integration of forward- and backward- looking stylistic elements." Interestingly enough, Mozart interrupted the composition of one of his most famous operas (Die Zauberflöte)  to compose this motet. Quite possibly Mozart may have been relating his spouse's suffering to his own as is was only six months before his own death. Of particular note is the last line of the text: "O sweet Jesus, O holy Jesus, O Jesus, son of Mary, have mercy on me." 

Prelude: Christ, der du bist der helle Tag (BWV 1120); Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 1096); Du Friedefuerst, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 1102)-J.S. Bach
Postlude: "Minuet" from Music For The Royal Fireworks-Handel/Biggs

April 26, 2015

5. Jeanne Demessieux's short  work "Tu Es Petrus"

Today's  short Act of Praise contains a chant that depicts Matthew 16:18: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.   Listen  for the following in Jeanne Demessieux's setting for the organ:

• Its march-like quality representing the beginning of the journey of the Church of Christ
• Its rigid, stationary and fixed bass line that represents the foundation of the Church
• Its loud, declamatory statement of the chant reminding us of the victory of the Church-that God has already acquired the victory!

Prelude: Largo-Handel
Postlude: Paraphrase On A Chorus In Judas Maccabeus (handel), Op. 90, No. 16- Guilmant
 

April 19, 2015

5. A spiritual take on a motet of Handel

 Today, for our Introit, the Sanctuary Choir will sing a short vocal motet of the Baroque composer.  This motet is a response to Psalm 141.  Chris Juby via twitter summarizes it this way: "O LORD, may my prayer be as incense. Do not turn my heart to evil. Let the righteous rebuke me. Keep me from the traps of the wicked."
Handel's textual response reminds us that our only response to evil and sin is trusting alone in our Savior Jesus Christ.  Set in a slow tempo and indicative of small dynamic shifts, I think Handel allows the believer to hear this in a different way:
1. The opening statement including its simple fugue-like imitation reminds us that much vies for our attention and trust other than Christ
2. The softer dynamic reminds us that trusting involves Jesus living in our hearts
3. The louder dynamic at the finish can be considered a statement of faith as we trust God through the times of trial ("The times we want to shout") but we still  remain unwavering from our commitment to Jesus.
I invite you to try this interpretation today. 

Sunday's Prelude:  "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" from Messiah- Gower/Handel
Sunday's Postlude: "The Rejoicing" from The Music For The Royal Fireworks-Biggs/Handel

March 22 2015

5. Hymn History: God of Grace And God Of Glory

This hymn text was composed in 1930 by Harry E. Fosdick as an opening hymn for a worship service.  The theme centers around the Church's role in the world. Fosdick was a controversial preacher as he refused certain church positions because he thought they were more concerned with their wealth than with worshiping Christ. Tiffany Shomsky states, "This hymn is a prayer for God's help for the church to live in God's power and love. Each stanza concludes with a two-line petition for wisdom and courage that was originally meant to be sung to one musical phrase." In fact, the original tune set to Fosdick's text was "Regent Square" and as the librettist, he was not pleased when churches began to select "Cwm Rhondda" as the tune instead. Maybe that is due to the fact that hymnal editiors considered it to have too much vigor to be a "proper hymn tune." Nevertheless, the tune and text remain today as a bold prayer asking for God's wisdom and courage to face the problems of the everyday.