Maundy Thursday Music Notes

On Maundy Thursday we solemnly commemorate and celebrate the Lord’s Last Supper, with washing of hands and the sacrament of Holy Communion.

The feast of Holy Thursday is the oldest of the Holy Week observances. We use it to mark four events: the washing of the Disciples’ feet by Jesus Christ; the Last Supper Jesus shared with the Apostles, through which he gave us His mysterious and timeless ever-presence in our own celebrations of communion; the agony of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He watched, prayed, and suffered for our sins on the night before we crucified Him; our betrayal of Jesus Christ through Judas Iscariot.

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:20-25; 30-35; John 13, passim.

MEDITATION: The Martyrdom of Andy

HYMNS:
What Wondrous Love
Ah, Holy Jesus
My Jesus I Love Thee
Stay With Us

ANTHEM: When Twilight Comes, arr. R. Farlee. As the words of the anthem describe, on this Holy Thursday evening, as twilight comes, we will be with Christ Jesus; hear His voice and receive His servant care. We will gather ‘round and pray close together, kneeling as one family, embraced in the blessed Trinity.

OTHER ITEMS:
Prelude: Reverie, M. Moussorgsky
Postlude: Traumerei, R. Schumann

The prelude complements the anthem. Like the anthem, it is written in a 2/4 rhythm, with the guitar-like strumming feel of folk-music. The piece ends on the tonic chord, rather than the dominant. This same lack of resolution is perhaps shared with Holy Thursday – when we both delight in the gift of Holy Communion given to us and take comfort in Christ’s healing, but also feel the coming foreboding of that which we acknowledge and recount on Good Friday.