From last week’s Evangel, the newsletter from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church:

The days are becoming shorter as the sun rises later and the daylight fades earlier. Soon November will be upon us, and we will be celebrating All Hallows-tide. All Hallows, All Saints, and All Souls have been called the fall triduum or three days, reminiscent of the final three days of Holy Week. Similar to Holy Week, death and resurrection are prominent themes, but in this case the focus is not simply on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but on the lives of saints and souls of the Christian faith throughout the ages.

Halloween is simply the Eve of All Saints. Festivities abound on this day that seeks to scare death away, or to make fun of death due to our belief in the resurrection. On the Day of All Saints we remember the great saints who have gone before us, magnifying the Light of Christ through their very lives. On the Day of All Souls, we remember our beloved departed – the holy souls who have been close to us, and in many cases have been good examples of a faith-filled life.

I had never heard the term Triduum in connection with a fall event — the only Triduum I knew was during Holy Week, when there’s a triple whammy of services including Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.

The days are a little different, but next week, however, I’ll be playing three High Masses, three days in a row: Friday, Nov. 1 All Saints; Saturday, Nov. 2 All Souls, and Nov. 3, Pentecost XXIV. — a fall triple whammy! For All Saints, I’ll be playing Marcel Dupré’s Cortège et litanie as the prelude, a piece I’ve played since I’ve been a teenager. Here’s a performance by Eddie Zheng at the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Most of the time, I have no opinion about the music I play — it’s just a piece of music, something to fill the time. But after living with this piece for SIXTY YEARS, I have to say that I love it! When I was fourteen (the age at which I think I started learning this piece), it was the first time I heard the word “cortège,” : a funeral procession. Every time I have taught this piece to students, I have had to define the word “cortège” for them. It’s a piece I also studied with Marcel Dupré, the composer. As I’ve said in previous posts, I had the benefit of studying the piece when he was afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis, and he had to rewrite the wide chords for me to something I could handle with my relatively small hands.

I’m also going to play Bach’s 6-voice motet on Aus tiefer Not, BWV 686, which is another piece that I love. For years, I told people this is the piece I want played at my funeral! We’ll see about that! In this piece, Bach presents each phrase of the chorale in a imitative way, with four voices in the manuals and two voices in the pedal. Here is a performance by Balint Karosi.

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was an absolutely ordinary day at that. I had my online Spanish class in the morning, then taught an organ lesson in the morning at the Lutheran Church, followed by my daily Spanish conversation with friends, then another organ lesson at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in the afternoon, finishing up the evening at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church choir rehearsal. It was 10:15 pm when I finally walked in the door of my condo. Any free chance I got during the day I spent responding to the more than 150+ people who sent me birthday messages via Facebook or by text. I also was able to speak to my 7-year-old grandson via videocall. He recently told me that he’s really good at tech, and bragged to me that he’s better at tech than his dad (!) who happens to be an IT professional!

Many people were happy to see this video made by Yoko Kokuni Kessner, a member of the St. Mark’s Choir.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/27310245771924290

Thanks for all the birthday messages, everybody!