The Choral Scholars will sing a lovely setting of Psalm 145, “The Eyes of All Wait Upon Thee, O Lord” by Everett Titcomb (1884-1968), an American organist, choir director, and composer. Titcomb’s importance to the musical life of the church continues today, long after his death. He was an important figure in this country because he participated in the musical goals of the Oxford Movement by introducing Plainsong and sixteenth-century polyphonic music into the worship service.
Titcomb’s considerable amount of choral compositions include 84 anthems and 9 settings of the Mass. Though the composer lived through two thirds of the twentieth century, his style remained untouched by its more avant-garde trends. His earliest compositions, including today’s anthem, are in the motet style and feature primarily stepwise melodies and text repetition.
Our offertory hymn, “God Extends an Invitation”, is a brief eucharistic hymn of invitation first written in Portuguese – the invitation is to the table of creation where there is wine, bread, and light, where we gather in thanksgiving with all our living and receive the feast of life. Miria T. Kolling wrote the tune and Lucio Floro wrote the text. Gerhard Hartford translated it into Spanish and English for Libro de Liturgia y Cántico (1998), through which it comes to Evangelical Lutheran Worship.
Miria Kolling’s tune is a cueca or vals that uses a repeated rhythmic phrase and the key of D minor to ponder God’s invitation to the wonder of the eucharistic table. She has composed considerable amounts of liturgical music, including masses. She was born in Dois Irmãos, Rio Grande do Sul, where, in her family of thirteen children, she learned to love music.
