Something Old, Something New for Christmas, Part III

Introduction

Today’s “old” piece is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, which is at least 15th century in origin and perhaps as old as the 8th century. In the original Latin, the title is Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, and we’ll take a look at the lyrics in both English and Latin.

Looking across these three weeks for this series, it does occur to me that my tastes run to the quieter, and perhaps more solemn, Advent hymns, and this one is definitely solemn hymn, set in a minor key.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

This hymn is an Advent hymn, in that it is definitely anticipating and calling for Christ, rather than a Christmas hymn (which is more about the birth itself and what happened). It is derived from the O Antiphons from church tradition, which were historically sung during vespers over the last 7 days of Advent. Wikipedia’s article on the O Antiphons has a lot of interesting information on these. According to this article, the historical order for these is as shown below.

• December 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
• December 18: O Adonai (O Lord)
• December 19: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
• December 20: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
• December 21: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
• December 22: O Rex Gentium (O King of the nations)
• December 23: O Emmanuel (O With Us is God)

As with many such things, there is a hidden meaning (an acrostic) in the Latin versions of the O Antiphons. Take the first letter of each, starting with the last (Emmanuel, Rex, Orens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, and Sapentia). Put those letters together and you get the (Latin) words ero cras, meaning “Tomorrow, I will come”. The antiphons speak to us individually and collectively as reminders of Chris is coming and what that coming means.

Within the PC(USA), the O Antiphons are given in the Book of Common Worship to be used as litanies of praise during morning or evening prayer during Advent.

• Review the antiphons from the Wikipedia page and discuss meaning

Lyrics

• Latin

Veni, veni Emmanuel;
Captivum solve Israel,
Qui gemit in exilio,
Privatus Dei Filio.

Refrain:
Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,
Nascetur pro te, Israel!

• English

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Refrain

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Refrain

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Refrain

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Refrain

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.
Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and discord cease,
And fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Refrain

This version (from http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/c/o/ocomocom.htm has eight verses, though there are traditionally 7 antiphons. The 8th verse (which I’ve rewritten to match the wording in the PC(USA) hymnal is attributed to a 1916 translation by Henry Sloane Coffin[1].

• Discuss this hymn and what it means to people.

The presentation of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel I’ve selected for today is a new and somewhat different take on the piece, by Jill Tracy[2]. Her presentation is often dark and Goth. This particular presentation is from the 2012 album Silver Smoke, Star of Night (Shadow of Christmas)[3]. To me, there are some interesting angles here with the culture often associated with Goth and dark, but yet a song of home and anticipation. Ms. Tracy’s presentation seems to me to be consistent with both the message of hope and the that style of music. It is a reminder that being Christian does not require being like us.

• Play Jill Tracy version of this song. What are the thoughts about this presentation?

Something New

While the presentation of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is new, I also have two newer songs. One is more serious with a strong theme of hope, and the other is silly, but with some interesting commentary. The lyrics are below, and I invite you to read them and think about the messages of Christmas and Christianity. I found the first one particularly interesting and relevant given the discussions last week in class of the various tragedies we’ve seen recently. The first song is a message of hope and a reminder to us about outreach to those in need. And the second asks some questions both about the meaning of Christmas and the ways in which indigenous people have been treated.

Christmas Card, by Steven Curtis Chapman[4]

I think I passed you on the busy sidewalk last night
I think I caught the sadness in your eyes
While everybody sings their happy Christmas songs tonight
All you want to do is cry

Christmas lights and decorations everywhere you turn
But all you feel inside is dark and gray
There may be joy for all the world but is there any joy for you
Hold on, Love is looking for a way
Hold on, I believe it’s why love came

So I’m sending you this Christmas card
To let you know somebody loves you
And I’m singing you this little song
To let you know you’re not alone
And I’m thinking, as we celebrate, how Love came down
So every lost and lonely broken heart would get found
And wherever you are, I hope this Christmas card
Finds you and reminds you
You are loved

For every one who’s been left standing on the outside looking in
Every one with dreams that never will come true
When the story of your life gets re-written over night
Well, this is all part of the Christmas story, too
And I believe God knows and He’s right there with you

So I’m sending you this Christmas card
To let you know somebody loves you
And I’m singing you this little song
To let you know you’re not alone
And I’m thinking, as we celebrate, how Love came down
So every lost and lonely broken heart can be found
And wherever you are, I hope this Christmas card
Finds you and reminds you
You are not alone

You’re never forgotten
The God who made you came down to our world
To let us know wherever we are
He is with us
Our God is with us
And He really wants to let you know
Just how much He loves you

And I’m singing you this Christmas song
So you’ll know you’re not alone
And I’m thankful, as we celebrate, how Love came down
Now all the lost and lonely broken hearts can be found
And wherever you are, I hope this Christmas card
Finds you and reminds you
You are loved

Merry Christmas on Mars, by Ray Zimmerman[5]

Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
That’s how they say Merry Christmas on Mars
Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
To little Megada-vic and Hackanacanack and Lars

You could say Happy Hingana-bink
Or Jolly Jiggada-pinka-schnoo
Or simply Icken-Ikcen-Schmick-Schmick everyone!

But Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Means Merry Christmas on the fourth rock from the sun

Try it with me now …

Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
That’s how they say Merry Christmas on Mars
Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
To little Pickada-mic and Schwowowowow and Lars

You could say Happy Hingana-bink
Or Jolly Jiggada-pinka-schnoo
Or simply Icken-Ikcien-Schmick-Schmick everyone!

But Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Means Merry Christmas on the fourth rock from the sun

We landed on that planet - Don’t you remember?
And quickly overran it - Just last December
Demanding of the Martian population

Convert to Christianit-y
That can’t be too hard, can it?
Even Godless Unitarians want a week’s vacation

Their skin is green, their eyes are red
And so they all stood up and said …

Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
That’s how we say Merry Christmas on Mars
Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Mostly ‘cause Martians cannot pronounce R’s

You might say Happy Hingana-bink
Or Jolly Jiggada-pinka-schnoo
Or simply Icken-Ikcen-Schmick-Schmick everyone!

But Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Means Merry Christmas on the fourth rock from the sun

You might say Blessed Jook-Neeb (And also with you … )
Or here’s to Auld Lang (SFX)
Or simply Venganenga-Schmookanooka-Dink No–el … No–el …

But Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Means Merry Christmas to a Martian infidel

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1. The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990.  ↩

2. See http://jilltracy.com/jt/about-jill-tracy/ for a bio of the singer, which quotes the San Francisco Chronicle describing her as “femme fatale for the thinking man”.  ↩

3. http://jilltracy.bandcamp.com/album/silver-smoke-star-of-night or https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silver-smoke-star-night-in/id561560009  ↩

4. Christmas Card, Track 8 from Joy by Steven Curtis Chapman (2012) http://stevencurtischapman.com/store/music or https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joy/id565659610  ↩

5. Christmas on Mars, Track 14 from Real American by Roy Zimmerman (2010) http://www.royzimmerman.com/store.php or https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/real-american/id375680307  ↩

Christmas Something Old, Something New, Part II

Introduction

For the second installment of Something Old, Something New for Christmas, I’ve gone with the very old Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming for the old, and Amy Grant’s Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song) for something new. The Grant piece just does make it on my 10-year cutoff for something new, as it came out in 1992 and the album was the Billboard #1 for Contemporary Christian during that Christmas season.

Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming

The original author of this piece is not known. The original “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen” is German and first appears in print in the late 16th century[1]. The translation we often use in our repertory is from Theodore Baker in 1894, and the most common arrangements are at least based on the published work of Michael Praetorius in 1609. Note that the original has 23 verses, but we’re only looking at the first two (though I’ve included the third version from Baker’s version below).

This song is rich with biblical references. See Song of Soloman 2:1, Isaiah 11:1. Note that there is some room for discussion of the meaning here, as the original word translated as “rose” can be read as “Ros’” (rose) or “Reis” (branch) in the olest manuscripts. Particularly with the references to Isaiah and Jesse’s lineage (A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Isa 11:1 NIV)[2].

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung.
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung;
It came, a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind;
To show God's love aright,
She bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.

O Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispel with glorious splendour
The darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God,
From Sin and death now save us,
And share our every load.

A somewhat different translation was used in the 1970 film Love Story.

Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)

This song is the fourth track on Amy Grant’s 1992 Christmas Album Home for Christmas[3]. Songfacts has some interesting takes on this piece[4]:

This Christmas song tells the nativity story from Mary’s perspective. It portrays the mother of Jesus as a frightened young girl, attempting to deal with the circumstances of giving birth to the Holy Father’s Son. Despite her human doubts, Mary’s faith in the goodness and mercy of God remain and help her deal with the unique situation she finds herself in. English songwriter Chris Eaton originally penned this song, with the title “Breath of Heaven.” When Grant first heard it, she decided she wanted to record the tune for her holiday album, but with the verses rewritten to personalize them. She explained in CCM Magazine presents 100 Greatest Songs In Christian Music: “That song is so profound, but the chorus is so simple. It’s authentic and perfectly written, because it uses an incredibly moving economy of words. And, selfishly, I just really wanted to be able to use the song on my Christmas record. So finally Chris said, ‘Well, OK, just for this one version, we’ll let you put a different lyric on there.’ I said, ‘Well, you couldn’t possibly have written the lyric I’m thinking of, because I’m going to write it from a woman’s perspective.’ I was very pregnant at the time, and I felt that was part of the inspiration for song as I tried to imagine Mary’s experience. We went into the recording studio with Brown Bannister producing and Shane Keister playing the piano and basically got it within one take.”

Amy Grant wrote a book titled Breath of Heaven in 2001 based on this song. She wrote in the release of the book that she considers the intimate nature of this tune has transformed it into a prayer. She explained: “It is a prayer that fits a lot of people’’ circumstances, because it is a cry of mercy. Some nights on stage I can hardly get through the song for knowing all of the collective, unspoken pain of the lives in front of me. And so the words become my prayer for the listener and the reader, as well as the singer.”

This song appears on the soundtrack of the 2006 movie The Nativity Story. Mike Rich, who penned its screenplay, told Catholic Online, that he began each day of writing for the film by listening to this song.

I have traveled many moonless nights
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I've done
Holy Father You have come
And chosen me now to carry your son

I am waiting in a silent prayer
I am frightened by the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now
Be with me now

Breath of Heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For You are holy
Breath of Heaven

Do You wonder as You watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of your plan
Help me be strong
Help me be
Help me

Breath of Heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness
For You are holy

Breath of Heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness
For You are holy
Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven

Billboard #1 for Contemporary Christian 12/26/1992 - 2/16/1993

---

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Es_ist_ein_Ros_entsprungen  ↩

2. http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/lo_how_a_rose_eer_blooming.htm  ↩

3. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/home-for-christmas/id261434676  ↩

4. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=14730 Song Facts  ↩

A quick mid-week link to Guideposts story

E passed along her copy of a recent Guideposts (December 2012), with an interesting article on some places where beloved Christmas carols were inspired.  See http://www.guideposts.org/stories-of-faith/where-christmas-music-lived to read the article on-line. 

Something Old, Something New for Christmas, Part 1

Introduction

• Welcome music: Faith Hill version of What Child is This?[1]

For the next three sessions, I want to do a Something Old, Something New series around Christmas music. Old and new can be relative terms, but I’m aiming for things 19th century and older, while I’m thinking last 10 years for something new.

Today’s older piece is What Child is This? and the newer piece is A Baby Changes Everything. In this case, both pieces are on Faith Hill’s 2008 Christmas album Joy to the World[2], and we’ll listen to both those, as well as a very traditional presentation of What Child is This? by John Denver.

We’ll talk about these two pieces and look at how they express the wonder (and challenge) around the birth of Jesus, and think about how this affects our lives. I think it’s fair to say that the birth of Christ is a matter of wonder and challenge for us today, though not in the same way that it was for Mary personally.

What Child is This?

That’s a really important question. “What child is this?”, indeed.

Melody

The oldest part of the song What Child is This? is the melody – Greensleeves[3] (8.7.8.7 with refrain) – which is a traditional English tune known to be at least as old as 1580. The urband legend is that King Henry VIII (1491–1547) composed this for his (then) consort Anne Boleyn, but this is highly unlikely. There is some thought that the piece is more likely from the time of Elizabeth I, given similarity to some other music of the time. The piece did gain popularity quickly, though, as it is referenced in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, particularly Falstaff’s comment “Let the sky rain potatoes! Let it thunder to the tune of ‘Greensleeves’!”.

The original song describes a woman’s rejection of the singer’s advances. There is a possibility that the woman under discussion is promiscuous, as the color green had some sexual connotations at that time, particularly in the context of a “green gown” – suggesting the color it would get after a romp in the grass. That raises some interesting irony, given the use of the tune for this very traditional hymn.

Greensleeves is traditionally done in the key of E minor, which is a very natural key signature for guitar (and the lute of the late 16th century). It’s interesting that Robert Morgan asserts that E minor is the “saddest of all keys” in his write up on Greensleeves[4], while an internet search for “the saddest of all keys” turns up primarily references to work by Spinal Tap about a piece in D minor, which they assert is the saddest of all keys.

Regardless, any minor key is “sad”, and the use of this ballad, lamenting the rejection of the singer by a woman is an interesting juxtoposition with the words we use today in What Child is This?.

Lyrics

The lyrics were written in 1865 by William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898), as part of a longer poem, while he was recovering from a near-death illness. Dix was an insurance agent whose father was a surgeon, but Dix wasn’t interested in following that path. He was more of a poet and writer, who sold insurance as a means to put bread on the table. Dix also composed As with Gladness Men of Old (PCUSA blue hymnal #63), Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (PCUSA blue hymnal #144), and To You, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise (less well-known and not in our hymnal).

Taking a look at the lyrics (from Wikipedia[5]), it’s interesting to me that a more original version of this song has parts I’ve never heard before (and which aren’t in our hymnal. As written by Dix, there are three verses, with no chorus. More modern versions (including all of the hymnals I checked) take the second half of the first verse and use it as the chorus (6.8.6.7). Given the differences in meter, this is perhaps more in keeping with the original tune, but some of the words that we don’t sing are pretty powerful and worth reading.

What child is this, who, lays to rest,
On Mary’s lap is sleeping,
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud [praise],
The babe, the son of Mary!

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
[or repeat last half of 1st verse]
Nails, spear shall pierce him through,
The Cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word Made Flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
Come, peasant, king, to own Him!
The King of Kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him!
[or repeat last half of 1st verse]
Raise, raise the song on high!
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy! joy! for Christ is born,
The babe, the son of Mary!

• Read through lyrics to What Child is This?. What do you think of the song itself and of the lyrics we don’t normally sing? What messages does this bring through to you?

• Listen to John Denver version of What Child is This? I pick this as a much more traditional presentation of the song, with very light accompaniment, particularly in the first verse. What does this presentation provide for you in terms of message and emotions? Do the differences in presentation between Hill and Denver offer different aspects to this song for you?

A Baby Changes Everything

I don’t have as much history or background on Faith Hill’s A Baby Changes Everything[6], which hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart from 12/20/2008 - 1/3/2009 and also peaked at #36 on the Billboard Country Songs chart around that same time. The composers are listed as James Nichols, Craig Wiseman, and Kim Wiseman. There aren’t any particular stories or histories that I’ve found about this piece, but it’s an interesting presentation of an aspect of the Christmas story.

• Read through lyrics for A Baby Changes Everything What messages do we get? Listen to the Faith Hill presentation of this. What thoughts do you have about her presentation of the lyrics?

Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what’s to come
A baby changes everything

Not a ring on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

The man she loves she’s never touched
How will she keep his trust?
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries!
Ooh, she cries
Ooh, oh

She has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows she can’t stay
A baby changes everything

She can feel it’s coming soon
There’s no place, there’s no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries!
And she cries!
Oh, she cries

Shepherds all gather ’round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everything

Choir of angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Everything, everything, everything

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

My whole life has turned around
I was lost but now I’m found
A baby changes everything, yeah
A baby changes everything

I picked two songs, partially because they were in the same collection from a particular artist, and they both focussed on the baby, asking the question of what this child means to each of us. What do you see? What does this child mean for you this Christmas season?

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1. What Child is This?, track 2 from Joy to the World (2008) by Faith Hill. Available on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joy-to-the-world/id291423330  ↩

2. The artist’s site is http://www.faithhill.com. This particular album isn’t specifically mentioned on her site, but it is available through the normal channels, and there is a brief Wikipedia article available.  ↩

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensleeves  ↩

4. Then Sings My Soul, Volume 2, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers: 2003, ISBN 0–7852–4939–7. http://www.robertjmorgan.com/bookstore/hymn-stories/then-sings-my-soul/. What Child is This? is on page 102. Note: The name for this class is an independent inspiration from the same basic source. There is no direct connection between this class and Dr. Morgan, apart, I presume, from a similar love of Christ and music.  ↩

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Child_Is_This%3F  ↩

6. A Baby Changes Everything, track 11 from Joy to the World (2008) by Faith Hill. Available on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joy-to-the-world/id291423330  ↩

Agnus Dei

Introduction

Our concept for today is the Angus Dei (Lamb of God), which we currently use as part of the preparation for Communion and which has been part of many different forms of Christian worship for at least a thousand years. I would have thought it was older than that, but Wikipedia, at least, indicates that it is a Syrian custom introduced into the Roman Catholic Rite Mass by Pope Sergius I in the late 600s[1].

I found the following quote from the Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01221a.htm) to be interesting:

[The Agnus Dei is] A name given to the formula recited thrice by the priest at Mass (except on Good Friday and Holy Saturday) in the Roman rite. It occurs towards the end of the Canon, after the prayer “Haec commixtio”, etc. Having finished saying this prayer, the priest covers the chalice with the pall, genuflects, rises, inclines his head (but not his body) profoundly towards the altar and, with hands joined before his breast (and not, therefore, resting on the altar), says with a loud voice: “Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis” (Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us), repeats the formula unchanged, and still a third time, substituting now “dona nobis pacem” (grant us peace) for “miserere nobis”, meanwhile striking his breast thrice, once at each “miserere nobis” and once at “Dona nobis pacem”, with the right hand (the left hand resting throughout, from the first “Miserere”, on the altar). In Requiem Masses, however, the formula occurs at the same part of the rite, but with the substitution of “dona eis requiem” (grant them rest) for “miserere nobis”, and of “dona eis requiem sempiternam” (Grant them eternal rest) for “dona nobis pacem.” In this case, the priest does not strike his breast, but keeps his hands joined before his breast throughout the whole formula. These rubrical details are given here for the reason that both the formula and the ceremonial accompanying it have undergone various changes in different ages and different places.

• What thoughts come to mind with these specific instructions?_

I’m certainly not any sort of expert on Catholic practices, and I would not be surprised that different sources might have different specific instructions for how the Agnus Dei is to be done. I appreciate the value of this, so that worshippers can have the comfort of the ritual being done the same way regardless of the church. This also heads off the potential issue of different priests coming up with different “improvements” on the ritual, possibly making it more complex and ornate or adding in elements which might well not be theologically sound. To be sure, there is a downside to the detailed specification of the ritual, in that differences in practice can well highlight theologically important concepts. We discussed this briefly last week, with the idea that changing the music used for the Sanctus and Benedictus can be a means for us to discover meaning to the words and music that are new to us or which are relevant to us for the particular time and place where we are at that moment.

The Words and Scriptural Use

In Latin:

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

In English:

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

And a less word for word translation which is often used in a more modern mass:

Jesus, Lamb of God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world, grant us peace.

The Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) is something that has been used from the earliest times of the church. The concept of the sacrificial lamb is an ancient one. We see this in the story of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22), where Isaac asks “where is the lamb for the burnt offering” (Genesis 22:6b). In the NIV translation, at least, God provides a ram, rather than the lamb, and I don’t know if that’s particularly significant. The blood of the lamb is used as the marker on the lintels of the house in the Passover story (Exodus 12), and there are many other places in the OT where the use of the sacrificial lamb is discussed.

The particular section we talk about here comes from the baptism of Jesus in the book of John[2], in John 1:29 and John 1:36:

John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”[f]

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

We also find the Lamb referenced in Revelation chapters 5 and 7

Rev 5:6–8
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

Rev 5:12b:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

Rev 7:9–10 9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

To me, the concept of the sacrificial lamb is one that at least has a different meaning to us than it would have in the time of Jesus, and possibly different from that in the early church. For most of us, we are not directly connected to agriculture, and meat is something we get pre-packaged at the grocery store, with little connection to a living being. In Jesus time, the temple sacrifice was very much still in use, and people would be used to the idea of sacrificing a lamb in a very visual sense. In the early church, where the sacrifice of animals was no longer a practice, many people would have still been much more directly involved in agriculture and could well have seen an animal go from the pen to the table. This can make the concept of the Sacrificial Lamb something that is a more indirect concept and perhaps a more intellectual, rather than visceral, concept.

• What does the Lamb of God mean to you?

Musical Versions

• From FPC service on 10/5/12: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16648701/01%20FPC%20Agnus%20Dei%202012–10–07.mp3
• Gregorian Chant (in Latin): https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/meditation-gregorian-chants/id330282385
• Very different praise hymn that’s also called Agnus Dei (example): https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/only-god-a-cappella-worship/id362221780

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1. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnus_Dei%28liturgy%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnus_Dei%28liturgy%29)  ↩

2. As a comment, one of the things that I find very useful is biblegateway.com, and the search functions there. I can search on the words lamb of God to find the places where those three words are used in proximity to each other. Putting quotes around the phrase “Lamb of God” searches for that exact phrase. And in the NIV, it only occurs in exactly that phrasing in John chapter 1, in two different sections.  ↩

Sanctus and Benedictus

• Some listening background to start things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PefJeV6o9vA
  This is the Rutter “Mass of the Children 3: Sanctus and Benedictus”

From Angie’s article in October 2012 Good News Banner:

Our worship at Farragut Presbyterian is rooted in thousands of years of history and religious practice and largely based on the Roman Catholic form called the Ordinary of the Mass. We sing three parts of the mass at each celebration of the Eucharist; the Sanctus, Benedictus, and the Agnus Dei.

Today, we’re going to talk about the first two of these, which we do together.

The Sanctus and Benedictus are sung together at the end of the prayers of thanksgiving as the continuation of the celebrant’s words: “Therefore with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven, we worship and adore your glorious name, praising you forevermore:”

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.        
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. 
Hosanna in excelsis.      
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.    
Hosanna in excelsis.      

Holy, Holy, Holy, 
Lord, God of Hosts, 
Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

The Sanctus is also known as the Trisagon (“Thrice Holy”). The first part of the Sanctus is adapted from Isaiah 6:3, which describes Isaiah’s vision of the throne of God surrounded by a six-winged seraphim. The same language is found in Revelation 4:8. The Trisagon is found in Hebrew liturgy as early as the 2nd century where it is said by the congregation before the opening of the ark:

Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Adonai 
    Tz'vaot Melo Kol Haaretz Kevodo. 

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.  Isaiah 6:3 (NIV)

The Sanctus appeared in the Gallican rite by 529 and in the Roman rite by the 7th century. It is now found in nearly every Christian rite. The text of the second part, beginning with the word Benedictus (Latin for “Blessed”), is taken from the gospel of Matthew, describing Jesus’ Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem.

• Listen to our Sanctus from the 10/7/12 service[1]:

• Some questions and thoughts for discussion:
  • This is a very old piece, used from the earliest times of the church. What are your thoughts about that?
  • This is used today in Catholic (and Orthodox) liturgies. Is that a good thing? What does it mean to us to use things that are “Catholic” (perhaps in addition to being “catholic”)?
  • We’ve changed the tune we use for the Sanctus occasionally. I think this is the third or fourth tune we’ve used in the past several years. Why do we do this? Should we change it more often or less often?
  • How does this help you in your mental preparations for Communion?

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1. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16648701/01%20FPC%20Sanctus%20and%20Benedictus%20%282012–10–07%29.mp3  ↩

The Servant Song

Introduction

Today’s session is on the Servant Song anthem/hymn, both the original work by Richard Gilliard and the subsequent adaptation by David Schwoebel’s[1]. The FPC choir most recently did the Schwoebel piece as an anthem on 9/23/2012. We’ve done this song before, as it’s both a fairly straightforward anthem and one with with a good message. The tune for this Schwoebel arrangement is based on a common hymn, Beach Spring, while Gilliard composed both the lyrics and melody for the original.

There are lots of songs which go by the name of Servant Song, and the servant songs also refer to the songs of the suffering servant in Isaiah ( Isaiah 42:1–4, Isaiah 49:1–6, Isaiah 50:4–9, Isaiah 53, and (to some) Isaiah 61:1–3). Today, at least, we’re not talking about Isaiah, as the scriptural basis for this song comes from the Gospels.

Lyrics

The lyrics and original melody were composed by Richard Gilliard (b 1953) in 1977[2]. Gilliard was born in England and was moved to New Zealand when he was 3, where he still lives. Interestingly, he’s worked as a teacher and then in a warehouse. His faith background includes a mixture of Anglican and Pentecostal.

• First, let’s look at the lyrics as written by Gilliard.

Brother, let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey.
We are brothers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you;
Speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we’ve known together
Of Christ’s love and agony.

*Compare this with the adaptation used by Schwoebel

If anyone would be first, they shall be the last of all,
they shall be the last, they shall be the last;
be the servant of all.

We are trav’lers on a journey, Fellow pilgrims on the road;
We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night time of your fear,
I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.

Sister, let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too.

Brother, let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too.

I will weep when you are weeping; When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow, Till we’ve seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven, We shall find such harmony,
Born of all we’ve known together of Christ’s love and agony.

• What do you see as differences and similarities?
• Where do you see points that resonate with you, points that call you to action, points where you have some concerns?

For the original Gilliard version, the United Methodist Reporter article[2] on this piece provides a good summary of the biblical basis, as an article relating to the song in The Faith We Sing.

Matthew 20:26b–28 provides the primary scriptural background for the song: “… Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (NIV)

Stanza two speaks of “pilgrims” on a “journey” and encourages us to “walk the mile and bear the load,” reminiscent perhaps of Matthew 5:41: “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”

Stanza three speaks of “hold[ing] the Christ-light … in the night-time of your fear.” We are called to reflect Christ’s light in the world. Several passages come to mind including Matthew 5:14 and, of course, many passages in John including John 1:4–5; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5.

Stanza four is one of empathy—weeping, laughing and sharing together. One is reminded of I Corinthians 12 in general, but perhaps especially verse 26: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (NIV)

Stanza five provides an eschatological perspective, as “we sing to God in heaven.” The joy of making “harmony” together offsets the “agony” of all that suffering on earth.

The music

• Listen to Haas version of the original lyrics and melody[3]. Note that this is similar to that used in the United Methodist The Faith We Sing hymnal (#22220[4]. It’s the same melody at least. What thoughts and impressions does this create? And what do you hear that he’s adapted?

• Listen to the Schwoebel version^[schwoebel]. Can anyone name the hymn in our (blue) hymnal which uses this melody?[5]

• Further discussion points and ideas:
  • How can these two different arrangements be used?
  • Do the differences in the music create any different responses in you?
• Some thoughts that occur to me:
  • The passage “pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too” is powerful for me. As we’ve discussed, this is a part of footwashing that I (and lots of others) have problems with. This is an important part of the song for me, as it calls us to be a servant, but also to have the grace to let other people serve us. In some ways, allowing someone to be a servant (minister) to us can, in return, be a ministry for that servant. Obviously, this is not something to be abused, and a very key message to me is that we must have the humility and grace to allow others to serve us, in addition to having the servant’s heart to serve others.
  • This particular presentation of the piece uses a lot of rubato, which I like. The conductor is really painting the music. An example is at 0:25, at the end of the first stanza, where the conductor really draws “servant of all” out. He does this again with “we are travelers”, really drawing out the word “travelers” (0.38), and using that rubato to emphasize the length of the journey.
  • The way “Christ light” at 0:57 moves up is sort of like a sunrise to me.
  • At “night time of your fear” 1:04, the music moves on fear from four part to two part, and is a bit of a hollow chord.
  • I like the harmonization with “speak the peace you long to hear”, as well as the message of these words. This passage is sung in a peaceful fashion. How are we speaking peace that others long to hear? That’s perhaps a particularly interesting question, both for us at FPC given the events over the past months and years, as well as for us as a nation as we move past the rather rancorous “debate” leading up to this election and as we face the challenges ahead of us.
  • I’ve always liked the way that the women sing the Sister let me be your servant stanza, with the men singing the “brother” stanza immediately following (though should I be surprised that the women interrupt before the men are quite finished at 2:14 :-) ).
  • An even stronger ritard at the end of the second passage at 2:28.
  • The last verse uses a descant, which is probably worth discussing. ATB are singing the melody, with sopranos as the descant, except for where we break into 4 part for “harmony” at 3:12
  • In the last refrain, we have a different antiphon (3:43), with now the men first singing “they shall be the last”, the sopranos echoing first, then the altos echoing, then the tenors back, and then finally the basses with the last “be the last”. This is a good message to keep repeating. If anyone would be first (in the eyes of God), they shall be the last of all.
  • And the organ gets the last word on this piece, in nice peaceful reflection.
  • I also did get the Maranatha Singer’s version of this piece, which is interesting[6].
    • The movement from solo on the first verse to duet on the second is neat.
    • I wonder why they left out the third verse

• What are your thoughts about these different adaptations of this song?

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1. http://www.davidschwoebel.com/the-servant-song-satb-worgan-oboe-cong/ is the artist’s site, which is also the source of the MP3 file used in class. One place to purchase the sheet music is http://morningstarmusic.com/viewitem.cfm/item_id/50–5202.  ↩

2. http://umportal.org/article.asp?id=9009  ↩

3. Of the music based more directly on Gilliard’s work, the one I liked best is by David Haas, from his Living Spirit, Holy Fire collection, available through iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/living-spirit-holy-fire-volume/id269034822. Haas does change the lyrics some, making the first verse a gender-neutral question, rather that a (surface, at least) masculine statement, and he omits the last verse, which  ↩

4. Hoyt Hickman (editor) The Faith We Sing (2000) Abingdon Press. Available from http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/FaithWeSing.aspx?div=home and other places. We have the spiral bound Simplified Edition (ISBN–13: 9780687090570)  ↩

5. #422 – God Who’s Giving Knows No Ending. And, for what it’s worth, this tune was not used for any hymns in the older red hymnal.  ↩

6. “The Servant Song”, Track 11 (closing track) from Sieze The Moment - Worship for Men (1994) Maranatha! Music https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/seize-moment-worship-for-men/id253214218  ↩

All Things Bright and Beautiful and a Look at John Rutter

• Play Rutter Gloria as welcome music[1] Note that the UTK Chamber Singers and FPC Chancel Choir did this in the Christmas Festival concert a couple of years ago.

Introduction

Today’s discussion will be about All Things Bright and Beautiful[2], particularly the version by John Rutter, as well as some discussion of Rutter and his perspectives. The text for the song is a hymn (7.6.7.6 with 7.6.7.6 refrain) from the mid 1800’s by Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander and first published in a book of Children’s hymns, to the hymn tune Royal Oak.

The PCUSA blue hymnal has this hymn (#267). As an interesting aside, Go Tell It on the Mountain is also 7.6.7.6 with refrain, though the meter of the refrain is slightly different (7.8.7.6). I tried to sing All Things Bright and Beautiful to the tune of Go Tell It on the Mountain. It made my brain hurt.

All Things Bright and Beautiful hymn

• Read through the lyrics for ATBB (handout)
  • What do you see in the lyrics?
  • What are the key messages of the song?
  • Where are there points of agreement with your views and where are there points of disagreement?
  • What’s missing?

All Things Bright and Beautiful (as used in the version by John Rutter)

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.

(refrain)

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning,
That brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden -
He made them every one.

(refrain)

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

(refrain)

Rutter doesn’t use two other verses from the original hymn, the first of which is often omitted from hymnals, due to at least an apparent presentation of class separation as ordained by God.

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
He made them, high or lowly,
And ordered their estate.

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day.

Wikipedia[3] also notes that the United Church of Canada includes an additional verse, which definitely seems rather Canadian.

The rocky mountain splendor,
the lone wolf’s haunting call,
the great lakes and the prairies,
the forest in the fall.

• Play Rutter Version of ATBB Note that the tune Rutter uses is somewhat different from the adaptation of Royal Oak that’s in the PCUSA hymnal, but I think both are recognizable variants of the same basic tune.
  • Does the sung version add or change anything for you in this hymn?

About John Rutter

• What do people know about John Rutter and his works?
• Play interview with Rutter by C Music TV on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbMyPVZY34c

As it happens, my music library includes 47 songs that were written or arranged by John Rutter, including his Gloria and Te Deum. There are at least 100 different titles listed on the Wikipedia page for Rutter[4].

From the artist’s site[5], the Wikipedia page, the above interview, an interview with 60 Minutes[6], and a few other locations[7]:

• Born in London in 1945 and went to Highgate School, which apparently provided an excellent music education
• He did not come from a particularly musical family
• Studied at Clair College, Cambridge and wrote his first published composition while still a student (at age 19)
• Has published a lot of music, including choral works for large and small groups, orchestral works, a piano concerto, two children’s operas, and music for television.
• In 1980 he was made an honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, and in 1988 a Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians.
• In 1996 the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred a Lambeth Doctorate of Music upon him in recognition of his contribution to church music.
• He was honoured in the 2007 Queen’s New Year Honours List, being awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to music.
• His arrangement of Psalm 150 was commissioned for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and he was commissioned to write “This is the Day the Lord Hath Made” for the royal wedding of Prince Williams and Kate Middleton[8]
• Rutter is criticized by some as writing music that’s “too sweet”, which is addressed in both the 60 minutes and C Music TV interviews – “tunes so sweet, as one critic said, that they were all but trail fairy dust.”

Personally, I love this passage from the interview with Rutter in the 60 Minutes interview:

Correspondent Vicki Mabrey found the maestro in a small church in Edinburgh, Scotland, giving singing lessons.

“You don’t realize how good it is until you’ve tried it,” says Rutter. “It is wonderful to go to a choral concert, to hear a choir sing. But I think the deepest joy of all is to actually sing.”

Rutter holds these singing days about 20 times a year. “When I agree to do these, I make just one condition, which is that anybody is welcome,” he says. “So long as they are willing to come and bring their voice, they’re welcome.”

The cost of admission: donation to charity. Singing lessons from the master: priceless.

• Discuss Rutter and the role of his works in worship and living

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1. “Gloria” Tracks 1–3 from Gloria: The Sacred Music of John Rutter (1984; The Cambridge Singers) https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/gloria-sacred-music-john-rutter/id444809046.  ↩

2. “All Things Bright and Beautiful” Track 4 from Gloria: The Sacred Music of John Rutter (1984; The Cambridge Singers) https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/gloria-sacred-music-john-rutter/id444809046. See http://www.johnrutter.com/ for the artist’s site.  ↩

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Bright_and_Beautiful  ↩

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rutter  ↩

5. See http://www.johnrutter.com/ for the artist’s site and http://www.youtube.com/artist/john-rutter for a dedicated YouTube channel.  ↩

6. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/17/60ii/main589173.shtml  ↩

7. I found at least 7 other interviews with John Rutter by searching on YouTube  ↩

8. There are multiple YouTube uploads of this piece from the wedding, with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UGxzEyop14 being a bit cleaner and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssnAMpYKsd8 being the one apparently from the BBC official album for the Royal Wedding.  ↩

Ubi Caritas

Today, we’ll talk about Ubi Caritas.

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exsultemus et in ipso jucundemur.
Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Where there is charity and love, God is there.
The love of Christ has gathered us as one.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Let us honor [fear] and love the living God.
And from a sincere heart let us love one another.

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur:
Ne nos mente dividamur, caveamus.
Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites.
Et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus. 

Where there is charity and love, God is there.
As we are gathered into one body,
Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
And may Christ our God be in our midst. 

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Simul quoque cum beatis videamus,
Glorianter vultum tuum, Christe Deus:
Gaudium quod est immensum, atque probum,
Saecula per infinita saeculorum. Amen. 

Where there is charity and love, God is there.
And may we with the saints also,
See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
The joy that is immense and good,
Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen. 

In several ways, this piece is a continuation of our recent discussions of singing (praying) the psalms. The text is newer than the psalms, originating sometime around the 10th or 11th century (we think), from France. The version we are doing (November 4th in the 11:00 service and November 18th at the 8:30 service) is arranged by Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986) and uses just the first verse, set to the Gregorian chant melody. That melody is likely much older, perhaps as old as the 300’s[1]. In the Catholic church, this piece is often used on Maundy Thursday services, as well as other mass forms. A version of Ubi Caritas by Paul Mealor was used as a part of the service music for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton[2].

• Listen to Duruflé version of Ubi Caritas[3]

Discussion points:
What do you hear in the music?
What do you see in the lyrics?
Thoughts about fear versus honor?
This piece is traditionally done during the washing of feet in Maundy Thursday. Does that change or add anything for you?

• Listen to YouTube presentation of Ubi Caritas (Mealor) from the Royal Wedding[2]

Does this change the piece at all for you?

• There is an interview with Mealor in the Guardian, talking about the commission for this piece and his thoughts. Read and discuss_[4]

• Listen to Taizé meditation on Ubi Caritas[5]

This is just the first line, repeated over and over. Does that work for something meditative?

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1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubi_caritas  ↩

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAUuLclU5w8  ↩

3. “Duruflé - Ubi Caritas”, Track 3 from Music from Erskine & American (Erskine Chamber Choir, 2010). https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/music-from-erskine-american/id415580999 and see http://www.erskine.edu/academics/music/ensembles.shtml  ↩

4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/29/royal-wedding-music-paul-mealor  ↩

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R448WVra9ww&feature=related or “Ubi Caritas”, Track 6 from Laudate Omnes Gentes (Taizé, 2003) https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/laudate-omnes-gentes/id74419259  ↩

What Music at Your Memorial Service?

This Sunday’s class will be a bit of a different discussion, led by Brian Davidson, on the theme of “What music do you want at your memorial service?” This is a discussion that I encourage you to have with loved ones, both those where you might well be involved in arranging their memorial service and those who will likely be arranging yours. It doesn’t have to be a morbid or depressing discussion. Certainly, my wife and I have discussed this a time or two, and this is a reminder that it’s a discussion I should probably be revisiting with a few people.

For me, there are a couple of things I’d like. Both my wife and I would love to have the ending of our memorial services be the “Amen, Alleluia” by Douglas E. Wagner[1]. Particularly when taken up tempo, this is a really uplifting piece, and is something my wife described as thumbing one’s nose at death.

Another one for me is “How Can I Keep From Singing?”. According to Wikipedia[2], this was written by Robert Wadsworth Lowrey and first published in 1868. Several parts of the lyrics speak to me:

    My life flows on in endless song;
        Above earth's lamentation,
    I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn
        That hails a new creation;
    Thro' all the tumult and the strife
        I hear the music ringing;
    It finds an echo in my soul--
        How can I keep from singing?
    What tho' my joys and comforts die?
        The Lord my Saviour liveth;
    What tho' the darkness gather round?
        Songs in the night he giveth.
    No storm can shake my inmost calm
        While to that refuge clinging;
    Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
        How can I keep from singing?
    I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
        I see the blue above it;
    And day by day this pathway smooths,
        Since first I learned to love it;
    The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
        A fountain ever springing;
    All things are mine since I am his--
        How can I keep from singing?

The version I know is a bit different in the middle, with the lyrics being No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I’m clinging. And I really like the part Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing? Indeed, since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?

Amazing Grace is an old stalwart, and often used at memorial services, which tempts me to not ask for it to be used in mine. But there is the stanza that when we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun. That’s a comfort to me, and I hope it will be a comfort to others when I’ve passed over.

There is also the silly child in me who remembers singing You Can’t Get to Heaven at various Boy Scout campfires in my youth. There are a number of different verses to this song, such as the one on http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/o003.html or the much longer collection at http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/songbook/songs5/S5_62.htm. There is a part of me that just chuckles at the idea of this children’s song at my memorial service. I want people to be able to laugh and see the silliness in life, and this is a silly song that brings back some fond memories. And in that vein, I’d like to add in another thanks to Mr. McGee, Mr. Smith, Mr. Levy, Mr. Vogt, my dad, and a bunch of other adults who put a lot of time and effort into making Troop 18 (Indianapolis, IN) a great place. Those campfire songs were one of the first places I learned to love singing.

Another “song” I’d love to be remembered by is the Victory Chant. There are several different variations of this, but the one I learned when I went on my Walk to Emmaus[3] is below. This is done with a leader who calls out the line, which is then echoed by the congregation. The last line is repeated a few times, getting softer each time, and then one last time very loudly. There’s also a couple of neat presentations of this on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V6Rp9bECb4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc86xI3OhQs.

Hail Jesus, You're my King
Your life frees me to sing
I will praise You all my days
You're perfect in all Your ways

Hail, Jesus You're my Lord
I will obey You're word
I want to see Your kingdom come
Not my will but Yours be done

Glory, glory to the Lamb
You take me into the land
We will conquer in Your name
And proclaim that Jesus reigns

Hail, hail Lion of Judah
How powerful you are
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
How wonderful you are
How wonderful you are (softer)
How wonderful you are (softer)
How wonderful you are (softer)
How wonderful you are (LOUD)

My last thought for a song is one I’ve mentioned before in this class, which is Will You Love Jesus More, by Phillips, Craig, and Dean[4]. I know I’m someone who likes being the focus of attention at times, and this is a song I sing to myself often.

If all I've done in the time we've shared
Is turn your eyes on me,
Then I've failed in what I've been called to do
There's someone else I want you to see.

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1. This is the last piece in the set of two introits, two prayer responses, and two closing responses by Mr. Wagner. http://www.beckenhorstpress.com/title.asp?id=1231 and http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Amen-Alleluia/27692 are two places to find this.  ↩

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Can_I_Keep_from_Singing%3F  ↩

3. http://emmaus.upperroom.org/  ↩

4. “Will You Love Jesus More” from the Lifeline album by Phillips, Craig, and Dean. See http://www.phillipscraiganddean.com/ for the artists’ site, http://www.elyrics.net/read/p/phillips-craig-&-dean-lyrics/will-you-love-jesus-more-lyrics.html for the lyrics, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXR4HS7PcTs for a cool YouTube video that was done for a Good Friday service.  ↩

Singing the Psalms, Part 3 of 3 (Psalm 121)

• What thoughts do people have from the last two weeks?

• For those who went to the early service, did discussing Psalm 22a last week make a difference to you?

Psalm 121

This isn’t one of the ones we’re doing this month, but it is something where I have different examples of the psalm done in very different ways, and I want to explore both this very familiar psalm and see if different presentations have different messages. * Play Psalm 121 (Welsh)[1] * Read aloud the text of Psalm 121

Psalm 121 [NRSV]
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills--
  from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
  he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel
  will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper;
  the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in 
  from this time on and forevermore.

• What are the messages in this text to us? For one view of questions to think about with this psalm, consider http://www.walkwiththeword.org/Studies/01_OT/19_Psalm/19_Psalm_121.html. One thing I remember from singing this Psalm in Kingsport was the choir director reminding us that there’s a pause after “hills”. It’s not that the author is expecting the help to come from the hills, but perhaps more that those hills could be referencing the Mountains of Arrarat (the traditional/purported resting place of Noah’s Ark) as the Isrealites made their way back from Babylon. Those hills could also be the places where there were idols and worshipping places to the various other gods of the local tribes. Recall much of the Old Testament admonitions about the high places and the idol worship that often went on there. My help is not coming from some idol or some high place, but rather from the very God who made heaven and those hills.

The Psalmist, to encourage true believers confidently to trust in the aid of God, and to teach them to betake themselves to his protection, first, affirms that, to whatever quarter we turn our eyes it is impossible to find salvation anywhere else; and, in the second place, extols in lofty terms the fatherly care of God in defending his faithful ones. John Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, Volume 5[2]

• Play Michael Card version, starting at 0:58 mark[3]

The first half of this is in Hebrew (which I’m probably skipping), which is cool. This is a very bare plainsong version of the song, with a more complex melody than we often do.

• Play Anglican Chant Antiphon versions[4][5]

The first of these is an Anglican chant version with light organ backing. The second is is done as an antiphon (responsive) with the response in a Anglican Chant four-part harmony style. Do either of these provide something different to you in listening to the Psalm?

• Play Bob Bennett et al version[6]

This is a very different presentation of the psalm, in what sounds to me like a rather folksy fashion.

• Play Mattoon Youth Choir version[7]

As we think and reflect on the visioning workshop yesterday, how might we use these different presentations in ways to reach different groups? Do these provide different perspectives on the Psalm? Is there anything wrong with any of these versions?

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1. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/psalm–121-welsh-single/id516529686. See http://www.keepitsimplesoftware.co.uk/serin/about.html for information about the group Serin.  ↩

2. As quoted on http://christianbookshelf.org/calvin/commentary_on_psalms_volume_5/psalm_121.htm  ↩

3. “My Help (Psalm 121)”, track 6 from The Ancient Faith, Volume 2 by Michael Card. Not currently available in the US ITunes store. A track by the same name is available in The Ultimate Collection (Track 5), at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ultimate-collection-michael/id159796320  ↩

4. “Psalm 121, ‘I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes to the Hills’”, Track 4 from Psalms for the Spirit by Noel Edison & the St. John’s Choir. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/psalms-for-the-spirit/id205862562  ↩

5. Recording from First Presbyterian Church, New York City, Anglican Chant: Walford-Davies  ↩

6. “Psalm 121”, Track 10 from Songs for Israel by Bob Bennet, Buck Storm, Phil Keaggy & Randy Stonehill. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/songs-for-israel/id408941043 or http://www.bob-bennett.com/buymusicfrombob.htm. An interesting release about this album can be found on (JesusFreakhideout.com)[http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/2011/02/14.SONGS%20FOR%20ISRAEL%20NEW%20CD%20RELEASE%20OFFERS%20RICH%20NEW%20MUSICAL%20EXPERIENCE%20INSPIRED%20BY%20THE%20ANCIENT%20LAND%20JESUS%20WALKED.asp] with some information about the artists.  ↩

7. “Psalm 121”, track 10 from No Other Foundation by the Mattoon Youth Choir (Apostolic Center, Matoon, IL) https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/no-other-foundation/id484450917. See also http://www.apostoliccenter.org/NoOtherFoundation.html  ↩

Singing the Psalms, Part 2 of 3

• Any comments or thoughts from last week?

Recap and thoughts

• Singing the Psalms is a very old practice, going back to the Hebrews, and it is one way to pray the psalms. It was done by the Hebrews for at least centuries before Christ, it is part of some of the earliest Christian liturgies[1], it is definitely part of the Christian churches through many times and places, and it was definitely a central aspect of worship for Jean Calvin and other founders of the Reformed churches.
• There are many different ways to pray and sing the psalms. One division which I like comes from Russ Stutler, a missionary in Japan[2]:
  • Metrical: Where the psalm is written or can be adapted to a particular tune with a particular metrical arrangement such as 8.6.8.6 (common meter), then the psalm can be sung in a metrical arrangement. We discussed last week the 11.10.11.10.11.10 meter for Finlandia as a different example. Note the superscript mentioned above to Psalm 22, where the author indicates the (probably now unknown) tune “The Doe of the Morning” is the tune to be used for this particular psalm. There are a number of psalters available with arrangements in meter for singing psalms this way.
  • Plainsong: Rather than adapting the psalm to fit some music, we can essentially adapt music to fit the words of the psalm. In Plainsong, we chant multiple words on single tones, and move around in ways that add to the words. Plainsong is a common way of cantoring a psalm, and what we use most of the time. The suttler.cc site I’ve referenced in this section[^sutler] indicates that there are 9 basic tunes, and I note that the Guimont Psalter[3] which is often used in our services has 41 psalm tunes. Sutler.cc links to http://saintlaurenceosb.org/chants/index.html, which has some nice recordings of several psalms done in plainchant.
  • Anglican: This is a derivation of plainsong, and is designed to allow a choir to sing in four part (typically) harmony. As might be expected with a name “Anglican”, it was developed in England, around the time of the Reformation. I like the comment in wikipedia, which (to me) applies to both Anglican chant and plainsong It may be fairly described as “harmonized recitative”. It is said to have the twofold purpose of enhancing the words of the sacred text and serving as an aid for both the singer and listener[4] to attain a meditative state.[5]
  • Any of these forms can be done responsively (antiphonally). That can be done with the congregation singing a refrain, with different groups singing different verses, or a variety of other options.
• I really like that last part from the Wikipedia article, and to me it applies to all of these. Paraphrased, the way we use psalms in corporate and personal worship should be to enhance and personalize the words of the sacred text and serving as an aide for both the singer and listener to pray about an internalize the meaning of those words for us.

Many Psalters

As discussed last week, there are many psalters. Two that my family owns are the red The Psalter: Psalms and Canticles for Singing[1] which came from a Presbyterian task force and the Guimont Psalms for the Revised Common Lectionary[3]. Tami and Angie have lots more :-).

• Briefly discuss Revised Common Lectionary and the two psalters.

A good resource for the RCL is the pages from Vanderbilt Library, at http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/.

• Review the psalm arrangements for last week, this week, and next two. (emphasized text indicates the ones where we’re doing at least part in that week’ FPC services.
  • RCL for this week (10/7/12) is Psalm 26 and Psalm 8 (Proper 22, year B)[6]
  • RCL for next week (10/14/12) is Psalm 22:1–15 and Psalm 90:12–17
  • RCL for following week (10/21/12) is Psalm 104:1–9,24,35c and Psalm 91:9–16
  • RCL for the last Sunday in October (10/28/12) is Psalm 34:1–8 and Psalm 126
• Read the words for next week’s Psalm
  • Compare: NIV, NRSV, The Message, and the text for next week (from The Psalter for Christian Worship[7]).
  • How do the texts compare? Do these have different messages?
  • What do you hear in the Psalm?

The psalter from which this comes has two suggested tunes: Llangloffen (e.g Rejoice! Rejoice, Believers) and Passion Chorale (e.g. *O Sacred Head, Now Wounded). For what it’s worth, there are many other tunes to this same 7.7.7.6D metric, including Ellacombe (e.g. Hosanna, Loud Hosanna), Lancashire (e.g. The Day of Resurrection!), and Es Flog Ein Kleines Waldvoegelein (e.g. We All Are One in Mission). The current (blue) PCUSA hymnal has 33 different hymns that fit this metrical pattern, using 20 different tunes.

• Compare reading the text to yourself with different tunes
  • Organ Llangloffan [8]
  • Organ Passion Chorale [9]
  • Sprightly Passion Chroale [10]
  • Ellacombe [11]

• Do you get anything different from any of these tunes as the basis for the psalm?

• Compare these to a rap version of the psalm[12]

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1. Hopson, Hal (ed) The Psalter: Psalms and Canticles for Singing Westminster/John Knox Press: Louisville, KY (1993) ISBN 978–0664237042. http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=436035  ↩

2. http://www.stutler.cc/russ/sing_psalms.html  ↩

3. Guimont, Michel Psalms for the Revised Common Lectionary GIA Publications: Chicago, IL (1998, 2002) ISBN 1–57999–165–3 (full score edition). http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=4817  ↩

4. The word “listener” is important to me. In the singing (praying) of the psalms, we are listeners, not the audience. Where music is done for the simple beauty of it (and there’s nothing wrong with that), we can be an audience. When music is done as a part of worship, then my view is that we are active listeners to that music, as a way for us to worship God and find meaning in our lives.  ↩

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_chant  ↩

6. http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/  ↩

7. Morgan, Michael (ed) The Psalter for Christian Worship (1999) ISBN 978–1571530264. Available from http://store.pcusa.org/9781571530134  ↩

8. Llangloffan (Traditional Welsh Tune) by John Cavicchio. Track 4 from A Mighty Fortress. Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-mighty-fortress/id518038224. I believe the artist’s Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/FreeholdOrganist.  ↩

9. Passion Chorale by Chris Hughes. Track 5 from Reflections, Vol. 2. Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/reflections-vol.–2/id304212129. No artist page found.  ↩

10. Reflections, Vol. 2 by Enoch Train. Track 9 from Enoch Train. Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/enoch-train/id305664974. See artist page at http://enochtrain.xelent.com/music.html  ↩

11. Ellacombe by David Phillips. Track 2 from Abide With Me. Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/abide-with-me/id341656661. I belive the artist’s page is at http://www.music4us.com/phillips.htm.  ↩

12. Psalm 22 by David (Christian Rap Artist). Track 3 from The Rapture Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-rapture/id324456390. The best link I could find to the artist’s page is http://www.reverbnation.com/ChristianRapArtistDavid and his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/davidofchrist777  ↩