Music Notes from Organist Michael Latsko:

We’re deep into Lent so today’s music is perhaps the starkest of the season.

The prelude is “Monastic Meditation by A Trappistine Nun” from Six Soft Pieces by Six American Composers published in January 1962. Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, are a Catholic religious order of cloistered monastics that branched off from the Cistercians, follow the Rule of St. Benedict, and have communities of monks and nuns known as Trappists and Trappistines, respectively. The name comes from La Trappe Abbey, the monastery where the movement and religious order originated in 1664 before formally becoming a separate religious order in 1892. The piece is very austere, barren, and chromatic, building from a single line akin to monastic plainsong. It is unclear who the real composer is, but all that matters to me is that it is an ideal meditation for Lent.

The Kyrie is by William Byrd from “Mass for Three Voices”; Keith Perry sings all three parts.

The music after the homily is “Ballade” attributed toRichard Coeur de Lion (Richard the Lion Heart), nickname of the French-speaking Richard I of England (1157-1199). Though most likely apocryphal, this musical tale is worth retelling: Shortly before Christmas 1192 Richard was captured near Vienna by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, who accused Richard of arranging the murder of Leopold’s. Richard also had personally insulted Leopold by throwing down his standard from the walls of the city of Acre in Israel (“Akko” in Hebrew, “Akka” in Arabic) during the 3rd Crusade. Richard was imprisoned at Dürnstein Castle (in present-day Austria); his location was kept secret. Blondel, a minstrel, searched Europe for Richard in vain. Returning home through Austria, Blondel learned of a closely guarded prisoner nearby whose identity was kept secret. Suspecting it could be Richard, Blondel spotted a tiny barred window high up on the castle wall, likely a cell. Under the window, he sang the first couplet of a troubadour's song which he had composed; a voice responded with the second couplet. He’d found the king! Afterwards, Richard was handed over to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and while languishing in captivity, Richard allegedly wrote this ballad to Marie of France, Countess of Champagne.. The work consists of a short melody without harmony. British-born American concert organist and recording artist E. Power Biggs (1906 – 1977) published the work and added two variants, including a concluding trio: one part for each hand to play and one part for the feet.

The postlude is from Das Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) of J. S. Bach (1685-1750), a set of 46 chorale preludes (BWV 599−644) mostly written when Bach was organist to the Duke of Weimar from 1708 - 1717. Each setting takes an existing Lutheran chorale, adds a motivic accompaniment, and freely explores form. Bach intended 164 settings so that each part of the church year was represented but he didn’t quite make that lofty goal. Nevertheless, the LOB does span the calendar. I play BWV 642, based on the chorale “Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten” (“If thou but trust in God to guide thee,” # 635 in H1982). You will need a discerning ear to pick out the tune as the two inner voices dominate. This motif, two short beats followed by a long beat, is often used by Bach to signify heavenly joy. The pedal’s walking bass also partly incorporates the joy motif in its responses to the inner voices. Bach scholar and physician Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) said the accompaniment symbolized "the joyful feeling of confidence in God's goodness," hopefulness at the core of Lent.

Officiant and Homilist: The Rev. G. Miles Smith

Liturgical excerpts: The Book of Common Prayer 1979