Music for 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

 

One of the things I love about our Anglican musical heritage is how we draw on the richness of other traditions. Our opening hymn tune was written by one of the great leaders of the Reformation, Martin Luther, in 1529; two hundred years later J.S. Bach harmonised it for his Cantata No 80. Our offertory hymn has music by Orlando Gibbons, from the first century of the Anglican church; the beautiful text was by an American Unitarian minister of the mid-19th century.

At communion we sing a hymn that may not be so familiar; its communion-focused text comes from the Iona Community in Scotland, and its melody is a traditional French folk tune. And we end with a hymn from the preacher-poet William Williams who travelled Wales in the Calvinist Methodist tradition of the 19th century.

The service setting , colloquially known as “Wood in the Phryg” is one which owes much to the Renaissance polyphonic tradition, but which was written in 1919. Charles Wood was Irish by birth, but taught at Cambridge and in London.  The Phrygian Mode is essentially a minor scale with a flattened second note.  The motet is an arrangement of R.L. Pearsall’s Victorian madrigal “Lay A Garland”, in four parts with organ, rather than the original 8-part, and was adapted for a Lamb of God setting, rather as Samuel Barber’s famous Adagio for Strings is also set as a choral Agnus Dei.

Brigid Coult

Solemn Mass takes place at St. James’ Anglican Church, Vancouver at 10:30 am every Sunday.