This Sunday at Trinity 

Members of the Couperin family were organists at St. Gervais in Paris for over 170 years. The most famous member of this musical family was François (1668-1733) who served the church from 1685 until his death. In 1693 he was also named one of four organists du roi for the royal chapel. With this added position came important social and economic advancement. He was soon tutoring the royal family in harpsichord. In 1690 he published two organ masses, where versets for the organ alternated with the plainchant of the mass. Today’s prelude is the sixth verset of the Gloria in excelsis from Mass for the Parishes.

Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), born near Dresden, studied with Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice from 1609 until Gabrieli’s death in 1612. In 1628-1629 he returned to Venice, this time to study with Claudio Monteverdi, one of the early composers of opera. This morning’s anthem in telling the story of today’s gospel of the Pharisee and the Publican shows the influence of Monteverdi with the duet sections at the beginning. At first two sopranos serve as narrators of the story followed by a bass solo (the Pharisee) and the tenor’s (the Publican) response. Finally, the full choir comes in summarizing the moral of the story: He who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

The text of today’s anthem:

Once upon a time two men went to pray in the temple,

one was a Pharisee, one was a Publican,

the Pharisee standing up prayed to himself while aside the

Publican daring not to raise his eyes to Heaven,

but his breast he struck, he struck saying.

Pharisee: Yes! Let praises be thine, Lord that I’m not like the common people, That I’m not like the other people.

Publican: Lord forgive a sinner.

Pharisee: Let praises be thine, that I’m not like the other kind. Rapacious, spurious, adulterous. Or like the Publican.

Publican: Lord pity me. Have pity on me. Have pity on a sinner.

Pharisee: I fast two days out of seven and give a tenth of all of my possessions.

Publican: Lord forgive a sinner.

Chorus: I say to you: That the Publican blest by the Lord returned home not the Pharisee. He who exalts himself he only humbled becomes humbled. And he who humbles himself, he becomes exalted. He is exalted. (Luke 18:10-14)