We shoulda charged admission...

GREAT choir rehearsal last night! Whereas last week's rehearsal was primarily concerned with simply reading through and getting a feel for a stack of music mostly new to the group, last night we had a chance to work more in depth on some of the pieces.

And the results were wonderful: There were moments of great music-making, passionate singing that were simply thrilling to hear. This is one of the marvelous secrets the congregation doesn't get to share - the magic moments of transcendent music-making which occur when talented singers "get it," all at the same time. When I worked in musical theatre, we talked about "finding the groove," those occasions when a show finally set, when we all knew exactly what to do, what to expect, anticipating and preparing for each passage in each song in the show.

Last night, the Senior Choir began to find its groove. It's something we have to work for on each piece, and we have a long way to go (9 of the 15 pieces we'll sing this fall are new to the group - a larger than average percentage of new works for a church choir's schedule). But we had some glorious moments, some amazing sounds last night. Driving home, I found myself wondering: If they sound like this the second rehearsal of the season, just where might this choir go this year? Interesting question; time will tell.

This Sunday we begin our second year using the Narrative Lectionary, and the text for the day is Genesis 1 - Creation. The choir's anthem is a choral setting of the hymn I Sing the Mighty Power of God by Anna Laura Page.

It's an altogether grand setting of the piece. The choir is accompanied by organ, piano, brass quartet and handbells. Festive, it is.

The words to the hymn come from Isaac Watts (1674-1748), the Father of English Hymnody (he's credited with writing about 750 hymns).

Watts' taste for verse showed it­self in ear­ly child­hood, and his prom­ise caused a lo­cal doc­tor and other friends to of­fer him a un­i­ver­si­ty ed­u­ca­tion, as­sum­ing he would be or­dained in the Church of Eng­land.


How­ev­er, Watts de­clined and in­stead en­tered a Non­con­for­mist (non-Anglican) Acad­e­my. He left the Acad­e­my at age 20 and spent two years at home; it was dur­ing this per­i­od that he wrote the bulk of his Hymns and Spir­it­u­al Songs.
The present work comes from Di­vine and Mor­al Songs for Child­ren (1715). The text echoes a creation text from Jeremiah 10:12-13:

It is he who made the earth by his power,
    who established the world by his wisdom,
    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
    and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightnings for the rain,
    and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.

The tune for this hymn is Forest Green, a traditional English tune arranged by composer Ralph Vaughan Williams for the English Hymnal of 1906. Interestingly, the same tune as been used for O Little Town of Bethlehem.

The choir (and accompanying musicians) will present the work at both the 9:00 and 10:30 services on Sunday.