♪ Music Notes ♪

JEAN-JOSEPH MOURET (1682-1738) 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 compositions are no longer performed, Mouret’s name survives today thanks to the popularity of the Rondeau from his first Suite of Symphonies, which has been adopted as the signature theme of the drama television series “Masterpiece” (formerly known as “Masterpiece Theatre”). It is also a popular musical choice at weddings.

MICHAEL JONCAS (b. 1951) is a priest, liturgical theologian, and composer of contemporary Catholic music, best known for his hymn, On Eagle’s Wings. He received a Master of Arts degree in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame in 1978 and went on to study at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1980, and teaches at the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minnesota), at the University of Notre Dame, and summer courses at the Saint John’s School of Theology – Seminary (Collegeville, Minnesota).

BRIAN WREN (b. 1936) is a British hymn-poet and writer. Internationally published, his hymns appear in hymnals of all Christian traditions. Wren has been a strong proponent of the view that hymns are poetry and theology, instead of simply music. He has stated, “a hymn is a poem, and a poem is a visual art form. The act of reading a hymn aloud helps to recover its poetry and its power to move us—the power of language, image, metaphor, and faith-expression.” He also writes that the vocation of a poet in the church is not only “to write poems of faith which people will pick up and sing”, but to also “speak truth by stepping beyond the church’s limits of comfort and convention.”

BRUCE COCKBURN (b. 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, politics, and Christianity. Cockburn has written more than 300 songs on 33 albums over a career spanning 40 years, of which 22 have received a Canadian gold or platinum certification, and he has sold over one million albums in Canada alone. In 2002, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame for his powerful lyrics and his immense contribution to Canadian music. Cockburn is also an Officer of the Order of Canada.

RICHARD GILLARD (b. 1953) was born in England and emigrated to New Zealand with his family when he was three years old. His most well known composition “We Are Pilgrims” (The Servant Song), was first published in 1978 on a record album by Scripture in Song called “Father, Make Us One”, and has appeared subsequently in other Scripture in Song publications including a song book entitled “Songs of Praise”, which is widely used by New Zealand congregations. The hymn is also published in a number of hymn books throughout the English speaking world, including “Voices United”.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) was a German composer of the Baroque period (ca. 1600-1750). He lived in Protestant north Germany in the days when music there made up an important part of the splendour of courts, of religious observance, and the daily happiness of the people. Over the course of his life, he held numerous posts: choir-boy, violinist in the orchestra of a prince, organist of town churches, and chief court musician. His last position was as music director at the St. Thomas Church and School in Leipzig, of which city his name is chiefly connected, since he remained there for almost the last thirty years of his life. He played many instruments, and as a clavichordist, harpsichordist, and organist, was supreme in his day. He was an extremely prolific composer and produced monumental instrumental compositions as the Art of the Fugue, the Brandenburg Concertos, and the Goldberg Variations, as well as cantatas, motets, sacred songs and arias, sonatas, concertos, suites, and an enormous amount of organ and other keyboard music. Two of Bach’s best known large choral works are the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B Minor, and since the 19th-century Bach revival, in no small part, thanks to Felix Mendelssohn, he is now regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. Bach was twice married, and the parent of twenty (!) children, several of whom were also musicians.