Music: Sun Jun 18

A wide range of music by composers of African descent representing diverse historical periods and styles is featured in this morning's Juneteenth celebration. Read on for programming details and stay tuned for spoken introductions. 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano 

          Troubled Waters 

                     Margaret Bonds 

           Birmingham Breakdown 

           It Don't Mean a Thing 

                     Duke Ellington 

Opening Music: 

          Peacherine Rag 

                    Scott Joplin 

Meditation: 

          Adagio in F Minor 

                    Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges* 

*The subject of the recent movie “Chevalier,” the eighteenth-century composer St. Georges was a native of Guadeloupe, emigrated as a child to France, and established himself as a leading composer in the pre-revolutionary French court. 

Offertory (recording): 

          "Why Can't We Live Together?" 

                    Timmy Thomas 

Interlude: 

Kim and Christian Force, vocals and piano 

          "What's Going On?" 

                    Marvin Gaye 

Postlude (recording): 

          "Nos Estamos Levantando" (We Are Rising) 

                    Taína Asili

Music: Sun Jun 4

 

Shadows: sound/silence; light/dark; major/minor; object/reflection; Yin/Yang---all are represented in this morning's musical selections. Read on for programming details and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

Preludis obstinants

                                    Lleonard Balada (b. 1933)

 

Opening Music:
June, Op. 37, No. 6

                                    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

 

Meditation:
Música callada,* Vol. IV

            No. 23 Calme, avec clarté

                                                            Federico Mompou

*Literally "silent music", an allusion to the writings of the 16th-century Spanish mystic San Juan de la Cruz who spoke of "silent music, sonorous solitude".

 

Offertory: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

"Man in the Mirror"

                                                            Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett

 

Interlude:
"Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof

                                                            Jerry Bock

 

Postlude:
Graceful Ghost Rag (excerpt)

                                    William Bolcom (b. 1938)

Music: Sun May 28

 

Music from the stars and planets this morning at CUUC, along with some collaborations from our terrestrial community. Read on for programming details and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

From The Planets

            Venus, Bringer of Peace

                                    Gustav Holst

 

Opening Music: Creighton Cray and Adam Kent, duo pianists

Sonata for Piano Four Hands, in D Major, Op. 6

            II. Rondo: Moderato

                                    Ludwig van Beethoven

 

Meditation:

"Starlight", Op. 55, No. 4

                                    Edward MacDowell

 

Offertory: Kim Force and Rev. Meredith, vocals and guitar

"Holy Now"

                                    Steven Mayer

 

Interlude:
Theme Song from Contact

                                    Alan Sil Vestri

 

 

Postlude:
"Sorbetto" from Star-Crossed
                                    Billy Joel

Music: Sun May 21

 

This morning's Gathering Music explores the theme of change with excerpts from the Broadway musical Caroline, or Change. Other musical selections features CUUC friends and members. Read on for programming details.

 

Gathering Music: From Caroline, or Change

"16 Feet"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rje8KoAmgs&ab_channel=VariousArtists-Topic

"Lot's Wife"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXNGPIDYoCQ&t=121s&ab_channel=OfficialLondonTheatre

"Salty Teardrops"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z_K5IEfvgw&ab_channel=NewYorkTheater

                                                Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner

 

Opening Music: Eileen Macholl, guitar

                                                Heitor Villa-Lobos

 

Meditation: Creighton Cray, piano
French Suite No. 5 in G Major

            Sarabande

                                                J. S. Bach

 

Offertory: Ronald Touchton, piano

Prelude from Pour le piano

                                                Claude Debussy

 

Interlude: Joann Prinzivalli, guitar and vocals

"Get On Your Feet"

                                                Gloria Estefan

Postlude: Creighton Cray, piano

French Suite No. 5 in G Major

            Courante

                                                J. S. Bach

 

 

 

Music: Sun May 14

 

Music for a UU Mothers' Day and Flower Communion includes piano solos by moms as well as a floral tribute by the King of Ragtime Scott Joplin. The CUUC Choir is also on hand with a special request from Rev. Meredith. Read on for programming details and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

Balada

Nouvelette

                                                Alicia de Larrocha

 

Opening Music:
Sunflower Slow Drag

                                                Scott Joplin

Meditation: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

"For Good" from Wicked

Terri Kung, soloist

                                                Stephen Schwartz

 

Offertory:
Removalist Rag          

                                                            Elena Kats-Chernin

 

Interlude:
Aplec

                                                Alicia de Larrocha

 

Postlude:

Mazurka in G Major, Op. 6, No. 3
                                                Clara Wieck Schumann

Music: Sun May 7

 

Putting the “U” in “UU”—music by CUUC congregants this morning!

Gathering Music: Amy Young, piano

Sonata in A Major, K. 331

            Andante grazioso

            Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

 

Anthem: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

Kathy Williams, soloist

Takadamu

                        Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse

 

Meditation: Creighton Cray, piano

Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique”

            II. Adagio

                        Ludwig van Beethoven

 

Offertory:
“Why We Sing”

Greg Gilpin

 

Interlude: Kim Force, vocals; Christian Force, piano

“Crowded Table”

                        The Highwomen

 

Postlude:

R.I.P. Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023)

Music: Sun Apr 30

 

Yay! Welcome to an especially joyous occasion at CUUC, as we welcome back jazz legend pianist Valerie Capers and her incomparable collaborator bassist John Robinson! Please come to Dr. Capers’ Jazzfest! concert at CUUC on Saturday evening May 13 at 8 p.m. Read on for programming details. 

GATHERING MUSIC: Valerie Capers, piano; John Robinson, bass

 “It Might As Well Be Spring”

Rodgers & Hammerstein

 “Spring Is Here"

Rodgers & Hart"

 

OPENING MUSIC: 

  “Long Ago And Far Away”

Jerome Kern & Ira Gershwi

MUSICAL MEDITATION: “Meditation”

A.C.Jobim

 OFFERTORY: 

“Moanin’”

B. Timmons

 

INTERLUDE: 

“The Very Thought Of You”

R. Noble

POSTLUDE:  

 “In A Mellow Tone” 

Ellington

Music: Sun Apr 23

 

Music for the Beloved Community this morning at CUUC includes solo piano arrangements of traditional African melodies and Spirituals, as well as several examples of the American “Indianist” movement, which found inspiration in the indigenous music of Native Americans. The realm of classical music, few composers have more embodied the notion of cultural inclusivity than Claude Debussy. His prelude “La Puerta del vino” was inspired by a postcard depiction of one the gateways into the Alhambra complex in Granada, Spain, the last stronghold of the country’s long history of Arab domination. Read on for programming details, and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

Gather In Music:
From “American Indian Melodies”, Op. 11

Choral and Ichibuzzhi

Arthur Farwell

“At the Dawn of Day”
“These Stones Are Very Hard”
“Take Nabandji”

                        Traditional Southeast African, arr. by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

 

Opening Music:

Deep River

                        American Spiritual, arr. by Coleridge-Taylor

 

Meditation:
Before the Sunrise, Op. 63, No. 2

                        Charles Wakefield Cadman

 

Offertory:
La Puerta del vino from Préludes, Book II

                        Claude Debussy

 

Postlude:
The Bamboula (African Dance)

                        Traditional Caribbean, arr. by Coleridge-Taylor

 

 

Music: Sun Apr 16

 

Can music be inherently evil? Apparently, certain theoreticians thought so, when they dubbed the interval of the tritone (C to F# or Gb, for ex.) the diabolus in musica (the devil in music). Perhaps they did so because of the tritone’s instability—it doesn’t point to single resolution. The solo piano works performed this morning all feature the tritone in abundance. In fact, the Catalan composer Federico Mompou referred to a particular chord consisting of perfect 4ths and tritones as “el acorde metalico” (the metallic chord) and wrote that it was uniquely his. In his suite Scènes d’enfants (Scenes of Children) the use of such chords prompted one commentator to speculate about the mixture of the angelic and the devilish in children. The CUUC Choir is also on hand with the medieval “Sumer is Icumen in” and a selection already familiar to CUUC parishioners….read on for programming details, and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

Scènes d’enfants (Scenes of Children)

            Cris dans la rue (Shouts in the street)

            Jeux sur la plage I-III (Games on the beach)

                        Federico Mompou

 

Anthem: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

“Sumer is Icumen in”

                        Anon

 

Meditation:
Scènes d’enfants (Scenes of Children)

            Jeunes filles au Jardin (Young girls in the garden)

 

Offertory:
“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”

                        Randy Newman

 

Interlude:
Cançó i dansa 14*

                        Federico Mompou

 

Postlude:
Suite, Op. 14

            Allegretto

                        Béla Bartók

 

*The “song” portion is based on a popular Catalonian folksong La cançó del lladre (The Song of the Thief):

When I was a little boy

I was boastful and presumptuous;

With an espadrille on my foot

And a handkerchief in my pocket.

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

And now that I am all grown up,

I have chosen an evil path!

I have started to rob people:

(This is) my daily job.

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

I robbed a merchant

Who was returning from the town fair;

I stole all of his money

And the sample he was carrying.

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

Once I had enough money

I kidnapped a young maiden:

I took her with lies,

Promising that I'd marry her!

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

Justice has imprisoned me

And it has dragged me to a dark jail.

Justice has imprisoned me

And it shall make me pay with my life!

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

Music: Sun Apr 9

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

From Woodland Sketches, Op. 51

            No. 1 To a Wild Rose

No. 4 To a Water Lily

“Jesu, Joy of Our Desiring”

                        J. S. Bach, arr. by Harold Bauer

 

 

Anthem: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

“Come to the Music”

                         Joseph M. Martin

 

 

Meditation:

“Beloved Jesu, We Are Here”

                        J. S. Bach, arr. by Harriet Cohen

 

Offertory:
“For the Beauty of the Earth”

                        John Rutter

 

 

Interlude:

“Sheep May Safely Graze”

                        J. S. Bach arr. by Egon Petri

 

Postlude:

Sonata in D Major

Mateo Albeniz

 

Music: Sun Apr 2

 

Forging ahead with the extroverted works of Unitarian composers Edvard Grieg and Béla Bartók in this morning’s Gathering Music. Elsewhere, our Canvass Kickoff includes a seasonal tribute by Tchaikovsky, an optimistic outburst from Aaron Copland, and other works by composers who were “in the money” in one way or another. Read on for programming details and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano
Sonatina

I.   Bagpipers

Béla Bartók

Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, Op. 65, No. 6

                        Edvard Grieg

 

Opening Music:

Bagatelle in B Minor, Op. 126, No. 4

                        Ludwig van Beethoven

 

Offertory:
“We’re in the Money” from Gold Diggers of 1933

                        Harry Warren

 

Meditation:
April (Snowdrops), Op. 37, No. 4

                        Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Interlude:
Mouvements Perpétuels

                        Francis Poulenc

 

Postlude:
The Young Pioneers

                        Aaron Copland

Music: Sun Mar 26

 

March at CUUC: Women’s History Month and Nature find musical expression in this morning’s solo piano works. Today’s Musical Meditation highlights as well the poignant exchange of vows between Tony and Maria in Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. Read on for programming details, and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

Mazurka in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 3

Mazurka in G Major, Op. 6, No. 5

Clara Wieck Schumann

Scarf Dance

Cecile Chaminade

Opening Music:

To Spring, Op. 43, No. 6

                        Edvard Grieg

 

Meditation:

“One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story
                        Leonard Bernstein

 

Offertory:

Ballade from Pecados de juventud

                        Alicia de Larrocha

 

Interlude:
D’un jardin clair

                        Lili Boulanger

 

Postlude:
Little Bird, Op. 43, No. 4

                        Grieg

Music: Sun Mar 19

CUUC's own musicians perform for us this morning, including pianists Adine Usher, Lois Holt, and Creighton Cray, along with CUUC's Choir. Read on for programming details. 

 

 

Gathering Music: Adine Usher, piano
Valse in A minor, Opus 34, No. 2

                        Frederic Chopin

From In the Bottoms,

His song

Honey (Humoresque)

            R. Nathaniel Dett

 

Opening Music: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

“Rockin’ Robin”

Bobby Day

 

Offertory:
“The Lion Sleeps”

                        The Tokens

 

Meditation: Creighton Cray, piano

Prelude in Db Major, Op, 28, No. 15 “Raindrop”

                        Frederic Chopin

 

Interlude I: Lois Holt, piano

Allegretto grazioso

Giuseppe Concone

Interlude II: Adine Usher, piano

Sicilienne

Maria-Theresa von Paradis

 

Postlude:

Notturno, Op. 54, No. 4

                        Edvard Grieg

 

Music: Sun Mar 12

 

The Biryani Boys are Mustafa Bhagat and David Freeman. Their mission is to preserve and promote the Indian classical music tradition and provide safe passage into the contemporary landscape.

 

Mustafa Bhagat

Mustafa Bhagat is a musician, composer and filmmaker based in New Paltz, NY.
Mustafa plays the sitar in the style of the Vishnupur Gharana under the guidance of Pandit Manilal Nag and Mita Nag of Kolktata, India and Prasanna Kumar of Impal, India.

 

David Freeman

David Freeman is a percussionist, composer and educator based in Brooklyn. 
David plays the tabla in the Farukkhabad tradition under the guidance of Ustad Shabbir Nisar of Hyderabad, India, and Prasanna Kumar of Impal, India.

 

 

Gathering Music: The Biryani Boys, Mustafa Bhaghat, sitar; David Freeman, percussion

Raga Hamsadhwani in Teental

 

Opening Music:

An Introduction to the Inspiration for Raga music.

Raga Bhimpalasi in Teen Tal

 

Meditation: 

Raga Kafi in Rupak

 

Offertory:

Raga Kafi in Bhajan

 

Interlude:

Charukeshi in Chartal ki Sawari

 

Postlude:

Gujuri Todi in TeenTal

 

 

Music: Sun Mar 5

 

This morning’s musical selections include seasonal reflections by the Choir, Tchaikovsky, and Debussy, as well as works by Unitarian composers Edvard Grieg and Béla Bartók. Congregational anxiety about a new ministerial search finds parallels in the Jewish tradition with the classic “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” from Fiddler on the Roof. Read on for programming details and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

March (The Lark), Op. 37, No. 3

                                    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

“The Snow is Dancing” from Children’s Corner

                                    Claude Debussy

Peasants’ March, Op. 54, No. 2

                                    Edvard Grieg

 

Opening Music:
Hungarian Folk Tunes, Nos. 7-11

                                    Béla Bartók

 

Offertory:
“Matchmaker, Matchmaker” from Fiddler on the Roof

                                    Jerry Bock

 

Meditation: CUUC Choir, directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

“Footprints in the Snow”

                                    Greg Gilpin

 

Postlude:

Homeward, Op. 62, No. 6

                                    Grieg

Music: Sun Feb 26

 

Please welcome this morning’s musical guest tenor Aram Tchobanian to CUUC. In recognition of Black History Month, we are delighted to present a program of Spirituals in diverse arrangements. Mindful of Women’s History Month in March, we highlight the work of the composer Margaret Bonds. Read on for Aram’s bio and programming info, and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

Aram Tchobanian has premiered numerous works by contemporary composers from around the world, including Vanraj Bhatia, Beat Furrer, Yoav Gal, Thomas Pasatieri, and Salvatore Sciarrino, among many others. His repertoire covers 1300 years of music and 28 languages. He recently performed two different recitals featuring women composers (one with Adam Kent), and the Oklahoma! retrospective and Frank Sinatra retrospective concerts, all at Lincoln Center. Conducting credits include the world premiere of Robert Perretti’s The Thinking Heart. Aram has recorded four operas, an oratorio, and 15 audiobooks.

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

From Cinnamon Grove

            II. Adagio cantabile

                        R. Nathaniel Dett

“Troubled Waters”

                        Margaret Bonds

 

Introit: Aram Tchobanian, tenor
“De Gospel Train”

                        Spiritual, arr. by Harry T. Burleigh

 

Opening Music:
“Walk Together Children”

                        Spiritual, arr. by Moses Hogan

 

Meditation:
Parnassus

                        R. Nathaniel Dett

 

Offertory:
“Hold On”

                        Spiritual, arr. by Margaret Bonds

 

Interlude:
“Wade in the Water”

                        Spiritual, arr. by Harry T. Burleigh

 

Postlude:
“She/He/They’ve Got the Whole World”

                        Spiritual, arr. by Margaret Bonds

 

She's got the whole world in Her hand,

She's got the whole world in Her hand,

She's got the whole world in Her hand,

She's got the whole world in Her hand.

 

She's got the woods and the waters in Her hand,

She's got the woods and the waters in Her hand,

She's got the sun and the moon right in Her hand,

She's got the whole world in Her hand.

 

He's got the birds and the bees right in His hand,

He's got the birds and the bees right in His hand,

He's got the beasts of the field right in His hand,

He's got the whole world in His hand.

 

They've got you and me right in Their hand,

They've got you and me right in Their hand,

They've got everybody in Their hand,

They've got the whole world in Their hand.

They've got the whole world in Their hand.