This morning, we sample music from outside what I like to call the Dead White European Male choral tradition. There’s nothing wrong with said tradition, to be clear, and I love that music truly and deeply. However, music from outside that well-loved, well-known canon seemed appropriate for today.
The introit is the legendary jazz composer Duke Ellington’s famous sacred ballad “Come Sunday,” written for his mammoth three-part Concerts of Sacred Music near the end of his life when the great musician was dying of cancer and in a mood to contemplate his Creator. It’s full of the melodic craftsmanship and clever turns of harmony so characteristic of the composer’s work.
For the anthem, we turn to the Brazilian composer Ernani Aguiar, whose setting of Psalm 150 has become something of a warhorse since its premiere in 1993. It’s not hard to see why – the work is a lot of fun to sing, once you adjust to the (very) rapid-fire, tongue-twisting text. As one scholar has written, “Psalm 150 contains no argument, no real teaching, no real explanation. It is an eloquent, passionate cry to all creation to give Yahweh the praise due to Him.” Ernani’s setting is similarly straightforward, using a driving rhythmic pattern reminiscent of Brazilian dance music.
– Justin Smith