David Williamson, Choirmaster and Organist
In Lent we bury the Alleluia, meaning we stop using the word in worship and in our hymns. As in Advent, we also give up the Gloria in excelcis, the festive music that comes just after the opening hymn at 10:30am worship. If you attended the noon service Ash Wednesday, we sang the Rite One setting of the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) and the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) from Healy Willan's Missa de Sancta Maria Magdelena.
We just passed the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Willan, a great Anglo-Canadian organist, choirmaster, teacher, and composer. He's worth looking up! In Rite Two Eucharists, we are also going for a more solemn setting by using the Schubert setting of the Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy), Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Richard Proulx adapted this from Schubert's Mass in G. Schubert's short life was on the cusp of the transition from the Classical to the Romantic period, with his prime starting about the time of Beethoven's death.