Music Newsletter Article 3/26/07 for Saint Philip's

                        Music at Saint Philip's

Holy Week will include services with music on Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, each at 7:00 PM.  On Good Friday, our adult choir will sing Mozart's beautiful classic Jesu, Word of God Incarnate.  For Easter, the adult choir will bring us `The Strife is O'er' by C.A. Gibbs.  Why am I saying adult choir?  This is because we now have a children's choir, that brought us `Advent Tells Us Christ is Near' on March 18th.  We can expect to hear our children sing approximately once per month during the school year.  Please offer your suggestions as we gain experience with how to make this as rewarding as possible.

On Palm Sunday, we will have our usual monthly Choir & Croissants breakfast at 8:30 AM in the Parish Hall.  You are most welcome to join us, even just for breakfast.  The anthem will be the hymn `My Song is Love Unknown,' sung in four part harmony.  At the service, the congregation will also be invited to join in the singing.  On Easter Sunday, the prelude will commence at ten minutes before the hour, at both services.  The prelude will be Buxtehude's Prelude and Fugue in E Minor (BuxWV 142), which includes three beautiful fugues, of increasing intensity, the last of which erupts in joy.

On Friday, May 18th, at 7:30 PM, in the church, I will present a harpsichord recital of works by Girolamo Frescobaldi, Louis Couperin, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and Jean-Philippe Rameau.  There will be a modest suggested donation, in support of the music program.  There will be harpsichord music at the May 13th service, including a blessing sung by the choir, accompanied by harpsichord.  We will also likely have harpsichord music at the May 20th service.

Bill Czelusniak has nearly completed his specification of all the pipe dimensions for the new stop for our pipe organ.  The project is behind schedule.  When the stop does become available, at a Sunday worship service we will have a dedication and a special piece to celebrate and illustrate our new sound.

                             Paul Utgoff
                             Music Director


Last Updated: June 8, 2007
128 Main Street (Rt 10), Easthampton, MA 01027
Tel: (413) 527-0862    Email: music@saintphilipseasthampton.org