Music Notes for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost — September 1, 2024

Prelude in E flat (BWV 552,1) – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

 

Click to watch video on Youtube.

When, in 1739, Bach published his Clavierübung Part III, he flanked a miscellaneous collection of liturgical settings, chorale preludes and duos with a monumental prelude at the beginning of the volume and tripartite fugue at the end. In a volume that was essentially devoted to the Trinity, there could have been no clearer statement than this piece, with its reference to the number three.

The Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV552 were not always connected to each other. Although in the same key, and indeed copied as separate works in the eighteenth century, it was only in the early nineteenth, and with the specific advocacy of Mendelssohn, that they were performed in sequence as a pair. The prelude, one of the two largest Bach wrote for organ, is a masterly mixture of stately French and concertante Italian elements. It is heard this Sunday morning in church as the organ postlude; the linked video includes the fugue.

Gerald Harder

 

 

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Music Notes for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost — August 25, 2024

All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name – Text: Edward Perronet (1726-1792); John Rippon (1751-1836) / Music: William Shrubsole (1759?-1806)

 

Click to watch video on Youtube.

This morning’s offertory hymn, All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name, is a hymn with a complicated history. The first verse appeared in the November 1779 Gospel Magazine to the tune of “Shrubsole”, afterwards known as “Miles Lane”. In the April 1780 edition of the same magazine, the complete hymn was given with the title “On the Resurrection, the Lord is King.” Through a lot of cross-referencing, experts are quite certain the author of this text was Edward Perronet. Four years after this publication, G. Burder, in his Collection, adapted the hymn giving it four stanzas, altering some text, and titled it “The Coronation Hymn.” John Rippon, in his 1787 Selection of Hymns, also altered the text. Most modern hymns are now based on a combination of Perronet’s and Rippon’s text. The variations and different pairings of the text abound, but many hymnals include four stanzas: 1-3 by Perronet and altered by Rippon, and stanza 4 by Rippon.

There are three main tunes for this hymn: “Coronation” is found in most American hymnals along with “Diadem”, which is also found in hymnals from Great Britain along with “Miles Lane”. “Coronation” features a sturdier marching feel, while “Diadem” is more ornate and includes elaborate harmonies. “Miles Lane”, which we sing this morning, has a wide melodic range, and a climax in the refrain.

All hail the power of Jesu’s name;
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem
To crown him Lord of all.

Crown him, ye morning stars of light,
Who fixed this floating ball;
Now hail the Strength of Israel’s might,
And crown him Lord of all.

Crown him, ye martyrs of your God,
Who from his altar call;
Praise him whose way of pain ye trod,
And crown him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race,
Ye ransomed of the fall,
Hail him who saves you by his grace,
And crown him Lord of all.

Hail him, ye heirs of David’s line,
Whom David Lord did call;
The God incarnate, Man divine,
And crown him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget
The wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at his feet,
And crown him Lord of all.

Let every tribe and every tongue
To him their hearts enthral,
Lift high the universal song,
And crown him Lord of all.

Gerald Harder

 

 

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