FROM DR. HURD: MUSIC IN LENT

The Book of Common Prayer describes Lent as “a season of penitence and fasting” and a time of reconciliation of the Church’s fellowship by penitence and forgiveness. “The message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior” is the theme to which the congregation is called in the Ash Wednesday liturgy. (BCP, p.264ff). Ash Wednesday and the following five Sundays are assigned collects which, in addition to the assigned scripture, give focus to the worship on those days. Among other things, worshipers are called to pray that God would “create and make in us new and contrite hearts,” deliver us from temptations, bring back those who have gone astray, defend us from adversities, and nourish us with true bread. These prayers are supported and contextualized by the instruction of scripture and, as always, music has the capacity of collaborating with the words and actions of corporate worship to deepen the church’s devotion.

Sung Scripture
At Saint Mary’s, the treasury of Western chant usually provides the music during the entrance of the ministers, at the offertory, and at communion of the Mass. The texts of these chants consist of Antiphons derived from scripture, sometimes augmented with psalm verses. This ancient anonymous repertoire not only supplies its own unique expression, but also has provided a basis for much of the later sacred choral repertoire. While we most often hear these chants in their unison simplicity, their texts gave rise to an extensive choral motet repertoire. By the early seventeenth century the sizable body of choral settings of these liturgical chants including works by such notable composers as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, William Byrd, and Tomás Luís de Victoria. In addition to these liturgical chants and their choral settings, certain whole psalm texts have had historic resonance with the Lenten season. Psalm 51, Miserere mei Deus (Have mercy on me, O God) is sung in the Ash Wednesday liturgy. A chant-based setting attributed to Gregorio Allegri (c.1582–1652) has often been sung at Saint Mary’s, but other settings of more recent composition have been offered in the past two years. Psalm 130 De profundis (Out of the depth) is another psalm which is associated with early Lent. In addition to musical settings of these entire psalm texts, there are many motets in the repertoire which include only certain verses. Some other psalms which have particular Lenten resonance are 16, 23, 25, 27, 91, 95, 103, 121, 122, and 126. Musical settings of these psalms (and portions thereof) abound.

Prayers and Hymns
One of the most distinctive prayer forms of the Book of Common Prayer is The Great Litany, beginning on p. 148. This classic and comprehensive cycle of prayers is often sung during Lent in procession at Eucharist, in conjunction with the daily office or other devotions, or as a free-standing event. It opens with petitions to each person of the Trinity and then to the Trinity as a whole. The two-sentence prayer Remember not, Lord, our offences which follows has been set beautifully as a five-voice choral anthem by Henry Purcell (1658–1695). Previously, prayers from early editions of The Book of Common Prayer and sources such as Lidley’s Prayers, 1566, had been set by Richard Farrant (c.1525–1580), Adrian Batten (1591–1637), and other composers of the time. These choral prayers were most likely intended to be sung at the daily office, and many of them had a penitential tone. Drop, drop slow tears, a poem by Phineas Fletcher (1582–1650) was paired with music by Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625) in The Hymnal 1940 at #69. This same text was set by the twentieth-century British composer William Walton as his four-voice A Litany. It has also been set by the American composer Vincent Persichetti (1915–1987) and several other composers.

Prayers, poems, and hymns are overlapping categories. Many prayers—being petitions to God, sometimes in verse, sometimes sung, and also offering praise to God in recognition of God’s goodness and mercy—satisfy Augustine’s definition of a hymn. While all texts in The Hymnal 1982 might not conform strictly to Augustine’s criteria for what constitutes a hymn, Augustine’s standard generally holds. The Hymnal contains eleven hymn texts (two of which have two musical settings) under the heading “Lent” (##140-152). The eleven hymns under the “Lent” heading concentrate on the forty days as a season, on sin, and on repentance. While these are the dominant themes of early Lent, other Lenten themes are supported by many hymns found under the heading “Jesus Christ our Lord” (##434-499). There is much here through which to wade. Some of these texts contemplate our Lord’s identity (e.g. 434, Nature with open volume stands), some reflect specifically on Jesus’ life and teaching (e.g. 458, My song is love unknown), some offer prayer (e.g. 466, Eternal light, shine in my heart), and some express Christian aspiration (e.g. 488, Be thou my vision). This is a small sample of texts which have been set to music for choirs, for cantors, and for congregations and are suitable for Lent.

Organ music
Fasting and self-denial are two Lenten disciplines which The Book of Common Prayer names (p.265). Purposefully doing without can yield spiritual benefits. In many worshiping communities the observance of Lent is characterized by the simplification or suspension of some liturgical behaviors which may be deemed inessential or ornamental. A deliberate change in the character of music in the Lenten worship pattern can underscore the appropriately soberer mood and provide dramatic contrast for when the fast ends at Easter. While it is appropriate to suspend virtuosic and festal organ voluntaries during Lent, there is yet a great wealth of organ music compatible with the season of fasting. The German baroque literature stands out in particular. Organ preludes on such chorales as Erbarm dich mein, paraphrase of Psalm 51 (Have mercy on me, O God) and Aus tiefer Not, paraphrase of Psalm 130 (Out of the depths), come immediately to mind. Where these chorales are well known by the congregation, the connection may be especially meaningful, but the nature of the pieces themselves and the intention of the performer may well be sufficient to convey the devotional content. Bach’s O Mensch bewein dein Sünden Groß, BWV 622, (O mankind, bewail thy grievous sin), for example, is a poignant meditation on its own terms. The Opus 122 Chorale Preludes of Johannes Brahms, composed late in his life, should also be mentioned. Of course, with chorale preludes there is always a text running in the background, despite its not being pronounced aloud. However, it is in repertoire not based upon words that the music itself becomes the expression. Just as textless music can convey festivity, for example, in the famous Toccata, which ends Symphonie V of Charles-Marie Widor (a favorite Easter postlude), many organ pieces which are not based upon verbal texts invite contemplation and support prayer. If organ postludes are to be played during Lent, it may be preferable that they be chosen and performed for their meditative qualities.

Holy Week presents its own array of musical expressions from plainsong to music newly composed, but that is a subject for another day. — DJH

AIDS WALK IS BACK… After a hiatus due to the pandemic, AIDS Walk New York returns to Central Park this year for an in-person event on May 15 and Saint Mary’s will again form a team for this important fundraiser. The money we raise goes primarily towards the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), the nation’s leading provider of HIV/AIDS care, prevention services, and advocacy. In addition to the GMHC, other tri-state AIDS service, social justice, and public health organizations benefit as well.

Our parish has a long history with the AIDS Walk and has supported teams since 2006. In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, we raised $62,757, ranking fourth among all teams and first among all religious organizations. Given the current environment, we are setting a goal of $40,000 this year, but we hope that you all will prove us to be way too conservative!

Click here to join the team or to donate. Donations via check, payable to “AIDS Walk New York,” can be given to one of the team leaders: MaryJane Boland, Clark Mitchell, or Father Matt Jacobson. Feel free also to contact us with any questions about the Walk. Additional details and history of our participation can be found on the parish webpage here, including a video about this important ministry. Any support, large or small, matters and is very much appreciated!
—MaryJane, Clark, and Father Matt

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Wendell, Mara, Norman, Marjorie, Ronnie, Patrick, José, Penelope, Brian, Louise, Stacey, Verna, Howard, Marcia, Christian, John, Philip, Pat, Eloise, Karen, Shalim, Greta, Liduvina, Marilouise, Quincy, Florette, Peter, George, Abraham, Ethelyn, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, Robert, and Andrew, bishop.

Your prayers are asked for all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, especially the people of Ukraine; the sick; the dying; the poor; the unemployed and those looking for work; all refugees and migrants; those without food, shelter, or work; those who suffer from COVID-19; and those who mourn.

Your prayers are asked for peace in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe. Your prayers are asked for peace in all the troubles places of this world, remembering especially the people of Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Myanmar, Syria, and Yemen.

Your prayers are asked for all health workers and all those who work for the common good; for those who live and work in our neighborhood; for all those visiting Saint Mary’s this week; and for all the benefactors, friends, and members of this parish.

Your prayers are asked for the work of Neighbors in Need, for its guests, for its benefactors, and for its volunteers.

GRANT THEM PEACE . . . March 20: 1904 Richard Jenkins; 1919 Mary Barry Whitehead; 1927 Eliza Burton Harris; 1935 James Joseph McGrath; 1938 Frank S.B. Gavin priest; 1946 Florence May Haslam and Belinda Marvin; 2000 Thomas F. D.Haines.

PRAY FOR PEACE . . . As we hear daily the terrible news of what is taking place in Ukraine, we continue to pray: 

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed: kindle, we pray, in the hearts of all, the true love of peace and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth that in tranquillity your kingdom may go forward, till the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED . . . The next Drop-by Day is scheduled for Friday, April 22. Volunteers work from 1:30 PM until 3:30 PM. Our guests are invited into the church a bit before 2:00 PM, and we close our doors at 3:00 PM. We need at least 6 volunteers for each Drop-by. If you would like to volunteer, please send an email to neighbors@stmvnyc.org or call the Parish Office at 212-869-5830. The May Drop-by will take place on Friday, May 20.

With the onset of warmer weather, we are now eager to receive donations of lighter clothes such as shirts, blouses, T-shirts, slacks, shorts; jeans, socks and athletic shoes remain popular items year-round. However, if you are cleaning out your winter closets, we will gladly accept your unwanted coats, clothes and shoes to keep in reserve for next winter. Thank you to all who have supported this important ministry.

FRIDAYS IN LENT . . . We will walk the Stations of the Cross each Friday in Lent, except March 25, at 5:30 PM, following Evening Prayer, which begins at 5:00 PM. We ask that masks be worn during Stations, and we recommend that everyone attending Stations (and Sunday Mass) be vaccinated.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . On Sunday, March 20, The Third Sunday in Lent, the Adult Education class will meet from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM in the Arch Room, on the second floor of the Mission House. Access is via 133 West Forty-sixth Street. The class will be led by Father Peter Powell . . . Tuesday, March 22, Racism Discussion Group Meeting, 7:00 PM via Zoom. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office . . . Friday, March 25, The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Angelus 12:00 PM, Said Mass 12:10 PM, Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM, Refreshments in Saint Joseph’s Hall follows Mass. We will not walk Stations of the Cross on March 25. Lenten abstinence is suspended on the Feast of the Annunciation . . . Sunday, March 27, The Fourth Sunday in Lent (“Laetare” Sunday), Solemn Mass 11:00 AM . . . Holy Eucharist and the Daily Office: The Angelus is recited Monday through Saturday at 12:00 PM and 5:00 PM. Evening Prayer is normally said in the church Monday through Saturday at 5:00 PM, except on Federal holidays and certain holy days. Solemn Mass is celebrated at 11:00 AM on Sunday morning and Evening Prayer is said at 5:00 PM in the church on Sunday afternoons.

CONCERTS AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Saturday, April 2, 2022, 8:00 PM, The New York Repertory Orchestra, David Leibowitz, music director. Admission is free. Suggested donation $15.00. Program: Ponchielli, Elegia; Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 5; Kashperova, Symphony in B minor (North American Premiere).

ORGAN RECITALS AT SAINT MARY’S . . . On the Feast of the Annunciation, Friday, March 25, at 5:30 PM, the organ recital will be played by Nathaniel Gumbs. His program will be: Jubilate by Fela Sowande (1905-1987); Impromptu by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912); and Chorale No. 1 in E Major by Cesar Franck (1822-1890).

Dr. Gumbs is a native of the Bronx and has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including Antigua, St. Thomas, Ghana, Paris, and Munich. He currently serves as director of chapel music at Yale University where he works with students, faculty, and guests to coordinate music for three worshiping communities: the University Church in Battell Chapel, and at Yale Divinity School in both Marquand Chapel and at Berkeley Divinity School.

Dr. Gumbs earned his undergraduate degree from Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia, his Master of Music degree from Yale University, and in 2021 he completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music.  Nathaniel’s principal teachers include Steven Cooksey, David Higgs, and Martin Jean.

Prior to his position at Yale, Dr. Gumbs served as director of music and arts and as church organist at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he led several hundred volunteer musicians and staff in four choirs and other ensembles. He has also been a frequent guest musician at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and served as organist and clinician for the Hampton University Ministers’ Conference.

In 2017, The Diapason magazine recognized Nathaniel as one of twenty outstanding organists under thirty years old for his achievement in organ performance and church music. In 2018, Nathaniel curated the opening Hymn Festival (Singing Diverse Music in The New Church) for the Hymn Society’s annual conference.

ABOUT THE MUSIC . . . The organ prelude on Sunday morning is a setting of Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, BWV 658, one of the eighteen Leipzig Chorales of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The “Great Eighteen” were collected and published in the final decade of Bach’s life and are considered to represent the summit of chorale-based Baroque organ composition. In this case, the chorale text, the first phrase of which is interpreted as “I shall not abandon God, for he does not abandon me,” is attributed to Ludwig Helmbold and dated 1563. Its melody, from an anonymous 1557 source, is set by Bach to be played on the organ pedals in the alto register surrounded by a gentle three-voice lace of manual accompaniment. The ending of this chorale prelude is notably prolonged, and with an additional voice added, as if to tone-paint a steadfast desire to remain and not leave. There are four additional four-voice harmonizations of this same chorale melody by Bach, only one of which has its source in one of his cantatas. Bach’s harmonization of Von Gott will ich nicht lassen—cataloged as BWV 418 and about which there is no further source data—is the postlude today.

The Mass setting on Sunday is the Communion Service, subtitled Missa Salve Regina, by the American composer Everett Titcomb (1884–1968). Titcomb was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, and was nurtured in the climate of such Boston area composers as Eugene Thayer, Dudley Buck, and Horatio Parker. In 1910 he became organist and choirmaster at Boston’s Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Bowdoin Street, a position he retained for fifty years. This parish, founded in 1883 and administered by the Society of Saint John the Evangelist (at that time known as “the Cowley Fathers”), strongly espoused the values of the Oxford Movement expressed both in service to the urban poor and in recovery of a rich Catholic liturgical practice within Anglicanism. Titcomb was a major force in introducing plainsong and Renaissance polyphony to twentieth-century Anglicans. The Schola Cantorum at Saint John’s in the 1930s and 40s, under his direction, was notable for its singing of chant and polyphony at a time when such music was rarely heard. Titcomb’s own choral and organ compositions, many of which contain references to chant melodies, united elements of ancient expressions with the artistic palette of twentieth-century America in a parallel manner to what Healey Willan (1880–1968) was doing at Saint Mary Magdalene, Toronto. In addition to Titcomb’s service at Saint John the Evangelist, he taught chant and sacred music at New England Conservatory and Boston University. Titcomb’s compositions conservatively reflect the musical aesthetics of his time.  His Communion Service, Missa Salve Regina, sets the words of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer Order for Holy Communion and was published in 1939. 

Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625) was baptized on Christmas Day 1583 in Oxford, where his father, William Gibbons, was employed as a town musician. He was a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, between 1596 and 1598, while his elder brother, Edward (1568-1650), was master of the choristers. King James I appointed Orlando Gibbons a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, where he served as an organist for the last ten years of his life. He was active as a court musician and served as organist at Westminster Abbey. In his relatively short life, Gibbons composed generously for keyboard, for viols, and for voices in both sacred and secular realms. His sacred works include two service settings, several verse anthems, and several full anthems including Sunday’s Communion motet, Almighty and everlasting God, a setting of the collect formerly attached to the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Although one of the more modest of Gibbons’ compositions for the English service, it is an important early example of the English full anthem and served as a model for the close-following generations of distinguished church music composers that included John Blow and Henry Purcell. — David Hurd

AROUND THE PARISH… Getting to Saint Mary’s: the New York City Half Marathon is this coming Sunday, March 20. According to the Times Square Alliance, the following streets will be closed for the race: 42nd Street between FDR Drive and 7th Avenue; 7th Avenue between 42nd Street and 59th Street; and West 44th Street between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue. Click here for a full map of the race and please plan accordingly… Our interim rector has a blog page that he posts to around once a month. You can visit Father Sammy’s blog by clicking here… We welcome donations for flowers on the altar and around the church for the following dates: Sunday, May 15, the Fifth Sunday of Easter; Sunday, May 22, the Sixth Sunday of Easter; Sunday, June 5, the Feast of Pentecost; Sunday, June 12, Trinity Sunday; and other dates until the end of 2022. Please contact the parish office for more information.

ADULT EDUCATION . . . This coming Sunday, March 20, Father Peter Powell will continue his series on the Holiness Code, Leviticus 17–27. (Father Powell will also be teaching on March 27, and April 3 & 10.) The class will meet in the Arch Room on the second floor of the Mission House. Access is via 133 West Forty-sixth Street or the sextons’ lodge at the east end of the narthex (vestibule) of the main entrance to the church. Father Powell writes, “I have long been attracted to the Holiness Code as the source of much of what has become Christian ethics. The foundation of the call to be ethical is that we are called to be holy because the Lord Our God, who brought his people up from the land of Egypt, is holy. To be holy is to be a people apart. During these classes will look at these chapters and related chapters in the Torah that ground us in what we undertake when we say we are children of God. Our faith has expectations. These are not the easiest chapters to read, so we will do so carefully as we learn about ourselves and our faith. In these chapters, you will find some of the texts used to argue against same-sex marriage as well as the texts used to mandate the forgiveness of debts. How do we read these texts today in a way that takes each seriously while understanding them in their historical context? We live in a church that encourages marriage for all who desire it. Are we in conflict with the Bible, or might there be, as I think there is, another way of treating these difficult verses? We live in a world where some call for the forgiveness of all student debt (and some for the canceling of all debt for the poor). What does the call for Jubilee have to say about how we are Christians today? These are only two of the many ethical issues raised in these chapters. I look forward to studying with you during the season of Lent.”

SAINT MARY’S ONLINE CENTERING PRAYER GROUP . . . The Saint Mary’s Centering Prayer Group continues to meet! The Group meets online, via Zoom, every Friday evening at 6:30 PM. If you are interested in participating, please send an e-mail to this address. The convenors of the group will then send the link to the Zoom meeting.

LOOKING AHEAD . . . Friday, March 25, The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mass 12:10 PM, Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM . . . Sunday, April 10, The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday . . . Thursday, April 14, Maundy Thursday . . . Friday, April 15, Good Friday . . . Saturday, April 16, Easter Eve . . . Sunday, April 17, Easter Day . . . Easter Week, Monday–Saturday, April 18–23.

This edition of the Angelus was written and edited by Dr. David Hurd, Father Matt Jacobson, and Father Jay Smith. Father Jacobson is also responsible for posting it on the parish website and distributing it via mail and e-mail, with the assistance of Christopher Howatt, parish administrator, and parish volunteer, Clint Best.