Piping Up! Organ Concerts at Temple Square is streamed online every Wednesday at 12:00 noon MDT. Piping Up! can be viewed on TheTabernacleChoir.org, the Choir’s YouTube channel, the Choir’s Facebook page, and Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. When concerts are concluded, they are available for on-demand viewing on the Choir’s website, YouTube and Facebook.

These programs continue the tradition of noon organ recitals at Temple Square—a tradition that has lasted for more than a century. The concerts are produced without an audience and comply with all COVID-19 guidelines. Each concert will feature a different Tabernacle or Temple Square organist and is hosted by Luke Howard.

Repertoire

Organist: Richard Elliott

1. Nun danket alle Gott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sigfrid Karg-Elert
2. a. Praise and Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dale Wood
    b. Benedictus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Max Reger
c. "…and thanksgivings may follow," from Rubrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Locklair
3. a. Come, Come, Ye Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . arr. by organist
    b. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .arr. by organist
4. Improvisation on "Hymn to Joy"^† . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Elliott

^† LISTENER REQUESTED SELECTION Go to the Piping Up! web page to make your request!

Focus Piece

An on-going feature of Piping Up! Organ Concerts at Temple Square is a focus piece with additional inspirational background on a specific repertoire selection. Written by host Luke Howard, a professor of music at Brigham Young University, the focus piece connects the music in a unique way to lift and inspire listeners.

“… and thanksgivings may follow,” from Rubrics (Locklair)

American composer Dan Locklair wrote a set of five organ pieces collectively titled “Rubrics” in 1988. The word “rubric” has a number of related but very distinct meanings. It originally comes from “rubeus,” the Latin word for the color red. In ancient church manuscripts, the scribes would often write special instructions or important explanations in red ink, to distinguish those passages from the regular text, which was inscribed in black. These “rubricated” manuscripts were almost always sacred in nature, connected to the liturgy. Eventually the word “rubric” referred to the instructions themselves, instead of the color of the ink used to write them.

In sacred liturgies today, rubrics indicate how a church service should be conducted. In the Anglican Communion, these rubrics and the rest of the liturgy are published in the Book of Common Prayer.

It was from the Book of Common Prayer that Dan Locklair selected portions of some rubrics, and wrote a series of organ works based on them. During the rites for Morning and Evening Prayers, immediately before a prayer of General Thanksgiving that closes these Daily Offices, there is a rubric that states, “Authorized intercessions and thanksgivings may follow.” It provides a daily opportunity to meditate on the things for which we are truly thankful to God, perhaps offer a silent prayer or other offering of gratitude. What a beautiful practice! We would all do well to take time every day, not just at this particular season, to offer thanksgivings.

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