10:00am Eucharist, II

      Carrie Shirley, Soprano

      John Linker, Organist

            Stanford / Lento (Op. 105)

            Bach / Quia respexit (from Magnificat, BWV 243)

            Handel / He shall feed his flock (from Messiah)

            Stanford / Allegro (Op. 105)

            Hymns

            517*                   How lovely is thy dwelling-place           Brother James'Air

            402* (st. 1)         Father, we thank thee who hast planted        Rendez � Dieu

            657*                   Love divine, all loves excelling                              Hyfrydol

5:00pm Eucharist, II

      John Linker, Organist

            Stanford / Lento (Op. 105)

            Stanford / Allegro (Op. 105)

            Hymns

            517*                   How lovely is thy dwelling-place           Brother James'Air

            402* (st. 1)         Father, we thank thee who hast planted       Rendez � Dieu

            45*                     To you before the close of day        Te lucis ante terminum

[* = Hymns chosen from the 2009 Hymn Survey]

Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924), is an icon of early 20^th century church music. Though born in Ireland, Stanford made England his home for most of his life. His organ music is chromatic yet tuneful. The gentle Lento, with its stepwise voice leading and cantabile style, is reminiscent of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words. The raucous Allegro is in ABA form, that is, a theme is presented to establish character and key, a second (contrasting) theme in the parallel minor is delivered, then the original theme returns juxtaposed with elements of the second theme to provide a climactic conclusion.

Magnificat, BWV 243,by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was composed for use at Vespers on Christmas Day, 1723. The introspective Quia respexit humilitatem for solo soprano is the third of this twelve-movement work. The orchestral part translates very well on our organ as the 8' Oboe in the Swell division convincingly replicates the Oboe d'Amore originally scored for this work.

The celebrated oratorio Messiah by G.F. Handel (1685-1759) is unique to his 29 oratorios in that it mixes texts from both the Old and New Testament. "Shepherd" references abound throughout Messiah, and with its gently rocking 12/8 meter, He shall feed his flock is a sublime aria evoking pastoral images. With a generally stepwise melodic contour and slow harmonic rhythm, this miniature masterpiece is dear to the hearts of countless Baroque music enthusiasts.