RIP, Paul Manz (1919-2009)

I received the news last night that the composer who brought us such wonderful pieces as E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come and Aria passed away last night, surrounded by loved ones.

From Michael Barrone: “His son John reported that, with the family gathered round the bedside, they had put on a recording of the marvelous choral piece that Paul and
Ruth had created, and when the text came round again to “E’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come”, Paul breathed his last.”

For a wonderful tribute to this great composer and church musician, go to the Pipedreams website for the show that aired April 2, 2001. Click here to listen.

RIP, Dr Manz. May your music live on forever.

St Jude’s Novena 2009: Final Mass

Today's Mass concluded the St Jude’s Novena Mission 2009. And what a Mass it was!

St Jude’s Novena 2009
St Jude’s Parish & Shrine, Vancouver, BC, Canada
25 October 2009

Ordo Missae: Missa de Angelis
Proprium: By Flowing Waters, Mass II for Ordinary Time
Entrance: procession around the Church (due to inclement weather)
BFW 415, from propers for Apostles (Psalm 19:4 – “Their voice goes out to all the world; their message, to the ends of the earth.”)
Offertory: Asperges Me^* (Michael Haydn, 1737–1806)
BFW 235/236 (Psalm 5 – “Hear my cry for help, my King and my God.”)
Communion: BFW 237/238 (Psalm 13 – “Let me sing to you, Lord, for all your goodness to me.”)
BFW 228/229 (Luke 4:22 – “And all the people marvelled at the words that came from the mouth of the Lord.”)
Mass followed by the Novena Prayers to St Jude, and the Hymn to St Jude (“tastefully arranged” by Michael Jarvis)

* In our best German Latin!

Compline at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC - 10.18.2009

Still playing catch-up... coming down with the flu will do that to a person.

Compline at Chapel of the Cross.

We've been using the Order for Compline, as set by David Hurd.

Here are our little additions:

Let my prayer come up into Thy presence (Henry Purcell)
Psalms 4 and 31 (chanted to Tone 8)
Hymn: To you before the close of day (TE LUCIS ANTE TERMINUM, plainsong Mode 8)
Nunc Dimittis from Short Service (O. Gibbons)
Salve Regina (Marian antiphon right after the Dismissal)
A portion of Ave Maria (Josquin Desprez)
Organ Voluntary by the equally abfab Dr. Van Quinn. He improvised on the opening lines of the Josquin Ave Maria.

(Note: the picture above depicts one of the votive candle layouts that Jimmy Satterwhite had laid out a couple of years ago. I can't remember where the picture came from, though.)

St Jude’s Novena 2009

St Jude’s Novena 2009
St Jude’s Parish & Shrine, Vancouver, BC, Canada
16–25 October 2009

As in past years, a guest priest was invited to speak at St Jude’s annual Novena. This year’s visitor, Rev Gregory Pritchard, came all the way from Melbourne, Australia; specifically, from St Joseph’s Chelsea Parish. His homily series was on “pearls of price”: essentially, God’s gifts to us.

I very much enjoyed his speaking. His message was overall a very positive, encouraging one – a reminder about God’s great love for us, in the form of these great pearls. He also spoke of our obligations to God (such as coming to Mass), not as a burden, but a joy.

Before I get to the music list, I just want to remark how impressed I was with Fr Pritchard’s apparent enthusiasm for singing the Mass, and the obvious effort he spent to emulate the singing done regularly by our pastor, Fr Lawrence. I played the first Novena Mass on Friday 16 October, with Fr Lawrence singing the Mass; when I returned to play the next Friday, lo and behold! Fr Pritchard was singing the Mass, just as Fr Lawrence would. Simply put, it was delightful to hear, and the congregation returned the gesture loud and clear in their sung responses.

If nothing else, I think it serves as a wonderful example of how it is not difficult to have a full Missa cantata; all it requires is some effort to understand what the church asks, and a desire for beauty in the liturgy. I wish more priests (and musicians!) could have this experience.

Without further ado, here is the music list for the two Masses I played (16 & 23 October):

Missa Jubilate Deo
Entrance: BFW^* 415, from propers for Apostles (Psalm 19:4 – “Their voice goes out to all the world; their message, to the ends of the earth.”)
Psalm: BFW 339, from propers for Sts Peter & Paul (Psalm 45:16 – “You shall make them Princes in every part of the earth.”)
Offertory: from the Little Organ Book (Flor Peeters, 1903–1986):
16 October: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (F W Zachow, 1663–1712)
23 October: Versus IV-Toni (A de Cabezón, 1510–1566)
Communion:
16 October: Voluntary II from Ten Voluntaries for Organ, op VI (J Stanley, 1712–1786)
23 October: Cantilène religieuse (Th Dubois, 1837–1924)
Mass followed by Novena prayers to St Jude, then the Hymn to St Jude (“tastefully arranged”^† by Michael Jarvis)

* By Flowing Waters
† It’s printed right on the score – direct quote, honest!

18 October - Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 24

Still playing catch-up.

I have three lists for you here.

My turn for cantoring the 7:45 am Mass at Immaculate Conception came up last Sunday. Here is the music, including some, but not all, organ voluntary music my friend Jane played. Any numbers you see come out of GIA's Gather Comprehensive 1994 (green cover), unless otherwise specified.

Sunday 7:45 am Mass: Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Prelude: Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 610; J.S. Bach)
Hymn in Procession: 685, Moved by the Gospel, let us move (KINGSFOLD)
Gloria: 176, New Mass for Congregations (C.T. Andrews)
Psalm: Psalm 33 (M. Guimont)
Gospel Acclamation: 257, Alleluia 7 (Berthier)
Offertory: 741, God is here! As we his people (ABBOT'S LEIGH)
Sanctus, Mem. Accl., Amen: 297, 298, 299, St. Louis Jesuits Mass (unfortunately :P)
Agnus Dei: 314, Holy Cross Mass (Isele)
Communion: I didn't actually catch what it was Jane played.
Recessional Hymn: 615, Seek ye first the kingdom of God (SEEK YE FIRST)
Postlude: I didn't catch this one either.

Sigh. I'm sorry, but I really really really really dislike the St. Louis Jesuits Mass setting. It's the most banal piece of "muzak" I've ever had to experience. At least the ever-beautiful Isele setting of the Agnus Dei was paired with it.

Perhaps I'm sensitive to this, but when I hear horrid Music at Mass, I just cannot concentrate on the Mass. A friend of mine, who is the DM at a church that shall not be named, put it very well when he said that most of the "contemporary" music that comes from the modern "songbooks" (I can't call them hymnals) like OCP's Spirit and Song, is really more performance-oriented than it is congregation-friendly. His observation that the congregation just simply doesn't sing when those songs are programmed is spot-on. I've experienced that myself.

Sigh. Why is it that whenever I cantor at Mass, I always seem to have some sort of rant about the music? Can't we Catholics do any better than this???

Sorry. Off my soapbox.

---

St. Joseph's Episcopal Church where I played the usual 10:30 am service. As usual, the numbers are out of The Hymnal 1982.

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost: Holy Eucharist Rite II
Prelude: Prelude in B-flat Major (attr. J. S. Bach)
Processional Hymn: 379, God is love, let heaven adore him (ABBOT'S LEIGH)
Gloria: S-277, New Plainsong (Hurd)
Psalm: Ps 104, Simplfied Anglican Chant
Sequence Hymn: 348, Lord, we have come at your own invitation (O QUANTA QUALIA)
Offertory Hymn: 426, Songs of praise the angels sang (NORTHAMPTON)
Sanctus: S-125, Community Mass (Proulx)
Lord's Prayer: chanted (S-119 in Hymnal 1982)
Fraction Anthem: S-167, The disciples knew the Lord Jesus (M. Martens; Mode 6)
Communion Anthem: God be merciful unto us and bless us (Deus misereatur nostri; Psalm 67; H. Willan)
Recessional Hymn: 388, O worship the King, all glorious above!(HANOVER)
Postlude: Fugue in B-flat Major (attr. Bach)

Heh. I actually apologised to my choir for programming the hymntune Abbot's Leigh two weeks in a row.

Oh, and I must say, I'm super-excited. I have a guitarist who is capable of playing the guitar part in Chris diBlasio's wonderful God is our righteousness! I think we're going to work it up to play in church some Sunday. I think it would be nice to consider it for an Organ Plus recital as well.

If you wish to listen to this and other wonderful pieces, go to the Pipedreams website. Click here to go to the November 27, 2006 episode, "In Praise of Humanity", which honoured composers whose lives were cut short by AIDS.

---

Episcopal Centre at Duke University, where I played the usual 4:00 pm service. As usual, the numbers are out of The Hymnal 1982 unless otherwise indicated.

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost: Holy Eucharist Rite II
Prelude: Improvisation on In Babilone
Processional Hymn: 495, Hail, thou once despised Jesus (IN BABILONE)
Gloria: S-280 (Powell)
Psalm: Ps 91, recited
Sequence Hymn: 602, Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love (CHEREPONI)
Offertory Hymn: 408, Sing praise to God who reigns above (MIT FREUDEN ZART)
Sanctus: S-125, Community Mass (Proulx)
Communion Hymn: WLP 825, Bless the Lord, my soul (Taizé)
Recessional Hymn: 477, All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine (ENGELBERG)
Postlude: Improvisation on Engelberg

Many thanks to the kind folks at St. Luke's in Durham for the wonderful dinner and fellowship!

11 October - Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 23

Playing catch-up.

I have two lists for you here.

St. Joseph's Episcopal Church where I played the usual 10:30 am service. As usual, the numbers are out of The Hymnal 1982.

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Holy Eucharist Rite II
Prelude: Fantasia in d minor (J. Pachelbel)
Processional Hymn: WLP 782, Gracious Spirit, give your servants (ABBOT'S LEIGH)
Gloria: S-277, New Plainsong (Hurd)
Psalm: Ps 22, Simplfied Anglican Chant
Sequence Hymn: 404, We will extol you, ever-blessed Lord (OLD 124TH)
Offertory Hymn: 701, Jesus, all my gladness (JESU, MEINE FREUDE)
Sanctus: S-125, Community Mass (Proulx)
Lord's Prayer: chanted (S-119 in Hymnal 1982)
Fraction Anthem: S-167, The disciples knew the Lord Jesus (M. Martens; Mode 6)
Communion Anthem: Vox ultima crucis (William H. Harris)
Communion Hymn: 469, There's a wideness in God's mercy (ST. HELENA)
Recessional Hymn: 460, Alleluia! sing to Jesus (HYFRYDOL)
Postlude: Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 610; J. S. Bach)

We received the most compliments over the Communion Hymn. It was a request by the deacon. To be honest, I did not know this hymntune, penned by Calvin Hampton. I know this text to In Babilone. Most of my choristers know it to Beecher, as found in The Hymnal 1982. (I wasn't familiar with that setting, either.)

It grew on me. When I looked at the accompaniment, I immediately knew I could get my guitarist to handle the arpeggios whilst the bass guitarist and I played soft chords and/or bass lines underneath.

It was really nice, and it moved a lot of people. Well done, Dave and Rob!

---

Episcopal Centre at Duke University, where I played the usual 4:00 pm service. As usual, the numbers are out of The Hymnal 1982 unless otherwise indicated.

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Holy Eucharist Rite II
Prelude: Improvisation on St. Anne
Processional Hymn: 680, O God, our help in ages past (ST. ANNE)
Gloria: S-280 (Powell)
Psalm: Ps 90, recited
Sequence Hymn: 707, Take my life, and let it be (HOLLINGSIDE)
Offertory Hymn: 408, Sing praise to God who reigns above (MIT FREUDEN ZART)
Sanctus: S-125, Community Mass (Proulx)
Communion Hymn: WLP 827, O Lord, hear my pray'r (Taizé)
Recessional Hymn: 460, Alleluia! sing to Jesus (HYFRYDOL)
Postlude: Improvisation on Hyfrydol

Many thanks to the kind folks at St. Philip's in Durham for the wonderful dinner and fellowship!

Compline at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC - 10.11.2009

Since I'm playing catch-up, I will post last week's Compline list first, so I don't confuse this week's music with that of last week's.

Compline at Chapel of the Cross.

We've been using the Order for Compline, as set by David Hurd.

Here are our little additions:

O Lord, the maker of all thing (Anon.; from the Sixteenth Century Anthem Book)
Psalm 91 (chanted to Tone 8)
Hymn: Christ, mighty Saviour (CHRISTE, LUX MUNDI, plainsong Mode 7)
Nunc Dimittis from Short Service (O. Gibbons)
Salve Regina (Marian antiphon right after the Dismissal)
A portion of Ave Maria (Josquin Desprez)
Organ Voluntary by the abfab David Arcus.

(Note: the picture above depicts one of the votive candle layouts that Jimmy Satterwhite had laid out a couple of years ago. I can't remember where the picture came from, though.)

Catching up... yet again!

Ack!!! I am so so far behind! I have to post all my music lists, which I'll do later on this afternoon and tonight, I hope.

But first... I want to get this rant out of the way.

Ahem.

/rant on

Some people should not be allowed to breed. Plain and simple. Yesterday, I was working the evening shift for the American Chemical Society's Green NC exhibit at the NC State Fair. There were four blond kids, three exceedingly irritating boys and a more sedate girl. It was obvious their "parents" left them behind in the exhibit. They were there for hours. One of my fellow exhibitors told me they were there for one of his morning demonstrations. I rolled my eyes and wondered, where are their parents? Honestly, they were so ill-behaved and tried to get their hands into everything. This is bad of me, but I felt like it served one of the naughty boys right when he burned his hand whilst touching dry ice. I know, we could get in trouble for that, but honestly, we can't be responsible for having to ensure that these troublemakers are well-behaved, and I felt like I was hitting my head against the wall when I kept telling these boys no, don't do that, you shouldn't touch that, etc.

So my fellow exhibitor asked one of the boys, "Where are your parents?"

The boy, who looked to be around 6 or 7, looked down at the ground and said, "Well, my dad is here somewhere. My mother lives somewhere else, not with us in (such and such a city, I didn't hear which one)." And he went off to another part of the exhibit.

Exhibitor and I looked at each other, blinked a couple of times, and he said, "Well, he didn't really answer the question, but that was way more information than I'd wanted."

That was probably the only time I felt sorry for the kid. What a negligent father he has.

So anyway, about 15-20 minutes before the exhibit closed, I finally saw this rather obese man with bushy beard, wearing a hat and overalls collect his children and eventually make their way out of the exhibit. I will admit that I glared at him the entire time.

Sigh. Yeah. Like I was saying. Some people should never be allowed to breed. I did end up feeling sorry for those children at the end.

/rant off

I'll be working the Fair again next week. Naturally, when I virtually visited my fandom friends last night, they all asked what lovely fair food I enjoyed. My answer: my favourite term, thanks to my friend Sherrye: UFO's, or Unidentified Fried Objects.

And yes, Cindy, I will have a few fried pickles for you next Saturday when I work the Fair for the entire day.

:)

Comedy of Errors

Well, what an interesting evening I ended up having.

After work, I met my friend, DP, and we had dinner at one of the Chinese buffet places. He was working on a story that I looked over and proofread. Afterward, we were going off on our separate ways; he was going to a concert at UNC, and I was going to conduct my choir rehearsal.

I got into my car, the lights flashed on briefly, and then... nothing. Car battery was dead. Luckily, D. hadn't left yet, so I asked him to drive me to choir practice. He was worried, wondering how I'd manage, but I said I had an idea what to do and not to worry about me. And besides, my apartment was just on the other side of Duke's East Campus, so I wasn't worried about getting home.

So I conducted my choir practice, and only had one chorister turn up. So we had good one-on-one time, working through the anthems I'd programmed for the next three weeks, as well as the service music we'll be doing for Advent.

After choir practice, my friend DD turned up. I was actually going to ring him up to ask him if he could take me home. Luckily, I remembered that the Honda dealership's service department closed at 11:00 pm, so I rang them up and described to them what happened. They said the battery's gone dead (it was probably due for a change anyway as I don't remember the last time it had been changed). They suggested I jump-start it and get it over to the dealership ASAP.

So I told D we probably should pop over to Wal-Mart and buy some jumper cables. So we made the Wal-Mart run, bought jumper cables, flashlights, and batteries, then we made our way back to the Chinese restaurant where I'd left the car.

I had bought a fancy unit that said it was capable of jump-starting a compact- to mid-sized vehicle. Thought it wouldn't be a bad idea. So I was reading the instruction manual on how to run it (really, I was wondering if it had come fully charged) on the way to the restaurant.

We got there, and I noticed that I'd parked the car very close to some hedges. I tried to move the car back, but I couldn't get it out of park, so I said never mind, I'll work with it. Whilst opening the hood of the car, I managed to cut my foot against some broken glass shards. I didn't think much of it, but D. was freaking out when he saw how much blood flowed out. So to assuage his fears and prevent him from freaking out more than he was already, I told him to get my first-aid kit from my car, and I cleaned and dressed the cut. Which was all it was: a cut, and there was no glass embedded in the foot.

Once all that hullabaloo was done, I connected the unit to the battery and asked D. to start the car. Nothing happened. The lights inside the car came on, but there wasn't enough energy to start the car.

So I had D. open the hood of his car. Unfortunately, his battery was too far away to be able to use his newly-bought jumper cables. So I went into the restaurant and asked the people if the car parked next to me could move.

Well, the driver did more than just move his car. He had parked it backside in, so he moved his car and parked it forward, got out his jumper cables, opened his hood, connected the cables, and started his car. This enabled me to start my car, and D. and I were profusely thanking this man.

So off we went to the Honda dealership. They were expecting me, and I told them I'd intended to bring it in for service and get the safety inspection sticker updated next week anyway, so I might as well have them work on all that in addition.

So now I'm home... the car will be ready by 7:00 am tomorrow morning. The foot is fine. The car will be fine. No worries. Seriously.

Compline at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC - 10.04.2009

Compline at Chapel of the Cross.

We've been using the Order for Compline, as set by David Hurd.



Here are our little additions:

Lord, for Thy tender mercy's sake (Farrant)
Psalms 31 and 134 (chanted to Tone 8)
Hymn: Christ, mighty Saviour (CHRISTE, LUX MUNDI, plainsong Mode 7)
Nunc Dimittis from Short Service (O. Gibbons)
Salve Regina (Marian antiphon right after the Dismissal)
Ave Maria (Robert Parsons)
Organ Voluntary by the abfab David Arcus.

(Note: the picture above depicts one of the votive candle layouts that Jimmy Satterwhite had laid out a couple of years ago. I can't remember where the picture came from, though.)

4 October - Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 22

Hrmph. Late again.

I have two lists for you here. I will list the Compline pieces in a separate post.

St. Joseph's Episcopal Church where I played the usual 10:30 am service. As usual, the numbers are out of The Hymnal 1982.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Holy Eucharist Rite II
Prelude: Fughetta (A. Scarlatti); Trio (J.-F. Dandrieu)
Processional Hymn: 450, All hail the power of Jesus' Name (CORONATION)
Gloria: S-277, New Plainsong (Hurd)
Psalm: Ps 26, Simplfied Anglican Chant
Sequence Hymn: 352, O God, to those who here profess (CAITHNESS)
Offertory Hymn: 448, O love, how deep, how broad, how high (DEUS TUORUM MILITUM)
Sanctus: S-125, Community Mass (Proulx)
Lord's Prayer: chanted (S-119 in Hymnal 1982)
Fraction Anthem: S-167, The disciples knew the Lord Jesus (M. Martens; Mode 6)
Communion Anthem: O Lord, my God to Thee (Words: Ps 26; Music: J. Arcadelt)
Recessional Hymn: 397, Now thank we all our God (NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT)
Postlude: Nun danket alle Gott (G.F. Kaufmann)

---

Because it was Fall Break at Duke University, there was no afternoon service at the Episcopal Centre. So I was available to play the 5:15 pm service at Chapel of the Cross. Here is the music list.

The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi: Holy Eucharist Rite II
Prelude: Fantasia in d minor (J. Pachelbel)
Processional Hymn: 400, All creatures of our God and King (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)
Psalm: Psalm 148 (recited)
Sequence Hymn: 405, All things bright and beautiful (ROYAL OAK)
Offertory Hymn: 593, Lord, make us servants of your peace (DICKINSON COLLEGE)
Sanctus: S-125, Community Mass (Proulx)
Comm: Poco allegretto and Andantino from 7 Pieces in C Major and Minor from L'Organiste (C. Franck)
Recessional Hymn: 376, Joyful, joyful, we adore thee (HYMN TO JOY)
Postlude: Hymn to Joy (W. Held)

Interestingly enough, it seemed that all people could talk about was the Blessing of the Animals that took place at the 9:00 am service. Yes, there was a horse amongst the dogs, cats, and other animals, including those of the stuffed variety. Yes, for the most part, they were all very well-behaved. No, there was only one accident, and that was from the horse (of course). Luckily, the slate floor made clean-up a snap.

Naturally, I received reports of this second-hand from those who were at that service that morning.

I'll try to be more on time with my lists. I'm getting Bach's Jesu, meine Freude back in the fingers. It's like riding a bicycle; I'd practiced that one so many times that it came back very quickly. I'm wibbling more over the accompaniment for the Communion Anthem, which comes out of the Oxford (Not-So) Easy Anthem Book, as well as the Communion Hymn that was a special request ("There's a Wideness in God's Mercy", Calvin Hampton's setting called St. Helena). It's a pretty setting, and I'm sure once I get it to sounding like music, the congregation will do fine with it.

But unfortunately for me, when I hear those words, the tune that pops to my mind immediately is In Babilone. I'll just have to ignore that earworm as I learn the accompaniment to that hymn... My choristers tell me they know this to Beecher, which is also in the Hymnal 1982. So they'll have to unlearn that as well.

But we'll carry on. :)

Pipe making and metal casting at the Ahrend organ workshop

Tonight I received a call from Robert, a good friend of mine, who wanted to share with me this video. As he pointed out, there are a great many organ and organ-related videos on YouTube, but relatively few of exceptional quality. There are even several videos on pipe making and metal casting, but I haven't before seen any of this calibre.

I think you'll agree that the camerawork, background music, and audio mixing on this video make it one truly worth watching. Enjoy!

Bonus points if you can (correctly!) identify the choral prelude.