Celebrating Forty Years Of Music (Part 2)

David Rider continued to provide quality musical leadership through 1983 and 1984 and a 3-octave set of handbells was purchased entirely with monetary gifts from congregational members. Judy Huff was interim Carol Choir director until Anne Shingler took over and continued in that position for the next several years. With David's departure in 1985 we welcomed Steve McConnel as organist/choir director. The music program expanded to include frequent use of handbells, instrumental and vocal soloists, a special Advent "Music Sunday" was instituted and "new" robes were procured from MVHS.

Alice Parrish joined as organist/director during 1989-1991 and an organ replacement search committee became active. Evangeline Taylor rejuvenated the Cherub Choir and also directed a benefit concert "The Heavens Are Sounding" for Jack Cormack's seminary fund. The choir combined with that of Church of the Pilgrim (in DC) to give joint performances of Requiem by Gabriel Faure. A string quartet and continuo joined the choir for Advent Music Sunday.

In 1992, separate positions for Choir director and organist were filled by Ernest Johnson and Deborah Lamberton. Special music continued to highlight choir activities, including annual fall/winter community concerts. We welcomed Tom Van Vranken in late 1992 as organist. Father's Day 1993 saw the first of several annual spring anthem concerts by the choir. Brand new choir robes were purchased as well. Youth instrumentalists (particularly Maggie Katz, flute and Lisa Taylor, harp) continued to enhance the beauty of our worship services and a Brass Quintet joined us on occasion. Schubert's Mass in G was a highlight at Easter 1994, and vocal soloists Nancy Pope, Barbara Gilliam, Katie Larkin, Lynn Kosanovich and Evangeline Taylor provided music during the summer services.

David Rider returned in 1995, just in time to enjoy the purchase of our new pipe organ, which was dedicated later that year. 1996 saw performances of John Rutter's Requiem and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass. Beautiful new chairs were given to the choir in memory of Zianna Gray.

David Rider became Organist/Choir Director in 1997. August was designated as Hymn Sing Month and summer services were provided musical direction by Bill Sams and Deke Miller.

Following the tragic death of David Rider, Jeff Taylor began duties as Choir Director and Tom Scheck served as Interim Organist until Ann Brown was hired in January 1999. Arwen Norman became Youth Choir Director and during the next several months (until her departure in February 2000), special robes were purchased and we enjoyed wonderful performances by Joyful Noise (including handbell ringers) , Singing Souls and Cherub Choirs. An adult handbell choir, the Heritage Ringers, was also formed and rings frequently during the year. Choir outreach included an Advent Service at Ingleside Community Chapel of the Presbyterian home in DC and the first of annual participation in the VIC Choir Festival honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Rutter's Requiem was performed in June in memory of David Rider during which gifts of chimes and zimbelstern were also dedicated. We continued to enjoy our talented youth including Autumn and Adrienne Brown, Tommy and Jenny Jones and Lisa Taylor. Kevin Ferguson, Greg Ekberg and others led music at the early summer services. Jim Holloway became organist in September 2000, after an extended term of interim and substitute organists following Ann Brown's departure earlier that year.

Great Easter Vigil continues to be a popular annual event with lots of choir involvement as cantors. A Jazz service featuring a jazz combo and the music of Duke Ellington as well as our Advent performance of Vivaldi's GLORIA with soloists (including Vivien Elmendorf), string quartet and continuo emphasize the fact that music has always been and continues to be a vibrant and exciting collaboration of talent and an integral part of our worship. Finally, in July 2001, the church received a magnificent gift of a concert grand piano, graciously given by Charles and DeJuana Jones. We truly have a "goodly musical heritage" at Heritage Presbyterian Church.

Jeff Taylor
March 3, 2002

Madeline L’Engle

Madeleine L'Engle is the author of the words to our anthem today. She is a woman of many hats. Writer. Thinker. Artist. Mystic. Christian. Mother. World Traveler...and the list goes on and on. She is best known for her Newbery Award-winning children's novel A Wrinkle in Time. Born Madeleine L'Engle Camp on November 29, 1918, the future writer was named after her great grandmother, whose name actually was Madeleine L'Engle. Madeleine later attended and graduated from Smith College, which eventually awarded her the Smith Medal in 1981.

Madeleine was always primarily interested in writing, but, after college, she worked briefly in the theater. Backstage and between rehearsals, she wrote her first, semi-autobiographical novel, The Small Rain. During her brief acting career she also met and married actor Hugh Franklin. Leaving the acting profession to her husband, Madeleine took to writing full time, always working under the name L'Engle.

After a 10 week camping trip with her family, Madeleine had the idea for A Wrinkle in Time. Farrar, Straus & Giroux eventually published it, a book that had been rejected by many publishers. The book won the Newbery Medal in 1963 and quickly became a perennial favorite with children and adults alike. Beginning in about 1970, L'Engle began to publish non-fiction and religious works in addition to her children's and adult novels. Today, she also works as the writer in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and lectures and conducts writing workshops.

Her science fiction, coming-of-age novels, suspense and mystery novels, mainstream adult novels, poetry, plays, journals, explorations of what it means to be a Christian--all these and more can be found in her remarkable body of work. (Adapted from bio by Karen Funk Blocher.)

Pam Russell
March 10, 2002

CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS OF MUSIC!

Here are some questions to ponder: What is the purpose of church music? What is the function of musicians in the church and why should we employ them professionally? What demands can we reasonably place on them and why should they listen to us? Why should we listen to them? And maybe the least important question of all and the one most commonly asked, why do they play such awful music? (That's a joke, of course. "Awful" usually means anything beyond one's personal taste.)

It's easy to take church music for granted. For some of us, music in the church service is secondary to the spoken word (especially instrumental music), expensive to maintain, or just another performance in a world already flooded by broadcast media and too many opportunities to hear live music. So in this technological age, why do we still hire musicians to teach our people to sing and ring, to play our instruments, and to tell us what music we ought to like? "Why" questions are best answered for one's self, but that said, we can draw from Scripture and from history some guidance about music in the church.

It is said that music goes where words fail. It may be that we have an innate desire to reach out to our Creator, to praise and acknowledge God for all of God's greatness and God's love. Every religion of the world honors that which they believe is Holy, and most often it is done with music. Perhaps this need to express ourselves before God is in-born.

The Psalmist sang, played, and danced before the Lord with every instrument available and called for the whole of creation to do the same. "Let everything that hath life and breath praise the Lord," he wrote. We praise God with music because we obey a Scriptural charge to do so.

From the earliest times, music was always a part of Judeo/Christian worship. As societies changed over time, so did the music as chanting gave way to chorales, hymns, and anthems. Choirs now sang the more complex music, and the congregations participated more in singing, especially in Protestant churches. As the church's power and influence grew, all the aesthetic arts were given full expression in the church—Gothic architecture, Renaissance painting and sculpture, writing and poetry, and not the least of these was music from plainchant to jazz. In the eighteenth century, contrapuntal music reflected the marriage of intellect and devotion. As the Age of Reason gave way to the Age of the Individual (also called the Romantic Age), church music exploded with emotion and became for many the personal expression of their faith.

These then are the roots of church music—historical, Scriptural, and anthropological.

So now we are back where we started. Why? There are only more questions. We know that God loves us however we may dress, yet we present ourselves well when we meet for worship. We believe God knows our every utterance, yet make a distinction between the kind of common speech of the street and the more formal speech of sermons and collective prayers. It's dog-eat-dog in our "me-first" society, but in church we willingly set aside our own wants to focus on the needs of others through our missions and our personal giving.

In other words, why do we create a place and a time where the highest expressions of ourselves, including our arts, is nourished and encouraged? Answer that for yourself and you will know why we must have music of the highest possible quality in our worship of God.

Jim Holloway
March 17, 2002

CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS OF MUSIC!

When we think of church music, we usually think of voices, but the instrumentalists play an important role as well. From the lone bell ringer who starts the service to the organist who plays the voluntary, these are integral parts of our church service. We are blessed to have a group of hand bell ringers who ring on a regular basis. The ringers are always looking for new ringers. It is fun. Give it a try. We are also blessed to have very talented instrumentalists who play a wide variety of instruments including harp and violin, flute, clarinet and saxophone, trumpet, trombone and guitar. All of these players have graced our services.

From time to time we have used special combinations of musicians to enhance our service, including brass quintet, string quartet and even a jazz combo. But the grandest of the instruments are the organ and piano, and we have been blessed to have many talented players. The concert grand piano was a recent gift from Charles and DeJuana Jones. The organ is the 2nd organ that Heritage has had the privilege to own. The first organ was donated to a church in Piedmont, Alabama, whose sanctuary was destroyed by a tornado. They were very grateful to get the organ. Roy and Carolyn McDonald have actually visited that church and heard the organ in its new home.

When you enjoy the beautiful music at Heritage Presbyterian Church, think also of the instrumentalists and the role that each of them plays to enliven our services.

Reid Graham
March 24, 2002

ALL GLORY, LAUD, AND HONOR

As the 700s rolled into the 800s, the greatest man in the world was Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor. Having gained control of most of Western Europe, he set himself to reform the legal, judicial, and military systems of his empire. He established schools and promoted Christianity; and in his capital, scholars and saints gathered from across Europe.

Among them was Theodulf. He was about fifty years old in a.d. 800, and he possessed an established reputation as churchman, poet, and scholar. Charlemagne made him Bishop of Orleans in Spain, and Theodulf traveled widely, taking part in the great events of the empire. Upon the death of the Alcuin, Charlemagne's "Secretary of Education," Theodulf advanced to that position. Unfortunately, Theodulf's fortunes ended when Charlemagne died. Accused by the new emperor of treason, he was imprisoned in the monastery of Angers. He stoutly maintained his innocence and was pardoned in 818; but he died shortly afterward and was buried on September 19, 821.

Theodulf of Orleans is best remembered, however, for his beautiful hymn Gloria, Laus et Honor, which has been sung every Palm Sunday for over a thousand years in churches around the world. It was reportedly written during his imprisonment:

All glory, laud, and honor
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children
Make sweet hosannas ring:
Thou art the King of Israel,
Thou David's royal Son,
Who in the Lord's name comest,
The King and blessed One!

Bill Teng
March 24, 2002

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