Musical Notes for May 5th 2019

Musical Notes for May 5th 2019

Prelude                                This Joyful Eastertide                     David Polley

David Polley (b.1953), music director at Grace Episcopal Church, Georgetown, Texas, created his organ setting of this hymn using two contrasting flute stops with a flowing accompaniment against the tune.

Introit

(Psalm 33:5b-6a) The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord:  by the word of the Lord were the heavens made. (Psalm 33:1) Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

As during Lent, each Sunday in Eastertide has a Latin name from the first words of the Introit. The name for the Second Sunday of Easter is Misericordias Domini from Psalm 33:5b: “Misericordia Domini plena est terra.”

Offertory

(Psalm 63:1a, 4b) O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: I will lift up my hands in Thy name.

Anthem: This Joyful Eastertide

This Easter hymn has an evolution over three centuries. The tune, originating as a 17th century love song from the Netherlands, became a hymn tune in 1685 when it was published in the Netherlands in Joachim Oudaen’s David’s Psalmen. George Ratcliffe Woodward, an Anglican priest who translated Greek, Latin and German hymns into English, published a collection Carols for Easter and Ascension (1894) that included this poem. He collaborated with Charles Wood, an Irish composer who wrote the harmonization of the tune. The frequent rising of the melody coincides with the theme of the resurrection of Christ.

Postlude              Victory (“The Strife is O’er”)        Robin Dinda

Robin Dinda (b.1959), Massachusetts composer/organist and graduate of Davidson College, wrote his festive setting of this Easter hymn that places the tune (adapted from the Renaissance composer Palestrina) in the manuals and pedals.