Sunday, May 5, 2024
Music for Meditation: Prelude on “Easter Hymn” by John Ferguson
John Ferguson, for many years Professor of Organ and Church Music at St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, chose to make his setting of the well-known hymn tune “Easter Hymn” (sung with the texts “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” and “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” very quiet and lyric in style (as opposed to most other organ settings, which are loud and boisterous!). Against an accompaniment of strings in the hands, the hymn tune is played in the pedals, on a 4’ flute stop.
Offertory: “All Things Bright and Beautiful” setting by Dale Wood
The American composer Dale Wood wrote many hymn-tune organ settings, in a wide variety of musical styles. His setting of the tune “Royal Oak,” sung with the beloved text “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” is sparkling and light in quality, using multiple contrasting colors of the organ.
Postlude: Allegro (from Concerto in F major after Albinoni) by Johann Gottfried Walther
The German Baroque composer Johann Gottfried Walther (1674-1748) was a cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach. Walther was a fine composer himself, and he made transcriptions (arrangements) for solo organ of a number of Italian orchestral concertos. This Sunday’s postlude is the first movement of Tomaso Albinoni’s Concerto in F major, as transcribed by Walther.
– Charles Tompkins