Thomas Matthews (1915–1999) was born in Utica, New York in 1915. By age 17 he was assisting Norman Coke-Jephcott, formerly of Coventry Cathedral, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Matthews served as organist and choirmaster for Episcopal churches in Philadelphia and Evanston, Ill. In the intervening years, he was drafted into the U.S. Navy. In 1960, Matthews became organist and choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church, Tulsa, Okla., a post he held for three decades. His anthem The Lord is my shepherd is sung across Christian denominations. It has sold over a million copies.

English composer Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989) studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, where he also became acquainted with many composers on the scene including Darius Milhaud (whose music is heard before the service this Sunday). Around this same time, Berkeley came to the Roman Catholic faith. His Salve Regina, Op. 48, No. 1, is a setting for unison voices of words traditionally sung at of Compline, a service Berkeley would likely have attended at Westminster Cathedral, London, where his sons sang in the choir.

Your Director of Music confesses an increasing interest in the music of Lennox Berkeley. My introduction to Berkeley was at Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, where, under the direction of Frederick Burgomaster, we sang the Sanctus from his Missa Brevis on Palm Sunday. Here, I thought, was a perfect choral setting of the Sanctus to capture the drama and pathos of the Palm Sunday liturgy. We have recently sung this Sanctus on Palm Sunday at St. Peter's.

Another remarkable choral work of Berkeley of his is the Festival Anthem, Op. 21, No. 2. It is a sublime, almost leisurely setting of the splendid metaphysical poetry of George Herbert and Henry Vaughan coupled with a Latin hymn from the 12th century. 

The anthem is quite long, coming in at nearly 15 minutes in some performances, but a judiciously chosen excerpt, picking up at a logical section break, made for a marvelous anthem on Easter Day under Dr. Burgomaster's direction. I hope that we can sing this same portion here on Easter (perhaps in the near future!).

There is a certain fervent ardor of devotion in all of the music he writes for the church that I find compelling. I know that I am not alone in experience this. One parishioner here at St. Peter's has also shared with me an appreciation for the Sanctus from the Missa Brevis that she heard on Palm Sunday.

Finally, I should mention that the St. Peter's Choir is already familiar with his most often sung anthem, The Lord is my shepherd, Op. 91, No. 1. Several years ago, I sang this anthem at Royal School of Church Music Summer Course in Raleigh, North Carolina, where I had a chance to talk to the Music Director, David Hill about Berkeley's music. He told me about yet another Berkeley anthem which is not often performed, his Ubi caritas et amor, Op. 96, No. 2.  I have a copy, and it is exquisite. It has a prominent place on my "some day" music list.