The King of Love

The Fourth Sunday of Easter
May 3, 2020

Known as "Good Shepherd Sunday," the Fourth Sunday of Easter is a day when we read or sing Psalm 23. Can you recall a musical setting of this psalm that you have sung? The most familiar setting in The Hymnal 1982 is "The King of Love my shepherd is," a metrical paraphrase of the psalm (St. Columba, Hymn 645). Try singing along with this recording, using the lyrics posted in the comments The King of Love . 

 If you are a choir member, the choral setting by Thomas Matthews is a favorite: The Lord Is My Shepherd (Matthews). Are you a BBC fan? Howard Goodall's setting of Psalm 23 is also known as the theme from The Vicar of Dibley: The Lord Is My Shepherd. Try listening to several settings of Psalm 23 this week and reflect on how each composer  interprets and expresses the familiar text through music.

 In today's livestream, we'll hear two organ settings of familiar Easter hymns. "The day of resurrection" (Ellacombe) is a rousing Easter proclamation. The text is a translation of an 8th century Greek hymn. The tune originated in Germany in the 18th century and was refined into its present form in the 19th century. 

"Come, ye faithful, raise the strain" is also an 8th century Easter hymn written by St. John of Damascus. It set to two contrasting tunes in our hymnal. Today, we'll hear St. Kevin (Hymn 199), the tune composed for use with this text by Sir Arthur Sullivan. He also composed Fortunatus, the tune paired with "Welcome, happy morning." (See llast week's edition of Praying Twice: A Springtime Hymn)

 We're approaching the halfway point of the Great Fifty Days of Easter. Soon, we will reach Ascension Day, which falls on the 40th day of Eastertide. The Day of Pentecost, the 50th day, falls on May 31. Please join our livestream worship on Sundays at 9:00 as we continue to celebrate this festive season: Trinity Cathedral Facebook Live
Music for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
May 3, 2020

 Easter Hymns arranged by Marty Wheeler Burnett
     The day of resurrection (Ellacombe)
     Come, ye faithful, raise the strain (St. Kevin)

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