This Sunday we close out the church year with one of our more overtly regal celebrations: the Feast of Christ the King or the Reign of Christ. The St. Michael’s Singers will offer Amy Beach’s arrangement of All hail the power of Jesus’ name, published in 1915. Beach (pictured), sometimes referred to as Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, after her husband, was the first American woman to compose and have performed large-scale works, including her “Gaelic” Symphony by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896. She was a pianist by training and self-taught in composition, but her husband discouraged her from performing much or teaching, as he felt it was below her station.

You’ll hear Beach’s anthem again, alongside many others (including works by Hildegard of Bingen, Elizabeth Poston, Harry T. Burleigh, and Peter Hallock), at our Lessons & Carols service on Sunday, December 3 at 7 PM. Don’t miss this introduction to the Advent season as we explore the seven “O” Antiphons through scripture, poetry, and song.