Choral music enriches worship at St. Martin’s.
St. Martin’s parishioners include an abundance of gifted musicians who love to incorporate others into their midst. The choir sings at the Sunday 10am service, with accompaniment by organ, piano and occasionally guitar, string bass, praise band, violin, and flute (and we’re open to other instruments too). Anthems range from Renaissance motets to contemporary Christian music. On the first Sunday of the month, we have more interactive service, designed to be accessible to a wide variety of ages. We also have a Pop-Up Choir on First Sundays, which means anyone can join the choir to sing the anthem; just show up at 9:15am to learn the song.
Jeffrey Jubenville leads the program as Music Director and organist. He works with Choir Director Suzanne Jubenville.
Our sanctuary also includes a Baldwin grand piano and an organ built by the the Bond Organ Company.
♫ CLEF NOTES ♫
Notes from our Music Directors for Sunday, February 16, 2025
On February 16, the Sanctuary Choir will sing Arvo Pärt’s “Beatitudes” as a reflection of our Gospel reading. This anthem is composed according to the rules of “tintinnabuli,” Pärt’s individualistic compositional technique. Pitch in two of the voices depends upon a reciting tone and the number of syllables in each word; the remaining two voices trade notes of a triad involving the reciting tone. Duration is governed by word accent; silence is structural. The resultant aural landscape is both spare and rich, and has an otherworldly quality. Pärt breaks these rules once, at the word “Rejoice!” The choir’s “Amen” is reminiscent of Orthodox polyphonic chant, transposed on high. At this moment of transcendence, the organ, which has been lurking in the background, launches into a series of ecstatic arpeggios, leaving the voices behind. This moment reminds me of Arvo’s statement, “Music says all I need to say.” Our Postlude will be Pärt’s “Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäler” (lit. “My Road had its Peaks and Valleys”). The title was taken from a poem (“My Road had its Hour of Greatness”) in “The Book of Questions” (Le Livre des questions,1963), a collection of poems by the Jewish author Edmond Jabès (1912–1991) written in French and translated into German. Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) is an Estonian composer who developed his mature style in artistic isolation. In a 2014 article, the Telegraph (UK) referred to him as a spiritual and unworldly person who “may be the world’s greatest living composer.”
—-Stay tuned for our next installment!
