Each day during the season of Advent in 2021, Rev. Matt is sharing a little bit about a piece of music for this holy and rich season, a season and a body of music that so often gets lost in the rush toward "pre-Christmas".

Days 1 to 10

Days 21 and forward  |  Days 11 to 20

Day 10 - December 7:  "On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry"

In the middle weeks of Advent, we often hear from the gospels' stories about Jesus' cousin and "forerunner," John the Baptist (a.k.a. "John the baptizer" in Mark, or simply "John" in Luke).  Less than a year older than Jesus himself, John is known for having had a ministry out on the edge of society, where he engaged in prophetic preaching and baptisms of people as signs of repentance.  John's message called on people to change their hearts and their lives, in order that they might be ready for the kingdom of heaven come near.

In the classic Advent hymn "On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry," the singers bid us to awake and listen, because John's "cry" brings with it "glad tidings of the King of kings".  The text also reflects a response to John's call toward repentance, as well as prayerful petition toward the One whose coming John foretold.

The text was originally written in Latin in the mid 1700s by French Catholic priest Charles Coffin.  Anglican priest John Chandler translated the text as part of a larger project of bringing Latin hymns into English.  The most commonly used tune, WINCHESTER NEW, originated in a late 17th-century German church music handbook and, in a modified form, gained widespread use in 18th- and 19th-century England as a tune for singing metrical psalms and also as a frequently-used tune by early Methodists John and Charles Wesley.  

Day 9 - December 6:  "Come, Renew Us" by Eleanor Daley

Continuing from yesterday's selection with another contemporary woman composer, but jumping 'across the pond' to right here in Canada, "Come, Renew Us" is a choral anthem written in 2011 by Eleanor Daley. 

The text of the anthem is drawn from the work of David Adam (1936-2020), a Church of England priest and writer who became known for several collections of art, reflections, prayers, and meditations based on the Celtic tradition.  In "Come, Renew Us," the words give expression to those longings out of which the Christian Church prays, especially in the season of Advent, "come, Lord Jesus, come".

Eleanor Daley is a Canadian composer, performer, and accompanist.  She has been the Director of Music at Fairlawn Heights United Church in Toronto since 1982, and during that time has established a thriving choral program for which much of her choral music has been composed. This lovely anthem, however, was commissioned for Christ Church (Episcopal) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Come, Lord, come to us. 
Enter our darkness with your light,
Fill our emptiness with your presence,
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.
In our sadness come as joy, 
in our troubles, come as peace,
In our fearfulness, come as hope, 
in our darkness, come as light,
In our frailty, come as strength, 
in our loneliness, come as love,
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.

Day 8 - December 5:  "Drop Down, Ye Heavens, From Above" by Judith Weir

In Isaiah 45:8, we hear the prophetic plea:
  "Shower, O heavens, from above,
      and let the skies rain down righteousness;
  let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,
      and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also."
The longing that this verse expresses is the same longing that stands behind all of our Advent expectation and hope:  our yearning for the 'day of the Lord' to come; our desire for God's reign to be made complete upon the earth -- things that Christians have understood the coming again of Christ will bring about.

This verse, referred to as 'Rorate Coeli' in Latin, gained pride of place for the season of Advent in the worship patterns of the Christian church in the west going back to the Middle Ages, appearing daily in the evening prayer service known as Vespers, as well as in a number of other places in the church's liturgies during the season.  It also forms part of a longer hymn known as the "Advent Prose," where it is combined with a number of the other scriptural passages used in the liturgy for Advent.  An English version of this hymn, "Drop Down, Ye Heavens, From Above" was popularized in certain circles through the inclusion of its text and traditional Gregorian melody in "The English Hymnal," the landmark 1906 volume edited by Percy Dearmer (texts) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (music).

Here is Judith Weir's 2005 sublime choral setting of a shortened version of the Advent Prose text.  Weir (b. 1954) is a British composer who, in 2014, became the first female appointed to the office of 'Master of the Queen's Music'.

Drop down ye heavens from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness.
Come comfort ye, comfort ye my people;
My salvation shall not tarry.

I have blotted out as a thick cloud,
Thy transgressions:
Fear not, for I will save thee;

For I am the Lord thy God,
The holy one of Israel, thy redeemer.

Day 7 - December 4:  "Soon and Very Soon"

Advent is all about the promise that, indeed, the Lord *is* coming.  We remember God's coming among us in history -- the birth at Bethlehem.  We keep alert for God's coming among us in mystery -- the ways that the kingdom of heaven breaks into our midst now.  We yearn for and await God's coming again in majesty -- the ultimate "day of the Lord" at the culmination of all history.  In all of these ways, the promise stands that God's presence is, indeed, coming, and soon!

Andraé Crouch's "Soon and Very Soon" draws on the vision of the new heaven and new earth that we find in the conclusion of the book of Revelation (21:3-4, especially), with its wonderful promise that God will wipe away the tears from all eyes, that death will be no more, and that even mourning and pain will reach their end.

Crouch, a leading figure in the African American gospel tradition of the mid-to-late 20th century, grew up the son of preacher parents in the Church of God in Christ, a predominantly (although not exclusively) African American tradition that stands as the world's largest Pentecostal denomination.  While Crouch is best known for his music work, later in life he (together with his sister) took over the pastorate of the church his parents led following their deaths.

Day 6 - December 3:  "Comfort, Comfort Now My People"

As we move toward the Second Sunday of Advent this weekend, we hear words from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, from arguably one of the most well-known parts: chapter 40.  While every third year has us sharing Isaiah 40 as one of our scripture readings for worship, the chapter echoes through in every year as we hear the gospels liken Jesus' forerunner, John the Baptist, to the "voice crying in the wilderness" who calls people to "prepare the way of the Lord".  These phrases, along with the promises of every valley being lifted up and every mountain being made low and all flesh seeing the salvation of God, have Isaiah 40 as their source.

"Comfort, Comfort Now My People" is a widely-known Advent hymn across denominational traditions and is a direct paraphrase of Isaiah 40:1-5.  German Lutheran pastor Johannes Olearius wrote the paraphrase in 1671, and Catherine Winkworth translated the words into English as part of a 19th-century British interest in German religious poetry (she is the translator behind many of the Lutheran chorales that are known to English-language worshippers).  The music originates in the tune used in the Genevan Psalter of 1551 for singing Psalm 42, and was probably derived from an earlier French folk song. 

Appearing on page 883 of 'Voices United' (amidst the section of the hymnal devoted to psalms and other scripture-paraphrase hymns), we will be singing it this coming Sunday, December 5th, as our opening hymn.

Here is a jubilant interpretation of this hymn, making use of rhythmic percussion to emphasize the dance-like nature of the tune, from First-Plymouth Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Note, there is an error in the video title and title screen on the video from First-Plymouth:  the tune name for this is GENEVAN 42, not GENEVAN 47.  The tune is also known as FREU DICH SEHR.)

And here is a different interpretation, a slower and more plaintive a capella choral rendition.  Which better fits this hymn?  Perhaps it's both...

Day 5 - December 2:  "For you, O Lord, My Soul in Stillness Waits" by Marty Haugen

The season of Advent gives special expression to that sense of deep yearning that, when we are honest, we know inhabits our souls and our very being.  We recognize that the world is not as we would want it to be, nor as we imagine God would want it to be.  It is out of that recognition, of the gap between the way things are and how they should be, that we are led to watch, wait, and hope for the coming of God and God's ways into our midst, bringing about nothing short of a new creation.

Marty Haugen's "My Soul in Stillness Waits" pleads through a plaintive melody and poetic words, full of that sense of yearning with which the season is pregnant.  The text draws upon language from the biblical Psalms (Psalm 62:5 and Psalm 95:6-7, especially), and also makes paraphrases and reinterpretations of themes from the ancient "O Antiphons" that take center state in the final week of Advent (more on the 'O Antiphons' to come as the season progresses). 

Haugen, a contemporary liturgical musician and composer of Lutheran background from the United States, has written a vast body of music that especially came to popularity within the Roman Catholic tradition as part of the blossoming of piano- and guitar-based folk-style repertoire in the wake of the reforms of Vatican II.  Haugen is the author behind CUC favourite "All Are Welcome (Let us Build a House)", More Voices #1.

Day 4 - December 1:  "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" / "Sleepers, wake!"

Given the clear focus in the early days of Advent on looking toward Christ's coming again, and the admonition we hear in the scriptures for this part of the season to "keep awake" and "be on guard", it is natural that the early German Lutheran hymn "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" has become strongly associated with the beginning of Advent.  Written in 1599 by Philipp Nicholai, the text draws from the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids in Matthew 25, a story Jesus tells that encourages the listener to always be ready, "for you know neither the day nor the hour" (Mt. 25:13).  Variously translated into English with titles like "Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying" or "Sleepers, Wake! A Voice Astounds Us", it ranks as one of the most well-known of the early German Lutheran chorales aside from those by Martin Luther himself.

In addition to being sung as a hymn, "Wachet auf" has been set in a variety of musical forms over the centuries.  Perhaps the most famous of these is Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata, #140, and his transcription of the 4th movement of that cantata (originally for solo tenor voice with strings accompaniment) for solo organ, one of his 6 "Schübler Chorales".

Here is a performance of that organ voluntary, BWV 645.  Note that the actual chorale tune (the melody that the congregation would sing if they were singing the hymn) is *not* the quickly-flowing figures played by the organist in the right hand on the upper keyboard, but rather the melody that comes in on the left hand on a reedy/trumpet-like sound on the lower keyboard, beginning around 40 seconds in.

Day 3 - November 30:  "My Lord, What a Morning"

In this past Sunday's gospel reading, Jesus spoke of his coming at a time when "there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars".  Drawing upon a number of passages from Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel, the parallels to this Sunday's reading that we find in Matthew and Mark both speak even more directly of the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light, and the stars falling from heaven.  It is amidst such signs of the whole world, and even the whole cosmos, being shaken and turned upside down that the coming of the 'Son of Man' will be. 

The traditional African American spiritual "My Lord, What a Morning" -- which we sang in worship this past Sunday -- looks with hope and expectation toward just such a time "when the stars begin to fall."  While those of us who occupy positions of relative privilege in the world might find earth-shaking prophesy concerning and even dreadful, for those caught in systems of oppression and the bonds of injustice, the promise that the ways of this world will be shaken and even fall is, indeed, a promise that points toward hope.

As with most of the music from the spirituals tradition, there are many versions and arrangements of "My Lord, What a Morning".  Perhaps the most famous ones are based on the work of Black American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer H. Burleigh (1866-1949).  The following performance by The Aeolians of Oakwood University uses the arrangement by Black American composer, choir director, and musicologist William L. Dawson (1899-1990), especially known for his 25-year tenure directing the choir of the Tuskeegee Institute.

My Lord, what a morning.  My Lord, what a morning.
My Lord, what a morning when the stars begin to fall.
You'll hear the trumpet sound to wake the nations underground,
looking to my God's right hand when the stars begin to fall.
My Lord, what a morning.  My Lord, what a morning.
My Lord, what a morning when the stars begin to fall.

Day 2 - November 29:  "E'en So Lord Jesus, Quickly Come" by Paul Manz

The earliest days of Advent have more clearly as their focus the second coming of Christ, that return in power and great glory for which we await at the completion of all things.  The stunning choral anthem "E'en So Lord Jesus, Quickly Come" -- written in 1954 by one of the foremost figures in traditional church music in the US through the latter half of the 20th century, the Lutheran composer and organist Paul Manz -- draws upon images from the book of Revelation to sing passionately in hope and expectation for that longed-for return.

Peace be to you and grace from him
Who freed us from our sins,
Who loved us all and shed his blood
That we might saved be.

Sing holy, holy to our Lord,
The Lord, Almighty God,
Who was and is and is to come;
Sing holy, holy, Lord!

Rejoice in heaven, all ye that dwell therein,
Rejoice on earth, ye saints below,
For Christ is coming, is coming soon,
For Christ is coming soon!

E’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come,
And night shall be no more;
They need no light nor lamp nor sun,
For Christ will be their All!

Day 1 - November 28:  "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending"

Today, on the First Sunday of Advent, we heard in worship from Luke 21:25-36, where Jesus speaks of his coming again in power and great glory.  Alluding to words from the Old Testament prophet Daniel (Daniel 7:13-14), the image is of the 'Son of Man' coming in clouds.

No hymn quite captures the mystery and majesty of Christ's promised coming again as the great hymn by early Methodist leader Charles Wesley, "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending."  Most often sung to the powerful English hymntune HELMSLEY, this hymn speaks powerfully of the experience of the faithful getting to greet Christ in his glory at his return, and pleads vigorously for Christ to come and inaugurate his ultimate reign.

Lo, He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favoured sinners slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending
Swell the triumph of His train:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
God appears on earth to reign.

Every eye shall now behold Him
Robed in glorious majesty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced and nailed Him to the tree,
Deeply wailing, Deeply wailing, Deeply wailing,
Shall their true Messiah see.

Those dear tokens of His passion
Still His dazzling body bears;
Cause of endless exultation
To His ransomed worshippers:
With what rapture, With what rapture, With what rapture,
Gaze we on those glorious scars.

Yea, Amen, let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Saviour, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Thine own:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou shalt reign, and Thou alone.

 

Days 21 and forward  |  Days 11 to 20