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Category Archives: Blog
Organ Music Notes February 5, 2012
At the Prelude (10:50 am) Suite du Premier ton, Jean-Adam Guilain (ca. 1680 – after 1739) Guilain was a German organist and harpsichordist who lived in Paris during the first half of the 18th century. Even though he was born in Germany, his music is completely French in style. His only collection of organ pieces …
Organ Notes for February 5
Bach’s own French title for the work gives a rather clear hint as to its inspiration: French Baroque organ music. The work is in three sections. The first, labeled Très vitement (very fast), is played on the 8’ and 2’ flutes of the Positif division and echoed on the same stops of our Echo division. The extraordinary middle section …
For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food
The Carpenter’s Kids program represents a very profound opportunity for us to harness our energies and resources in the service of the Lord’s kingdom. For a modest financial commitment, Ascension is radically transforming the lives of each of the sixty-five children we sponsor, as well as their caretakers and local communities. Though simple in principle, the program’s impact has been immeasurable: through the gift of education, we have opened the door to hope and opportunity in one of the most impoverished places on earth.
The Great O’s of Advent
Now we are deep in the throes of The Holidays, as our secular and highly materialistic culture refers to this time of year. Almost before the pumpkins of Halloween disappeared from porches throughout the Village, the Christmas Train seemed to start barreling down the tracks with its annual frenzy, glitter and inevitability. In New York …
Vestry Notes
Highlights of the Vestry Meetings since our last report: At its March meeting the Vestry learned that Meredith Ward accepted the position as Chair of the Fine Arts Committee; Sirkka Kyle accepted the position as Chair of the Garden Committee; Ethan Mandel accepted the position as Chair of the Spiritual Development Committee. At its June …
Advent Lessons & Carols
You’re invited to gather for story, song, and candle light at a service of Advent Lessons and Carols, Sunday, December 4 at 6 p.m. Members of the NYU campus ministry community and our very own Canterbury Downtown will host this event. See the joy that is coming to you… as we enter into the season …
An evening with author Peter Balakian
The Church of the Ascension Book Group presents an evening with the New York Times best-selling author Peter Balakian. We will be reading “Black Dog of Fate,” the 2009 Anniversary Edition. “Black Dog of Fate” is an award-winning, deftly-woven memoir of an American suburban childhood in the 1950s and 60s that leads the author as …
Organ Notes for October 9
Pachelbel was the most important South German composer of the middle Baroque, a generation before Bach. He composed a large amount of organ, keyboard, instrumental and vocal music. Pachelbel’s music tends to be very …
Organ Notes for October 2nd
At the Prelude (10:45 am): Toccata and Fugue in D Minor Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) This amazing piece almost lives in a world of its own among the organ pieces of Bach. Its construction is the “loosest” of any of his large-scale organ works, and, indeed, there are other pieces more profound, more perfectly constructed. …
Organ Notes for Sunday, Sept 25
It’s called a circular prelude because the melody just keeps coming back, over and over again, and that’s the “form” of the piece. I chose this work because it is a perfect vehicle for the French 19th century Fonds 8′. In that Romantic, symphonic era, the 8′ foundation tone included all the foundation stops the organ had – montres, flutes, gambes (strings) …