Crystal Ball, July to September 14

The Crystal Ball post for June did not quite foresee how lovely the music selections would turn out to be these last weeks. Many thanks to our singers in various combinations for not just good song but also for enthusiasm, support and interpretation of this engaging and meaningful poetry.

The current snapshot

Singers are invited to sign up and indeed take leadership during September. You are at the heart of this small but important element of life at South Woden Uniting. The plot now looks something like this (subject always to worship plan decisions by RevR or other leader of the day):

• 13 July     That longest psalm 119, the psalm of the law, turns up again, so in the interests of continuity we repeat the antiphon by Isaac Everett that we used when this one last appeared in February two weeks in a row. We have a 4-part setting available so all singers welcome.
• 20 July    Psalm 139, Search me and know me. If the soloist is available, we hope to hear a fine setting by Michael Card of these familiar verses : ‘ … you know when I sit, you know when I rise, you know where I am going…’

  

• 27 July. Last Sunday, so a male voice group leads our contemplation. Psalm 105 comes up both this week, two weeks later on 10 August then twice more in the coming weeks. Tantalisingly, there is a nice 5-part setting of this psalm by Renaissance giant Roland de Lassus; experienced singers are preparing this for 10 August and we shall use a snippet of this piece on 27 July. Seeking consistency of era and style, the relevant verses will be sung to one of the eight main psalm tones (simple tunes) in the Gregorian Liber Usualis that were by then well established and often quoted in motet settings of the psalms.

  

• 3 August  Psalm 17. Settings offered in Isaac Everett’s The Emergent Psalter and Psalms for all seasons contend for a place. Both have good words and harmonies.
• 10 August  Psalm 105 again, and the beautiful Confitemini Dominum (Give praise to God), a Latin setting from around 1560 by Lassus as discussed above for 27 July –  a blast from the Renaissance years. It would be a treat if the same group of five could be available to present this again on 31 August and 21 September!

The psalm selection plan Crystal ball posts are drawn from a spreadsheet on the SWUC Music Dropbox, where reside all sorts of goodies. This document is primarily the Webmaster’s planning tool for leaders, worship liaison and musicians.  It has now been substantially updated to provide recommendations through to October, including the period of absence of your Hon. Webmaster/Cantor during September visiting family. These Crystal Ball posts from time to time are provided specially for the Psalm Team, a group with no walls, no password and great joy in music; bless you all.