Music at All Saints Festival Sunday, November 5, 2006
From All Saints Music Director Donald Teeters
All Saints Day is one of the Major Feast Days of the church year and at All Saints Parish it is an especially important day: joyous, festive, formal, and embellished with splendid ceremony, fine preaching, and great music. Fortunately, there is much great music to choose from for this special day, and all of our parish's musical resources, including the congregation, will be called upon to do their part. The Choir of All Saints, the Schola, and the Cherubs will sing special selections and, of course, great Saints day hymns will be sung, beginning as always here, with Ralph Vaughan Williams stirring setting of the text "For all the saints." Vaughan Williams gave his tune the name Sine nominee, which means "without a name," likely intended by him as a reference to the many saints known only to God.
For the first time, the senior members of Schola will sing an Introit at the beginning of the service, a motet appropriate for the day, Oculos non vidit (Eye of man hath not seen), by Orlandus Lassus. Everyone looks forward to the usually energetic performance by the Cherubs of the first verses of "I sing a song of the saints of God." The full Schola will perform the Pie Jesu from Fauré's well-loved Requiem at the Communion.
The adult choir's major contribution, at the offertory, will be C. Hubert H. Parry's majestic setting of "I was glad when they said unto me," a setting of verses from Psalm 122. Although this work is not specific to the All Saints theme, it is certainly not inappropriate to the spirit of the day. Interestingly, it has been performed at the coronation of every English monarch since that of Edward VII's in 1902, for which it was written. The choir will also sing a motet by Luca Marenzio and an Agnus Dei by Thomas Morley, two composers who lived virtually simultaneous lives in the late 16th century, and a festive setting of the Gloria in excelsis by the 20th century British composer/organist Harold Darke (from his Service in A Minor).
And if that is not enough riches for one (or more!) services, our own Robert Honeysucker will sing a spiritual at the communion with his accustomed authority and passion!