The Anchor, Fall 2015

Anchorthe

Music Issue . Fall 2015

Have you noticed that there are folks who don’t sing in church? Maybe someone told

them when they were young that they couldn’t, and shouldn’t, sing. Maybe they think that hymns make the service last too long. Well—what follows is an unapologetic justification for singing in worship.

1. Our hymns reflect our theology. If you read through the texts of our hym-nal you find what we as Episcopalians believe. Indeed, our theology is found in the Prayer Book and hymnal.

2. Music leads us out of our humanity to God. Sometimes I worry that our culture has been robbed of awe and wonder by the spectacle of pizzazz. Paul Westermeyer, the preeminent Lutheran scholar, pastor, and musician, tells us that music’s role is “not to call attention to itself, but to point beyond itself to the God who creat-ed it in the first place.”

3. Hymns support the liturgy and scriptures of the day. Music animates the scriptures. I can’t tell you how many times people remark to me (in a surprised way) that the music directly related to the sermon. Maybe there are some who think that musicians throw the hymnal into the air and whatever page is open when the book falls is

what we sing on Sunday. There are many kinds of music can be used, as long as it makes sense in the flow of the liturgy. This means, to me, that we should always look for the very best music, because our worship is the most important thing we do.

4. Hymns build community. Music helps to bring all of us together in a space. Maybe you’ve had a stressful time get-ting your family to church on Sunday morning; the car wouldn’t start; there was too much traf-fic; the alarm didn’t go off. Whatever the reason, when you get to the service and we all join our voices in a hymn of praise, we become a commu-nity. If we take seriously that music is a gift of God, then we need to give it the same attentive stewardship as any other gift from God. Unfortu-nately, music is so present in our culture—in the grocery store, bank, shopping mall, elevator—that it seems that God’s gift has been reduced to background noise, and all of its spiritual quali-ties have been taken away.

So—Let every instrument be tuned for praise! Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise! And may God give us faith to sing always Alleluia! Amen

Ellen Johnston

Why should we sing in church?When in our music God is glorified, and adoration leaves no room for pride,

it is as though the whole creation cried Alleluia!

We build strong disciples . We build a strong church community . We serve God and the world God has made

2 Grace and Holy Trinity Church . The Anchor . Music Issue . Fall 2015

If you have an idea for a theme for an issue of The Anchor, would like to write an article on a subject related

to that theme or would like to write an article on any other subject, please let us hear from you! Don’t let worries about flaws of inexperience or lack of practice at journalism hold you back. The Edito-rial Committee includes experienced editors to polish original writing while preserving its originality. The theme of the next Anchor issue will be architecture; but after that we need help. If you have sugges-tions for a new theme, or something to say about architecture or the theme you suggest, please contact one of the Committee Members: Carolyn Moomaw Chilton, Glenice Coombs, Jim Feather-stone, Ann Norvell Gray or Miles Hoge.

The Anchor Editorial Committee

Dear Friends,

It’s great that you met the first edition of the new Anchor with such appreciation. As you may remember, we include information about events and programs through the weekly eNews and weekly bulletins. The week-ly bulletins are mailed to anyone who asks for them, so if you can’t get to church for health reasons, you can still keep up with events. Now The Anchor is free to focus on broader issues of faith. In this issue, we focus on music, which is one of the hallmarks of Grace and Holy Trinity’s worship. Whether through the simple chants of the earliest Church, the elaborate liturgical pieces created in later centuries, or the global perspec-tives evident in this age, music has always enhanced the worship of the people of God. The broad history of Church music is reflected in the variety of worship services at GHTC. At 8:45 a.m. on Sundays, the CrossRoads service combines ancient and modern music, and is especially inclusive of children. The Classic service at 11:00 a.m. features the organ, formal choral offerings and traditional hymns. The 5:00 p.m. Port of Grace service blends hymns, praise music and chants from around the world. We have four choirs—the Amazing Grace Choir at 8:45, the Adult Choir lead-ing the 11:00 service, our children’s Lightshine Choir, and the new Youth Choir. And throughout the year we offer special musical programs to enrich our worship. On December 13, we will hear portions of Handel’s Messiah as part of the 11:00 a.m. service. In preparation, on November 15th at 10:00 a.m. David Fisk, Executive Director of the Richmond Sym-phony, will share his expertise with the Adult Forum, and we will spend several weeks after his visit exploring the music and texts of this great work. I am grateful for your generosity in support of the music and worship of this great congrega-tion. I hope you enjoy this issue of The Anchor. In Christ,

The Rev. Bollin M. Millner, Jr.

Ellen Johnston, the author of our lead article, has been involved in church music since junior high school. She served for a total of 24 years as Director of Music at two Mississippi parishes, and was an officer of the Mississippi Conference on Church Music and Liturgy. She is the Past Chair of the National Board for the Leadership Program for Musicians, and has taught for that program since its inception. Currently, she is the Coordinating Consultant of the Center for Liturgy and Music which opened recently at the Virginia Theological Seminary, the Chair of the Music and Liturgy Commission of the Diocese of Virginia, a member of the board of the Central Virginia Board for the Leadership Program for Musicians, and leads workshops in Virginia and elsewhere, primarily focusing on worship renewal and music in small congregations.

The trumpeting angel on page 1 is from the Ascension window behind the main altar. This window was in place at the open-ing of the church in 1888, but its positon would have been in the back wall where the chancel arch is now. The window is dedicated to the memory of Bishop Richard Channing Moore (1762-1841), the second Bishop of Virginia, whose portrait hangs in the GHTC Library. The window was made in 1887 by J.J. Montague of Richmond, and cost $347.80.

Grace and Holy Trinity Church . The Anchor . Music Issue . Fall 2015 3Grace and Holy Trinity Church . The Anchor . Music Issue . Fall 2015

Begin to investigate the long history of churchorgans, and you discover almost immediatelywhat complicated and fascinating things they

are. Pipe organs, in existence since the 14th century,are wonders of imagination and engineering.Throughout their 700 years of evolution in size andtechnological advancement, they continue to makesounds by blowing air through pipes. Like a humanvoice, an organ sings to us with its breath. Mightthat make the holiness of its spiritual effect and itsresonance in our hearts easier to understand? Mozart called the organ the king of the instruments. Bach’s contributions as composer and organist are well known. To refresh his spirit, Albert Schweitzer played. So did Max Planck, the Nobelist in physics; and Thomas Edison; and Dudley Moore, who was Oxford-trained. Brides by the gazillions make their entrances like royalty and depart trium-phantly married to the magnificent accompaniment of the organ. The deeper you get into it, the more you realize how extraordinarily lucky we are to have such a remarkable instrument in our church, and to have someone whose mastery and commitment as both a musician and a teacher give us the full bene-fit of what a great orchestral organ can do. The Instrument. The wonderful Austin organ at GHTC arrived in 1979 to replace a Hook & Hastings organ originally acquired in the 1890s for the Holy Trinity building. Despite renovations, expansions, and multiple surgeries, the bulk of that venerable old thing was sold and the Austin installed. (You can read the full history of this fine instrument and its upgrades over the last 35 years on the GHTC website; the link is below.) There are three blowers in the basement. They are its lungs—one for the front organ, one for the antiphonal organ at the back of the church, and one for the trompette-en-chamade, also at the rear, which are the reeds mounted horizontally so that their high harmonics speak directly into the congre-gation. They also look wonderful, like the trumpets of the angels. The air that blows through every pipe, from the largest, the great, rumbling 32-foot bombard pedal pipe that can vibrate the pews, to the little high-pitched one-foot pipes, is routed by the stops. There is a particular set for each of the four key-boards and the foot pedals, and each stop either allows or prevents the passage of blown air into each pipe. The combination of stops chosen by the organist determines the choir of sounds activated by the playing of the keys. That combination is pre-set for each piece, or section of it, at the discretion of the musician, who may be guided by the conven-tions for a particular composition and her own mu-

sical training, experience, and intuition. The volume is controlled by the opening and closing of the swell shades, a set of vertical louvers which you can see behind the choir across from the organ console. Take a look at the photographs in the cen-ter section of this issue for an idea of how much is actually going on behind the scenes when you hear the music—soft and contemplative as you prepare for worship, warm and supportive as you sing the hymns, and joyful and magnificent as you celebrate the festival days. On these days, you can feel the true meaning of “pulling out all the stops.” The most recent addition to this organ’s so-phistication is a computer system that records and automates the setting decisions made by the or-ganist. Particular file numbers are assigned to each group of settings. Beth Melcher Davis, our music minister and choir director, has presets for partic-ular occasions as well as specific kinds and pieces of music. She has established settings suited to the music for weddings and funerals that underlie her choices for those services. Organist Elizabeth Martin has her settings. Beth’s students have theirs, and others are set aside for guest organists. The sheer number of possibilities is mind-boggling. General stops control the whole organ. Local stops control the individual keyboards and the pedals. There are 256 levels of memory. Each level has twelve general and eight manual pis-tons. It goes on and on . . . but already you see clear-ly what kind of skill is required to play the beast. Like the great instruments of St. Sulpice and Nôtre Dame in Paris, ours is what is called a full orchestral organ. If you play the piano, you are riding a spirit-ed horse. If you play this organ, you are drivinga twelve-horse stagecoach with six passengers and a load of luggage. The Master. Beth Melcher Davis can’t really remember when she did not play the organ. There was an organ in her house when she was a child, and her father noodled around on it, picking out tunes by ear. She started lessons at home when she was seven, and was playing in churches by the time she was twelve. At sixteen, she landed her first real job, playing in a Southern Baptist church on the Philadelphia Main Line. After high school, she won a coveted place at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where enrollment is limited to the size of a symphony orchestra, tuition is fully paid by scholarship, and admission is based solely on artis-tic promise. Terrifyingly, your audition to be consid-ered must be played entirely from memory. Once in, you have to do it again—every week. At Curtis, where Beth was the only female among the six organ students, she met John Weaver,

Continued on p. 5


THE GHTC AUSTIN ORGAN (clockwise from top left): Beth Davis at the helm; the organ’s brain; the organ’s nerves; the Four Keyboards (not do-wop); pedal stops; air supply pipes; pipes; pipes – swell shades on the left; trom-pette-en-chamade; antiphonal organ pipes – remnants of the 1890 Hook & Hastings organ; (immediately below) graffiti: (below left to right) minichimes; tinkle bells—both seldom heard


the professor she credits with building her trust and confidence in her abilities. It was Weaver who would later dedicate his piece for the organ pedals to her. When Beth was in Philadelphia, she got to play the great theatrical and cathedral organ in the Grand Court at Wanamaker’s department store. It took a half hour to set the stops for the 400 ranks of pipes (compared to our 63) by hand. “I played from 5:15 to 6:00 p.m. on Wednes-days – and I had groupies!” says Beth, laughing. If you’ve ever been to Wanamakers, you know the huge atrium that holds that organ. (If you want to hear it, see the note below for a treat.) After one graduate year at Yale, she followed Weaver to Juil-liard, where she earned her master’s degree. Then she headed to Roches-ter, New York, to earn her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School. In the intervening years she has played recitals all over the coun-try, won national competitions and awards, and been featured on APM’s “Pipedreams” radio program. “My choral conducting class-es at Juilliard greatly benefit my leadership role at Grace & Holy Trin-ity,” says Beth. “I try to elicit musical and spiritual expression and poten-tial from every choir member.” Beth’s background explains her musical chops, which are consid-erable. She is a fine performer and a dedicated teacher to her choirs and her students. Beyond that, it is her commitment to servant leadership of the GHTC music program that makes her indispensible. Her offerings of beloved traditional favorites, music from diverse traditions, and compositions from the contemporary repertoire give richness and depth to the spiritual life of the church. The Student. Stephen Rodgers is fourteen years old, a freshman at James River High school, a cellist, a pianist, a composer, and a student of the organ with Beth Melcher Davis. According to his teacher, he has a surprisingly mature approach to music. She says he is restlessly creative, continually refining his ideas and looking for what works and how to use the rich variety of sounds the organ can make. Beth thinks of herself more as his coach than his teacher, giving him ideas, encouraging his musi-cality, and helping him to develop his technique. To help us see the music and the instrument with the fresh eyes of a young student, Carolyn Chil-ton sent him some questions. Here is what he said. On why he wants to play the organ: “At the end of eighth grade, we each had to come up with

a six-word memoir of our life so far. Mine was, ‘88 keys isn’t enough for me.’ . . . So when Beth offered organ lessons, why wouldn’t I take it up? I really appreciate the opportunity to play a full pipe organ and take lessons from the best organist in Virgin-ia. It’s harder to play and compose on than piano, but it is more satisfying because it’s louder and has more sounds. When I play the organ, I can play three instruments at once — how cool is that? I compose little riffs of music, and then I have to figure out which keyboard to play it on, what sounds to use, and how to add the pedals to it. And there’s no sus-

tain pedal!! It’s not like piano at all.” On future study: “I would like to play bass guitar in a band. I’ve been playing bass for about a year and really really enjoy it. My next memoir will be, ‘Four strings isn’t enough for me.’ I want to major in Composition in college — right now my top choices are James Madison and Virginia Tech.” On favorite music: “Protest Hero’s album Fortress is my favorite album right now. I listen to a lot of metal bands. Most metal music is very complex. I also like the music of Vivaldi, George Gershwin, John Williams, Rush, Deftones — too many to name. I like the Candide Overture, including the organ version by Cam-eron Carpenter. I like a lot of differ-ent music.” Beth says, “Randy Totten heard Stephen playing in church one day, and said I ought to teach him. He has a real future, and I feel honored to be part of his growth process.”

If you are looking for another blessing to count, the nurturing, uplifting and soul enriching gift of the GHTC music program is a fine choice. Week in and week out, we gain understanding of what Plato meant when he said, “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”

Ann Norvell Gray

For a history of our organ, follow this link to the story on GHTC’s website: http://ghtc.org/about/the-grace-and-ho-ly-trinity-church-organ/

Watch this wildly inspiring flashmob, as the great Wa-namaker organ sounds the opening passage, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia and members of other choral societies, strategically dispersed among the shop-ping crowds, burst into Messiah’s Hallelujah Chorus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU.

Continued from p. 3

O God, whom saints and angels delight to worship in heaven, you have filled the world with beau-ty and wonder. Thank you for artists who see clearly, who with trained skill can make music, sing, and paint your truth to us. Keep them attentive and ready to applaud the wonder of your works, finding in the world signs of the love revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord. Help us to see and hear the beauty created around us so that we are always ready to praise your name.This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Adapted from the Book of Com-mon Prayer and the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship


Prefatory Note. This isn’t a scholarly exposition of the 1982 Hymnal; if you are interested in that, I refer you to The Hymnal 1982 Companion, a four-volume treatise available in hard cover from Amazon for $145. These disorganized musings are essentially subjective, personal to me, hoping that readers will find them by turns informative, interesting, and amusing. The 1982 Hymnal is the seventh to be autho-rized by General Convention (the first was in 1789), and it replaced the 1940 Hymnal, which is the ver-sion I was familiar with as a youth in the choir of St. Mark’s Church in Groveton, Virginia. Before the 1916 Hymnal, only hymn texts were authorized by the Convention. Private pub-lishers set the authorized texts to music in unau-thorized hymnals, which were in general use. There were six different “music editions” of the 1892 Hym-nal. This was perfectly permissible under the then applicable music Canon, which provided:

It shall be the duty of every Minister of this Church, with such assistance as he may see fit to employ from persons skilled in music, to give or-der concerning the tunes to be sung at any time in his Church; and especially, it shall be his duty to suppress all light and unseemly music, and all indecency and irreverence in the performance, by which vain and ungodly persons profane the service of the sanctuary.

So ministers could, and did, no doubt enthu-siastically, permit congregations and choirs to sing from “music editions.” The Canons relating to Church music have changed over the years. The music Canon in effect when the 1982 Hymnal was published requires the Minister to see that music is used in worship, and gives him “final authority” in musical matters. This final authority is tempered by the admonition that in exercising it, “the Minister shall seek assistance from persons skilled in music.” But it is noteworthy that the music Canon was revised after publication of the 1940 Hymnal to expunge the last trace of lan-guage requiring the Minister to suppress “light and unseemly music” and “indecency and irreverence” in performance. So according to the implications of the cur-rent Canon, Beth Davis is the only person standing in the way of liturgical bubblegum pop, grunge, or hip-hop Sundays at GHTC. And if Bo is so inclined, even then she can be swept aside. It Works. Don’t Fix It. A few years ago, the Church Pension Fund, which was charged by the General Convention with publication of the 1982 Hymnal, undertook a feasibility study of its revision, during which the Fund conducted several online surveys involving 13,000 participants. The data ob-tained in these surveys are thoroughly belabored in

a 70-page report delivered in 2012, full of statistics, crunched and re-crunched, and graphs and other visual aids. The unsurprising conclusion of this feasibility study is that we need another study before we revise the 1982 Hymnal. It also reports that, overall, clergy respon-dents tend to show more support for hymnal re-vision than congregation members do. Clergy re-sponses excerpted in the report suggest that, if the musical authority conferred by the Canons were fully exercised, some parishes would indeed be en-joying Sunday morning bubblegum pop, grunge or hip-hop. The Hymnal. There are 720 numbered hymns in the 1982 Hymnal (not including service music), which is 120 more than in the 1940 Hymnal. The number is somewhat misleading, because of instanc-es in which the same hymn text is associated with different hymn tunes (like 636 and 637) or the same hymn tune is associated with different hymn texts (like 482 and 488). Service music—music for canti-cles and other elements of the rituals of the Church that can be spoken or sung—is identified by number with an “S” prefix and segregated into the first third of the book. The Music. The giants of music whose com-positions appear in the 1982 Hymnal as hymn tunes are J. S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, G. F. Handel, Felix Mendelssohn and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Only the hymn tunes of Handel and Vaughan Wil-liams were composed as such. Bach’s works in the 1982 Hymnal are harmo-nizations and arrangements of earlier composers’ works. For example, 336, Come with us, O blessed Jesus, instantly recognized as Jesu, Joy of man’s de-siring by anyone who has sung in a choir or attended more than one wedding, is Bach’s setting of a tune by Johann Schop, who died 20 years before Bach was born. The 1982 Hymnal attributes to Handel the tunes to five hymns: 100, Joy to the world; 457, And have the bright immensities; 481, Rejoice the Lord is King; 546, Awake my soul stretch every nerve; and 629, We limit not the truth of God. Of these, only 481 was composed as a hymn tune, for text by Charles Wesley, a contemporary of Handel with whom he may have been acquainted (Wesley was a prolific hymn text writer, well-represented in the 1982 Hym-nal). The other tunes were not so composed; 100 is fabricated from fragments of Messiah; 457 and 629 are from the opera Susanna, and 546 from the opera Siroë Re di Persia. Beethoven’s sole contribution, 376, Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, is the tune to which Schiller’s

Musings on the 1982 Hymnal


poem An die Freude (Ode to Joy) is set in the Ninth Symphony. Mendelssohn’s music for 87, Hark! the her-ald angels sing, was written for a cantata that has otherwise disappeared. He adapted and harmonized the tune for 255, We sing the glorious conqueror; and 631, O Christ the Word incarnate, for use in the oratorio Elijah, which has not disappeared. The tune sung for both 281, He sat to watch o’er customs paid, and 471, We sing the praise of him who died, was adapted for use in an oratorio, St. Paul, that has also not disappeared. The tune for 397, Now thank we all our God, was harmonized “after” (i.e., in the manner of) Mendelssohn’s incor-poration of it into a choral episode of his Second (Lobgesang) Symphony. But Vaughan Williams composed many orig-inal hymn tunes. He also arranged as hymn tunes a variety of melodies, frequently English folk melodies, for the English Hymnal (1906), of which he was an editor. The original compositions include, in my own opinion, the finest hymn tunes of the 20th Century, which are 175, Hail thee, festival day; 287, For all the saints; and 516, Come down, O Love divine. These five giants are thought of primarily as composers of secular music. So are Franz Josef Haydn, Gustav Holst, Henry Purcell and Arthur Sulli-van, whose music also appears in the 1982 Hymnal. The works of giants of sacred music, as you’d expect and would discover plowing through the index of composers, arrangers and sources, abound there. A few of them, and a few of their greatest hits, are: Richard Wayne Dirksen (557, Rejoice, ye pure in heart); John Bacchus Dykes (608, Eternal Father, strong to save); Orlando Gibbons (315, Thou, who at thy first Eucharist didst pray; same tune for 499); Lowell Mason (691, My faith looks up to thee); William Henry Monk (662, Abide with me); Charles H. H. Parry (653, Dear Lord and Father of mankind); and Charles V. Stanford (420, When in our music God is glorified). One work of the 17th Century sacred music composer Thomas Campian was my favorite hymn tune when, many years ago, I was that young tenor singing in the choir of St. Mark’s. It was the tune of 60 in the 1940 Hymnal, With broken heart and contrite sigh, a gloomy Lenten ditty called “Baby-lon’s streams.” I was disappointed, but not bitterly, that 60 did not survive the 1982 revision, and it is easy to understand why. The text, written in 1852 by Cornelius Elven, a Baptist pastor, is loaded with self-abasement and despair at human wretchedness and impotence that is completely inconsistent with the 1979 revision of the Book of Common Prayer. So nothing of that one made the cut. Too bad, because the tune was decent, and certainly no worse than that of 1982’s 150, Forty days and forty nights, but it was too closely associated with the text to survive.

The Words. Non-Biblical 1982 Hymnal text sources range in date from the Second Century, represented by St. Clement of Alexandria, to the late twentieth, including text from Donald Fishel, born in 1950. Fishel wrote the words for 178, Alleluia, alleluia, which is sung regularly at GHTC on Easter Sunday. He also composed the music. Text sources include both the famous and the obscure—W. H. Auden, John Bunyan, G. K. Chesterton, John Donne, John Dryden, John Milton, Christina Rosetti and John Greenleaf Whittier, on the famous end, and on the obscure end, F.B.P., of whom nothing is known but his or her century (the 16th), and K, of whom noth-ing is known. K may be obscure, but is the author of the words of one of the hit hymns in the 1982 Hym-nal, How firm a foundation, sung to 636 and 637, two different but equally pretty tunes. John Green-leaf Whittier’s Dear Lord and Father of mankind, like K’s hymn, is set to 652 and 653, two tunes that are difficult to choose between. A Few Favorite Hymns.

112, In the bleak midwinter. This appealing Christina Rosetti poem is set to music composed for it by Gustav Holst for the English Hymnal. Harold Darke converted this hymn, whose music is suitable for congregational singing, into an anthem that was voted the best Christmas carol in a 2008 BBC poll of US and UK directors of music. 140 & 141, Wilt thou forgive. This Lent hymn combines A Hymne to God the Father, a “divine” poem of John Donne, and the music of J.S. Bach, in a powerfully moving confession of sin and hypocrisy, and a prayer for salvation. Izaak Walton, in The Life of Dr. John Donne (1640), writes:I have the rather mentioned this Hymn, for that he caused it to be set to a most grave and solemn tune … did occasionally say to a friend, “the words of this Hymn have restored to me the same thoughts of joy that possessed my soul in my sickness, when I com-posed it. And, O the power of church-music! that har-mony added to this Hymn has raised the affections of my heart, and quickened my graces of zeal and grat-itude; and I observe that I always return from paying this public duty of prayer and praise to God, with an unexpressible tranquility of mind, and a willingness to leave the world.” The “most grave and solemn tune” was not the music of 141, but of 140, composed by John Hilton. It is all those things, and authentic besides, but 140 is written for unison singing. The music of 141 is a Bach harmonization that is equally grave, solemn and beautiful, and although it’s of a different country and century, the Choir can sing it in parts. 265, The angel Gabriel from heaven came. This haunting, lilting harmonization of a Basque carol is labeled as a Feast of the Annunciation hymn in the 1982 Hymnal but it appears to the author to


be perfectly proper for Advent as well. 287, For all the saints. This is a rouser, driven by a walking bass line in the organ accompaniment that propels it along for all eight verses, the first six full of martial imagery and the last two of the apoc-alyptic. I think it’s probably the best processional in the 1982 Hymnal, with 175, Hail thee festival day, right behind it.

Jim Featherstone

To view the full text of the feasibility study of revision of the 1982 Hymnal, Google “hymnal revision feasibility study;” to see and hear a live performance, in its entire-ty, of Mendelssohn’s oratorio St. Paul, Google “youtube st. paul mendelssohn;” and to hear a thrilling musical treatment of the Annunciation as different as imaginable from the Basque carol in 265 (it’s composed by the great Russian liturgical composer Pavel Chesnokov), Google “youtube” pre-eternal council kovcheg.”

Pop Quiz 1. The 1982 Hymnal tunes include tunes of the national anthems of six nations, but only four surviving regimes. What are the nations? Extra credit if you can name the composers of any two of them.2. The tune of one of the great Advent hymns was com-posed by a character in an opera by Richard Wagner. Who is he? For extra credit, quote the first two words of the hymn.3. Who is the earliest (by birth date) hymn tune compos-er identified in the 1982 Hymnal?4. Who is the author credited for writing the most 1982 Hymnal texts?5. Who is the composer credited for composing the most 1982 Hymnal tunes?Answers on page 11.

George and Milly Pugh, Grace and Holy Trini-ty parishioners since 1995, take to heart the message of Hymn 420, believing that “When

in our music God is glorified, and adoration leaves no room for pride, it is as though the whole creation cried Alleluia!” They have constantly and generously committed time, talent, and treasure to the church’s music ministry. They helped the church pay for the sanctuary grand piano, a Yamaha selected by George. They originated the popular GHTC “In Love with Music” vocal concert series featuring operatic selections and show tunes, with George accompany-ing the singers and Milly’s criticism fine-tuning the performance. Their most recent gift is a grand piano for the renovated parish hall. Milly, a Vanderbilt Ph.D. (although as she somewhat wistfully explains, in literature, not mu-sic) grew up with a love of music instilled by her mother, a trained singer and organist, who gave of her talents at her pastor father’s churches. Milly and George are opera buffs, and were founding board members and leaders of Lyric Opera Virginia and the Bel Canto Society. George has been a pianist since he was ten. He studied with a conservatory teacher of whom he continues to speak admiringly. Like all great teachers, she mercilessly drove and inspired her students, using a curriculum requiring piece-by-piece mastery of increasingly difficult mu-sic. George is particularly adept at vocal accompa-niment. When the accompanied song is an operatic selection, the pianist must have knowledge of the opera, technical skill adequate to a demanding or-chestral transcription, and the ability to coordinate interpretation with the vocalist.

The parish hall grand piano was manu-factured about thirty years ago by Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a Japanese company established in 1927. At six feet nine inch-es, the piano is only twenty-five inches shorter than a full concert grand, and is the largest piano in the church. It was acquired new by its former owner, an Emeritus Professor of Music at James Madison Uni-versity, she has meticulously maintained the piano, and she is now downsizing. George and Milly are pleased with its beautiful tone, and so is everyone who has heard it. The Pughs’ objectives in giving the parish hall grand are to glorify God in his church, and to enrich the life of the parish and community. The piano will make it possible for music to be included when the parish hall is used as venue for worship, and it will serve in music-oriented activities, performances, and fellowship activities in the parish hall. To ap-preciate the value of this gift to the Church and that part of its life that takes place in the parish hall, you need do no more than turn your mind’s ear back to the tinny-sounding, out-of-tune upright piano it replaces! The parish hall grand will be inaugurated in a concert at 4:00 p.m on Saturday, November 21, giv-en by Richard Becker, Associate Professor of Music and coordinator of piano study at the University of Richmond. Mr. Becker’s program will focus on the 19th Century romantic and impressionist repertoire, and will also feature the premiere of his latest com-position entitled Bavarian Sketches. The concert is free, and will be followed by a reception.

Jim Featherstone

The Parish Hall Grand


“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Make for yourself two silver trumpets … And they shall be for you for the calling of the assembly … when you sound an alarm … if you shall go forth to war … and in the days of your rejoicing …”

Numbers 10: 1–10

When Joseph Stalin, whose cruel father was a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church, initiated a nationwide campaign to destroy churches and re-ligious property, the Danilov monastery in Moscow was directly in the crosshairs. The monastery was closed in 1930. The Prior of the cloister and most of his brethren were shot. In the belfry of the monastery hung eighteen ancient bells weighing from twenty-two pounds to thirteen tons, the first of which was given by Ivan the Terrible in the 17th Century. In a remarkable cultural rescue, the bells were bought from the Soviet Union by Charles R. Crane, a former US Am-bassador to China, and given to Harvard University. There, they were installed in a bell tower during the construction of Lowell House, one of Harvard’s twelve undergraduate houses. Saved, yes, but gone from their centuries-long home. This was an unimaginable loss to the people whose spiritual and communal life centered on the monastery, its church, and the sound of its bells. The ringing of bells is essential to the life of the Or-thodox church. Every good Russian bell is designed, both in materials and shape, to produce a range of many sounds. The bells can be huge, weighing many tons each. Russian bell ringers are masters of both technique and art. Rather than playing melodic lines, the ringers produce complex traditional se-quences of sounds in particular rhythms. Those sounds are imbedded in the souls of Russian Orthodox Christians, most likely in the same way that certain hymns and carols are imbed-ded in ours. The bells have been rung for centuries as a call to worship, as expressions of triumphal joy, as markers of moments during the service to unite those who can’t be present in the ritual, to drive away forces of evil and strengthen the assurances of faith, to proclaim significant events, to warn of emergencies, and to rejoice in victory in battle. This is the tradition recreated by the bells at the end of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Russian church bells are sometimes called “singing icons,” symbolizing the proclaiming of the Gospel, and filling the aural space of the temple as the painted icons engage the visual. The physical destruction of churches was an immediate act of cultural violence. The continuing silence of the bells was a spiritual wound that would not heal.

But this story has a remarkable ending. In the 1980s, the first Father Superior of the reopened Danilov Monastery began a conversation with the U.S. Ambassador to the USSR. The Ambassador was a Harvard graduate. Correspondence ensued. Ronald Reagan took an interest. Derek Bok, then Harvard’s president, offered to return one. More correspon-dence, more negotiations. By 2003, Harvard was ready to relinquish the bells to their intended place. In 2004, Viktor Vekselberg, a very rich Rus-sian oil and aluminum magnate, pledged more than twenty million dollars. The money covered the monumental cost of moving twenty-four tons of bells across an ocean and half a continent. Elaborate logistics were developed, and the irreplaceable bells went home to the Danilov monastery in 2008. It is estimated that by the time Stalin and his successors finished their purge, of the 50,000 places sacred to Russian Christians, only 500 remained. But devotion and memory are hard to kill. There is film somewhere of the homecoming celebration and ringing of the bells in the square before the rebuilt monastery. The head of the Orthodox Church and President Gorbachev are there. The tears on the fac-es of the old men and women standing in the square as the resurrected Danilov bells began to ring again say all that needs to be said about the power of community, worship, and undying faith in the love of God.

Ann Norvell Gray

For more information about the monastery, the bells, and their decades at Harvard, you may Google: Russian Orthodox Church Bells, Danilov Monastery, and Lowell House.

The Danilov Monastery Bells


On the morning of Sunday, December 13, at the eleven o’clock service, the Grace and Holy Trinity Choir will present parts of the Christ-

mas section of George Frederick Handel’s oratorio Messiah. In preparation for the performance, those of you who are interested may enjoy lectures on Messiah by David Fisk, Executive Director of the Richmond Symphony, at the November 15 and 22 and December 6 and 13 Adult Forums. Messiah is doubtless Handel’s greatest hit, and a fabulous work in every sense of the word, be-ing both wonderful to hear, and giving rise to fables. One favorite is the source of the tradition that the audience rises at the sound of the first notes of the Hallelujah Chorus and remains standing throughout it. According to the fable, King George II attended the first performance of Messiah, was overcome by the combined power of the music and majesty of the biblical text, and could not remain in his seat. And of course when the King rose, so did everyone else. George II was almost a precise contemporary of Handel. He was born in 1683, Handel in 1685; he died in 1760, Handel in 1759. He reigned during a period of domestic tranquility (the Jacobite threat to the Hanoverian monarchy was suppressed) and economic prosperity. Although Great Britain was involved in wars during his reign, they were more or less wars of choice. The Virginia colonists clearly thought well of him. Ten of the twenty-three Virgin-ia counties established during his reign were named after his wife, Caroline; for his children, Amelia, Frederick, Louisa, and William; for his daughter-in-law, Augusta; for his grandson, Prince Edward, and for the Duchy of Brunswick- Lüneberg, his German domain. He is not remembered as a patron of the arts. Indeed, he is described in a scornful sketch by W. M. Thackeray as “a dull little man of low tastes . . . . He did not love the fine arts, but he did not pretend to love them.” Nevertheless, he is responsible in one way or another for some of Handel’s master-pieces. The Coronation Anthems were composed for his coronation in 1727, and one of them, Zadok the Priest, has been sung at every subsequent coro-nation of the British monarch. Also written for him were the Dettingen Te Deum, composed to celebrate his June 27, 1743, victory at the Battle of Dettingen, the last battle at which the King of England took the field in command of troops. The oratorio Judas Maccabeus was composed to celebrate the victory of his son William, Duke of Cumberland, at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, at which the Jacobites were exterminated.

Handel composed Music for the Royal Fire-works under contract with the King to accompany a fireworks display celebrating the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession. The King was directly involved in the creation of this masterpiece, ordering, as was his contractual right, that the orchestra be limited to wind instruments and drums. But back to the Hallelujah legend. It’s unlike-ly that the King stood up upon hearing the chorus. The first performance of Messiah was given in Dub-lin in 1742, and it premiered in London on March 23, 1743, with the composer conducting. There is no record anywhere of George II attending the Lon-don premiere, or any other performance of Messiah. It is more probable that at the time of the premiere he was preparing for one of his frequent visits to Hanover, in May of 1743, and ultimately to go to Mainz in June to take command of the Pragmatic Army and fight the Battle of Dettingen. The first record of an audience standing at Hallelujah is an account of a performance in 1750. The fable laying the tradition on George II may origi-nate from a 1780 letter by the Scottish poet James Beattie, who was eight years old in 1743, and who was telling the story secondhand. He wrote, “The King (who happened to be present), started up, and remained standing … and hence it became the fash-ion.’’ Whatever its origin, the tradition continues. It’s been argued that it should be abandoned be-cause it’s a vestige of subservience to royalty un-becoming in America. But to make this argument, you have to believe the fable. The better argument is that it interferes with enjoyment of the perfor-mance by those who, for whatever reason, don’t feel compelled to stand. To eliminate confusion on the point, the music program should tell the audience whether to stand or sit for the Hallelujah Chorus. However, there will be no dilemma for GHTC parishioners on December 13. Hallelujah is in the Easter portion, not the Christmas one. So despite its eternal popularity, on that day it will not be sung.

To see and hear a spirited live performance of Mu-sic for the Royal Fireworks by a wind orchestra, as demanded by George II, playing on reproductions of period instruments (Baroque oboes and bassoons and “natural” (valveless) trumpets and horns), Goo-gle “youtube handel fireworks carminum.” Note the Baroque contrabassoon that juts from the orchestra like the cannon from a tank turret—the modern in-strument is folded in on itself.

Jim Featherstone

Origins of Messiah Etiquette


Answers1. They are:

a. Imperial Russia, 569, God, the omnip-otent—think the finale of 1812 Overture, when the bells are ringing and cannons exploding—composer Alexei Lvov.b. Imperial Austria, 522, Glorious things of Thee are spoken. The tune was com-posed by Franz Josef Haydn in 1797 as a birthday gift to Franz I, the first Emper-or of Austria. The national anthem of modern Austria is a different text set to music of Mozart.c. Germany, ditto hymn tune, set to different text, still Deutschlandlied (Deutschland über alles), but only the least exuberantly nationalistic third stanza.d. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as nations still nominally ruled by Queen Elizabeth II, 717, My country ‘tis of thee—think God save the Queen—composer unknown.e. Liechtenstein, ditto hymn tune set to different text (Oben am jungen Rhein).f. The United States of America, 720, Na-tional Anthem, composer John Stafford Smith. (Curiously, and clearly incor-rectly, the 1982 Hymnal attributes the Star-Spangled Banner tune to “source unknown.”)

2. Hans Sachs, who composed the tune used in 61, 62, 484, and 485, shows up as a principal character in Wagner’s Die Meis-tersinger von Nürnberg. Hymns 61 and 62, both Advent, have the same text; 61 is the J. S. Bach harmonization and arrangement. The first two words are “Sleepers, wake!” 3. Martin Luther, born November 10, 1483 (151, 575, 687, 688). The tune of 687 and 688 is the same, the familiar a Mighty Fortress, but 687 is plain as Luther wrote it, while 688 is the J. S. Bach setting. 4. John Mason Neale, credited for writing 26 hymn texts. If you include the same text set to different tunes, the total is a whopping 45. Many are translations of very early Latin, but that does not diminish the author’s accomplishment in converting it into English verse. Notable texts include Good Christian friends 107, All glory laud and honor 154, and Jerusalem the golden 624. Neale is also the author of the text to Good King Wenceslas, which may make it into the next revision of the Hymnal if the Czechs stop parading the King’s skull on his feast day. In second place is F. Bland Tucker, credited with 26 texts. Dr. Tucker, a native Virginian who died in 1984, was a member of the Joint Commission that produced the 1940 Hymnal, and was an acknowledged contributor to the Standing Commission that produced the 1982 Hymnal. 5. Ralph Vaughan Williams, credit-ed for composing 27 tunes. Most of these are harmonizations and/or adaptions, but in my view, his original compositions are his best work. In second place is J. S. Bach, with credit for 20 1982 Hymnal tunes, all of which are glorious harmonizations and/or arrangements.

Grace and Holy Trinity Church, like all places, was changed by World War II. Rieman McNamara, who has been a member at Grace & Holy Trinity all of his life, was

a teenager at the time of World War II. He has fascinating sto-ries about life at our church then. “Most all the young men of service age went off to the war,” he said. “A number of them were killed, and there is a plaque here in the church that lists the names of everyone who served and those who died.” It was harder to get to church then because gas, like everything, was rationed. “We walked a lot then,” he adds, “and the street cars ran down Main Street and the bus down Grove Avenue, so it was possible to get to church.” The Reverend Dr. Beverly Boyd, our Rector during World War II, thought that something special should be added to the Sunday worship service. So the congregation began the tradi-tion of singing the first verse of a carefully chosen hymn at the end of every service. “The congregation was already on their knees because of the closing prayers, and the choir led the congregation in singing this verse,” which Rieman still recites from memory.

O God of love, O King of peace,Make wars throughout the world to cease;

The wrath of sinful man restrain;Give peace, O God, give peace again.

“We sang it every Sunday for four years,” said Rieman, “and it worked! Peace did come.” The hymn text and tune (Hesperus) that was sung in those years is number 528 in the 1940 Hymnal. The 1982 Hymnal number is 578; also the text is edited, and its tune is Eltham, harmonized in the 19th Century by Samuel Wesley to an 18th Century melody by Nathaniel Gawthorn. The original text was written by Henry Williams Baker (1821–1877). According to Hymnary.com, Baker was the eldest son of Admiral Sir Henry Loraine Baker, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. Taking Holy Orders in 1844, he became vicar of Monkland, Herefordshire in 1851. He was also editor of Hymns Ancient and Modern. He is the author of several addi-tional hymns, including The King of love my shepherd Is, which is number 645 in the 1982 Hymnal. The 1940 Hymnal tune Hesperus, written by a composer also, coincidentally, named Henry Baker, is nowhere used in the 1982 Hymnal. You can watch a full video interview with Rieman Mc-Namara about the history of Grace and Holy Trinity Church and his memories of church life through the decades of his membership on our website at http://ghtc.org in the “History” section under the “About” menu on the main page.

Carolyn Moomaw Chilton

“It worked! Peace did come.”

The Anchor is published seasonally by Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church8 North Laurel StreetRichmond, VA 23220

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Nelson D. Lankford Senior Warden

Michael J. Joyce Junior Warden

2016 VestryJennifer B. JohnsonNelson D. Lankford

Aisha Huertas MichelBruce B. NolteSarah B. Beck

2017 VestrySandra A. Hartley

Richard B. HazlegroveJ. Michael Joyce

Elspeth S. (Beth) McClellandSt. George (Saint) Pinckney

2018 VestryPaul B. Benson

Judith M. CarlsonMary R. (Molly) Howle

William Bradley TelfianLeslie R. Winn

The Anchor is the official newsletter of Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, a parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.

Issue: Fall 2015 Phone 804.359.5628 Fax 804.353.2348 www.ghtc.org

The Rev. Bollin M. Millner, Jr.Rector

[email protected] — Ext. 17

The Rev. Kimberly ReinholzAssociate for Service, Campus Ministry

& Pastoral Care [email protected] — Ext. 13

Carolyn Moomaw ChiltonAssociate for Evangelism & Stewardship


Dr. Elizabeth Melcher DavisAssociate for Music Ministries


Mary Cay KollmanspergerAssistant for Children’s, Youth & Family

Ministries [email protected] — Ext. 15

Paul EvansAssistant for Youth Ministry

[email protected]

Follow us on Facebook at GraceandHolyTrinity

Judy F. BowmanFinancial Secretary/Facilities Manager


Valérie I. CollinsAdministrative Secretary


Barbara Hobson-SimpsonParish Secretary


Andre Green MeederSexton

[email protected]

Vikki IgnacioMusic Director & Piano Accompanist for

8:45 a.m. & 5:00 p.m. services [email protected]

Abbey StinnettLightShine Choir Director &

5:00 p.m. Service Music [email protected]

The Anchor, Fall 2015

Documents

Transcript of The Anchor, Fall 2015