February 26, 2023

Lent does not need to be a season that suffers musically; on the contrary, the choir will be providing hopefully even more inspiration than usual. What will be different is that near the beginning of communion there will be a second anthem or a solo (this Sunday a solo by Audy Walker), with the text printed for meditation following. There will be no communion hymns.

The prelude for Lent 1 is a set of short variations on the well-known hymn, "If thou but suffer God to Guide Thee" (635 in our hymnal), by the contemporary Robert Powell, still living in Greenville, SC. The original hymn and text by Georg Neumark dates back to the 17th century in Germany, as you may note.

Our opening hymn, relating to the reading from Romans, is 445, "Praise to the Holiest in the height", forwarding to the 19th century.

The Gospel hymn is a staple for Lent, "Forty days and forty nights", hymn 150. Stanzas 4 and 5 are to me extremely comforting; what more could one ask?

The day's anthem is from Part 3 (the final section) of Handel's Messiah. You may recognize it: "Since by man came death".

At communion will be the solo, "Come, Ye Blessed", from A. R. Gaul's "The Holy City", an oratorio in 2 parts. The text for the oratorio is taken from several sources, and Part 1, from which this is taken, generally is a call to a higher life.

Closing the service we will sing hymn 147, another well-known Lenten hymn, "Now let us with one accord, in company with ages past, keep vigil with our heavenly Lord in his temptation and his fast."

The postlude is simply a chorale, an anonymous composer from the 17th century, harmonized by the famous 20th-century American organist, Alexander Schreiner.