Ministries

Music at Saint Paul’s

“Wherefore with my utmost art, I will sing thee, and the cream of all my heart I will bring thee.”
– George Herbert

Rich History

Who we are:

Since 1880, well prepared, prayerfully offered music has been at the heart of worship at Saint Paul’s Church. Rather than a presentation or performance, music at Saint Paul’s is prayer—that is: a sacrifice of praise offered as an oblation with, and on behalf of the worshipping community.

Throughout our parish history, this community has upheld liturgical music as a charism1 of the parish; at Saint Paul’s Church, our nearly 150-year musical tradition is not just a liturgical ornament, it is a sacrament2, and it is a fundamental part of the way in which this community prays.

In the creative balance between listening and finding our own voice, Saint Paul’s choir experiences the Holy, when—by discipline, and practice, and tenderness—we are pitched beyond ourselves, and we may become one voice. We need each other’s voice to sing, and we need yours, too, as we strive to create community worthy of being called: Beloved. Please visit us on Sunday morning if you’d like to learn more—we’d love to laugh, pray, and sing with you in the coming year.

1Gifts bestowed on believers and their communities by the Holy Spirit, from the Greek charisma, related to charis, “grace.” They are subordinate to love (I Corinthians 12:4-31) and the edification of the community (I Peter 4:10.)
2An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. (Book of Common Prayer, p.857)

Our choir, our handful of resident composers, and assisting choirmasters and organists, believe that:

  • Our primary responsibility is to support and enrich the prayers of the faithful;

  • Our work is not a performance for the congregation, but offered as an oblation with them; and,

  • Beauty is measured not in perfection, but in prayerful, best efforts.

How to Join the Choir

Jacob Manier

Choirmaster-Organist

 

Dobson Organ

The Dobson organ was delivered to St. Paul’s in mid-April 1998 and tonal finishing was complete by mid-July of that year. Appropriately the organ consultant, Mr. Engen agreed to present the Demonstration Recital, displaying the vast resources of the new instrument on October 4, 1998. An Inaugural Recital was brilliantly performed by Christopher Herrick on October 20; this recitalist proclaiming the Saint Paul’s installation “a world-class instrument”.
Jacob Contact Form (#6)

We take our choir commitment seriously. Requirements for participation are relatively low-impact.

There are three points of entry for choir membership during our season:

  • First Wednesday in September following Labor Day (Wednesday evening and Sunday mornings, September to Christmas Eve portion of our season)
  • First Wednesday after the New Year (for the January to Easter Day portion of our season)
  • First Wednesday after Easter Week (for the May to Whitsunday portion of our season)

If you answer “Yes!” (or, like most folks: “Gee, I think so?”) to the following statements/questions, please click the Contact the Choirmaster button to learn more.

  • Basic note reading is a prerequisite skill. Can you read music?
  • Rich blend and tonal clarity, forsaking individual expression in favor of an even, collective voice, are hallmarks of our choral sound. Does your voice blend with the voices of other singers?
  • Choral singing is an endeavor in cumulative community building and skill building and, as in team sporting, requires dependable participation from every member of the team. Will you commit to approximately 75% attendance as detailed in our season schedule?
  • Saint Paul’s choir is a Safe Space in which to be emotionally vulnerable and physically courageous; we take great pride in the caring, nurturing, and supportive nature of our choir community, and a Be Nice Or Leave policy is strictly enforced. Are you nice?

We would love to laugh, pray, and sing with you this season at Saint Paul’s!

  1. Gifts bestowed on believers and their communities by the Holy Spirit, from the Greek charisma, related to charis, “grace.” They are subordinate to love (1 Corinthians 12:4-31) and the edification of the community (1 Peter 4:10.)
  2. Music is 16% ($53,394) of the parish budget, and includes these essentials: Choirmaster-Organist salary and benefits, Lay Clerk stipends, substitute organist fees, choral music, instrument tuning and maintenance, and misc. program-related supplies.
  3. An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. (Book of Common Prayer,  page 857)

Whoever you are, and wherever you find yourself in your journey of faith, you are welcome to laugh, pray, and sing with us at Saint Paul’s Church on Lake of the Isles.

Choir Diary

View the choir calendar for the current season:

Draw us in the Spirit’s tether (Harold Friedell)

O, for a closer walk with God (C.V. Stanford)

Teach me, O Lord (William Byrd)

Prayer for the city (Richard Proulx)

Like as the hart (Herbert Howells)

Die mit Tränen säen (Johann Hermann Schein)

Angeli, Archangeli (Giovanni Gabrieli)

Agnus Dei (Gabriel Fauré)

My song shall be alway (Gerald Near)

Behold, the tabernacle of God (Healey Willan)

For the beauty of the earth (Michael Bussewitz-Quarm)

A winter carol (Gilbert Martin)

Drop down, ye heavens, from above (Judith Weir)

Gaudete (Craig Kingsbury)

O Oriens (Kevin Siegfried)

A Savior from on high (Stephen Paulus)

Huron carol (Sarah Quartel)

On this day earth shall ring (Haldane Campbell Stewart)

Elizabeth’s greeting (Mark Anderson)

Alleluja! Freuet euch ihr Christen alle (Andreas Hammerschmidt)

‘Tis winter now (Monte Mason)

I sat down under his shadow (Edward Bairstow)

The old church (Stephen Paulus)

We wait for thy loving kindness, O God (William McKie)

Song of Simeon (Craig Carnahan)

Twas in the year that King Uzziah died (George Ratcliffe Woodward)

The Beatitudes (Arvo Pärt)

A prayer of Saint Richard of Chichester (Len J. White)

Eternal light (Leo Sowerby)

David Ashley White: This glimpse of glory (David Ashley White)

Sicut cervus (G.P. da Palestrina)

This is what the Lord asks (Arthur Maud)

When rooks fly homeward (Arthur Baynon)

Ubi caritas (Maurice Duruflé)

Christ’s part (Glenn Rudolph)

God so loved the world (B.E. Boykin)

O sacrum convivium (Olivier Messiaen)

John Sanders: The reproaches (John Sanders)

Five Lenten Introits (J. David Moore)

For I went with the multitude (Peter Aston)

A repeating alleluia (Calvin Hampton)

Musical Highlights from our 2016 Festival of Lessons and Carols. This liturgy was offered by the parish choir of Saint Paul's Church on Lake of the Isles - Episcopal (Minneapolis, MN) on 18 December at Saint Rose Convent (LaCrosse, WI.) These live-recorded MP3's are enriched with the sounds of a worshipping congregation and a toasty warm HVAC system; reduce background noise and hear the choir at their best by listening with headphones.

Notes from the Bench: Hymn 573

by | October 17, 2020 | Church News, Notes from the Bench | 0 Comments

Jacob Manier, Organist/Choirmaster This Sunday's final hymn is one of my favorites. Incredibly rich, both textually and musically, it is worth studying a bit before we sing it together. I always try to match the final hymn to the missional directive of the Dismissal....
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Notes from the Bench: The Trouble with Hymn 596

by | September 11, 2020 | Church News, Notes from the Bench | 0 Comments

Hymn 596 is widely considered one of the strongest texts for social justice and national peace in our hymnal. The author, Henry Scott Holland, an Anglican priest, was founder of The Christian Social Union which, in the 1880s, was regarded as “almost alone in proclaiming the injustice of present society.”

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I’m With Her: Holding Mom’s Hand at the Crossroads

by | February 28, 2017 | Church News, Notes from the Bench | 0 Comments

by Jacob Manier In our Baptismal Covenant, we pledge to respect the dignity of every person. We make this promise with utmost sincerity even as we wrap it in liturgies that cling nearly exclusively to masculine pronouns and imagery. In our scriptures, hymns, and...
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Commissions and Premiers

Commissions & Premiers
Saint Paul’s choir has had the privilege of premiering a number of new works in recent years. We are proud of our relationships with composers, resident and abroad, and were are especially grateful to have made these significant contributions to the repertoire of the Church
2018
To Know the Dark 
text: Wendell Berry, composer: J. David Moore jdavidmoore.net
commissioned by Saint Paul’s Choir with thanksgiving for the faithfully completed tenures of Lay Clerks Mark D. Anderson (18 years) and Kim Sueoka (7 years)
2016
2016 – Creator God text: John Mason Neale, adapted composer: Craig Carnahan www.craigcarnahan.com
2015
Hymntune JACOBS WAY: This is the hour of banquet and of song texts: Horatius Bonar, Henri Frederic Amiel composer: Craig Carnahan
2014
Nunc Dimittis (Lake of the Isles Service) composer: Zachary Wadsworth (www.zacharywadsworth.com)
2013
Hymntune KENWOOD: We seek no judgement of our love text: John A. White composer: Craig Carnahan (www.craigcarnahan.com) —– Magnificat (Lake of the Isles Service), commissioned in collaboration with American Composers Forum (www.composersforum.org) composer: Zachary Wadsworth (www.zacharywadsworth.com)
2011
Saint Paul’s Mass texts: Kyrie, Trisagion, Canticle (The Third Song of Isaiah), Psalm tones, Sanctus, Fraction Anthem composer: Craig Carnahan (www.craigcarnahan.com)
2005
A timbered choir text: Wendell Berry composer: David Evan Thomas (www.davidevanthomas.com)

Anthems at Saint Paul’s

Choir Repertoire
Music at Saint Paul’s is rich in tradition presenting a mix of styles and compositions through the ages.

Click the tabs to view the repertoire for each season.

2024-25

Draw us in the Spirit’s tether (Harold Friedell)

O, for a closer walk with God (C.V. Stanford)

Teach me, O Lord (William Byrd)

Prayer for the city (Richard Proulx)

Like as the hart (Herbert Howells)

Die mit Tränen säen (Johann Hermann Schein)

Angeli, Archangeli (Giovanni Gabrieli)

Agnus Dei (Gabriel Fauré)

My song shall be alway (Gerald Near)

Behold, the tabernacle of God (Healey Willan)

For the beauty of the earth (Michael Bussewitz-Quarm)

A winter carol (Gilbert Martin)

Drop down, ye heavens, from above (Judith Weir)

Gaudete (Craig Kingsbury)

O Oriens (Kevin Siegfried)

A Savior from on high (Stephen Paulus)

Huron carol (Sarah Quartel)

On this day earth shall ring (Haldane Campbell Stewart)

Elizabeth’s greeting (Mark Anderson)

Alleluja! Freuet euch ihr Christen alle (Andreas Hammerschmidt)

‘Tis winter now (Monte Mason)

I sat down under his shadow (Edward Bairstow)

The old church (Stephen Paulus)

We wait for thy loving kindness, O God (William McKie)

Song of Simeon (Craig Carnahan)

Twas in the year that King Uzziah died (George Ratcliffe Woodward)

The Beatitudes (Arvo Pärt)

A prayer of Saint Richard of Chichester (Len J. White)

Eternal light (Leo Sowerby)

David Ashley White: This glimpse of glory (David Ashley White)

Sicut cervus (G.P. da Palestrina)

This is what the Lord asks (Arthur Maud)

When rooks fly homeward (Arthur Baynon)

Ubi caritas (Maurice Duruflé)

Christ’s part (Glenn Rudolph)

God so loved the world (B.E. Boykin)

O sacrum convivium (Olivier Messiaen)

John Sanders: The reproaches (John Sanders)

Five Lenten Introits (J. David Moore)

For I went with the multitude (Peter Aston)

A repeating alleluia (Calvin Hampton)

2023-24

Draw us in the Spirit’s tether (Harold Fridell)

Panis angelicus (César Franck)

O Jesu Christ, dein Nam (Michael Praetorius)

Justitiae Domini (G.P. da Palestrina)

Jesus loves me (Monte Mason)

Promised land (J Michael Compton)

O how glorious (Healey Willan)

Lord, let me know mine end (Maurice Greene)

The eyes of all wait upon thee (William Harris)

For the beauty of the earth (John Rutter)

Serve bone et fidelis (Orlando di Lasso)

Lift up our hearts, O King of kings (Stephen Paulus)

Consolámini (B.E. Boykin)

Rejoice in the Lord always (Henry Purcell)

A winter carol (Gilbert Martin)

Die Könige (Peter Cornelius)

A Christmas carol (Charles Ives)

Noel: Verbum caro factum est (Tamsin Jones)

Before the paling of the stars (Craig Carnahan)

‘Tis winter now (Monte Mason)

Lord, I trust thee (George Frideric Handel)

Let the people praise thee (William Mathias)

Ich hare des Herrn (J.S. Bach)

This is my beloved Son (Knut Nystedt)

Eternal light (Leo Sowerby)

Geistliches lied (Johannes Brahms)

Come unto me (Bob Chilcott)

Jesus, so lowly (Harold Friedell)

They that go down to the sea in ships (Herbert Sumsion)

I sat down under his shadow (Edward Baristow)

Ride on (Grayston Ives)

O salutaris hostia (Ēriks Ešenvalds)

The reproaches (John Sanders)

Ralph Manuel: Alleluia (Ralph Manuel)

Calvin Hampton: A repeating alleluia (Calvin Hampton)

Healey Willan: Rise up, my love, my fair one (Healey Willan)

My shepherd is the living Lord (Thomas Tomkins)

Offertory (John Ness Beck)

Die Frucht des Geistes ist Liebe (Johann Christian Geisler)

Mater nostra (Henry Lebedinsky)

Magnificat in G (C.V. Stanford)

If ye love me (Philip Stopford)

2022-23

Draw us in the Spirit’s tether (Harold Friedell)

My song shall be always (Gerald Near)

Nunc dimittis in G (C.V. Stanford)

Agnus Dei (Gabriel Fauré)

Sicut cervus (G.P. da Palestrina)

He watching over Israel (Felix Mendelssohn)

Jubilate deo (Benjamin Britten)

Ubi caritas (Ola Gjeilo)

In memoria aeterna (Antonio Vivaldi)

At the river (Aaron Copland)

Beautiful Savior (F. Melius Christiansen)

Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Fauré)

Thou shalt know him when he comes (Mark Sirett)

Now is the cool of the day (Kevin Siegfried)

In the stillness (Sally Beamish)

What child is this (Mark Anderson)

De Virgine Maria (Carl Rutti)

Where the light begins (Susan LaBarr)

Winds through the olive trees (Linda Kachelmeier)

Huron carol (Sarah Quartel)

‘Tis winter now (Monte Mason)

The Lord is my light (Peter Hallock)

This is what the Lord asks (Arthur Maud)

The ground (Ola Gjeilo)

Let the people praise thee (William Mathias)

I sat down under his shadow (Edward Bairstow)

A new song (James MacMillan)

Jesus, so lowly (Harold Friedell)

Give me Jesus (Larry L. Fleming)

Like as the hart (Herbert Howells)

The Lord is my shepherd (John Rutter)

Gesitliches Lied (Johannes Brahms)

There is a green hill far away (Herbert Sumsion)

We adore you, O Christ (Richard Proulx)

A new commandment (Richard Shepherd)

The reproaches (John Sanders)

Sing joyfully (William Byrd)

Rise up, my love, my fair one (Healey Willan)

The Lord is my shepherd (Howard Goodall)

Christ hath a garden (Gerald Near)

My master from a garden rose (Eleanor Daley)

As truly as God is our Father (William Mathias)

 

2020-21

Virtual Services due to COVID-19. No programmed music.

2018-19
Draw us in the Spirit’s tether (Harold Friedell)
Sicut cervus (G.P. da Palestrina)
Jesus loves me (Monte Mason)
Lord, we beseech thee (Adrian Batten)
Laudate pueri (W.A. Mozart)
These are they which follow the Lamb (John Goss)
Jubilate deo (Benjamin Britten)
My eyes for beauty pine (Herbert Howells)
And I saw a new heaven (Edward Bainton)
At the river (Aaron Copland)
Locus Iste (Anton Bruckner)
For the beauty of the earth (John Rutter)
‘Tis winter now (Monte Mason)
E’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come (Paul Manz)
The Sussex carol (David Willcocks)
Jesus Christ the apple tree (Elizabeth Poston)
Christ’s part (Glenn Rudolph)
A spotless rose (Herbert Howells)
Pilgrim Jesus (Stephen Paulus)
To know the dark (J. David Moore)
What child is this (Mark Anderson)
Jesus autem hodie (Peter Hallock)
Down in the river to pray (J. David Moore)
I sat down under his shadow (Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)
Justitiae Domini (G.P. da Palestrina)
O gracious light (Gerald Near)
Suffrages (Daniel Justin)
The Song of Mary (Larry King)
Nunc Dimittis (Geoffrey Burgon)
Tantum ergo (Gabriel Faure)
T’was in the year that King Uzziah died (Healey Willan)
Selig sind die reines Herzens sind (Woldemar Voullaire)
The eyes of all wait upon thee (Jean Berger)
Beautiful savior (F. Melius Christiansen)
Sicut cervus (G.P. da Palestrina)
The Lord is my light (Peter Hallock)
Expectans expectavi (Charles Wood)
Beati quorum via (Charles Villiers Stanford)
A litany (William Walton)
There is a green hill far away (Herbert Sumsion)
The lamentation (Edward Bairstow)
A tree once grew in Galilee (Monte Mason)
The crown of roses (P.I. Tchaikovsky)
Give me Jesus (Larry Fleming)
Corpus Christi carol (Trond Kverno)
Ye choirs of new Jerusalem (Charles Villiers Stanford)
Rise up, my love, my fair one (Healey Willan)
As truly as God is our father, he is also our mother (William Mathias)
The call (A.B. Smith)
Thy perfect love (John Rutter)
Love one another (Arthur Maud)
2017-18
Draw us in the Spirit’s tether (Harold Friedell)

Ave verum corpus (W.A. Mozart)

The eyes of all wait upon thee (William Harris)

Adoramus te, Christe (Orlande de Lassus)

Silent Devotion and Response (Ernest Bloch)

Rejoice in the Lord alway (Anonymous)

Singet dem herrn (Johann Pachelbel)

O how amiable (Ralph Vaughan Williams)

In memoria aeterna (Antonio Vivaldi)

If we believe that Jesus died (John Goss)

The Ground (Ola Gjeilo)

The gift to be simple (John Chilcott)

O, for a closer walk with God (C.V. Stanford)

The Lamb (John Tavener)

Veiled in darkness (Glenn Rudolph)

Carol of the birds (Craig Carnahan)

A new song (James MacMillan)

Savior of the nations, come (Gerald Near)

Verbum caro factum est (Hans Leo Hassler)

I wonder as I wander (John Rutter)

A New Year carol (Benjamin Britten)

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (John Gardner)

My soul truly waiteth on God (John Wood)

Come unto me (Bob Chilcott)

Laudate Dominum (W.A. Mozart)

Eternal light (Leo Sowerby)

Lord, let me know mine end (Maurice Greene)

O sacrum convivium (Olivier Messiaen)

Jesus, so lowly (Harold Friedell)

Teach me, O Lord (Thomas Attwood)

They that go down to the sea in ships (Herbert Sumsion)

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way (John Alcock)

Parce Domine (Feliks Nowowiejski)

Ubi caritas (Ola Gjeilo)

Alleluia (Ralph Manuel)

Rise up, my love, my fair one (Healey Willan)

As the bridegroom to his chosen (John Rutter)

The fruit of the Spirit is love (Johann Geisler)

Greater love hath no man (John Ireland)

You will I love (K. Lee Scott)

Behold, the tabernacle of God (Healey Willan)

All hail, adored Trinity (Leo Sowerby)

2014-15
Homeward bound (Mack Wilberg)

Draw us in the Spirit’s tether (Harold Friedell)

O for a closer walk with God (C.V. Stanford)

When rooks fly homeward (Arthur Baynon)

A Gaelic Blessing (John Rutter)

This is the hour of banquet and of song (Carnahan)

The ground (Ola Gjeilo)

Stayed on Jesus (Jan Marvyn Youngblood)

And I saw a new heaven (Edgar Bainton)

Cantate Domino (Claudio Monteverdi)

Sicut cervus (Giovanni da Palestrina)

Swell the full chorus (G.F. Handel)

The pulley (Arthur Maud)

From tender stem (Carl J. Nygaard, Jr.)

Epiphany alleluias (John Weaver)

Alleluia, freuet euch ihr Christen alle (Andreas Hammerschmidt)

What sweeter music (John Rutter)

Rejoice in the Lord alway (Henry Purcell)

Messe de Minuit pour Noel (Marc-Antoine Charpentier)

New Year carol (Benjamin Britten)

As the bridegroom to his chosen (John Rutter)

‘Tis winter now (Monte Mason)

Ubi caritas (Maurice Durufle)

We wait for thy loving-kindness (William McKie)

Te lucis ante terminum (Henry Balfour Gardiner)

Suffrages (J Michael Compton)

Nunc dimittis (Zachary Wadsworth)

When Mary to the temple went (Johannes Eccard)

Eternal light (Leo Sowerby)

My beloved spake (Patrick Hadley)

Hide not thou thy face (Richard Farrant)

Jesus so lowly (Harold Friedell)

Jesus loves me (Monte Mason)

Like as the hart (Herbert Howells)

There is a green hill (Herbert Sumsion)

Drop, drop slow tears (William Walton)

Scio enim (Monte Mason)

Rise up, my love, my fair one (Healey Willan)

​The King of love (Craig Carnahan)

If ye love me (Philip Wilby)

Sanctus (Gabriel Faure)

Ave Maria (Jacob Arcadelt)

Veni Creator Spiritus (Arthur Maud)

Cum Sancto Spiritu (Gioachino Rossini)​

2016-17
Draw us in the Spirit’s tether (Harold Friedell)

There is a balm in Gilead (arr: Monte Mason)

Love bade me welcome (David Hurd)

Jubilate Deo (Benjamin Britten)

My song shall be alway (Gerald Near)

Fairest Lord Jesus (F. Melius Christiansen)

Lauda anima mea Dominum (Orlande de Lassus)

Song for Athene (John Tavener)

Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Faure)

Let the people praise thee, O God (William Mathias)

Savior of the nations, come (Gerald Near)

Behind the clouds (Abbie Betinis)

Brightest and best (Hal Rhea)

Creator God (Craig Carnahan)

O Nata Lux (Morten Lauridsen)

Seek him that maketh the seven stars (Jonathan Dove)

In the bleak midwinter (Harold Darke)

The holly and the ivy (Henry Walford Davies)

On Christmas Day (Monte Mason)

​A new year carol (Benjamin Britten)

Agnus Dei (Thomas Morley)

O, for a closer walk with God (C.V. Stanford)

These are they which followed the Lamb (John Goss)

Sing, my soul, his wondrous love (Ned Rorem)

Come, O thou traveler unknown (Monte Mason)

Ubi caritas (Maurice Duruflé)

Abide with me (Greg Schaffner)

The Crown of Roses (P.I. Tchaikovsky)

As Moses lifted up the serpent (Edward Bairstow)

He leadeth me (Benjamin Wegner)

Come let’s rejoice (John Amner)

Out of the deep (John Rutter)

Solus ad victimam (Kenneth Leighton)

We adore you O Christ (Richard Proulx)

Sing joyfully (William Byrd)

Christ hath a garden (Gerald Near)

The Lord is my Shepherd (Howard Goodall)

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life (Harold Friedell)

If ye love me (Philip Stopford)

Rise up, my love, my fair one (Healey Willan)

Stetit Iesus (Jacobus Handl Gallus)

My master from a garden rose (Eleanore Daley)

Recorded Music at Saint Paul’s

Jesus said to her,
      "I am the resurrection and the life."

John 11:25a