Sing My Soul, His Wondrous Love
Musical Musings for Ordinary Time
by Sharon Downey
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
“No storm can shake my inmost calm.” There’s a storm in this week’s Gospel. Jesus sends the disciples to a boat while he goes up the mountain by himself to pray. In the meantime, the storm batters the boat and the disciples are afraid. After he walks on the water, he offers his hand to Peter and proclaims, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Many would agree that we are living through a tremendous storm right now and perhaps our “inmost calm” has been shaken.
“Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth How can I keep from singing?”

“How Can I Keep from Singing?”
The words were composed by Robert Wadsworth Lowry, an American Baptist preacher:
My life flows on in endless song; Above earth's lamentation,
I hear the sweet, though far-off hymn That hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear that music ringing
It finds an echo in my soul How can I keep from singing?
No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that refuge clinging
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth How can I keep from singing?
There are no words…

These musical offerings have no words; they are instrumental. They are favorites of mine to play during the summer months. They are familiar tunes, often heard at weddings and some as theme songs for popular TV and radio shows. 

“The Prince of Denmark’s March”
by Jeremiah Clarke
Jonathan Scott performs his own arrangement on the organ of Hull City Hall. (Yes, there is a percussion section on this organ!) 
You may be surprised to see the composer as Jeremiah Clarke. It was originally published as “Trumpet Voluntary” by Henry Purcell but scholars have determined it was written by Clarke and published as “The Prince of Denmark’s March,” purportedly written in honor of Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Queen Anne.

“Rondeau”
by Jean-Josef Mouret (The theme from PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre)
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Anthony Newman, organ;
The English Chamber Orchestra. (That’s a real timpani in this selection!)
“Trumpet Tune in D Major” 
by David Johnson with Andrew Cantrill, organist. (The theme from With Heart and Voice, a weekly radio program of sacred choral and organ music.)