The Choir
Director of Music Mr Phillip Sangwine
During this month, many of the voluntaries at All Saints’ are based on arrangements of hymn tunes. On Mothering Sunday we are having the choral prelude (hymn prelude) “Vater inser im Himmelreich”, BWV 737 by Bach, as the final voluntary. The tune is used to support the Lutheran metrical version of the Lord’s Prayer. In our hymn book the tune is used to support the text of an advent hymn, but in its original German context, this tune is suitable for any service at any time of the year. It is particularly suitable for a service at the half-way point in Lent. Its gentle melody allows us to reflect on how Lent has gone so far, and allows us to look forward towards Passiontide. At Mattins on Palm Sunday, the final voluntary is written by William Lloyd Webber (father of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber), and is a prelude based on the tune Winchester New. That hymn tune will be used for the first hymn of the service – “Ride on, ride on in majesty!”
Phillip Sangwine - Director of Music