Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday (1/19/20)

By Sister Monica - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51883216

With an eye to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, works by African-American composers and settings of spirituals will be celebrated. The music also celebrates the opportunities brought forth by social justice reforms allowing these composers and the culture they love to enter the public arena.

David Hurd is one of the most visible African-American organists working today. Currently serving as Director of Music at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Times Square, New York City, he has over 100 published choral and organ works and has contributed to numerous hymnals, including The Hymnal 1982 and The New Century Hymnal. The first movement from his Suite in Three Movements (2010) entitled "Organ Point" will be played at the Postlude. The title refers to the repetitive pedal point figure heard throughout the work, the manuals evoking an English trumpet fanfare overhead.

Two creative settings of traditional spirituals will also be heard from the organ. Robert Thompson's flowing accompaniment figures and gospel overtones create an effective rendition of "Deep River" at the Prelude. A jazz-infused arrangement of "Let Us Break Bread Together" by Charles Callahan will carry us through the 9:00 a.m. communion time.

Steven Milloy was a colleague of mine at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music matriculating for his Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting. He currently leads the Cincinnati Men's Chorus and is also Music Director for St. John's United Church of Christ following an accomplished career as an arranger, activist for African-American and LGBTQ causes, and singer, including being a member of the eclectic vocal octet Pieces of Eight. The Chancel Choir offers his simple yet satisfying version of the classic spiritual "This Little Light of Mine" at the 11:00 a.m. choral service.

At 6:00 p.m., soprano Blair Carpenter and I continue exploring the African-American spiritual with selections from the morning and a few new ones.       

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