THE JOAN RINGERWOLEORGAN RECITAL SERIES

PRESENTS

IN CHRIST ALONE:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2021

Organ Music and Hymn RenderingsComposed by Larry Visser

B.J. Haan Auditorium, Dordt University10:30 am

THE DEFENDER DAYS HYMN FESTIVAL

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IN CHRIST ALONE Organ Music and Hymn Renderings Composed by Larry Visser

Saturday, October 16, 2021 B.J. Haan Auditorium

10:30 a.m.

Please rise where indicated and sing from the gray Psalter Hymnal Please hold applause until the conclusion of the recital

GATHERING

Trumpet Tune on Praise the Lord! Sing Hallelujah (Psalm 146) Hymn 146 “Praise the Lord! Sing Hallelujah” (please rise and sing) Verse 1: Harmony Verse 2: Harmony Verse 3: Harmony Organ Interlude Verse 4: Harmony

HIS ADVENT “What heights of love, what depths of peace”

Of the Father’s Love Begotten Hymn 328 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” Verse 1: Harmony Verse 5: Men Verse 6: Women Organ Interlude Verse 7: All in unison

HIS BIRTH “Christ . . . who took on flesh—fullness of God in helpless babe”

French Noel on Angels We Have Heard on High Theme: Grands Jeux Variation I: Flutes Variation II: Cornet and Cromhorne Variation III: Flutes Variation IV: Flutes and Cromhorne Variation V: Flutes Variation VI: Grands Jeux

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HIS SUFFERING AND DEATH “For every sin on him was laid; here in the death of Christ I live”

Reflection on “Were You There?”

HIS RESURRECTION “Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave he rose”

Hymn 400 “Praise the Savior, Now and Ever” (please rise and sing)

JOINING THE SPIRIT’S WORK “My Comforter, my all in all”

Partita on Trust and Obey (commissioned by Dr. Joan Ringerwole) I Trumpet Tune II Lullaby III Duo IV Prayer V Trio VI Adagio VII Toccata Glorioso

HIS SECOND ADVENT “‘Til he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I stand”

Partita on CRYSTAL (By the Sea of Crystal) I Saints in Glory Stand II Out of Tribulation III The Sea of Crystal IV The Jubilant Chorus V King of Kings

SENDING Toccata on In Christ Alone Hymn: “In Christ Alone” (please rise and sing) Verse 1 Unison Verse 2 Unison Verse 3 Unison Organ Interlude Verse 4 Unison

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Music reprinted via CCLI License #2756526.

Two solo compact disc recordings – “LaGrave Organ Favorites” and “On Christmas Night” – featuring Larry Visser performing on the Austin-Allen organ at LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church will be made

available for purchase following the recital.

BIOGRAPHY

Larry Visser has been Minister of Music and Organist at LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church since 1999, a position in which he oversees the administration of the church's extensive music ministry and plays the organ for weekly worship services. During his 22-year tenure at LaGrave, Larry has presented several solo organ recitals and concerts in collaboration with instrumentalists, produced two solo organ recordings (LaGrave Organ Favorites and On Christmas Night) and three discs featuring LaGrave's instrumentalists, vocal and handbell choirs (Lo! He Comes: Advent at LaGrave; Every Voice in Concert Ring: Christmas at LaGrave; and Love So Amazing, So Divine: Lent at LaGrave), and hosted several guest solo artists and prominent choirs.

Dr. Visser is a published composer of both organ and choral music and several of his compositions are included regularly in worship services. He has received a number of commissions from churches and individuals to write organ pieces, hymn concertato settings, choral anthems, and hymn tunes. His music is represented by major publishers including The Leupold Foundation, Inc., GIA Publications, Inc, and MomingStar Music Publishers.

Larry earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in music history, theory and composition from Calvin University (1989), the Master of Music degree in church music from the University of Michigan (1991) and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance under the tutelage of Dr. James Kibbie (1995), also from the University of Michigan. While a graduate student, Larry served as a graduate student teaching assistant in

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music theory, studied harpsichord, and participated in the world's most prestigious organ competition—the Grand Prix de Chartres—held in Paris and Chartres, France, at which he was awarded a finalist medal.

Larry served on the adjunct organ faculty of Calvin University from 2003-2010 and joined the Calvin University Capella as organist on several tours, both domestic and international, as well as on several of the choir's recordings.

Larry is a member of the Grand Rapids Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Most recently, he was awarded first prize awards in three hymn tune competitions: the 2019 Utech Hymn Tune Competition sponsored by the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, the 2019 St. Joseph's Mercy Hymn Tune Competition sponsored by the St. Joseph's Mercy Secondary School in Navan, Ireland, and the Hymn Society's 2021 Summer Conference Hymn Tune Competition.

NOTES ON THE RECITAL THEME AND FORMAT

This morning we gather for a recital of organ music and a time of singing, recalling the birth, suffering, death, resurrection, and rising of Christ as expressed through the liturgical church seasons and guided by the text of an increasingly beloved hymn by Irish singers and songwriters, Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, In Christ Alone. The theologically rich text of the hymn's four stanzas is a modem creedal statement of faith.

Each section of the recital features an organ solo composed by Larry Visser and/or a hymn sung by the assembly, with newly composed interludes and free harmonizations. The event will begin with a gathering hymn of praise, and close with a sending hymn, the theme hymn woven throughout the entire recital.

For a long while, Larry had desired to compose a solo organ work based on In Christ Alone. Inspired by the large five-manual Austin-Allen organ of LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church and the melodic and attractive tune written by Getty and Townend, Larry's Toccata on In Christ Alone—the first known serious organ composition based on this hymn—was composed in 2020 as the pandemic raged throughout our nation. The hymn text took on new meaning as the piece was in the process of composition: "In Christ alone my hope is found; he is my light, my strength, my song—this cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm."

NOTES ON "PARTITA ON TRUST AND OBEY"

Commissioned by Dr. Joan Ringerwole, Dordt University professor of organ emeritus, Partita on Trust and Obey was composed in memory of Joan's mother, Lula (Artz) Ringerwole, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 101. This hymn has been especially meaningful to the Ringerwole family for generations and was a particular favorite of Lula. The organ solo is divided into seven parts or movements, each in a different style of composition and each making use of a distinct color and sound from the rich palette of the pipe organ, the instrument to which Dr. Ringerwole dedicated her fruitful career. The piece has recently been published by Leupold Editions, Inc.