Sacred Music

When Kelsey and I first came to the Anglican Church, we attended a parish that sang the majority of the liturgy. One of the strangest things that struck us was how we couldn’t get the liturgy out of our heads. All week long, we would be chanting to ourselves the Kyrie, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, or the Proper Preface. Singing is one of the Church’s greatest tools for the formation of both young and old. The music sticks with us throughout our days, forms our seasons, and orients our hearts. As St. Augustine says, “those who sing once, pray twice.”

I know you have heard me say this last year, but with new faces and eight months since the last time we sang the Merbecke setting, I thought it would be a good reminder as we enter into Advent next week.

Sacred music has been tried and tested. As we sing, we also participate with the Church that has gone before us; it is the best we have to offer. Unfortunately, some Anglicans go through their entire life without knowing the richness of Anglican music, even within the service music. Those of us here at All Saints who know the importance and richness of Anglicanism need to help others who walk through our doors to experience the great music tradition that we have been handed down.

This brings me to the question of how we, here at All Saints, can experience the fullness of Anglican music. As a reminder, a simple way that we incorporate the richness of Anglican music is to sing the Merbecke setting for Advent and Lent. For those unfamiliar with John Merbecke, he was the composer who originally provided musical notation for the first Book of Common Prayer in 1550. This was the music that Thomas Cranmer would have heard the service sung to. Merbecke was not a revolutionary. Instead, he took the English prayerbook and set it to the musical tones and melodies that extend back to the Medieval Church or the Ancient Church.

Just as when I was a child and my father would play different music for different settings, music helps us to experience and process what is going on around us. As Anglicans, we believe what we do matters, and the setting and context in which we worship form us too. Traditional Anglican music, like Merbecke and Willan, helps us worship. The Merbecke setting is slightly shorter and simpler, adding to both the beauty of the service while still maintaining solemnity. This also means that when Christmas or Easter comes around, it makes the Willan setting even more glorious!  Both are important parts of our Anglican heritage and can add to our liturgical experience throughout the Christian year. Our liturgy remains the historic liturgy of the Church; words are not changed, merely the musical settings for the words. Let us know both settings so that we can introduce those who enter through our doors to the richness of Anglican choral music and allow it to bring them further into the life of the Church.

To help us jump right in when Advent comes, the choir has been rehearsing for a while now to help lead us in the use of Merbecke. We are worshipping the God and Creator of all things; our worship should be orderly and beautiful. 

God's Peace,

Fr. Aaron