Music at WPC-
Sunday, February 22, 2026
Lent I
​Voluntary: The Day the Lord Gavest Has Ended Emma Lou Diemer (1927-2024)
Offertory: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross Gilbert Martin (b. 1941)
Voluntary: Retrospection Florence Price (1887-1953)
​
Hymns
Opening Hymn: 293- This Is My Father's World TERRA BEATA
Sequence Hymn: 260- A Mighty Fortress Is Our God EIN' FESTE BURG
Closing Hymn: 77- Forty Days and Forty Nights AUS DER TIEFE RUFE OCJ
​
Next Week's Music at WPC:
Sunday, March 1: Nik Stackpole, Organ; WPC Choir
Prelude- About the Composer
Emma Lou Diemer is an influential American composer, organist, and educator whose work bridges traditional tonal language with contemporary techniques. Born in 1927, she built a distinguished career writing across genres, from organ and choral music to chamber and orchestral works. Diemer’s music is widely admired for its rhythmic vitality, clear formal structures, and expressive lyricism, often blending modern harmonies with accessible melodic writing. As a longtime professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she shaped generations of musicians while maintaining an active compositional output. Organists especially value her contributions to the repertoire, which combine technical brilliance with colorful, imaginative textures.
Offertory- Text
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.​
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.​
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down;
did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?​
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Postlude- About the Music
Florence Price’s Retrospection (also known as Elf on a Moonbeam) is a miniature gem that reveals her gift for intimacy and character writing. Cast in a delicate, lyrical style, the piece evokes a sense of gentle nostalgia, with flowing melodic lines and subtly shifting harmonies that shimmer with impressionistic color. The music balances grace and playfulness — its light textures and singing phrases suggesting both reflection and a touch of whimsy. Though modest in scale, the work displays Price’s refined craftsmanship, particularly her ability to shape expressive melody within a clear, poised structure. Like much of Florence Price’s piano music, it combines accessibility with sophistication, offering performers an opportunity for nuanced phrasing, tonal control, and expressive storytelling.