April 19, 2020 

Rev. Douglas duCharme 

Eleanor Daley, Director of Music

This morning’s service was to have been Special Music Sunday, featuring the beautiful and poignant Requiem by American contemporary composer K. Lee Scott, presented by the Fairlawn Senior Choir, soloists and chamber orchestra, but due to the COVID-19 crisis, it was necessarily cancelled. Much of the music in this morning’s online service is what would have been offered at the service. The Anthems, although not what had been previously programmed, are reflective of both the place we find ourselves in at this moment in time, as well as the celebration of the Easter season.

Prelude While Christ Lay Dead          E. Daley (1989)

While Christ lay dead the widowed world
Wore willow green for hope undone;
Till when bright Easter dews impearled
The chilly burial earth,
All north and south, all east and west,
Flushed rosy in the arising sun;
Hope laughed, and Faith resumed her rest,
And Love remembered mirth.
(Christina Rossetti, 1830-1894)

Opening Hymn That Eastertide with Joy was Bright

That Eastertide with joy was bright,
The sun shone out with fairer light,
Sing praises, hallelujah!
When to their longing eyes restored,
The apostles saw their risen Lord,
Sing praises, sing praises,
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

He bade them see his hands, his side,
Where yet the glorious wounds abide;
Sing praises, hallelujah!
The tokens true which made it plain
Their Lord indeed was risen again.
Sing praises, sing praises,
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

Jesus, the King of gentleness,
Do thou thyself our hearts possess,
Sing praises, hallelujah!
That we may give thee all our days
The tribute of our grateful praise.
Sing praises, sing praises,
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

From every weapon death can wield
Thine own redeemed for ever shield:
Sing praises, hallelujah!
O Lord of all, with us abide,
In this our joyful Eastertide.
Sing praises, sing praises,
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!
(from the Latin ca. 7th century,
trans. John Mason Neale, 1818-1866)

Introit I am the Resurrection and the Life          E. Daley (2008)

“I am the resurrection and the life,” saith the Lord,
“Whosoever believes in me shall never die.”
(John 11:25-26)

Hymn Those Hearts That We Have Treasured

Those hearts that we have treasured, those lives that we have shared,
Those loves that walked beside us, those friends for whom we’ve cared,
Their blessing rests upon us, their life is memory,
Their suffering is over, their spirits are set free.

They still give hope and comfort, they did not lose the fight,
They showed us truth and goodness, they shine into our night.
Remember days of gladness, remember times of joy;
Remember all the moments that grief cannot destroy.

From hearts that we have treasured, from lives that we have shared,
From loves that walked beside us, from friends for whom we’ve cared,
We’ve learned to treasure kindness, we’ve learned that grace provides,
We’ve learned to be together, we’ve learned that love abides.
(Sylvia Dunstan, 1955-1993)

Reading:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth;
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
And I heard a great voice from the throne saying,
“Behold, the dwelling of God is with all people,
and God will dwell with them, and they shall be God’s people.
And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor any more pain,
for the former things are passed away.”
And he who sat upon the throne said,
“Behold, I make all things new.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
To the thirsty I will give water without price
from the fountain of the water of life.” (Revelation 21:1-6)
You are not alone. I am here with you. (Hebrews 13:5)

Anthem You Do Not Walk Alone           Elaine Hagenberg (b. 1979)

May you see God’s light on the path ahead
When the road you walk is dark,
May you always hear, even in your hour of sorrow,
The gentle singing of the lark.
When times are hard,
May hardness never turn your heart to stone.
May you always remember when the shadows fall,
You do not walk alone.
(Traditional Irish Blessing)

Hymn Crown Him with Many Crowns

Crown him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon his throne:
Hark, how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of him who died for thee,
And hail him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.

Crown him the virgin’s Son,
The God incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won
Which now his brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose,
As of that rose the stem;
The rose whence mercy ever flows,
The Babe of Bethlehem.

Crown him the Lord of love,
Behold his hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye
At mysteries so bright.

Crown him the Lord of peace,
Whose power a sceptre sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease,
And all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end;
And round his piercèd feet
Fair flowers of Paradise extend
Their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown him the Lord of years,
The Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres,
Ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail
Throughout eternity.
(Matthew Bridges, 1800-1894
and Godfrey Thring, 1823-1903)

Anthem Most Glorious Lord of Life           E. Daley (2011)

Most glorious Lord of life, that on this day,
Didst make thy triumph over death and sin:
And having harrow’d hell, didst bring away
Captivity thence captive, us to win:

This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin,
And grant that we for whom thou diddest die,
Being with thy dear blood clean wash’d from sin,
May live for ever in felicity.

And that thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love thee for the same again:
And for thy sake, that all like dear didst buy,
With love may one another entertain.

So let us love, dear love, like as we ought,
Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.
(Edmund Spenser, c.1552-1599)

Closing Hymn The Strife is O’er

The strife is o’er, the battle done;
Now is the victor’s triumph won;
O let the song of praise be sung;
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Death’s mightiest powers have done their worst,
And Jesus hath his foes dispersed;
Let shouts of praise and joy outburst,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

On the third morn he rose again,
Glorious in majesty to reign;
O let us swell the joyful strain,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

He brake the age-bound chains of hell;
The bars from heaven’s high portals fell;
Let hymns of praise his triumph tell,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee,
From death’s dread sting thy servants free,
That we may live, and sing to thee,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
(from the Latin 17th century,
Trans. Francis Pott, 1832-1909)

Choral Amen           Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)

Postlude Hornpipe in B♭           Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

The text for this morning’s second hymn is reprinted under onelicense.net #A-717945. Those Hearts That We Have Treasured – words by Sylvia Dunstan, © 1991 G.I.A. Publications Inc. All rights reserved.

♪ Music notes ♪

While Christ Lay Dead was written for Fairlawn Avenue Senior Choir and first performed on Easter Sunday, 1989. The recording heard this morning is from their CD titled Canticle to the Spirit.

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) was born in London, the youngest child in an extraordinarily gifted family. Her father was the Italian poet Gabriele Rossetti, and her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti also became a poet and a painter. Rossetti’s first poems were written in 1842 and printed in her grandfather’s private press. In 1850, under the pseudonym Ellen Alleyne, she contributed seven poems to the Pre-Raphaelite journal The Germ, which had been founded by her brother William Michael and his friends. Rossetti is best known for her ballads and her mystic religious lyrics, and her poetry is marked by symbolism and intense feeling. Her collection of poetry called Goblin Market and Other Poems was published in 1862, and it established Rossetti as a significant voice in Victorian poetry.

John Mason Neale (1818-1866) was an English priest and scholar, best known as a hymn writer and translator, having enriched English hymnody with many ancient and medieval hymns translated from Latin and Greek. He studied at Cambridge, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1842. He was offered a parish, but chronic ill health, which was to continue throughout his life, prevented him from taking it. In 1854 Neale co-founded the Sisterhood of St. Margaret, an order of women in the Anglican Church dedicated to nursing the sick. Many Anglicans in his day, however, were very suspicious of anything suggestive of Roman Catholicism. Once Neale was attacked and mauled at a funeral of one of the Sisters. From time to time unruly crowds threatened to stone him or to burn his house. He received no honour or preferment in England, and his doctorate was bestowed by an American college (Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut). However, his basic goodness eventually won the confidence of many who had fiercely opposed him, and the Sisterhood of St. Margaret survived and prospered.

I am the resurrection and the life was written for Fairlawn Avenue Senior Choir and first performed on Special Music Sunday, 2008, when they presented the Toronto premiere of K. Lee Scott’s Requiem.

Canadian clergywoman Sylvia Dunstan (1955-1993) became one of the leading hymn writers in North America during her brief life. She was raised by her grandparents, who had Methodist and Salvation Army backgrounds, and received her formal musical education from Sister St. Gregory at St. Joseph’s convent. Growing up on the “evangelical side of the United Church of Canada,” Dunstan found her musical education at a Catholic convent expanded her spiritual as well as musical horizons. A graduate of York University with degrees in theology and divinity from Emmanuel College in Toronto led to her ordination in the United Church of Canada in 1980. She served as a prison chaplain for 10 years at a maximum-security jail in Whitby, and entered into a Masters of Theology programme at Emmanuel College, graduating with honours in 1986. She was appointed to Malvern Emmanuel United Church in Scarborough, just a few years before she was diagnosed with the cancer that tragically took her life at the young age of 38.

Elaine Hagenberg’s music “soars with eloquence and ingenuity” (American Choral Directors Association Choral Journal.) Her compositions have received many awards, and are performed by schools, churches, universities, honour choirs and choral festivals throughout the United States and abroad. Notable performances include the National Youth Choir at Carnegie Hall, the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, the Melbourne International Choral Festival in Australia, and other international performances in South Africa, Taiwan and throughout Europe.

Matthew Bridges (1800-1894) was born in Essex, England, and began his career as an author at the age of 25. Although in his early life Bridges (who was raised in a Church of England environment) was skeptical of Roman Catholicism, the influence of John Henry Cardinal Newman led him to convert in 1848, a faith to which he adhered for the remainder of his life. Crown Him with Many Crowns is perhaps his most well known hymn text, and although he wrote the original verses, Anglican clergyman and hymn writer Godfrey Thring (1823-1903) added more verses. It is possible that they met, but there is no record of them having done so. Both men are usually listed as the writers. Bridges lived his senior years in Canada and died in Quebec at the age of 94.

Most Glorious Lord of Life was commissioned in 2011 by Christ Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the dedication of the church.

Edmund Spenser (c.1552-1599) was an English poet, born in London. Little is known about his family or his childhood, except that he received a scholarship to attend the Merchant Taylor School, where he likely studied Latin and Greek. He went on to study literature and religion at Cambridge University’s Pembroke Hall, receiving a BA in 1573 and an MA in 1576. Alongside his poetry, Spenser pursued a career in politics, and along the way he met other poets and artists in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Most Glorious Lord of Life is the 68th poem in his sonnet sequence Amoretti. The poem is a joyous celebration of the Easter festival and the meaning behind it. Spenser died in London in 1599 and was buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Francis Pott (1832-1909) was born in Southwark, Surrey, England. He studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, and was ordained Deacon in 1856 and Priest in 1857, then going on to serve a number of parishes. Pott wrote several original hymn texts, but is better known as a hymn translator – The Strife is O’er being one of his most popular and widely sung to this day.

Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) was born in London, and spent his early childhood there. His father died when he was just seven, and following the outbreak of WWI, he moved with his mother to Yorkshire. There he studied composition, first with Ernest Farrar and then with Edward Bairstow at York Minster. In 1926, he moved to London, where he became acquainted with many leading composers of the day, including Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. His burgeoning career was thwarted by the outbreak of WWII, and during the war years he was drafted into the Ministry of War Transport, opening his house to a number of German and Czech refugees. In 1951, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease and told he had between five and ten years to live, however, this discovery in no way lessened his composing activities. An all-Finzi concert at the Royal Festival Hall in 1954 acknowledged his standing in Britain’s musical life – music which continues to be much admired and celebrated today. Finzi wrote more than 100 songs for soloist or choir, and he is one of the most popular 20th century British composers. This morning’s Choral Amen is from a larger work for choir, soloists and organ titled Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice.

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) is regarded by many as the finest and most original English composer of his day. Although his life was brief, he left a large body of work. His father was employed at the Chapel Royal, a training ground for court musicians, and Henry was a chorister there as a young boy. After his voice changed, he continued to work for the court in a variety of music positions. These positions included keeper of the king’s instruments, organist, composer, and organ tuner. Purcell’s most important appointments were as organist for Westminster Abbey and organist for the Chapel Royal. He spent his entire life in Westminster, employed in the service of King James II, King William III, and Queen Mary. There is hardly a department of music, as known in his day, to which Purcell did not contribute with true distinction. His anthems have long since been accorded their place in the great music of the church; as well, he wrote incidental stage music for the theatre, chamber music, keyboard works, and songs. His one true opera, Dido and Aeneas, is an enduring masterpiece. To honour his stature as the most important English composer of his day, he was buried under the organ of Westminster Abbey.

Music Sources:

You Do Not Walk Alone Elaine Hagenberg (b. 1979) https://youtu.be/gNCj2KW-JFk
Crown Him with Many Crowns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUsJ6qEm9qw
Most Glorious Lord of Life E. Daley (2011) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i37ePMeTzsQ
The Strife is O’er https://youtu.be/aJjq4RFnLnk
Choral Amen Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) https://youtu.be/FEBASB25lNg
Hornpipe in B♭Henry Purcell (1659-1695) https://youtu.be/5QhH-lTNidc