Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Lent I

January 21, 2021

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed

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Anthems

The Great Litany 

The Great Litany was the first service written in English. It was composed by Thomas Cranmer in 1544 from older litanies: the Sarum rite litany, a Latin litany composed by Martin Luther, and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The word litany comes from the Latin litania, from the Greek litê, meaning “prayer” or “supplication.” Litanies are penitential exercises. They are the urgent supplications of the people of God suffering under or dreading divine judgements and asking to be spared or delivered from calamities which at the same time they confess that they deserve. After invoking the Trinity, we ask to be delivered from the evils that come upon us because of sin: heresy, schism, natural disasters, political disasters, war, violence, murder, and sudden death. As our country experiences severe strains in a pandemic, let us pray this with especial fervor, knowing that God hears the prayers of those who humble themselves before Him.

Hymns

O love that will not let me go. At age 20 George Matheson (1842-1906) was engaged to be married but began going blind. When he broke the news to his fiancée, she decided she could not go through life with a blind husband. She left him. Before losing his sight he had written two books of theology and some feel that if he had retained his sight he could have been the greatest leader of the Church of Scotland in his day. A special providence was that George’s sister offered to care for him. With her help, George left the world of academia for pastoral ministry and wound up preaching to 1500 each week–blind. The day came, however, in 1882, when his sister fell in love and prepared for marriage herself. The evening before the wedding, George’s whole family had left to get ready for the next day’s celebration. He was alone and facing the prospect of living the rest of his life without the one person who had come through for him. On top of this, he was doubtless reflecting on his own aborted wedding day twenty years earlier. In the darkness of that moment George Matheson wrote this hymn. He remarked afterward that it took him five minutes and that it was the only hymn he ever wrote that required no editing. Albert L. Peace (1844-1912), a well-known Scottish organist of his day, wrote the tune ST. MARGARET.

To You I lift my soul is a paraphrase of Psalm 25 by John Dunn. The tune LOVE UNKNOWN is by John Ireland (1879-1962). He studied at Durham University in England and became a church organist, choirmaster, editor, and lecturer, eventually teaching at the Royal College of Church Music. He was a gifted composer of music for voice, piano, organ, chamber music, and orchestra that were recognized for their excellence during his lifetime; LOVE UNKNOWN was his only hymn tune.

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Rev. Kirk, Celebrant

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Quinquagesima

February14,, 2021

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed.

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Organ Prelude and Postlude

Fairest Lord Jesus, arr. David Johnston

Agincourt Hymn, Dunstable

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Anthems

Nearer my God, to Thee, arr. David Johnston

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O Lord, increase my faith, Orlando Gibbons

O Lord, increase my faith, strengthen me and confirm me in thy true faith;
endue me with wisdom, charity, and patience in all my adversity.
Sweet Jesus, say Amen.

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Hymns

Firmly I believe and truly (NASHOTAH) is adapted from John Henry Newman’s 1865 poem The Dream of Gerontius about the progress of a soul from death to salvation. As an Evangelical, Newman (1801—1890) rejected the doctrines of purgatory and the intercession of saints, but as part of his conversion (1845), he came to a realization of the fullness of the communion of saints: those striving on earth, those being purified by the divine fire, and those in heaven moved by love to pray for those on earth and in purgatory. The poem (Greek Geron: old man), relates the journey of a pious man’s soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. As the priests and assistants pray the prayers for the dying, Gerontius recites this creed and prays for mercy. Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Deus is from the Good Friday liturgy and is alluded to in the line “him the holy, him the strong.”

Love divine, all loves excelling is by Charles Wesley (1707—1788). The hymn is a prayer: through the incarnate Christ, we pray for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and ask that we would never be separated from the love of God in Christ, who works in us and through us until our time on earth is done. One of the most loved Welsh tunes, HYFRODOL was composed by Rowland Hugh Prichard (1811—1887) in 1830 when he was only nineteen.

Immortal, Invisible, God only wise (ST. DENIO) by William Chalmers Smith (1824—1908), is a proclamation of the transcendence of God: “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever” (1 Tim 17). No man has ever seen God, who dwells in inaccessible light that is darkness to mortal eyes. God lacks nothing (“nor wanting”) and never changes (“nor wasting”), and is undying, unlike mortals, who in a striking image “blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree, then wither and perish.” The original ending of the hymn completes the thought: “And so let Thy glory, almighty, impart, / Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.” “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known” (John 1:18). Only in Jesus through the proclamation of the Gospel can we know the Father. John Roberts, in Welsh Ieuan Gwyllt (1822-1877), composed the tune ST. DENIO. It is derived from a Welsh folk song Can Mlynned i ‘nawr’ (“A Hundred Years from Now”).

Jonah awaiting the destruction of Nineveh

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Epiphany III

January 24, 2021

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed.

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Organ Prelude and Postlude

“Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now” arr. Paul Manz

Paul Manz, (1919-2009) was a renowned American organist, conductor, and composer best known for his improvisations and hymn festivals. This suite is in four brief movements, each painting a verse of the German chorale, HERR JESU CHRIST. The final variation sets the tune in compound triple meter, perhaps to represent the Holy Trinity.

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Anthems

Offertory

“How Beautiful Are the Feet of Them from Messiah” G.F. Handel (1685-1759)

“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things.”

Handel was a renowned German/English composer of the 18th century, whose popularity far exceeded that of J.S. Bach during their lifetime. Originally an alto duet, the composer later rewrote this aria for solo soprano.

Communion

“Call to Remembrance” Richard Farrant

“Call to remembrance, O Lord,
Thy tender mercy and thy loving kindness
which hath been ever of old.
O remember not the sins and offences of my youth:
but according to thy mercy think thou on me,
O Lord, for thy goodness.”

Richard Farrant (c. 1530-1580) was an English composer and dramatist of the 16th century. Based on the 25th Psalm, this anthem begins with a sweeping gesture of a melodic fifth, pleading for God’s tender mercy and loving kindness.

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Hymns

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee was written ca. 1908, when Henry van Dyke (1852-1953) was a visiting preacher at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, set in the beautiful landscape of the Berkshire Hills, which is said to have inspired the hymn. Van Dyke, a Presbyterian minister, was also a professor of English literature at Princeton and a friend of President Woodrow Wilson. He served as a naval chaplain in World War I. He composed the words to be sung to the Ode to Joy in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The Ode to Joy theme in the final movement stemmed from a melodic idea Beethoven had hatched in 1790, when he began setting to music a 1785 poem and drinking song by Friedrich Schiller, an die Freude (To Joy).

Fairest Lord Jesus (CRUSADERS HYMN) is a 17th century German, hymn. Three stanzas of this hymn are taken from the version published by Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900), in his Church Chorals and Choir Studies (New York, 1850). The tune emerges in Franz Liszt’s oratorio Legend of Saint Elizabeth—wherein the tune forms part of the “Crusader’s March”—but no evidence of the tune exists prior to 1842, when the hymn appeared in Schlesische Volkslieder.

Jesus shall reign is by Isaac Watts (1674–1758), who interprets Psalm 72 using a Christological lens. The king referenced in the psalm is Christ, and could be no one else. For Watts, as for the Fathers of the Church, the Old Testament makes sense in light of the New, and vice versa. The tune DUKE STREET was composed by John Warrington Hatton (1710-1793), who supposedly lived on Duke Street in Lancashire, from where his famous tune name comes.

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Epiphany II

January 17, 2021

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed.

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Organ Prelude

O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig, J. S. Bach

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Organ Postlude

All glory be to God on high, arranged Michael Burkhardt

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Anthems

Let All the Lands with Shouts of Joy, William Knapp

Let all the lands with shouts of joy
To God their voices raise;
Sing psalms in honour of his name,
And spread his glorious praise.
O come, behold the works of God,
And then with me you’ll own
That he to all the sons of men
Has wondrous judgments shown

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Agnus Dei from Mass for 4 Voices, William Byrd

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi
miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:
dona nobis pacem.

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Hymns

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, a paraphrase of Psalms 103 and 150, was written by Joachim Neander (1650—1680), the first hymn writer of the German Reformed Church.It is Neander’s finest hymn, and one of the best known of all German hymns, a magnificent tribute to God as Creator and Preserver.  A valley was renamed in his honor in the early nineteenth century, and later became very famous in 1856 because of the discovery of the remains of Homo neanderthalensis, or the Neanderthal discovered in that valley. The hymn was Englished by the indefatigable translator of German hymns, Catherine Winkworth (1827—1878). She began translating hymn texts into the English language during the early years of the Oxford movement. The anonymous tune LOBE DEN HERRN appeared in the 1665 edition of Praxis pietatis melica (Practice of Piety in Song). a Protestant hymnal first published in the 17th century by Johann Crüger.

Jesus calls us o’er the tumult is by Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895). It contains a revivalist note which was also part of the Oxford Movement, which emphasized the Catholic nature of the Church of England in order to call men to conversion and a holy life. This is a hymn of unmistakable challenge – in its opening three words and its imperatives (‘Christian, love me’, ‘make us hear’). The tune RESTORATION was first printed in William Walker’s Southern Harmony (1835). Like many folk tunes, it is pentatonic.

All glory be to God on high is a translation of F. Bland Tucker (1895-1984) of Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr, most of which was written by Nikolaus Decius (ca. 1490-1541), a monk who became a Lutheran pastor. It is a paraphrase of the Gloria in excelsis. The tune, also by Decius, is an adaptation from a tenth-century Easter chant for the Gloria text, beginning at the part accompanying the words “et in terra pax. . . “

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), Annunciation

Mount Calvary

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Advent IV

December 20, 2020

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed

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Organ Prelude

“Sonata III: Andante tranquillo” Felix Mendelssohn

Organ Postlude

“Sonata III: Con moto maestoso” Mendelssohn

Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was responsible for reviving the music of J.S. Bach in the 19th century. The second movement of this sonata is a brief yet tender, “Andante tranquillo,” while the opening of the first movement, “Con moto maestoso,” makes for a grand and joyful postlude.

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Anthems

Offertory Anthem

“Of the Father’s love begotten,” Erik Spangler

Of the Father’s love begotten, Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, He is the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are and have been, and that future years may see,
Evermore and evermore.

This is He whom they in old time chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long-expected; Let creation praise its Lord,
Evermore and evermore.

O ye heights of heav’n adore Him; Angel hosts, His praises sing:
All dominions bow before Him, and extol our Lord and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent, ev’ry voice in concert ring,
Evermore and evermore.

Christ, to Thee, with God the Father and, with Holy Ghosts, to Thee,
Hymn and chant, and high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be;
Honor, glory, and dominion, and eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore.

A note from our composer: “Of the Father’s love begotten” marks a return to liturgical composition for the Mount Calvary Choir, after a hiatus of several years. As with my earlier compositions for the choir, the harmonic language is indebted to early music of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, as well as 20th-century approaches to dissonance within an established mode. The form follows a general hymn structure, marked by the refrain of “Evermore and evermore!” at the end of each verse. The number of voices expands from three to four, reduced to two, and then built back up to four voices as a culmination of energy for the final verse. -Erik Spangler

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Communion Anthem

“Ave Maria” Jacques Arcadelt

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum,
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis.
Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee,
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Amen.

Arcadelt (1507-1568) was among the first generation of Italian madrigal composers in the 16th century. The clarity and smoothness of his vocal writing is also heard here in his sacred music.

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Hymns

O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a translation of the Latin hymn Veni veni Emmanuel, which in turn is based on the seven O Antiphons, which are sung in the monastic office at the Magnificat on the days preceding Christmas. These antiphons are of ancient origin, dating back to at least the ninth century. The hymn itself, though, is much more recent. Its first appeared in the 18th century. It is interesting to note that the initial words of the actual antiphons in reverse order form an acrostic: O Emmanuel, O Rex, O Oriens, O Clavis, O Radix (“virgula” in the hymn), O Adonai, O Sapientia. ERO CRAS can be loosely translated as “I will be there tomorrow”.

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Creator of the stars of light is a translation by John Mason Neale (1818–1866) of the 9^th century Creator alme siderum. The translation captures the essence of the original Latin. Contrasting “everlasting light” with the “stars of night” in the first stanza is a common theological theme of Latin hymns. Stanza two refers to the great New Testament hymn found in Philippians 2:10-11: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Mount Calvary

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Advent III

Gaudete Sunday

December 13, 2020

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed

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Organ Prelude

“The Snow Lay On the Ground” arr. David Gehrenbeck

David Gehrenbeck (b. 1931) was Professor of Organ at Illinois Wesleyan University from 1971 to 1996. This carol prelude, which he wrote while a graduate student at Union Theological Seminary, depicts the falling snow in the manuals with the melody played by the pedals.

Organ Postlude

“Expressions: No. 5” Jean Langlais

Langlais (1907-1991), a blind composer and professor who was titular organist at the Basilica of Sainte Clotilde in Paris from 1945 until 1987. Many of his compositions are based on either Gregorian chant or French folk tunes. In this case, he uses an old French Noël set also by Claude Balbastre and Louis-Claude Daquin in the 18th century.

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Offertory Anthem

“People Look East” arr. Barry Ferguson

“People look East. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People look East, and sing today:
Love the Guest is on the way.

Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,
One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flow’r may flourish.
People look East, and sing today:
Love the Rose is on the way.

Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People look East, and sing today:
Love the Star is on the way.

Angels, announce to man and beast
Him who cometh from the East.
Set every peak and valley humming
With the Word, the Lord is coming.
People look East and sing today:
Love the Lord is on the way.

Ferguson (b. 1942), an English organist, composer, and lecturer who studied composition with Herbert Howells. This lively French tune heralds the coming of Christ and bids us prepare to welcome Him.

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Communion Anthem

“Lo How a Rose” Hugo Distler

Lo how a rose e’er blooming, from tender stem hath sprung,
Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung,
It came a flow’ret bright, amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah ‘twas foretold it, the rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it, the Virgin Mother kind,
To show God’s love aright, She bore to men a Saviour,
When half spent was the night.

Distler (1908-1942) was a German organist, composer, and educator of the early 20th century. The composer uses a simple harmonic structure to support the gentle soprano melody.

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Hymns 

On Jordan’s Bank (WINCHESTER NEW) is a translation of a Latin hymn by Charles Coffin (1676—1749 Paris), who was a French teacher, writer, Jansenist, and Rector of the University of Paris. The translator, John Chandler (1806—1876) was an Anglican clergyman who translated hymns of the early church and hymns from the Paris Breviary of 1736, in which this hymn appeared. The text sums up the message of John the Baptist, encapsulating each of the important themes of the Forerunner of Christ: announcement of grace, expectancy for the coming Messiah, and renewal in preparation for the coming of the King. The first stanza calls God’s people to give attention to the coming Christ. The second calls people to receive God’s presence and God’s cleansing from sin. The third is a profession of faith in Christ. The fourth is a prayer for God’s continued grace in our lives and in our world—a response to God’s redeeming Word. The fifth is a doxology of praise.

Prepare the way, O Zion (Modern lyrics) (BEREDENS VÄG FӦR HERRAN) is by the Swedish bishop Frans Michael Franzén (1772-1847). It was translated by Augustus Nelson (1863–1949). This joyful song celebrates Christ who comes to destroy sin and death, not by violence, but by his birth as a child and his self-giving on the cross.

O Saviour, Precious Saviour (WATERMOUTH) was written by Francis R. Havegal. WATERMOUTH, also known as ANGEL’S STORY was written by Arthur Henry Mann for the Methodist Sunday School Tune-Book, 1881.

John the Baptist preaching in the Desert, Anton Raphael Mengs, 1728-1779.

Mount Calvary

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Advent II

December 6, 2020

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed

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Organ Prelude

“Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen (Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming),” Johannes Brahms

This setting of “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” comes from the composer’s Eleven Chorale Preludes written in the last year of his life. Brahms takes the chorale “bud,” nurtures it with his highly-chromatic language, and offers us this beautiful blossom of a chorale prelude.

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Organ Postlude

“Noёl Suisse” Louis-Claude Daquin

Daquin (1694-1772) was titular organist at Notre-Dame in Paris from 1755 until his death. The postlude is the last of his Twelve Noёls for organ or harpsichord.

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Offertory Anthem

“Comfort Ye, My People & Every Valley Shall Be Exalted” from Messiah, G.F. Handel

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill made low;
the crooked straight, and the rough places plain.

Handel (1685-1759) was a renowned German/English composer of the 18th century, whose popularity far exceeded that of J.S. Bach during their lifetime. These two pieces constitute the first recitative and air from the composer’s beloved oratorio, Messiah.

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Communion Anthem

“E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come” Paul Manz

Peace be to you and grace from Him
Who freed us from our sins,
Who loved us all and shed His blood
That we might saved be.

Sing Holy, Holy to our Lord,
The Lord, Almighty God,
Who was and is and is to come,
Sing Holy, Holy, Lord!

Rejoice in heaven, all ye that dwell therein,
Rejoice on earth, ye saints below,
For Christ is coming, is coming soon,
For Christ is coming soon!

E’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come,
And night shall be no more;
They need no light nor lamp nor sun,
For Christ will be their All!”

Manz (1919-2009) was a renowned American organist, conductor, and composer best known for his improvisations and hymn festivals. This motet is his most well-known choral work, having been sung at the Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols at King’s College in 2004.

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Hymns

Comfort, comfort ye my people (Tröstet, tröstet meine Lieben) was written by Johann Olearius (1611–1684), a Lutheran pastor at Halle and translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). The hymn is a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:1-5, in which the prophet looks forward to the coming of Christ. More specifically, the coming of the forerunner of Christ – John the Baptist – is foretold. Though Isaiah’s voice crying in the desert is anonymous, the third stanza ties this prophecy and one from Malachi (Malachi 4:5) to a New Testament fulfillment. “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sfDESOjN0I&t=20sFor Elijah’s voice is crying In the desert far and near” brings to mind Jesus’ statement, “’But I tell you that Elijah has already come.’ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.”

The tune GENEVAN 42 is an adaptation by Louis Bourgeois (1510–1559) of a tune by Claude Goudimel (1501–1572), a French Calvinist who was killed in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

Mount Calvary

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Advent I

November 29, 2020

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed

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Organ Prelude

“Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (BWV 659)” J.S. Bach

These two settings of the chorale, “Savior of the Nations, Come,” are among Bach’s Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes. The first setting features the chorale highly ornamented in the right hand, while in the postlude we hear the chorale unmistakably in the pedal below a three-voice fugue.

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Organ Postlude 

“Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (BWV 661)” J.S. Bach

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Offertory Anthem

“Hail to the Lord’s Anointed” arr. Gary Guth

We are grateful to Ezra Melchor for sharing his musical talents with us this morning. The sound of bagpipes also reminds us that November 30th is St. Andrew’s Day, the official national day of Scotland.

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Communion Anthem

“Thou Shalt Know Him,” Mark Sirett

Thou shalt know him when he comes,
Not by any din of drums,
Nor his manners, nor his airs,
Nor by anything he wears.
Thou shalt know him when he comes,
Not by his crown or by his gown,
But his coming known shall be,
by the holy harmony which his coming makes in thee.
Thou shalt know him when he comes. Amen.

Mark Sirett (b. 1952) is an internationally recognized composer, conductor, pianist, and organist. Having studied conducting at the University of Iowa, Dr. Sirett is now active as a choral clinician in Canada. He sets this anticipatory text with an innocent soprano melody supported by rich harmonies in the lower voices.

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Hymns

Lo, He comes with clouds descending is by John Cennick (1718–1755) and Charles Wesley (1707–1788). The content of the text and particularly the title are derived from Rev 1:7, which tells of the Second Coming. As the liturgical year approaches the coming of Christ at the Nativity, we keep in mind His coming that we await, when He shall come as Judge to make known the truth about the entire history of the human race and indeed of the universe. How will we respond when He shows us the truth about our lives and how they are part of His whole plan of salvation? With wailing or exultation?

The tune HELMSLEY is by Thomas Olivers (1725–1799), who heard the tune whistled in the street and derived his melody from the music,  a short melody that is repeated at a different pitch level. In this case (“Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!”), the melody is repeated once a step lower and then a step higher. Such repetition intensifies the text that is repeated.

Jesus Christ, remember is by Edward Caswall (1814–1878), an Anglican clergyman who became a Roman Catholic and joined John Henry Newman at the Oratory in Birmingham. This hymn connects the Second Coming with Jesus’ coming in the Eucharist and His presence on the altar. NYLAND is a Finnish folk melody.

Savior of the nations, come (NUN KOMM DER HEIDEN HEILAND) is an English translation by William M. Reynold’s (1812-1876) of Martin Luther’s German adaptation of St. Ambrose’s Veni, redemptor gentium.  The tune  is based on a 12th C. plainchant melody. It is ABCA and is presented in a minor tonality utilizing diatonic notes. The melodic intervals are primarily steps and the tessitura  is only a fifth. Rhythmically, each phrase consists of quarter, eighth, and half notes, with one dotted-quarter note making an appearance in the second phrase.

Mount Calvary

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

The Feast of Christ the King

November 22, 2020

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed

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Organ Prelude

“Suite Médiévale: Prélude” Jean Langlais

Jean Langlais (1907-1991) was  a blind composer and professor who was titular organist at the Basilica of Sainte Clotilde in Paris from 1945 until 1987. This prelude is the first movement from his “Medieval Suite,” which combines ancient Notre-Dame polyphony with Langlais’ 20th-century harmonic language. The composer quotes the Gregorian chant, “Asperges me,” entirely appropriate for a processional at Ste. Clotilde.

Organ Postlude

“Pasticcio” Jean Langlais

“Pasticcio” is the final piece from Langlais’ Organ Book, which was a wedding present to Jacqueline, the daughter of his first organ teacher, André Marchal. The regal opening gesture grows in intensity with each repetition, ending with nearly full organ.

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Anthems

“O God, the King of glory” Henry Purcell

O God, the King of glory,
who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph into heav’n:
We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless;
but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us,
and exalt us unto the same place
where our Saviour Christ is gone before us. Amen.

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) was organist at Westminster Abbey from 1679 until his premature death. The composer alternates between homophonic and polyphonic sections of contrasting mood depending on the text.

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“O Sacred Feast” Healey Willan

O Sacred Feast, wherein Christ is received,
the memory of His Passion is renewed in us,
our souls are filled with grace,
and the pledge of everlasting glory is given unto us.
Alleluya.

Healey Willan (1880-1968) was a well-known Canadian organist, composer, and teacher of the 20th century. He wrote this simple eucharistic motet in 1924, a few years into his appointments at the Toronto University and the Church of St. Mary Magdalene.

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Hymns

All hail the Power of Jesus’ name (DIADEM) is by Edward Perronet (172?–1792), a member of a Swiss Huguenot family who emigrated to England. He was an associate of the Wesleys. The hymn is one of the most popular in all Christian churches. It begins with a reference to Philippians 2:10: “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” In our version the hymn addresses Israel, the chosen people, and then the Gentiles, every nation and tribe, and calls them to join in celebrating the Kingship of Jesus. The song of celebration is “everlasting”: as we sing this hymn we join in the song of the angels and saints, a song that will go on forever.

Jesus, the very thought of Thee (ST BERNARD). This hymn, attributed to St. Bernard, has as its theme the love of the soul for God. It begins by celebrating God’s presence as the supreme joy of mankind. It was translated by Edward Caswell.

Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven (LAUDA ANIMA), by the Anglican clergyman Henry Francis Lyte (1793—1847), is a paraphrase of Psalm 103. In the mid-nineteenth century, the pressure was on hymn writers to keep their versifications of psalms as close to the Scriptural text as possible. Henry F. Lyte would have none of this, and boldly published a book of psalm paraphrases entitled Spirit of the Psalms. Lyte decided he could maintain the spirit of the psalms while still using his own words, probably with the intention of making the reader see the psalms in a new light. Lyte’s text speaks to the love of God and our dependence on Him in a clear and imaginative way.