Prelude ‘Divertimento in E flat’ (Haydn 1766)’
Solo ‘How Great Thou Art’ (Swedish Melody)
Offertory ‘Sonatina in G’ (Friedrich Kuhlau Op. 55 #2)
Solo Amazing Grace - John Newton
Postlude ‘Pipe & Tabor’ (Roger Quilter 1923)

Music Notes

"How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on a Swedish poem written by Carl Gustav Boberg (1859–1940) in Sweden in 1885. The melody is a Swedish folk song. It was translated into English by British missionary Stuart K. Hine, who also added two original verses of his own composition. It was popularized by George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows during the Billy Graham crusades. The first use of it by Graham was in Toronto in 1955 but it didn't catch on with the general public until it was utilized two years later in Madison Square Garden.

Prelude Carol & Forlana- Gerald Finzi
Anthem The Majesty and Glory of Your Name - Tom Fettke
Solo If With All Your Hearts - Mendelssohn's Elijah
Offertory An Important Event - Schumann
Solo Amazing Grace - John Newton
Postlude ‘Goodbye’ Gordon Jenkins

Music Notes

Goodbye is a song written by American composer and arranger Gordon Jenkins, published in 1935. It became well known as the theme tune of the Benny Goodman orchestra. Jenkins had written the song when working with the Isham Jones orchestra, and Jones allegedly rejected it as it was "too sad”. Leonard Feather called it among his "top ten songs it would be hardest to tire of hearing". The song was written by Jenkins after the death of his first wife and child in childbirth. The song was used as the closing theme for radio broadcasts by the Benny Goodman orchestra, and was recorded several times by Goodman in the mid 1930's. Goodbye was also recorded by Frank Sinatra for his 1958 album, Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, and Ella Fitzgerald for her 1982 album The Best Is Yet to Come. Sinatra and Fitzgerald's versions were both arranged by Nelson Riddle. Elijah, in German: Elias, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings.. Elijah was popular at its premiere and has been frequently performed, particularly in English-speaking countries, ever since. It is a particular favorite of amateur choral societies. Its melodrama, easy appeal, and stirring choruses have provided the basis for countless successful performances.

Prelude May, Sweet May!’ - Schumann Op.68 #13
Solo What a Wonderful World - Thiele & Weiss 1968
Anthem Jesus, Lord of All Creation - Handel
Offertory A Drinking Song by C.M. v. Weber arr/ Schumann
Postlude Song of the Italian Mariners - Schumann Op.68 #36

Music Notes

Robert Schumann, (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law to return to music, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher, Friedrich Wieck, that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury caused by a device he created with the false belief that it would help increase the size of his hands prevented that. One of the most promising careers as a pianist had thus come to an end. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing

What a Wonderful World 1968 Intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate of everyday life in the United States, the song also has a hopeful, optimistictone with regard to the future, with reference to babies being born into the world and having much to look forward to. The song was initially offered to Tony Bennett, who turned it down. Thereafter, it was offered to Louis Armstrong. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies because the head of ABC Records did not like the song and so did not promote it, but was a major success in the United Kingdom, reaching number one on theUK Singles Chart. In the U.S. the song hit #116 on the Bubbling Under Charts. It was also the biggest-selling single of 1968 in the UK where it was among the last pop singles issued by HMV Records before becoming an exclusive classical music label. The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the charts, at sixty-six years and ten months old. Armstrong's record was broken in 2009 by Tom Jones. ABC Records' European distributor EMI forced ABC to issue a What A Wonderful World album in 1968 (catalogue number ABCS-650) which did not chart in the US due to ABC's non-promotion of it, but did chart in the UK where it was issued by Stateside Records with catalogue number SSL 10247 and peaked on the British chart at #37. The song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity. In 1988, Louis Armstrong's 1968 recording was featured in the film Good Morning, Vietnam and was re-released as a single, hitting #32 on the US Billboard chart in February 1988.

Music Notes

Melchior Vulpius (ca. 1570 – 7 August 1615) was a German singer and composer of church music. Together with one of his brothers, Melchior Vulpius latinized the family name, Fuchs (Fox), but still occasionally used that form. He was the son of poor parents and as a result was only able to attend the small Lateinschule in his home town, where he was a pupil of Johann Steurelein. In 1588 he was at Speyer as a fellow pupil of Christoph Thomas Walliser, whom he instructed in the elements of musica poetica, and he was there again in 1589. In that year he was appointed, on the recommendation of the Wasungen preacher A. Scherdiger and in spite of his not having attended a university, to a position as a supernumerary teacher of Latin at the Lateinschule at nearby Schleusingen, the former residence of the counts of Henneberg (who had become extinct in 1583). He was generally referred to, however, as ‗composer‘, for he had already distinguished himself as such at Wasungen in the sphere of church music. His salary at Schleusingen was at first extremely modest, and it rose only slightly even after he secured a permanent appointment in the lowest grade of teacher in 1592 and had to assume the duties of Kantor. He was required to write music for the Lutheran service, chiefly motets and hymns.

Clavier-Übung III is the third installment of Johann Sebastian Bach's ambitious series of Clavier-Übungen (Keyboard Exercises). Unlike the other three volumes, which contain music for the harpsichord (the 6 Partitas in Volume I, the Italian Concerto and the Ouverture in French Style in Volume II, and the Goldberg Variations in Volume IV), Clavier-Übung III is written for the organ.

This heterogenous collection consists of multiple settings of the German Kyrie and Gloria, BWV 669-677, the Four Duets for organ manualiter, BWV 802-805, and, framing it all, the imposing prelude and fugue BWV 552 which is also known as St. Anne's prelude and fugue. The collection of Chorale Preludes from the Clavier-Übung III is often referred to as the German Organ Mass.

Prelude Minuet’ (Boccherini)
Introit Organ Solo ‘Kum-Ba-Yah’ Heather Hall
Solo ‘I Believe’ (Drake, Graham, Shirl & Stillman)
Offertory ‘See, the Conquering Hero Comes’ (Handel)
Solo ‘The Holy City’ (Stephen Adams)
Postlude ‘Fanfare-Rondeau’ (J.J. Mouret)

Music Notes - Jean-Joseph Mouret (April 11, 1682, Avignon - December 22, 1738, Charenton-le-Pont) was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country. Even though most of his works are no longer performed, Mouret's name survives today thanks to the popularity of the Fanfare-Rondeau from his first Suite de symphonies, which has been adopted as the signature tune of the PBS program Masterpiece and is a popular musical choice in many modern weddings.

"I Believe" is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953.

I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV. Froman, troubled by the uprising of the Korean War in 1952 so soon after World War II, asked Drake, Graham, Shirl and Stillman to compose a song that would offer hope and faith to the populace. In addition to Froman, "I Believe" has been recorded by many others, and has become both a popular and religious standard. Frankie Laine had the big hit version of the song, which still holds the record for the most weeks spent at number one in the UK Singles Chart.During Laine's single's stay at number one, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, Mount Everest was climbed and the England cricket team won back The Ashes after 19 years.

Prelude ‘Trumpet Voluntary’ (Jeremiah Clarke)
Introit ‘A Short Introit for Easter’ Derrick Lewis, Bach
Anthem ‘O Risen Lord’ (K. Lee Scott)
Offertory ‘Prayer of St. Gregory’ (Alan Hovhannes)
Solo ‘The Holy City’ (Stephen Adams)
Postlude ‘Trumpet Tune’ (Jeremiah Clarke)

Music Notes Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674 – 1 December 1707) was an English baroque composer and organist. Thought to have been born in London around 1674, Clarke was a pupil of John Blow at St Paul's Cathedral. He later became organist at the Chapel Royal. "A violent and hopeless passion for a very beautiful lady of a rank superior to his own" caused him to commit suicide. Before shooting himself, he considered hanging and drowning as options, so to decide his fate, he tossed a coin—however the coin landed in the mud on its side. Instead of consoling himself, he chose the third method of death, and performed the deed in the cathedral churchyard. Suicides were not generally granted burial in consecrated ground, but an exception was made for Clarke, who was buried in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral (though other sources state he was buried in the unconsecrated section of the cathedral churchyard). He was succeeded in his post by William Croft.

Clarke is best remembered for a popular keyboard piece: the Prince of Denmark's March, which is commonly called the Trumpet Voluntary, written circa. 1700. From c. 1878 until the 1940s the work was attributed to Henry Purcell, and was published as Trumpet Voluntary by Henry Purcell in William Sparkes's Short Pieces for the Organ, Book VII, No. 1 (London, Ashdown and Parry). This version came to the attention of Sir Henry J. Wood, who made two orchestral transcriptions of it, both of which were recorded. The recordings further cemented the erroneous notion that the original piece was by Purcell. Clarke's piece is a popular choice for wedding music, and has featured in royal weddings

Solo ’He Was Despised’ Handel's Messiah

Prelude - Mid All the Traffic’ -L. Ballantine; ‘Be Thou My Vision’ - arr. S. Tighe; ‘Sou-gan from Celtic Suite’ - P. Sparke; ‘Deep River’ - arr. W. Broughton
Introit - Gracious God, Hopeful God - (c) Chris Miller, Derrick Lewis
Offertory - I Know Thou Art Mine’ - L Ballantine
Postlude - "Amen" - arr. W. Gordon

The Metropolitan Silver Band

We warmly welcome The Metropolitan Silver Band under the direction of Fran Harvey. The Silver Band is a brass band in the English tradition, using only the instruments of the brass and percussion families. They have been based at the Metropolitan United Church in downtown Toronto, Ontario, since 1934 - website ».

Prelude Heart's Wounds - Grieg Op.34 #1
Introit Gracious God, Hopeful God - (c) Chris Miller, Derrick Lewis
Solo He Was Despised - Handel's Messiah
Anthem My Shepherd - Ruth Artman
Offertory Sarabande - Grieg Op.40 #2
Postlude Last Spring - Grieg Op.34 #2

Music Notes Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway on 15 June 1843. His parents were Alexander Grieg (1806–1875), a merchant and the American vice consul in Bergen, and Gesine Judithe Hagerup (1814–1875), a music teacher and daughter of Edvard Hagerup. He had very blaze-red hair. The family name, originally spelled Greig, has Scottish origins. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, however, Grieg's great-grandfather traveled widely, settling in Norway about 1770, and establishing business interests in Bergen.

Grieg's later life brought him fame. The Norwegian government awarded him a pension. In the spring 1903, Grieg made nine 78-rpm gramophone recordings of his piano music in Paris; all of these historic discs have been reissued on both LPs and CDs and, despite limited fidelity, show his artistry as a pianist. Grieg also made live-recording player piano music rolls for the Welte-Mignon reproducing system, all of which survive today and can be heard.

Edvard Grieg died in the autumn of 1907, aged 64, after a long period of illness. His final words were "Well, if it must be so."

Prelude The Signpost (Schubert)
Solo Thy Rebuke has Broken His Heart Behold, and See (Handel’s Messiah)
Anthem A Kyrie for Our Times (Don Besig)
Offertory Serenade (Schubert)
Postlude Good Night (Schubert)

Music Notes Messiah; In the summer of 1741 Handel, depressed and in debt, began setting Charles Jennens' Biblical libretto to music at a breakneck speed. In just 24 days, Messiah was complete (August 22–September 14). Like many of Handel's compositions, it borrows liberally from earlier works, both his own and those of others. Tradition has it that Handel wrote the piece while staying as a guest at Jennens' country house (Gopsall Hall) in Leicestershire, England, although no evidence exists to confirm this. It is thought that the work was completed inside garden temples, the ruins of which have been preserved and can be visited.

It was premiered during the following season, in the spring of 1742, as part of a series of charity concerts in Neal's Music Hall on Fishamble Street near Dublin's Temple Bar district. Right up to the day of the premiere, Messiah was troubled by production difficulties and last-minute rearrangements of the score, and the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Jonathan Swift, placed some pressure on the premiere and had it canceled entirely for a period. He demanded that it be retitled A Sacred Oratorio and that revenue from the concert be promised to local hospitals for the mentally ill. The premiere happened on 13 April at the Music Hall in Dublin, and Handel led the performance from the harpsichord with Matthew Dubourg conducting the orchestra. Dubourg was an Irish violinist, conductor and composer. Many years later, Handel recounted that while writing the Hallelujah Chorus at top speed "I thought I saw the Great God Himself!"

Music Notes Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685 – 28 July 1750) Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the Stadtpfeifer or town musicians, and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. His father taught him to play violin and harpsichord. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts ranged from church organists and court chamber musicians to composers. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach (1645–93), was especially famous and introduced him to the art of organ playing. Bach was proud of his family's musical achievements, and around 1735 he drafted a genealogy, "Origin of the musical Bach family"

Bach's mother died in 1694, and his father eight months later. The 10-year-old orphan moved in with his oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach (1671 1721), the organist at the Michaeliskirche in nearby Ohrdruf. There, he copied, studied and performed music, and apparently received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord. J.C. Bach exposed him to the works of the great South German composers of the day, such as Johann Pachelbel (under whom Johann Christoph had studied) and Johann Jakob Froberger; possibly to the music of North German composers; to Frenchmen, such as Jean-Baptiste Lully,Louis Marchand, Marin Marais; and to the Italian clavierist Girolamo Frescobaldi. The young Bach probably witnessed and assisted in the maintenance of the organ music. Bach's obituary indicates that he copied music out of Johann Christoph's scores, but his brother had apparently forbidden him to do so, possibly because scores were valuable and private commodities at the time.

Prelude ‘Lamento’ (J. Jakob Froberger)
Duet ‘I Waited for the Lord’ from Elijah (Felix Mendelssohn)
Postlude ‘Prelude and Fugue in D, Dorian (Heinrich Scheidemann)

Music Notes Heinrich Scheidemann (c.1595 – 1663), was one of the leading organ composers of the early to mid seventeenth century; as a founder of the north German organ school, he was an important predecessor of Buxtehude and Bach. From 1611 to 1614, Scheidemann studied in Amsterdam with Sweelinck. It's not clear what he did during the ensuing decade, but perhaps as early as 1625 he was serving as organist at St. Kathrinen in Hamburg. He remained in this position until he died of the plague in 1663.

Johann Jakob Froberger (1616 –1667) a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and contributing greatly to the exchange of musical traditions through his many travels. He is also remembered for his highly idiomatic and personal descriptive harpsichord pieces, which are among the earliest known examples of program music.

Only two of Froberger's many compositions were published during his lifetime, but his music was very widely spread in manuscript copies and he was one of the very few 17th century composers who were never entirely forgotten. His works were studied in the 18th century (although perhaps not very extensively, and certainly without influence on the emerging Classical style) by Handel, Bach and, extraordinarily, even Mozart and Beethoven.

Prelude ‘Bist De bei Mir’ ( J.S. Bach)
Postlude ‘Sonata #5 in C, First Movement’ (Haydn)

Prelude ‘Children’s Piece’ (Mendelssohn Op. 72)
Duet - ‘I Waited for the Lord’ (Mendelssohn Elijah Op. 70)
Anthem ‘Our Great Saviour’ (Mark Hayes)
Offertory ‘Song Without Words’ (Mendelssohn Op. 19)
Postlude - Ariadne Musica No. 23: Final Fugue’ (J.K.F. Fischer)

Music Notes: The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a notable Jewish family, although he himself was brought up initially without religion, and later as a Lutheran. He was recognized early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalize on his abilities. Early success in Germany, where he also revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, was followed by travel throughout Europe. Mendelssohn was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist, and his ten visits there – during which many of his major works were premiered – form an important part of his adult career. His essentially conservative musical tastes however set him apart from many of his more adventurous musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes ad anti-Semitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality has now been recognized and re-evaluated. He is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era..- Derrick Lewis

Prelude ‘Our Father, Who Art in Heaven’ (Johann Pachelbel)
Anthem ‘Abide in Him’ (Shirley Porter)
Offertory ‘Ariadne Musica No. 18’ (J.K.F. Fischer)
Postlude ‘Ariadne Musica No. 19’ (J.K.F. Fischer)

Music Notes: Johann Pachelbel (1653-1707) began his musical instruction in South Germany at an early age. He studied in Nuremburg, Altdorf, and Regensburg, before moving to Vienna in 1671, where he became student and deputy organist to Kerll at the Imperial chapel. In 1677 he was organist for one year in Eisenach - the city of Bach's birth some eight years later. In 1690 Pachelbel became court organist at Stuttgart. Two years later he took his final post, in Nuremburg. His repertory, particularly his technique of chorale variation, is thought to have been inspirational to the great J. S. Bach, who was a known admirer.- Derrick Lewis

Prelude ‘Impromptu in B flat’ (Schubert)
Anthem ‘The King Of Love My Shepherd Is’ (Harry Rowe Shelley)
Solo ‘Laudamus Te (I Praise Thee)’ (Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor)
Offertory Ariadne Musica No. 16’ (J.K.F. Fischer)
Postlude ‘Ariadne Musica No. 17’ (J.K.F. Fischer)

Music Notes

Harry Rowe Shelley (June 8, 1858 – September 12, 1947) was an American composer, organist (church and concert), and professor of music. He was born in New Haven, Conn. Shelley studied with Gustav J. Stoeckel at Yale, Dudley Buck and Dvorak in New York, and subsequently completed his musical education in London and Paris. Among his works are two symphonies; a symphonic poem, The Crusaders; a suite for orchestra, Souvenir de Baden-Baden; sacred cantatas, The Inheritance Divine, Vexilla Regis (1984); a violin concerto; an opera Leila (manuscript); songs and organ pieces. He also composed the Santa Clause Overture; Death and Life; and Lochinvar’s Ride (1915); anthems, Hark, Hark, My Soul, The King of Love My Shepherd is. Honors – 1898 - Elected to membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters. - Derrick Lewis

Music Notes

Albert Hay Malotte (Philadelphia May 19,1895 – November 16,1964), was an American pianist, organist, composer and educator.

Malotte was the son of Charles and Katherine Katherine (Donavon) Malotte. He was in Boy Scouts of America Troop 1, the first Boy Scout troop in Philadelphia. Malotte graduated from Tioga High School and sang at Saint James Episcopal Church in Philadelphia as a choir boy. He studied with Victor Herbert, W. S. Stansfield, and later in Paris with Gordon Jacob. His career as an organist began in Chicago where he played for silent pictures and later concertized throughout the US and Europe. Malotte composed a number of film scores, including mostly uncredited music for animations from the Disney studios. Although two movies for which he composed scores won best Short Subject Academy Awards (Ferdinand the Bull in 1939 and The Ugly Duckling in 1940), he is best remembered for a setting of the Lord's Prayer. Written in 1935, it was recorded by the baritone John Charles Thomas, and remained highly popular for use as a solo in churches and at weddings in the US for some decades. He composed a number of other religious pieces, including settings of the Beatitudes and of the Twenty-third Psalm which have also remained popular as solos. He also composed cantatas, oratorios, musicals and ballets. Malotte owned Apple Valley Music.

Prelude ‘Ariadne Musica No. 11-14) (J.K.F. Fischer)
Anthem ‘Holy Spirit, Speak To Me’ (Douglas Nolan)
Solo ‘Sanctuary of the Heart’ (Albert Ketelby)
Offertory ’Ariadne Musica No. 15’ (J.K.F. Fischer)
Postlude ‘Caithness’ (Healy Willan)

Music Notes

Albert Ketèlbey 1875–1959 was born in Alma Street in the Lozells area of Birmingham, England, the son of George Ketelbey, and Sarah Aston. At the age of eleven he wrote a piano sonata that won praise from Edward Elgar. Ketèlbey attended the Trinity College of Music in London, where he showed his talent for playing various orchestral instruments reflected in the masterfully colourful orchestration, especially of oriental inspiration, that became his trademark. At Trinity he beat Gustav Holst in competition for a musical scholarship. A courteous, quiet, kindly, generous, slightly fussy man, he was generally popular, but he never courted the limelight, nor did he travel quite as widely as his compositions suggest. Sanctuary of the Heart (1924) is based on an excerpt from his poem, “In A Monastery Garden,” from 1915. It is printed on the first page of music. I have arranged for Les James to sing the words, a first, as far as I know! Also, many listeners will recognize the prominent statement of the famous melody, “Kol Nidre.”

Prelude
Anthem ‘Stand Up for Jesus; Onward Christian Soldiers’
Postlude

Music Notes

George James Webb, born in 1803 near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, died in 1887 in Orange, New Jersey. Webb was a British American composer who began his career as an organist in Falmouth, England. In 1830, he emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, where he played the organ at the Old South Church for almost 40 years. Webb composed "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" at the age of 17.

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (Member of the Royal Victorian Order) (1842–1900) was an English composer, of Irish and Italian descent, best known for his operatic collaborations with W. S. Gilbert, hymns such as "Onward Christian Soldiers (St. Gertrude) and parlour songs such as "The Lost Chord". Sullivan was born in Lambeth, London. His father, Thomas Sullivan (1805–1866), was a military bandmaster and music teacher born in Ireland, who was educated in Chelsea, London and was based for some years at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Here Arthur became proficient with all the instruments in the band by the age of eight. His mother Mary Clementina (née Coghlan, 1811–1882) was English, of Irish and Italian descent. He worked as a church organist from 1861 to 1872 and gave singing and piano lessons, and composed some 72 hymns, most of them in the period 1861–75. The most famous of these are "Onward, Christian Soldiers" (1872, words by Sabine Baring-Gould) and "Nearer, my God, to Thee" (the "Propior Deo" version).

Prelude ‘Musical Ariadne #1-4’ (J.K.F. Fischer)
Piano Solo ‘The Sunken Cathedral’ (Debussy)
Postlude ‘Musical Ariadne #5’ (J.F.K. Fischer)

Music Notes: Ariadne musica is a collection of organ music by Johann Kaspar Ferdinand Fischer, first published in 1702. The main part of the collection is a cycle of 20 preludes and fugues in different keys, so Ariadne musica is considered an important precursor to J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavia, which has a similar structure. The title refers to the Greek myth in which Theseus is able to find his way out of Minotaur’s labyrinth using a ball of thread Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, gave him. Similarly, the music in the collection can be said to guide the listener through a labyrinth of keys.

La cathédrale engloutie is a prelude written by the French composer Claude Debussy for solo piano. It was published in 1910 as the tenth prelude in Debussy’s first of two volumes of twelve piano preludes each. This piece is based on an ancient Breton myth in which a cathedral which is submerged underwater off the coast of the island of Ys, rises up from the sea on clear mornings when the water is transparent. Sounds can be heard of priests chanting, bells chiming, and the organ playing, from across the sea. Accordingly, Debussy uses certain harmonies to allude to the plot of the legend, in the style of musical impressionism.

Prelude ‘Tenth Noel’ (L.C. Daquin)
Solo ‘I Wonder as I Wander’ J. J. Niles
Postlude ‘March of the Kings’ (Old French)

Prelude ‘Swiss Noel’ (Louis-Claude Daquin)
Solo ‘Once In Royal David’s City’ (H.J. Gauntlett) (Elda Scott)
Solo ‘Coventry Carol’ (Traditional English) (John Brooker)
Solo ‘Coventry Carol’ (Traditional English) (John Brooker)
Offertory 'Noel: 'Une vierge pucelle"' - N.A. La Begue
Postlude 'Prelude & Fugue' - J.K.F Fischer

Prelude 'Prelude in G Minor' - Franz Tundel
Offertory 'Noel: 'Une vierge pucelle"' - N.A. La Begue
Postlude 'Prelude & Fugue' - J.K.F Fischer

Winter’s Grace - A Christmas Cantata by Joseph M. Martin Presented by the Church Choir Jamie Henigman, Elda Scott, Lyndsay Promane, Val Noakes, Meri Dolevski-Lewis, David Johnson, Les James, John Brooker, Mako Yusa, Jeff Noakes, Chris Miller Readings and Prayers by Elda Scott, Angelina Douse, Andre Douse, Don Felker, Tom Noakes, Heather Hall, Andy Noakes, John Brooker, Andrew Maclean, Carol MacLean

Prelude ‘Bach Prelude and Fugue in C major, Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1’
Choral Introit Jesus Stand Among Us
Anthem ‘To a Maid Whose Name Was Mary’
Solo ‘Mary, Did You Know’ Mark Lowry, Buddy GreeneOffertory ‘Veni Emmanuel’ (arr. John Purifoy)
Postlude First movement of the Mozart Sonata KV 332

Music Notes

Mark Lowry wrote the words in 1984 "when his pastor asked him to write the program for the living Christmas tree choir presentation. It was while he was working on the project that Mark considered what it would have been like to have been Jesus’ mother”. The music was written by Buddy Greene several years later. Michael English was the first recording artist to record and release 'Mary, Did You Know?" on his debut album titled Michael English which was released on January 1, 1992.

Prelude ‘Andante’ (Friedrich Kaulau)
Choral Introit Jesus Stand Among Us
Anthem ‘Advent Promise’ (Pamela Martin)
Offertory ‘Veni Emmanuel’ (arr. John Purifoy)
Postlude Allegro moderato’ (J.S. Bach’s Sonata in Eb)

Music Notes

Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) was a German-Danish composer during the Classical and Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age. At the age of seven, he lost his right eye when he slipped on ice and fell. His father, grandfather, and uncle were military oboists. Even though Kuhlau was born to a poor family, his parents managed to pay for piano lessons. Later he studied the piano in Hamburg where he also had his debut as a pianist in 1804.[1] In 1810, he fled to Copenhagen to avoid conscription in the Napoleonic Army, which overwhelmed the many small principalities and duchies of northern Germany, and in 1813 he became a Danish citizen. Beethoven, whom Kuhlau knew personally, exerted the greatest influence upon his music. Interestingly, few of Beethoven’s contemporaries showed greater understanding or ability to assimilate what he was doing than Kuhlau. Certainly with regard to form, Kuhlau was clearly able to make sense and use what Beethoven was doing in his Middle Period.

Prelude ‘Concerto in D minor: I’ (Tartini)
Anthem ‘Veni Emmanuel’ (15th Century)
Offertory ‘Concerto in D minor: III’ (Tartini)
Solo ‘I Wonder As I Wander’ (J.J. Niles)
Postlude ‘Concerto in D minor: IV’ (Tartini)

Music Notes

Guiseppe Tartini (1692-1770) A late baroque composer and violinist, who died the year Beethoven was born, Tartini was sent as a boy to train to be a Franciscan friar, but after the obligatory musical training, he turned his attention instead to a life in music. Tartini was the first documented owner of a Stradivarius instrument, which was passed down through the ages and still exists today (known as the Lipinski violin). His most famous work is the Devil's Trill Sonata, a fantastically difficult piece, even by today's standards.

John Jacob Niles (1892—1980) was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers"[], Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, with Joan Baez, Burl Ives, and Peter, Paul & Mary, among others, recording his songs.

Prelude By the Rivers of Babylon (Pachelbel)
Choral Introit Jesus Stand Among Us
Anthem Lord, I Believe In You (Gordon Young)
Duet Laudamus Te (Vivaldi's Gloria)
Offertory Raindrop Prelude (Chopin)
Postlude Like a Hart Desireth the Spring (J.S. Bach)

Music Notes

The legends behind the “Raindrop” Prelude:

The monastery's rooms allowed wind and rain inside, causing Chopin‟s health to further deteriorate and, as the mythology goes, Chopin spent a lot of his time listening to the repetitive drip-drip-drip of the rain outside. This dripping inspired the repetitive note throughout the “Raindrop” Prelude.

Chopin composed the prelude as he waited for George Sand and her children to return from a shopping trip, while listening to the slow, steady rain falling on his windows.

Chopin was suffering from hallucinations when he wrote the prelude. One night, when he was alone in his room during a thunderstorm, he was playing piano and it sounded as if his playing echoed the sound of the thunderstorm.

The story of the “Raindrop” Prelude was created by George Sand in her novel „Histoire de ma Vie,‟ in which she describes Chopin improvising the prelude during a storm.

Laudamus Te: Vivaldi was called Il Pretto Roso because of his flaming red hair. He was under contract from the Ospedale as a part time instructor. His title was Maestro di Violino. Vivaldi was never was able to convince the board of the Ospedale to offer him the more prestigious full-time position of Maestro di Coro. Vivaldi was finally asked to substitute when the Maestro di Coro took ill. It was during these years, from 1713-1719, and again in 1739, that he wrote sacred choral music, including this morning's Gloria, for the Ospedale.

Laudamus te, a joyful duet, has chains of deliciously spicy suspensions in the florid intertwining vocal lines of the two soprano

Prelude Nimrod (Edward Elgar)
Anthem Immortal Love, Forever Full (Gordon Young)
Solo I Will Sing of Thy Great Mercies (Mendelssohn)
Offertory Theme from Clarinet Concerto: II (Mozart)
Postlude ‘Bouree in G (Handel)

Music Notes Gordon Young (1919-1998) was an American organist and composer of both organ and choral works. Young was born in McPherson, Kansas. His undergraduate degree in music was earned at Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas. Following that he was a scholarship pupil at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and received his Doctor of Sacred Music from Southwestern in 1964. Young received 18 consecutive composition annual awards from ASCAP. His published works total over 800, and a number of his church anthems such as his Now Sing We Joyfully unto God, and his organ compositions such as his Prelude in Classic Style, have become standard repertoire. Young died October 2, 1998 in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.

Prelude Pastorale Sonata: I (Beethoven Op. 28)
Anthem Be Joyful! (Eugene Butler)
Offertory Goldberg Variations #2 (Bach)
Postlude Pastorale Sonata: Scherzo (Beethoven Op. 28)

Music Notes Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, Is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was named Pastoral or Pastorale by Beethoven's publisher at the time, A. Cranz. While nowhere near as famous as its predecessor, the Piano Sonata No. 14 or Moonlight Sonata, it is admired for the intricacy and technicality in the ease it portrays. It takes roughly 25 minutes to play the whole work.

Published in 1801, it is dedicated to the Count Joseph von Sonnenfels. This sonata was written at a time where Beethoven's alarm at his worsening deafness increased. Nevertheless, Beethoven paints a serene image with this sonata.

It has been speculated whether the title 'pastoral' refers to the sense of countryside and nature (the 6th symphony pastoral sense), or to its sense of calm, simplicity and lightness. Beethoven's publishers had a tendency to name his sonatas without any consultation from Beethoven himself. Beethoven wrote most of his works with greatly contrasting parts, and behaves no different in making this sonata. Though its first and last movements can well be described as "pastorale," the inner two find no real similarity to the nickname at all.

Prelude „Concerto in G:I’ (Haydn)
Anthem For the Fruit of all Creation’ (Welsh)
Offertory „Partita #2’ (Bach)
Postlude ‘Czardas’ (Traditional Hungarian)

Prelude ‘Partita in C minor’ (Bach)
Anthem ‘Christ Is With Us’ (D. Bessing)
Offertory ‘Allemande: Partita in C Minor’ (Bach)
Solo ‘Jerusalem’ (Mendelssohn)
Postlude ‘Rondeau: Partita in C Minor’(Bach)

Prelude ‘Undine’ Sonata: III” (Carl Reinecke)
Anthem ‘Jesus, Lord of All Creation’ (Handel)
Offertory ‘Vivace from Sonata in F’ (Telemann)
Postlude ‘Canope’ (Debussy)

Music Notes Canope from Preludes Book Two by Claude Debussy. An evocation of the ancient Egyptian civilization, (canopic jars were covered containers for holding the internal organs), this work has superficially very simple melodies and structure, which masks a very subtle harmonic structure and a complex exploration of sonorities. Claudio Arrau considered it to be one of Debussy's greatest preludes and said "It's miraculous that he created, in so few notes, this kind of depth." This arrangement for flute and piano shows off the wind instrument's exotic-sounding low range . - Derrick Lewis

Prelude ‘Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God’ (Bach)
Offertory ‘If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee’ (Bach)
Postlude ‘Deposuit Potentes Earnest Petition’ (Jean Titelouze)

Music Notes Jean (Jehan) Titelouze (c. 1562/3 – 1633) was a French composer, poet and organist of the early Baroque period. His style was firmly rooted in the Renaissance vocal tradition, and as such was far removed from the distinctly French style of organ music that developed during the mid-17th century. However, his hymns and Magnificat settings are the earliest known published French organ collections, and he is regarded as the first composer of the French organ school. His father was a street musician. Titelouze came to Rouen at the age of 20, and he spent his whole life there. He became organist at Saint Jean church in 1585, then titular organist of the cathedral in 1588. This instrument was, at this time, one of the most brilliant ones in France, so we may assume that Titelouze, only 25 years old at the time, was a very good musician. 120 years later the child Sebastian Bach copied out many of Titelouze's works in secret, at night from his big brother's library.

Prelude ‘By the Fireside’ (Schumann)
Offertory ‘An Important Event’ (Schumann)
Postlude ‘Scenes of Childhood: A Round’ (Schumann)

Prelude Studies in English Folk Song; Lovely on the Water, Spurn Point’ - (Vaughan Williams)
Duet Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee (Frederick Sylvester)
Offertory The Lady and the Dragon (Vaughan Williams)
Postlude As I Walked Over London Bridge (Vaughan Williams)

Music Notes: Frederick (Caton) Silvester. Organist, choir conductor, administrator, composer, b Darwen, near Manchester, England, 21 Jan 1901, d Toronto 24 Jun 1966. He studied organ with C. Spencer Heap in England and, after moving in 1921 to Canada, with Lynnwood Farnham in Saskatoon. During his eight years there, he was organist at the First Baptist Church and Knox United Church. He moved to Toronto in 1929, studied at the Toronto Conservatory of Music (before it was granted its Royal Charter) with MacMillan (organ) and Willan (theory and composition), and was organist 1931-8 at the Church of the Messiah and 1938-66 at Bloor Street United Church, where he led the choir in many large works.. - Derrick Lewis

Prelude Studies in English Folk Song; Lovely on the Water, Spurn Point’ - (Vaughan Williams)
Duet Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee (Frederick Sylvester)
Offertory The Lady and the Dragon (Vaughan Williams)
Postlude As I Walked Over London Bridge (Vaughan Williams)

Music Notes: Frederick (Caton) Silvester. Organist, choir conductor, administrator, composer, b Darwen, near Manchester, England, 21 Jan 1901, d Toronto 24 Jun 1966. He studied organ with C. Spencer Heap in England and, after moving in 1921 to Canada, with Lynnwood Farnham in Saskatoon. During his eight years there, he was organist at the First Baptist Church and Knox United Church. He moved to Toronto in 1929, studied at the Toronto Conservatory of Music (before it was granted its Royal Charter) with MacMillan (organ) and Willan (theory and composition), and was organist 1931-8 at the Church of the Messiah and 1938-66 at Bloor Street United Church, where he led the choir in many large works.. - Derrick Lewis

Prelude In a Monastery Garden (Albert Ketelbey)
Offertory Waltz in D Minor (J.Brahms Op.39 #9)
Postlude Complete Happiness (Schumann Op. 15 #5)

Hymn Story- All Creatures of Our God and King: Giovanni Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi, was a mystic, medieval monk who spent his lifetime as an itinerant evangelist, preaching and helping the poor people of Italy.

Saint Francis was born in Assisi, Italy, in 1182. After an early indulgent life as a soldier, he reformed his ways dramatically, at the age of twenty-five, and determined to serve God by imitating the selfless life of Christ in all that he did. At the age of twenty-eight Francis founded the influential Franciscan Order of Friars – young men and some women who adopted his religious beliefs and ascetic style of life. Saint Francis was also known as a great lover of nature, seeing the hand of God in all creation.

“All Creatures of Our God and King” is from one of Saint Francis’s writings entitled “Canticles of the Sun.” It was written one hot summer day in 1225, one year before his death, while Francis was very ill and suffering the loss of his eyesight. Throughout his life Saint Francis made much use of singing and believed strongly in the importance of church music. He wrote more than sixty hymns for use in the monastery. This beautiful expression of praise is one that has survived the passing of the years. - Derrick Lewis

Prelude Sonata in A - Schubert Op.120
Solo The Good Shepherd - Schubert
Postlude Moment Musicale - Schubert Op.94 #3

Music Notes: Franz Peter Schubert (1797–1828) was an Austrian composer. Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 songs, nine symphonies (including the famous "Unfinished Symphony"), liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. Appreciation of his music during his lifetime was limited, but interest in Schubert's work increased dramatically in the decades following his death at the age of 31. Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and Mendelssohn, among others, discovered and championed his works in the 19th Century. Today, Schubert is admired as one of the leading exponents of the Romantic era in music and he remains one of the most frequently performed composers. - Derrick Lewis

Prelude Little Morning Wanderer (Schumann Op.68)
Clarinet Solo ‘Rustic Song’ (Schumann Op.68)
Postlude ‘An Important Event’ (Schumann Op. 68)

Music Notes: Robert Schumann (1810-1856) met his future wife, Clara when (he was eighteen and she was nine) Robert started taking piano lessons with her father, Friederich Wieck, one of the great teachers of the day. It was years later when their love bloomed, but by this time the father was dead-set against their union. It took battles in court to finally allow the marriage of these great collaborators in music. Pianists sometimes bemoam the difficulty of 7 Robert's music, but it was written for his wife, one of the greatest pianists in history. This morning's music is from the Album for the Young Op.68, written for the Schumanns' children. - Derrick Lewis

Prelude Sonata in F: Allegro (Mozart K.376)
Violin- Mark McKie
Offertory Sonata in F: Andante (Mozart K.376)
Postlude Sonata in F: Rondeau, Allegretto grazioso (Mozart K.376)

Music Notes: Mozart (1756-91) was taken all around Europe as a little boy, in order to display his phenomenal talent of playing various instruments, composing pieces on demand while locked in a room with no keyboard, dancing, and conversing in different languages. His father referred to him as "the miracle that God allowed to be born in Salzburg". As a man, he found himself stuck in Vienna with little money, and seriously under-employed. The answer for so many European musicians in those days (as now) was to make a bee-line for London, where there was so much more wealth to go around than on the continent. Haydn and Handel had done so brilliantly, and so, one day, in his late twenties, Mozart packed up and was ready to depart for London with his new wife, Constanza, and his good friend, Irish tenor Michael Kelly. A last minute crisis literally stopped them on their way to the coach. There is little doubt that Mozart would have avoided much misery, and quite possibly, his early death, had he started reaping the rich rewards of the life of a composer of genius in England. - Derrick Lewis

Prelude Serenade’ (Schubert)
Solo ‘The Master Has Come’ (J.M.Martin)
Postlude ‘Hallelujah!’ (Vincent Youmans)

Hymn Story: There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy Frederick W. Faber, 1814-1863, had an unusual spiritual journey. Raised as a strict Calvinist, he strongly opposed the Roman Catholic Church. After education at Oxford, he became an ordained Anglican minister. Gradually, however, he was influenced by the Oxford Movement, which stressed that Anglican churches had become too evangelical—with too little emphasis on formal and liturgical worship. Eventually Faber renounced the Anglican State Church, became a Catholic priest, and spent his remaining years as Superior of the Catholic Brompton Oratory in London. Faber had always realized the great influence that hymn singing had in Protestant evangelical churches. Determined to provide material for Catholics to use in the same way, he worked tirelessly in writing hymns and publishing numerous collections of them. In 1854, the Pope honoured Frederick Faber with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in recognition of his many accomplishments. Faber wrote this hymn text in the middle of the 19th century. During his brief life, he wrote at least 150 hymn texts. - D.Lewis

Prelude ‘Sonata in C: Adagio’ (Beethoven Op.2 #3
Anthem The Lord is my Shepherd’ (Dvorak) (Les James)
Solo ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ (Dvorak) (Les James)
Postlude ‘St. Peter (How Sweet the Name)’ (Healy Willan)

Music Notes: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was quite active as an organist when he was a teen, although his first full-time employment was as a harpsichordist and violist in the local court orchestra. His first teacher, Neefe, was the music director at a Bonn church and Ludwig produced a number of interesting organ pieces as a 13 year old (He never wrote a note for it as an adult). It was Beethoven's gift to the world to create a completely new sound and mood for music, so very different from the more aloof and stylized tone of the Classical period of Mozart and Haydn. Today's selection, although written when Beethoven was only 26, already feels like completely new music, immune to time. - D.Lewis