From about the 16th to well into the 19h century, European composers had a particular awareness of the relationship between music and speech on many different levels, including the power of musical shapes, gestures, figures, etc. to ‘move the passions’ of the listener, essentially the goal of Classical spoken oratory and rhetoric. Even instrumental compositions were conceived in terms of presenting a thesis, constructing an argument through explanation and elaboration, offering and refuting counter-arguments, and summation. Vocal music, however, is especially closely allied with rhetorical illustration. It’s more than just just overt text-painting. All the concepts of Classical rhetoric, like repetition for emphasis, contrasting ideas, etc. are used to add another level of meaning to the text.

I grew up in NC, and in some of the rural churches, especially the black churches, you can still hear “embroidered” versions of the Lord’s Prayer. I can’t replicate it, but each clause is elaborated extemporaneously and the meaning savored and meditated upon: “Our Father, Abba, Daddy, Lord of all creation and father of all…” It’s another way of doing the same thing a composer does when he sets the text.

I’m not all that fond of the Malotte setting. I’m sure you’ve probably seen this video (and I’m sorry, but even after reading your tutorials, I’m not savvy enough to embed the link):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk

I had never made the connection before, but I think you’re right when you say there’s a permanent shift (and not for the better, I think) in how English-speakers perceive that clause. In our inter-denominational (with strong Anglican roots) speaks it corporately “Thy will be done,…on earth as it is in heaven,” while I’ve always thought of it as “Thy will be done on earth,…as it is in heaven.” As N.T. Wright puts it in “Simply Christian”, the Kingdom of Heaven is both already and not yet.

And Mike, you should tell Azusa’s publications department that they could save a bundle on the cost of producing viewbooks. This paragraph of yours seals the deal for this mother of two boys: “The men’s chorale that will be performing it has a special place in my heart. The conductor has made it a workshop for turning awkward boys into godly men. They come in, adrift and insecure, cut loose from family and friends and home church, and are thrown together on campus with 10,000 people they don’t know. Men’s Chorale becomes a band of brothers, a sanctuary, and a training ground for how to grow up into a man. The way they sing reflects that.” Point me to the admissions office now! (You’re staying at APU until my littles are there, right?!)