About this Sunday's Music
Those of us who attended the Centennial Art & Architecture Luncheon last month were amazed to learn in even greater detail of the intricate artistry and depth of theology adorning every square foot of our beloved church building. In stone, carved wood, marble, mosaic, and stained glass, we are enveloped by intentional beauty every Sunday through generations of faithful donors and the craftsmanship of skilled artisans.
This artistry isn’t merely frozen time from 1925. Every generation has contributed to the beauty of St. John’s – from the addition of the windows depicting soldiers in battles yet to be fought in 1925, to Father Traynham’s painting of Black Jesus, to the installation of the Martin Luther King Jr. clerestory window in the nave. The walls of this great place sing praises to God from generations of faithful Episcopalians, and they reverberate with the notes of hymns sung by countless faithful over the past 100 years.
In every instance, the artist is looking to the sacred artistic expressions of our shared tradition to illuminate the future. This creates a continuity of artistic expression across many diverse people and experiences, and with deep roots in the spiritual and artistic inheritances we enjoy through such a profound gift as this building and the community of people who gather therein.
The music we make is also renewed from one generation to another. Sunday’s centennial service will feature many rousing fanfares and well-loved congregational hymns, but also two new works composed specially for this occasion. The first is a setting of the Latin text Locus iste a Deo factus est (This place was made by God), written by choir member and composer Vasken Ohanian. The words are commonly associated with the consecration and annual dedication of a church building. Ohanian’s setting is a stunning three-minute choral masterpiece, written for a virtuosic eight-part choir and spanning the full range of the human voice. The composer intimately understands the strengths of the Choir of St. John’s Cathedral, as well as the glorious acoustical possibilities in this space. The triumphant conclusion perfectly sets the tone for the service that is to come.
The second new work is a communion anthem composed by organist Zachery Neufeld of Psalm 84, verses 1-4 (O how amiable are thy dwellings, O Lord of hosts). The text is from Miles Coverdale’s beloved 16th-century translation of the Psalms from the first Books of Common Prayer. Neufeld brilliantly draws upon Tudor-era harmonic modalism, but through the lens of contemporary compositional techniques. The piece builds to a dramatic climax on the joyful text “They will alway be praising thee,” before dissipating into arrestingly minimalistic murmurs of “alway praising, alway praising.” Through this work, Neufeld conjures the great Anglican musical figures past such as Vaughan Williams and Britten, bridging us to 21st-century Los Angeles.
As with all the art adorning our beautiful church, each piece is imbued with creative layers of genius intention that are largely imperceptible at first glance. We may not see the intricacy of that far away MLK window in the clerestory of the nave, or every brush stroke in Father Traynham’s painting, but God sees them. These works will live on, sung for years to come and perhaps beyond our own lives as part of the artistic expression of this community. I sincerely hope you are inspired by all the music offered this Sunday in thanksgiving for St. John’s Cathedral.
I love all beauteous things,
I seek and adore them;
God hath no better praise,
And man in his hasty days
Is honoured for them.
I too will something make
And joy in the making;
Altho’ to-morrow it seem
Like the empty words of a dream
Remembered on waking.
-ROBERT BRIDGES (1844-1930)
