Join your voice with the Cumberland Orchestra and professional soloists at Grace Episcopal Church to sing the Christmas portion of Messiah by G. F Handel. The 2022 sing along is this Sunday, December 18 at 3:00 PM.
Arietha Lockhart, soprano
Akosua Adwini-Poku, mezzo-soprano
Jonathan Pilkington, tenor
Benjamin Schoening, baritone
Lynn Swanson, music director/conductor
Your ticket for admission to the sing-along is one non-perishable item for donation to the Gainesville-Hall Community Food Pantry.
If you have your own music score you are invited to bring it. We will have copies for you to borrow if needed.
The Cathedral Bookstore will be here with books and other resources for sale this Sunday, December 18.
Holy Eucharist and Pageant
4:00 PM, music at 3:45 PM
Our family friendly service will feature a paper bag pageant that will serve as The Liturgy of the Word. Children are welcome to wear a costume to the service if they wish, additional costumes will be given out to any member of the congregation that wishes to participate. The pageant will be followed by Holy Communion.
A special musical prelude will precede the service, beginning at 3:45 PM.
Festival Holy Eucharist for the Feast of the Nativity
10:00 PM, music at 9:30 PM
Our traditional Midnight Mass remains a highlight of the year, with Holy Communion and music with choir, strings, and organ.
For the musical prelude beginning at 9:30 PM, the Grace Choir will perform Christmas Oratorio of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). The thirty minute work will be sung in English and is scored for five soloists, chorus, string quartet, harp and organ.
At 9:30 PM on Christmas Eve, preceding the 10:00 PM Festival Holy Eucharist, the Grace Choir will perform Christmas Oratorio of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921).
Saint-Saëns was just 23 years old when he wrote the piece. It was premiered in the church of La Madeleine in Paris in December of 1858. The thirty minute work will be sung in English and is scored for five soloists, chorus, string quartet, harp and organ. The narrative portion of the text is taken from the second chapter of St. Luke, appears in the second movement and tells the part of the traditional Christmas story involving the shepherds. The remainder of the texts, taken from John, Isaiah, Lamentations, and the Psalms, reflect upon the meaning and significance of the event. The work has been called “a musical enhancement of the words of the Christmas office, without interest in the human drama.”
It is a deeply moving piece both musically and spiritually and remains a treasured work in the Universal Christian Church.
Resources: Das Barenreiter-Magazin, Wikipedia: Oratorio de Noël
Look ahead to upcoming opportunities for prayer, worship, and community!
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