2014 Schola Passion Choral Vespers

Description

Tracks
01 “Pre-Service Music ‘O Sinner Come, You Sin to Mourn’ (Pachelbel)”
02 “Hymn 440 ‘Jesus, I Will Ponder Now'”
03 “Vespers: Opening Versicles”
04 “Psalmody ‘Create in Me, O God’ (Hammerschmidt)”
05 “First Reading: 1 Peter 2:18-25”
06 “Choral Response ‘Paschal Lamb, Who Suffered for Us’ (Schalk)”
07 “Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21”
08 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): i. Prelude and Hymn ‘We Sing the Praise of …”

w09 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): ii. Recitative”
10 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): iii. Chorus”
11 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): iv. Aria”
12 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): v. Choral Hymn ‘What Wondrous Love is This'”
13 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): vi. Chorus”
14 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): vii. Recitiative”
15 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): viii. Chorus”
16 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): ix. Congregational Hymn”
17 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): x. Recitative”
18 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): xi. Hymn ‘Lamb of God'”
19 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): xii. Recitative”
20 “Cantata: Man of Sorrows (Kosche): xii. Congregational Hymn ‘We Sing the Praise'”
21 “Canticle: ‘Magnificat’ (Rizza)”

22 “Vespers: Litany & Benediction”
23 “Hymn 455 ‘The Royal Banners Banners Forward Go'”
24 “Postlude: Two Settings of ‘O Sacred Head, Now Wounded’ (Forchhammer, Leupold)”

Man of Sorrows
Today’s Vespers marks the premiere of “Man of Sorrows” by Kenneth Kosche, commissioned by Concordia Theological Seminary. Dr. Kosche is Professor of Music Emeritus at Concordia University Wisconsin; his compositions for the church are widely known and acclaimed. The text for “Man of Sorrows” is drawn from Isaiah 52 and 53. Using the cantatas of J. S. Bach as a model, Kosche and Mr. Kevin Hildebrand, associate Kantor at Concordia Theological Seminary, chose excerpts of those chapters to set to music for choir, soloist, organ and orchestra, interspersed with hymns for choir and congregation.

If the music of the church is filled with so many wonderful resources already, what is the point of creating something new? “This is what the church has always done. Just as Johann Sebastian Bach added to the church’s song in his own day, or just as a new hymnal builds upon and adds to the church’s rich tradition, so the church and her composers continue to contribute more musical expressions of the faith. The tradition is not supplanted or replaced, but it is expanded,” explains Hildebrand. “Concordia Theological Seminary is happy to be a leader in this rich and ever-expanding tradition of church music with Dr. Kosche’s composition and with the talents of the seminary choir.”