We’ll kick off the singing today with May Erlewine’s welcome song “Come On In.” This is an invitation to come as you are and to do so with full throats and hearts! Come on in young and old… come on in however you do… come on in whatever you need… Dolly Parton’s iconic song “Light … Continue reading Music Notes 9/13/26

On August 2 & 9, summer services will be hosted at Follen. The August 2 service will feature a pickup choir, including members of the Adult Choir and willing community members. We’ll learn a couple easy-ish tunes that morning between 8:30 and 9:30 and then lead them at the 10:00 AM service. All welcome! For … Continue reading Summer Pickup Choir

June brings an end to our regular church year, as well as transitions both happy and bittersweet. We say goodbye to folks we love, and send them off with all our heartfelt appreciation and good hopes for the future. And we look forward to summer vacations and new beginnings in the fall. Today’s music reflects … Continue reading Music Notes 6/7/26

Looking ahead to next Saturday’s Boston Pride celebration, the adult choir is singing songs of inclusion and love. “Crowded Table” by The Highwomen advocates for a welcoming space for everyone. The song promotes the idea of supportive community, where the human family can bring our whole selves and — through acceptance — emerge stronger. “Pride … Continue reading Music Notes 5/31/26

Simultaneously thinking about Beethoven and the theme of neighborly care, I recalled Pete Seeger’s lyrics to a theme from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. (The year 2027, after all, will mark the bicentennial of Beethoven’s passing.) Pete Seeger’s interest in Beethoven stemmed from a personal love of classical music. He also related to Beethoven’s drawing from folk … Continue reading Music Notes 5/10/26

By its nature, music offers a great wealth of ways to explore this month’s theme of Neighbor. As a social experience, music helps rally people around a cause or celebrate as a community. Performance brings people together in song, and the creation of sonic harmony gives us ways to join our individual voice (be that … Continue reading Music Notes 5/3/26

This week’s prelude is one of many “Songs Without Words” that Mendelssohn wrote over the course of 15 years. The concept of writing a wordless song seemed foreign to many at the time, and may still today. But Mendelssohn himself expressed it as well as anyone could. ”There is much talk about music , and … Continue reading Music Notes 4/19/26

Shakespeare’s lyrical poem “Orpheus with His Lute” comes from his play Henry VIII, where it is sung by Queen Katherine as she experiences deep sorrow and political turmoil. The myth of Orpheus has existed in various forms, but they all describe a mortal who was the son of Calliope and a Thracian king (or perhaps … Continue reading Music Notes 3/22/26

With a worship theme of myth, today’s musical offerings connect to this theme in a variety of manners. The prelude chosen by Shaylor is Gnossienne #2 by Erik Satie. “The etymology of the word gnossienne is contentious, but the word existed in French literature before Satie’s usage and is in the 1865 Larousse Dictionary, referring … Continue reading Music Notes 3/8/26