This Sunday is Pentecost, and a small group from the choir will sing the anthem, “O Breath of life,” by the British composer Alan Bullard, incorporating a traditional English folk tune.  The organ music this Sunday is by Maurice Duruflé, from his “Prelude, Adagio, et Choral varié sur le thème du Veni Creator.”  Duruflé was a French organist, composer, and perfectionist who was famously critical of his own compositions.  He published very little, and continued to revise pieces even after they had appeared in print.

This week the adult choir sings two anthems.  The first, Cantate Domino, by the Italian baroque composer Giuseppe Pitoni, is a setting of the first verses of Psalm 98.  The second is a choral arrangement of the song, “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love,” which was originally written by Fr. Peter Scholtes in the 1960s.  The choir will sing an arrangement by our own Daniel Grotz, who has sung with the choir throughout his time as a student at UVA.  Now in his fourth year, Daniel will graduate in two weeks with a bachelor’s degree, having majored in both music and English.