07/04/2026
About the music: The prelude and postlude on the Erben this Sunday, the 14th in Ordinary Time, celebrates the Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) of the nation's founding. For prelude, music comes from the important late-18th century collection assembled by Francis Hopkinson. Hopkinson, well-known to Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and others, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the Constitutional Convention. He amassed an extensive collection of music from diverse sources, including music from English, German, Italian, and French composers. A diplomat, politician, poet, and inventor, he studied with James Bremner in Philadelphia, and played the Feyring organ at Christ Church, taking over from Bremner. That organ was one of the largest in the colonies, and was replaced by an Erben in the 1830s. The postlude is by the great Dudley Buck, who, through prestigious appointments and concerts, established the pipe organ as a dominant cultural force in 19th-century America. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Buck trained as an organist and composer in Europe, and brought European classical forms and aesthetics to the USA, though always through an American lens. The Fughetta comes from his Concert Variations on “The Star-Spangled Banner," and was dedicated to his friend and fellow concert organist and composer, Eugene Thayer. This particular piece was published in the year of our Erben (1868), and even includes a variation featuring a pedal solo.
The Communion hymn is the American folk tune "Jerusalem, My Happy Home"; the original 16th or 17th century poem, signed "F. B. P." in the British Library, contained 26 stanzas and was closely modeled after older Latin meditations, some attributed to Saint Augustine. The music, the folk tune known as "Land of Rest," was first published in the 1836 shape-note compilation The Sacred Harp, with roots in the ballads of northern England and Scotland, was known throughout the Appalachians.
Building on the themes of mercy and majesty., the Offertory anthem, "Lord, for thy tender mercy's sake," was composed by Richard Farrant (Master of the Chapel Royal). It is sometimes attributed to other composers of the period including Tallis or Hilton, due to fragmentary sources. Some editions omit the final amen, which may have been added. The text is taken from Christian Prayers and Holy Meditations (1566) by Henry Bull. It is possible the music is derived from a Latin hymn and repurposed. In any event, it remains one of the most well-loved Tudor anthems and is a beautiful setting of the text.
The Communion proper is Gustate et videte ("taste and see") and we will chant it, and then sing a motet by Roman school composer Giammateo Asola. Asola was a late-Renaissance composer, and though he spent most of his career at San Severo in Venice, his style adheres more closely to the Roman school of composers. He was one of the first composers to employ a basso continuo, and the work will be performed accompanied by the Erben organ. This is followed by an English translation of the Latin proper set to Kievan chant, a form of chant that originated in Eastern Ukraine in the 17th century. Kievan chant is a simplified form, often harmonized in four parts, and more metrical than the Gregorian chant we sing (though Gregorian chants were also often set this way in the 17th/18th century). Don't forget: Vespers at 6:30PM this week; gather by the piano to review psalms at 6PM. Stay cool and hydrated!
