July 19, 2020 - 7th Sunday After Pentecost

The well-known hymn “Praise to the Living God!” draws inspiration from our reading from Isaiah. The associated hymn tune, Leoni, is a familiar one and is often used as a processional hymn. Our prelude this week will be an arrangement of this hymn tune to gradually bring us into that space -- think of standing up, perhaps sharing the hymnal, and entering the service.

Our sequence hymn, “Come Gracious Spirit, Heavenly Dove,” was written by Simon Browne (1680-1732) (text) and Lowell Mason (1792-1872). This line from the third verse brings us to the Gospel -- “Lead us to Christ, the living way.”

Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911) was a prolific composer for the organ. His Prayer for organ is a contemplative piece. The top voice moves slowly and the entire piece is harmonically driven. I am playing this tune as a postlude because of the movement in the left hand. While the right hand plays a very slow melody, the left hand arpeggiates quickly. While we exit the rhythm of the service, the quick thoughts and mental to-do lists come back almost immediately. At least for the postlude, feel the slower and grounding pulse.