Hymn Blog - March 7, 2010

March 7, 2010 – Third Sunday of Lent

Today’s communion service has a distinctly Celtic flavor. The TSP choir will be singing James MacMillan’s Mass with Michael Bloss as our guest organist. Gramophone magazine stated "It is hard to think of any recent music that conveys religious ecstasy as intensely as James MacMillan’s Mass... Closer in style to Britten than to Tavener, MacMillan is distinctive in his brilliant use of choral effects, with surging crescendos to stir the blood: it is music of high voltage from first to last." Repertoire notes by Paul Spicer contain the following information:

In its devotional spirit this Mass reflects MacMillan’s own faith, and his conviction comes strongly off the pages of this effective and original work. MacMillan likes to create atmosphere in his music and knows how the mystical can interact with the music to make a powerful impression on the listener, especially in the context of a great religious building. His organ parts are often repeated ‘filigree’ figures which create a background ‘wash’ of sound, as in the Kyrie. The contrapuntal writing in the Kyrie is wonderful and creates a true sense of forward motion. The power of the chordal passages which come later is then put in proper relief. The final Kyrie is more difficult than the earlier sections, with angular intervals for the trebles/sopranos to negotiate.

The Gloria begins with a strong statement for upper voices including a top B (MacMillan likes to use extreme range in the outer voices of his music generally). This movement makes much use of melismas which feel as if they grow out of plainsong melodies, having a similar feel of rhythmic freedom. There is a wonderful ATB section (We give you thanks…) which really needs singers who can sustain lyrical lines.

The Sanctus is a real tour de force, being a very extended crescendo which starts very low (F sharps) with basses pianissimo and builds up to a simply massive climax. The Hosanna needs an agile organist and includes more of MacMillan’s vocal ornamentation referred to above. The Benedictus follows segue and is slow moving, eventually building to another huge Hosanna which subsides again into the dark abyss from which the Sanctus began.

The Agnus Dei is more difficult than the other movements and in finding its way to a kind of resolution in its ‘grant us peace’ MacMillan acknowledges that the music reflects ‘the doubts and fears which characterize our time’. The final repetitions of the word ‘peace’ are punctuated by low clusters on the organ which sound like distant explosions. It is wonderfully effective music.

The Mass will be integrated into our morning liturgy. Our own Hans van Nie will fill the role of celebrant, and the congregation will be asked to join in certain parts of the mass.

Contributing to our hymnody and service music will be Kelly Hood on Uillean Pipes and Bill Kervin on Bodhran. The hymnody is as follows:

VU 626 – I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say. Scot Horatius Bonar wrote this text in 1846 for his congregation at Kelso in the Scottish borders. It appeared with this tune (KINGSFOLD) in the English Hymnal (1906). Ralph Vaughan Williams collected this folk tune in the village of Kingsfold in Surrey.

MV 79 – Spirit, Open My Heart. We are familiar with the chorus of this Ruth Duck hymn, as we sing it weekly as our Prayer for Grace.  Today we also sing the verses. Note that when we sing this regularly we change the chorus (with Ruth’s permission) to the second person from the first. The tune, WILD MOUNTAIN THYME, is a traditional Irish melody.

MV 90 – Don’t Be Afraid. Music and collaboration on the text are by John Bell, an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland and a member of the Iona Community. After a period in the Netherlands and two posts in church youth work, he became employed full time in the areas of music and worship with the Wild Goose Resource Group. He is a past convenor of the Church of Scotland's Panel on Worship and the Committee revising the Church Hymnary. In 1999 he was honoured by the Presbyterian Church of Canada and the Royal School of Church Music which bestowed a Fellowship on him, and in 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Glasgow. He is a fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. He is a frequent visitor to Canada, and will be in Toronto to teach a credit course and lead a continuing education event at Emmanuel College in June, 2010. Text collaborator Graham Maule studied architecture, followed by several years in youth work, before moving into the area of worship renewal and adult education with the Wild Goose Resource Group of the Iona Community. Graham’s main areas of interest are in innovative lay training and education (theological and artistic) and lay involvement in worship.

VU 567 – Will You Come and Follow Me. This song, entitled “The Summons,” appeared in “Heaven Shall Not Wait” (1987), the first volume of “Wild Goose Songs.” The melody, KELVINGROVE, is a traditional Scottish folk melody. Words and arrangement are credited to the Iona Community.