A Season of Giving Thanks: Music
November 6, 2022
Jubal Joslyn, tenor
Cathryn Wilkinson, organ
About Today’s Music
In Psalm 150, likely written prior to the fifth century before Christ, we read some of the earliest songs in the long tradition of praising God through music.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
We join in that tradition today, adding our own thanksgivings to a recent setting of Psalm 150 and hymns inspiring us to sing. From Philadelphia comes New Britain, the companion melody to “Amazing Grace.” Azmon was published in Boston with Charles Wesley’s text, “O for a thousand tongues to sing.” The poetry of Franz Schober, set by Franz Schubert in 18th-century Vienna, recounts the power of music and responds with gratitude.
To the music
You lovely art, in how many gray hours,
Where I was stricken by life
You ignited my heart for warm love,
You brought me to a better world,
Brought me to a better world!
Often a sigh, that left your harp,
A sweet, holy chord from you,
Has shown me the existence of a better time
You lovely art, I thank you for it,
You lovely art, I thank you!
–Franz von Schober (Translation from https://lyricstranslate.com/en/die-musik-music.html-0)
