December 18, 2022

This Fourth Sunday of Advent prelude will be the Leo Sowerby setting of "Let all mortal flesh keep silence", the hymn we will sing before the Gospel reading. Sowerby (1895-1968), as you may remember, was known as "the dean of American church musicians", and also won a Pulitzer prize in 1946.

Our processional hymn will be the time-honored 15th-century plainsong melody, "O come, O come, Emmanuel" (text, 9th c.). This just might be the most popular Advent hymn!

The Gospel hymn (324), as mentioned, is actually a 17th c. French carol, as you can note in our hymnal.

Our anthem is a traditional English tune, set as an anthem by the American contemporary, Robert Powell (b. 1932), from Greenville, SC, who has written over 500 pieces for the Episcopal Church! His wife is also an accomplished church musician, and they have received together many honors for their contributions.

Communion hymns will be Advent favorites-- our last chance to sing them this year-- 66, "Come, thou long-expected Jesus", and 54, "Savior of the nations, come".

Closing will be hymn 58, a different musical setting of the text we opened with in Advent 1-- "Lo! he comes, with clouds descending" (the tune is "St. Thomas").

The postlude will be yet another setting of hymn 54, this time a J. S. Bach choral prelude from his "Orgelbuchlein" (The Liturgical Year).