MusicNotes May 5-6

MusicNotes

May 5-6

  

This weekend is First Communion. The St. Mary's Choir will not be singing this weekend. Instead, the children of the church will be cantoring and leading the music for the 5:00p  and 10:30a masses, under the direction of Music Associate, Karen Hiller. The 8:00a mass will be lead by one of our regular cantors, and the 6:00p mass will be an EDGE mass.    

Prelude- Improvisation: Chorale Prelude on Jesus Loves Me

To help set the tone for mass, I will begin by improvising a chorale prelude on the well-known Sunday school hymn, Jesus Loves Me. A chorale prelude is simply a composition based on the melody of a hymn. I chose this chorale tune not only as a prelude to the First Communion taking place this weekend, but also to remind us that we are all children of God, and that each one of us is loved dearly by our Savior. As we all need encouragement throughout our own spiritual journeys, this weekend, it is especially important to encourage the youth of the church as they join us in the Eucharist. To keep message of the prelude clear, I will use simple musical textures and uncomplicated sounds from the organ.       

Hymn during the Preparation- We Have Been Told

The St. Mary's community knows this hymn well. The music and text were both written by David Haas in 1983, whose music is found throughout the Gather hymnal. The song reminds us that we serve a living God, a God that teaches us how to love through His own love of us. The verses are taken from this weekend's Gospel, and encourage us to live in God. God is the vine and we are the branches. Haas, who began in the St. Louis Jesuit movement of the 1970s and 1980s, has become one of the most prolific composers of Catholic music, post-Vatican II. Some of his other well-known hymns include You Are Mine, Blest Are They, We Are Called, and Now We Remain.          

Postlude- Improvisation: Toccata on Though the Mountains May Fall   

To send us forth after the mass has ended, I will improvise a festive piece on the organ, based on the closing hymn. This hymn, very familiar to students and teachers at the School of St. Mary, will help keep the focus on the youth as they leave to celebrate after their first Eucharist. This song promises the assurance that the love of God is always here with us, despite any challenges that we may face along the way. I will echo the solid message of trust and confidence by using strong organ registrations and unstable harmonic tension that is answered by solid harmonic resolution, all of this above an underlying youthful rhythmic energy, taken from the closing song.    

Dialogues/Acclamations/Litanies- Mass of St. Frances Cabrini and Celtic Alleluia

To help signal the transition to the Easter season, we return to a familiar set of mass parts (Kyrie, Gloria, Gospel Acclamation, Holy, Memorial Acclamation, Lamb of God), the Mass of Saint Frances Cabrini, by Kevin Keil. For the Gospel Acclamation, we are using the Celtic Alleluia, by Fintan O'Carroll and Christopher Walker.  A change in the mass parts we sing together helps to remind us of our new post-Easter perspective, a new context of hope, victory, and redemption.  

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Will Buthod

Director of Music

Church of St. Mary

(918) 749 2561, ext 120

1347 E. 49th Pl.

Tulsa, OK 74105

wbuthod@churchofsaintmary.com