Snow Day

It snowed here Saturday night and all day Sunday, about a foot of it. As I often do when the weather is questionable for Sunday morning, I spent Saturday night in my office. That let me get sufficient practice for the morning's organ and piano music on Saturday, extending into the evening, then a good night's sleep, and a fine early start on Sunday.

Had I attempted to drive in on Sunday morning, I probably would not have made it. Only three of our choristers arrived: Bob, Perry, and Natasia. We cancelled our anthem and sang a congregational hymn, but Perry and Natasia sang a descant on the opening hymn and the four of us sang the Psalm.

We had put a lot of preparation into this month's Choral Evensong, being the Eve of Candlemas. It was not to be: given the forecast, we cancelled. Instead, I spent the afternoon and evening working on next Sunday's music: the Bach A minor Prelude and Fugue. We shall see if I have sufficient time this week to pull it off.


This week's musical example is in two parts: First, Psalm 111 in plainsong with congregational antiphon. This is our standard form of psalmody for the Choral Eucharist; we sing Anglican Chant at Evensong. I am pleased with how this turned out today, even with our small group.

I have also included the Hymn that we sang before the Gospel: “Silence!
Frenzied, unclean spirit.” This is a very prickly hymn, and I believe that it has almost disappeared from view. But I would be hard-pressed to find anything better to accompany this day's pericope: St. Mark 1:21-28, wherein our Lord casts out a demon.

The text is under copyright so I cannot print it, but you can find it here with commentary by its author, Thomas Troeger. Thirty years ago, he and Carol Doran taught at the Episcopal seminary in Rochester, NY (an institution that has since closed). They collaborated on two slim volumes of hymns, with Doran writing tunes as unique as Troeger's texts. This one is not my favorite (that would be “Make your prayer and music one,” which is about Paul and Silas singing hymns in the Philippian jail), but it is indicative of the fine work that Doran and Troeger did. Notice how the tune hammers away at one note with lots of dissonance, reflective of the mental anguish of the person possessed by the demon.

I commend their hymns to you; search them out, and sing them.