This Sunday is "St. Peter's Day," an opportunity for this parish to celebrate its Patron, St. Peter.

St. Peter's feast day is joined with St. Paul's on June 29, and it's for this reason that you'll hear both saints mentioned in the Collect of the Day.

Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

There is much music that surrounds these two saints, especially Peter. The service opens with an Introit for this feast, Nunc scio vere, which picks up in the middle of the story of Peter's supernatural prison break recorded in Acts chapter 12. An angel appears and removes Peter's shackles, opens all the locked gates, sneaks him past the guards (Jedi-style, I imagine — as in, "this isn't the Apostle you're looking for"), and out into the city. It's the very moment the angel disappears that Peter realizes he wasn't seeing a vision, he was actually escaping from prison. 

Peter is an important figure in scripture, of course. Matthew 16:18 is the verse that records Jesus saying that Peter is the "rock" on which he will build his Church. 

During Communion, the Choir will sing Tu es Petrus by Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986). The short text is treated polyphonically in a joyous choral “carillon.” I've tolled told the Choir to imagine the ringing of all the bells of Paris, the most titillating tintinnabulation I can think of. Duruflé had an incredible ability to make the most splendid music when taking plainsong as his basis. His music ebbs and flows as it references the traditional Tu es Petrus chant. The unexpected shifts of meter heighten the sense of joy and surprise, especially at the motet’s conclusion.

The final hymn tune, Ladue, was commissioned by St. Peter’s for the Hymn Festival celebrating the 150th anniversary of this parish held in November of last year. It was written by Stephen Buzard (b. 1989), the Organist and Choirmaster of St. James Cathedral, Chicago.

French organist and composer Jean Langlais (1907–1991) was blind from childhood. Langlais, a student of Dupré and Dukas at the Paris Conservatoire, was a prolific composer. His Messe solennelle is considered his finest piece of church music, though it is not without its critics. Google reveals that a common response of clergy is "never again, please." I hope that the St. Peter's clergy don't respond that way (at least they didn't when we last sang the Gloria in 2016), because I am a big Langlais fan. This is powerful music that enlists the full resources of the organ.

The grand anthem Lord, thou hast been our refuge by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) is a setting of words from Psalm 90 and their famous metrical paraphrase by Isaac Watts. Vaughan Williams employs the familiar tune associated with the Watts hymn, “St. Anne.”   

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Keys to the Kingdom strives to be an almost weekly blog about the music and liturgy of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, St. Louis, Missouri. It is written by the David Sinden, Organist & Director of Music. You can learn more about the church's music ministry at stpetersepiscopal.org/worship/music or email David at