Music for Meditation – Chorale Prelude, “Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren” (“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation”)…..Johann Gottfried Walther
This short setting of the classic German chorale (hymn) sung in English translation as “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” is by the Baroque composer Johann Gottfried Walther (1674-1748), a cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach. The hymn melody is heard in the pedals, on a solo stop, with counterpoint in the hands which skillfully incorporates fragments of that melody.
Offertory – Air (from Suite No. 1 for Organ)………..Florence Price
Florence Price (1887-1953), composer, pianist, organist, and teacher, was the first African-American woman to have her music featured by a major orchestra – in 1933, when her Symphony No. 1 (the first of four) was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She also wrote numerous works for the organ; the “Air” from her Suite No. 1 for Organ is a serene, beautiful slow movement that incorporates lush harmonies, some of which have a distinctly jazz-like quality to them.
Postlude – Allegro Vivace (from Concerto in G major after Johann Ernst, BWV 592)….J.S. Bach
This exuberant piece is the third and final movement of a Concerto in G major for strings by Prince Johann Ernst (1695-1715), transcribed for the organ by Ernst’s friend and colleague, Johann Sebastian Bach. The movement utilizes a perpetual motion texture of arpeggiated chords in the hands against longer note values in the pedals, and ends rather suddenly and unexpectedly with three consecutive fast descending scales in the hands, encompassing nearly the entire range of the keyboard.
– Charles Tompkins