Music Notes for August 30, 2026

Music for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

In today’s gospel, Jesus calls on his disciples to “take up their cross” and follow him. The responsibility of Christian vocation denoted in this passage self-emphasizes as a consequential and difficult burden to bear; yet the first reading frames the call of God as a blessing and providence. Indeed, the symbolism of the cross associated with suffering and condemnation during the life of Jesus has come to impart a message of hope and comfort in Christiantiy. As today’s readings foreshadow the upcoming Feast of the Holy Cross, today’s music reflects this duality: the fact that we must all “carry our cross,” and that in doing so, an immense weight is also lifted from our shoulders.

All of us carry something difficult with us through part of or all of our lives, a quality that differentiates our human experience and binds us together. Such is the outcry in the first line of the chorale on which today’s opening voluntary is based: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, for I know my misdeeds and repent,” a paraphrase of Psalm 51. The text of this psalm is penitent, seeking forgiveness for the fault that is inherent to all humanity. This brings to mind one of the elements I most appreciate in studying historical repertories: that the context, assigned meaning, and interpretation of art may transform over time, but (at least to my judgement) the human emotions behind it do not. This chorale depicts the weight of the “misdeeds” with heart-wrenching chromatic turns and a highly affected galant gesture often associated with weeping. Its anonymous author employs the theories of rhetoric and ornamentation associated with late-18th century Germany to great effect; this is one of my favourite unknown settings which I found in unpublished archives during my masters’ studies.

Perhaps the answer to the suffering-salvation dichotomy lies in the second reading, which is often read at celebrations of matrimony. The text defines the experience of love as everlasting, instructing that one “rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” Charles Piroyé’s Symphonie bears no title but “l’Immortelle,” yet I have always imagined this to refer to human love – fiery, unbridled, at times irrational, and everlasting.

–Abraham Ross

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

 

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Music Notes for August 23, 2026

Music for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

In the Middle Ages, the words of Christ to Peter in today’s gospel from Matthew were set into a votive antiphon for the feast of St. Peter. The melody you hear sung at the start of communion today (Tu es petrus) was a popular subject for both Mass settings and motets in the Renaissance, set by Palestrina, Clemens non Papa, Philips, Byrd, and Morales, among others. In the twentieth century, Saint-Saens, Dubois, and Duruflé all composed motets on the work for occasions celebrating the origins of the Church.

The setting for organ played as today’s closing voluntary was written in 1948 by the French virtuoso Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968). It is uncharacteristically concise and straightforward compared with her other organ compositions, which are regarded as some of the most technically challenging in the repertory.

Demessieux was born in the south of France and achieved status as a child prodigy by the age of 8, winning prizes in solfège and piano from the conservatory in Montpellier. She entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of 12, where each entering class competed against each other for prizes and, most importantly, a spot in the returning class the following term. I can’t help but smile at the thought of a more typical student (perhaps an enterprising 21-year-old Parisian composer) sitting down in their first counterpoint class next to a small child in a pleated dress, only to be vastly outperformed by her in subsequent months.

Indeed, Demessieux achieved top rankings in harmony, piano, fugue, and counterpoint, was appointed as titulaire at the church of St-Ésprit at the age of 13, and went on to an illustrious solo career. She was the first woman organist to ever sign a record contract. Her students include Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, Louis Thiry, and Pierre Labric.

–Abraham Ross

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

 

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