Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Andrew Johnson, Organist and Music Director

Easter II

April 11, 2021

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

This mass will be livestreamed

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Prelude & Postlude
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) represents the pinnacle of organ music in 17th-century Southern Germany. A generation before Bach, Pachelbel used chorale tunes as the basis for many of his compositions. His prelude “Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir” (Lord God, We All Praise You) uses the tune OLD HUNDREDTH, played by the pedals below imitative counterpoint in the manuals. “Toccata in E minor” is a free, improvisatory-like work which also features playful imitation.
Offertory: “Rise Up, My Heart, with Gladness”
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) who during his tenure at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig edited and harmonized this joyful melody as part of the Musikalisches Gesangbuch of 1736. The tune is by Johann Crüger and the original German text is by Paul Gerhardt.
Communion: “O Taste and See”
John Goss (1800-1880) was an organist and music professor in 19th-century England. The simplicity of this anthem speaks for itself. Goss sets the text
syllabically and homophonically so that the delivery of the scripture is paramount. He writes more dissonant harmonies to paint words such as “lion” and hunger,” then returns to the familiar
and inviting refrain.

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Hymns

Firmly I believe and truly (NASHOTAH) is adapted from John Henry Newman’s 1865 poem The Dream of Gerontius about the progress of a soul from death to salvation. As an Evangelical, Newman (1801—1890) rejected the doctrines of purgatory and the intercession of saints, but as part of his conversion (1845), he came to a realization of the fullness of the communion of saints: those striving on earth, those being purified by the divine fire, and those in heaven moved by love to pray for those on earth and in purgatory. The poem (Greek Geron: old man), relates the journey of a pious man’s soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. As the priests and assistants pray the prayers for the dying, Gerontius recites this creed and prays for mercy. Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Deus is from the Good Friday liturgy and is alluded to in the line “him the holy, him the strong.”

 O sons and daughters (FILII ET FILIAE) is a translation by John Mason Neale (1818-1866) of the hymn O filii et filiae by the Franciscan Jean Tisserand (died 1494). It recounts the appearance of the Risen Christ to both the women on Easter and to the disciples in the upper room. We are addressed in the stanza How blest are they who have not seen / And yet whose faith has constant been, / For they eternal life shall win. Although we have not seen the Risen Lord with our bodily eyes, we see Him with the eyes of faith, especially in the Eucharist, and are loyal to Him.

 I know that my redeemer lives (DUKE ST) is by the English Baptist Samuel Medley (1738-1799). The hymn uses a simple repetition of “He lives” to celebrate the resurrected Jesus who rules our lives and gives us eternal life. DUKE STREET is by John Warrington Hatton  (1710 -1793), who was christened in Warrington, Lancashire, England. He supposedly lived on Duke Street in Lancashire, from where his famous tune name comes. Very little is known about Hatton, but he was most likely a Presbyterian, and the story goes that he was killed in a stagecoach accident.
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