Easter Day

Easter Day
April 1, 2018

 Alleluia! Christ is risen!

 This morning's offertory anthem - "Easter Chorale" by Samuel Barber - was composed for the dedication of the bell tower at Washington National Cathedral in 1964. Barber was intrigued by images of God in creation, and his setting of Pack Browning's poem captures the energy of new life brought forth by our "Source and Spring."

 This 20th century masterpiece is one of my favorite Easter choral compositions. If you visit my office, you'll see this poem hanging on my wall, framed with a photograph of Nebraska's sandhill cranes.

May your life be filled with light and renewal this Easter!




The morning light renews the sky.
Across the air the birds ignite
Like sparks to take this blaze of day
Through all the precincts of the night.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
The fires of dawn refresh our eyes.
We watch the world grow wide and bright
And praise our newly risen Light.
The winter land receives the year.
Her smallest creatures rouse and cling
To swelling roots and buds that stir
The restless air to reel and ring!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
The sounds of waking fill our ears.
We listen to the live earth sing
And praise our loving Source and Spring.
-Pack Browning
Hear a live recording from Trinity Cathedral: Easter Chorale

Music for Easter Day
April 1, 2018
Hymns: 207, 208, 174, 204, 192, 210
Service Music: S-278, S-125, S-141, S-147, S-154
Psalm 118 (A Hymntune Psalter)
Anthems:
Easter Chorale -Samuel Barber
Christ Is Arisen -Giovanni Gabrieli
Joy Is Come! -14th century carol, arr. Andrew Carter
Music for Brass Quintet:
Alleluia, Amen -G. F. Handel, arr. Craig Levesque
This Joyful Eastertide -Traditional, arr. Ed Hirschman
Victimae paschali laudes -William Byrd, arr. Levesque



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