Musical Notes for Lent 1

MUSIC NOTES

Prelude

Prelude on “Heinlein”                                                                   Alec Wyton

Introit

(Psalm 91: 15-16) He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will deliver him and honor him: With long life will I satisfy him; and show him My salvation. (Psalm 91:1) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Offertory

(Psalm 91:4) He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Prelude on “Heinlein”                                                                   Alec Wyton

Postlude

Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir                                            Samuel Scheidt

Today is the first Sunday of Lent, a penitential season of 40 days that began on Ash Wednesday. The Alleluia and the Gloria in Excelsis are omitted until Maundy Thursday during Holy Week. The names for this Sunday are Latin terms: Quadragesima (Latin word for 40), 40 days before Easter minus Sundays, and Invocavit, from the Introit for today from Psalm 91:15 “Invocavit me et exaudiam eum”.

The Processional Hymn is from a Lenten poem written in 1856 by George Hunt Smyttan, an English Anglican priest; the tune from a mid-17th German tune for Psalm 130. Alec Wyton (1921-2007), English organist-choirmaster of New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, composed (Prelude) a trio (3 parts or voices) on a flute with the tune on a pedal reed, and (Offertory) a piece with a rocking motion with the tune in longer notes on organ strings.

The Recessional Hymn text is from a 1906 translation of a Latin poem attributed to St. Gregory the Great, who became Pope in A.D. 590; the tune is from 1546 for Martin Luther’s hymn, “Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy word.”

The postlude, on Luther’s hymn for Psalm 130 (From depths of woe I cry to Thee) is by Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654), Kapellmeister to the Margrave of Brandenburg.