Music Notes from Organist Michael Latsko:

The prelude is by English composer and organist George Oldroyd (1886-1951) who spent 36 years as organist of St Michael's Church, Croydon in south London. His “Le Prie-Dieu: A Meditation” from 1949 incorporates part of the tune of the Passion Chorale “O sacred head sore wounded” (#168 in the hymnal), the final piece I played on Palm/Passion Sunday. I think it’s fitting, therefore, to begin this service with that same music. A prie-dieu is a kneeling bench designed for use by a person at prayer and fitted with a raised shelf on which the prayer’s elbows or a book can be placed. Oldroyd prints words in the music where the phrase of the Passion Chorale is heard: “Have mercy upon me O Lord” appears over the right hand counter-melody with these words (from a verse of the Passion Chorale not contained in The Hymnal 1982) aligned with the melody: “I pray thee, Jesus, own me, Me, Shepherd good, for thine.” Interesting, the Passion Chorale tune was originally a German love song from the 17th century. Bach loved it so much he used it five times in the St. Matthew Passion, twice in the Christmas Oratorio, in five cantatas, and in an organ chorale prelude.

The music following the homily is an improvisation on “Pange lingua gloriosi” (Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle) (#166 in The Hymnal 1982) the tune from the Sarum liturgy, that is the Latin-based liturgical form used in most of the English Church prior to the introduction of the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. The text is by Venantius Honorius Fortunatus and dates to 546. John Mason Neale’s translation first appeared in 1851. In the Roman church, this plainsong is traditionally sung on Maundy Thursday during the procession from the church to the place where the Blessed Sacrament is kept until Good Friday. The last two stanzas (called, separately, “Tantum ergo”) are sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The hymn expresses the Roman Catholic doctrine that the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist.

The postlude is based on the hymn "Go to dark Gethsemane" (#166 in The Hymnal 1982), not one that we usually sing but one that I find very poignant. The text dates from the 1820’s and the tune, Petra, was composed by Richard Redhead (1820-1901), first appearing in 1853. After playing the hymn and modulating into another key, I play the setting by American composer Wilbur Held (1914-2015). Born in Des Plaines, Illinois, Held studied piano as a youngster and became serious about the organ in high school, going on to attend the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago where he studied organ and began to develop his compositional voice. A conscientious objector, Held spent the final years of World War II cooking food without vitamins for a path-breaking project on nutrition now known as the Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment. In 1946 Held was named professor of organ at the Ohio State University for 30 years. After years of summer study in liturgy and hymnology at NYC’s Union Theological Seminary, Held was able to expand the church music program at OSU, but, sadly, both programs were phased out after he retired. One commentator noted that Held “turns even garden-variety hymn tunes into great musical settings.” I couldn’t agree more and enjoy playing his settings (you’ll hear another one on Good Friday). Listen how Held’s music recreates what must have been the drama of the Last Supper, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, and, ultimately, Jesus’ arrest.

Officiant and Homilist: The Rev. G. Miles Smith

Liturgical excerpts: The Book of Common Prayer 1979