Music for February 8

Our anthem for Sexagesima is “Offertory” by American composer John Ness Beck (1930-1987). Beck was born in Ohio and was both a student and eventually a professor of music at Ohio State University. The text for “Offertory” is taken from Micah 6 and concludes: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justly and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” This text amplifies this week’s reading from Isaiah 58 which states, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”