Holy Week, that crowning week of the Church Year taking us through the Passion of our Lord to His glorious resurrection, has passed and with it some of the most beautiful and wonderful music many of us hear in church during the year. I invite you to take a moment to reflect on that music and to revel in your recollection.
This post is adapted from The Year of the Lord by Theodore J. Kleinhans.
Just as the first Easter set the pattern for Sunday, so it also set the pattern for the Church Year. An event of such significance as the resurrection soon formed a natural focus for the entire year. No wonder one of the Church Fathers called it the festival of all festivals—the festum festorum.
Hart Morris’s arrangement of “Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands” is a Level III piece scored for 3–5 octave handbells. With roots in the Ancient Church and strong theological undercurrents, the piece is well placed on Easter Day or any Sunday during the Easter season.
Sondra K. Tucker’s arrangement of “Easter Fantasy on Ancient Hymns for Brass Quintet and Organ” combines two hymn tunes with Dupré’s celebrated organ solo “Cortège et Litanie.” The triumphant tone and historical relevance make the piece perfect for Easter Day or any time during the Easter season. Listen to “Easter Fantasy” here, and at the end of the post, preview the score on CPH.org.
Lent starts in two weeks! If you’re scrambling to put music together, don’t worry—we have options for you. Browse the list below to find music that will work with your church’s musicians. Options are available for different types of choirs and for organ, handbell, and instrumentalists with and without choir.
As I reflect on the glorious triumph of the Easter season, I remember the final hymn my congregation sang on Easter Sunday: “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing” (LSB 633). One of my all-time favorite hymns, it has a text that rightly captures both the joy of the day and the ultimate joy of the glorious Easter feast of heaven.
Easter is a time of rejoicing, and one of the best ways to rejoice is to throw a feast. In fact, for the past several Easter Sundays, I have had the opportunity to celebrate with food and fellowship. This feasting is a continuation of the joy of the Sunday-morning proclamation that “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” It is also a foretaste of the celebration of heaven, that great feast of victory.
Revelation 21:4–5, which talks about God wiping away every tear from our eyes, is not a usual text for Easter Vigil services. But David von Kampen is all about using the unexpected in his compositions. He’s a master at creating musical experiences that reinforce scriptural truths, and that’s exactly what he did with his new piece “I Am Making All Things New.”
Looking for some new pieces to add variety to your church’s music during the Easter season? Here’s an overview of our customers’ five favorite Easter pieces. Listen to each piece below, then head to the CPH website to browse the complete section of music for the Easter season.
