Sunday music, 3/1/2015

Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir

Choral Introit

We Praise Thee
Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev

Anthem

Salvation Is Created

Pavel Tchesnokov

Easter Music

Easter Music - Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir, 4/8/2012

Introit - From Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, the Et Resurrexit

Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas,
et ascendit in caelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris.
Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos et mortuos,
cuius regni non erit finis;
Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem,
qui ex Patre Filioque procedit.
Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur:
qui locutus est per prophetas.
Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,
et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.

Anthem - Handel, "Worthy Is The Lamb" from The Messiah.

God Is Our Hope And Strength

Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir, 1/22/2012

A couple of choral introits

Jesus Christ My Sure Defense - 1/22/2012



Strong Son Of God - 1/29/2012

Christmas music

Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir - 12/11/2011

Introit - African Noel




Anthem - Magnificat (Heinrich Schütz)

For Unto Us a Child Is Born

For Unto Us a Child Is Born - Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra, 12/4/2011

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir, with a lovely anthem for the first Sunday in Advent...

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Shall We Gather At The River

Shall We Gather At The River - Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir, 10/9/2011

Service music - 10/2/2011

Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir, 10/2/2011


Introit: Holy, Holy, Holy




Anthem: O How Amiable

Service music - 9/11/01

The Sanctuary Choir at Park Street Church, Boston, MA.

Introit: My Hope Is In The Lord
Anthem: Beautiful Savior



9/11/2011

Choir rehearsal

Some are better than others. There are times when we go through some material that I don't care for, and other times when it's all good. Last night was one of the best in a while.

There was the classical stuff:

Mendelssohn: "And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth" - The final chorus from Elijah, and one of my favorite choral pieces.

Beethoven: "Hallelujah" from Christ on the Mount of Olives

Haydn: "Achieved Is The Glorious Work" from The Creation

And a couple of more modern works that are also excellent:

John Ness Beck: "Upon This Rock"

Rene Clausen: "At the Name of Jesus"

And a piece from the Russian Orthodox church:

Tchesnokoff: "May Thy Holy Spirit" - In 1999, a group of about 20 members of this choir (about five of whom are still here) sang this a capella inside a "beehive tomb" carved into a hill in Mykines in Greece. It was the single most unforgettable musical moment of my lifetime. Our guide, when we got back onto the bus, said, "I've heard a lot of people sing inside that tomb, but I've never heard anything like that."

So, as rehearsals go, this one was top-notch...


And, on that theme, here's a video of the aforementioned Beethoven piece:

Sheep May Safely Graze

The Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir
October 18, 2009

Flocks Of Sheep May Safely Graze

Johan Sebastien Bach
The 'Hunt' cantata, #208 (1713)

Flocks of sheep may safely graze
while in their shepherd's tender care,
Safely slumber, free from danger, free from hunger,
in their shepherd's tender care.

As the shepherd leadeth well,
so God with kind and loving mind
leads all who in his care will dwell

As the shepherd leadeth well,
there rest is found and peace abounds,
rest and peace and all that make a joyful land

Flocks of sheep may safely graze
while in their shepherd's tender care,
Safely slumber, free from danger, free from hunger,
in their shepherd's tender care.

"How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place"

The Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir, with the Park Street Strings and the Park Street Brass
September 20, 2009

How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place

Johannes Brahms
The German Requiem

How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts!
For my soul, it longeth, yea fainteth,
For the courts of the Lord.
My soul and body crieth out, yea for the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts!
Blest are they that dwell within thy house,
They praise thy name evermore.
How lovely is thy dwelling place!

From Psalm 84

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty!

2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Selah

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. [b]

7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Selah

9 Look upon our shield, [c] O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.

10 Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

12 O LORD Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.

The Omnipotence

The Omnipotence
Franz Schubert



Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir with the Park Street Brass and the Park Street Strings. Park Street Church, Boston, MA, 9/13/2009

Cantata 131, Chorus 1

March 22, 2009 - The first chorus from Bach's Cantata 131, performed by the Park Street Church Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra.



"Out of darkness, call I Lord to thee.
Lord, Lord hear my supplication,
Incline thine ear and hearken to the voice of my complaining..."

Based on Psalm 130

A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.

8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

A preview of Easter music

For Easter Sunday, we will be singing the "Et resurrexit" from Bach's Mass in B Minor as an introit*. It is a masterwork. I thought I'd share that with you today...


(Peter Kooij, bass Bach Collegium Japan, choir & orchestra Masaaki Suzuki, conductor)


* - We'll also sing one of the definitive Easter anthems, "Worthy is the Lamb/Amen" which concludes The Messiah.

Maundy Thursday

As I've mentioned at this time the past two years, the choir benefits more from the music ministry than anyone else in the congregation. We've reached Holy Week again, and tonight starts the passion play that ends, one respect, on Sunday morning, but never ends at all in reality. The last couple of years, we've sung selections from a couple of different settings of the Seven Last Words. This year, we're doing individual pieces. The Mozart Ave Verum Corpus, a deceptively simple but marvelous work, and a setting of Schutz' Praise to thee Lord Jesus Christ. It's not the best english translation of this piece that we've sung, but it is an excellent work, and I enjoy it. Tomorrow, we'll be doing the wonderful Stainer God So Loved The World from The Crucifixion, and Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs from The Messiah.

So tonight, we participate in the Lord's supper. And then we strip the church, and exit in silence...