March 26, 2023

The prelude for this 5th Sunday of Lent is a J.S. Bach setting of "O Man, Thy Grievous Sin Bemoan". It should be remembered that at one time these chorales were sung and that the various settings or variations were often played between verses or at other times in the service. There was more tradition in Germany (and other parts of the continent) than in England to write settings of hymns. As usual, I will play the actual choral first.

Our opening hymn, 516,"Come down, O Love divine", might seem out of place in Lent, but relates to the reading from Romans. It is a well loved tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It often surprises me how different the "focus" can be between the 3 years of our cycle. Of course, we now are in "Year A".

Our Gospel hymn is 516, "Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old was strong to heal and save", an 18th century tune (one we sing now and then), with a 19th century text. One should always consider how the text of the Gospel hymn relates to the Gospel Reading.

The day's anthem is a setting of Psalm 130 (Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee...) by Paul Manz (1919-2009), American Lutheran composer, who wrote a lot of hymn based organ music that is widely played.

During communion the choir will sing "Lead Me, Lord", which uses verses from both Psalm 4 and 5 as a text. It is by S.S. Wesley (Samuel Sebastion Wesley--1810-1876), usually referred to as "S.S. Wesley" so as to not be confused with his famous father, Samuel Wesley.

Closing, we will sing a great favorite, 493, "O for a thousand tongues to sing my Redeemer's praise". Note that the text is by yet another "Wesley"-- Charles, who wrote over 5500 (yes, 5500) hymns and was one of the founders of the Methodist denomination.

The postlude will be yet another Lenten chorale setting, "Lamb of God Without Blemish", this setting by Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706), just a little older than J.S.Bach and actually tutored him for a short time!