T. Tertius Noble

Thomas Tertius Noble, born today in 1867, in Bath, England, would eventually come to be known as the dean of American organists later in life. He showed an early interest in music, and once begged to be removed from a boarding school that did not have a music program. At age 12 he was appointed to be the organist of All Saints Parish in Colchester, where the rector had provided him with some musical instruction. Many years later, in an address at the General Theological Seminary in New York, he described the conditions there:

I was almost 13, I could not play the organ very well.  It was an awful, old organ.  It had four stops, and its mechanism rattled so loudly you could hardly hear the music.  For three years I worked there.  I got up at 6:30 summer and winter, and I was in the church practicing by 7:00. (...) Learning on this organ was difficult, but very good for me.

In 1889 he graduated from the Royal College of Music in London, where his teachers had included Charles Villiers Stanford (for composition) and John Frederick Bridge (for harmony). He was then hired there as a teacher himself, and then in 1892 he was appointed organist at Ely Cathedral. Six years later, he started at York Minster, where he remained for the next thirteen years, until he was recruited to be organist-choirmaster at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York in 1913.

A fair amount about his time in New York has been covered here already (links below). Since unfortunately I have used up the internet sound files of his hymn tunes (only four available at the moment),  you can hear one of his settings of the Magnificat from YouTube.



Roman Catholic readers may understand why a Magnificat is always appropriate in May, but Anglicans and Episcopalians like them year-round.



Nine Years Ago: T. Tertius Noble

Eight Years Ago: T. Tertius Noble

The Mother's Expectation

The story of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), with the surprising news that the angel Gabriel gives to Mary, is read in many churches today.  There are other parts of Mary's story that are also appropriate for Advent, such as her visit to her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-46) which includes the mighty Magnificat, Mary's song of revolution.

Today's hymn, written in the middle of the nineteenth century, goes to a place you might not expect from a Victorian writer: the course of Mary's pregnancy from the Annunciation ('the angel's salutation') to her travels to her cousin ('o'er the mountains of Judea') and finally toward Bethlehem as nine months pass. The baby is called a 'burden' which may bring to mind a chorus from Handel's Messiah about easy yokes and light burdens, but it is also a hard truth not always mentioned in Mary's story: the Incarnation came about through difficult reality for the two earthly parents-to-be, and the good news of it must have seemed far away at times, for all that the author here tries to make it more palatable for us. The meek and mild Mary sometimes portrayed in hymns and stories actually had to be a pretty tough and resourceful young woman to make it all the way to Bethlehem.

Frederick William Faber was a priest in the Church of England who converted to Roman Catholicism only nine years after his ordination. His hymnwriting 'crossed the Tiber' as well, as demonstrated in this hymn, titled "Our Lady's Expectation."

Like the dawning of the morning
On the mountains' golden heights,
Like the breaking of the moonbeams 
On the gloom of cloudy nights;
Like the tidings told by angels,
Far and wide across the earth,
Is the Mother's expectation
Of Messiah's speedy birth.

You were happy, blessed Mother,
With the very bliss of heav'n,
Since the angel's salutation
In your list'ning ear was giv'n.
Since the 'Ave' of that midnight,
When you were anointed Queen,
Like a river overflowing
Has the grace within you been.

O'er the mountains of Judea,
Like the chariot of the Lord,
You were lifted in your spirit
By the uncreated Word;
Gifts and graces flowed upon you
In a sweet celestial strife
And the growing of this baby
Was the lightening of your life.

Oh the feeling of this burden,
It was touch and taste and sight;
It was newer still and newer,
All those nine months, day and night.
Every moment did that burden
Press upon you with new grace;
Happy Mother! You are longing
To behold the Savior’s face!

Frederick William Faber, 1854; alt.
Tune: BLAENWERN (8.7.8.7.D.)
William Penfro Rowlands, 1905

Father Faber's full text runs to eight stanzas, ending with that baby's birth, but since we are still in Advent for another week it seems appropriate to stop here, with Mary's (and our) hope and expectation.

More Hymns for the Fourth Sunday of Advent:

Eight (Liturgical) Years Ago: Great Gabriel sped on wings of light

Seven (Liturgical) Years Ago: Away! with loyal hearts and true

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: Praise we the Lord this day

Two (Liturgical) Years Ago: Today the angel comes, the same

One (Liturgical) Year Ago: Shall we not love thee, Mother dear

Also: 

Eight (Calendar) Years Ago: Phoebe Worrall Palmer

Six (Calendar) Years Ago: Charles Wesley

Four (Calendar) Years Ago: Charles Wesley

One (Calendar) Year Ago: Charles Wesley

The Feast of the Visitation

Today marks the commemoration of the Visitation, the story told in Luke 1:39-56 of Mary's visit to Elizabeth that ends with the famous song we know as the Magnificat.

The Magnificat has been sung throughout history, though mostly in basic prose translations. It is a part of the Matins liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Vespers (sometimes called Evening Prayer or Evensong) in the Western Church. Hundreds of musical settings (if not more) have been composed, a fraction of which you can see at the ChoralWiki, and it has also been sung to simpler Anglican chant.

Most modern commentary on the Magnificat emphasizes the revolutionary theme of the text, how God will turn things upside down, raising up the fallen and casting down the oppressive powers of the world. This has inspired contemporary hymnwriters such as Timothy Dudley-Smith, in his hymn Tell out, my soul, which appears in many newer hymnals, and Miriam Therese Winter, in My soul gives glory to my God.

The earliest metrical version which was sung as a hymn may be this one from the Scottish Psalter of 1650 (slightly adapted).

My soul and spirit, filled with joy,
My God and Savior praise,
Whose goodness did from poor estate
This humble servant raise.

Me blessed of God, the God of might,
All ages shall proclaim;
From age to age God's mercy lasts,
And holy is God's name.

A pow'rful arm th'Almighty showed;
The proud God's looks abased;
God cast the mighty to the ground,
The meek to honor raised.

The hungry with good things were filled,
the rich with hunger pined;
God sent to blessed Israel help,
And mercy called to mind.

Which to our forebears' ancient race
God's promise did ensure,
To Abraham and Sarah's line,
Forever to endure.

Scottish Psalter, 1650; alt.
Tune: MAGNIFY (C.M.)
Calvin W. Laufer, 20th cent.

This tune by Calvin Laufer (with a rather appropriate name) was not actually written for this text, but for one he wrote, O magnify the Lord with me.

Two Years Ago: The Feast of the Visitation

Her Own, Her Ancient Song

The story of Mary is another important part of the Advent season. Visited by an angel with a wonderful prophecy, she agreed to her part in it and to the profound change that would overtake her life. Her prophetic song from the first chapter of Luke, which we now know as the Magnificat, tells of the coming reign of justice and mercy foretold by God.

This carol from the nineteenth century first appeared in Carols For Use in Church (1894), collected by R.R. Chope and published in London. Along the journey to Bethlehem, Mary relies on her own song for comfort and relief, aware of its powerful message.

Away! with loyal hearts and true,
O’er hill and dale they pressed
Full four score weary miles, to do
The Cæsar’s high behest;
And Mary sang “Magnificat,”
Her own, her ancient song;
For well knew she that God’s decree
Was bearing her along,
Was bearing her along.

Away! through fields and meadows green,
O’er purple heather-bed,
By mountain pass, or dark ravine,
The faithful couple sped.
And soft and sweet, where’er they went,
To glad the weary way,
Sang Mary that “Magnificat,”
Her own, her ancient lay,
Her own, her ancient lay.

O’erhead the storm clouds often wept,
And tempests o’er them passed,
And cold around them often swept
The bleak December blast.
But still she sang “Magnificat,”
Through weather foul or fair;
For all was rest within her breast,
’Twas always sunshine there,
’Twas always sunshine there.

And when the pilgrimage was o’er,
And of their royal kin,
Not one would open wide the door,
And bid them enter in;
Still Mary sang “Magnificat,”
With ever joyful tone;
“Whate’er betide, our God,” she cried,
“Is mindful of God's own,”
“Is mindful of God's own.”

Worn out at last, and ill-bestead,
Right glad were they to find
Within a sorry cattle shed
A shelter from the wind.
And Mary sang “Magnificat”
Right through that wondrous night;
And, ere the birth of morn on earth,
Was born the Light of Light.
Was born the Light of Light.

Then let us all with one accord
Join Mary’s song and say,
“My soul doth magnify the Lord,”
For ever and for aye.
Loud let us sing “Magnificat,”
That dear and ancient lay,
For God’s own Son with us is one,
And Christ is born today;
And Christ is born today.

J.B. Gray, 1894; alt.
Tune: FORT POLK (C.M.D.)

Just stop and think of how much of the lore that we know about the Christmas season to come derives from just the brief section of Luke 2: 1-8. Author and composer Gray speculates a bit about Mary and Joseph's journey, but the carol still ends up in very familiar territory.



One Year Ago: The World So Long Had Waited

Saint Luke

On October 18 many churches celebrate Saint Luke the Evangelist. Often accepted as the author of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, he is described in Paul's epistles as a physician from Antioch and a fellow traveler during Paul's missionary journeys. Unlike most of the early saints, he was not martyred and reportedly lived to the age of eighty-four.

Like several other hymns in honor of Luke, this oft-published one evokes the theme of healing and extols his Gospel writings. In addition, hymnwriter William MacLagan reminds us of Luke's stories that do not appear in the other Gospels, such as the Prodigal Son, and the great New Testament songs, Mary's Magnificat and Simeon's Nunc dimittis, which also only come down to us from Luke.

What thanks and praise to thee we owe,
O Source and Sacrifice divine,
For Luke, thy saint, through whom we know
So many a gracious word of thine.

How many a soul with guilt oppressed
Has learned to hear the joyful sound:
The prodigal's own sins confessed,
His father’s love, once lost, now found?

And still the church through all our days
Uplifts the songs that never cease,
The blessèd Mary’s hymn of praise,
The agèd Simeon’s words of peace.

O happy saint! whose sacred page,
So rich in words of truth and love
Pours on the church from age to age
This healing unction from above;

The witness of the Savior's life,
Paul the Apostle's chosen friend
Through weary years of toil and strife,
And still found faithful to the end.

So grant us, Christ, like Luke to live,
Beloved on earth, approved by thee,
Till thou at last the summons give,
And we, with him, thy face shall see.

William Dalrymple MacLagan, 1875; alt.
Tune: ELY (L.M.)
Thomas Turton, 1844

Luke is not only the patron saint of doctors, but also of artists, due to a legend that he once painted a portrait of the Virgin Mary on a piece of cypress wood which was formerly a tabletop in the Nazareth home of the Holy Family. The painting, known as the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, remains on display to this day at a popular shrine in Poland.

P.S. The window above is from my own church here in Connecticut, where, serendipitously enough, this afternoon we will be singing Luke's Magnificat and Nunc dimittis (today, the setting by Felix Mendelssohn from 1847), traditionally part of the service of Choral Evensong which we celebrate several times during the year.

One Year Ago: Saint Luke

Join In a Song With Sweet Accord

I am near Minneapolis at the moment, here for my second time at the annual conference of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, which begins this afternoon. As you can see, we'll be at St. Olaf's College, and I'm looking forward to another great week of singing and learning (you can the full schedule of workshops and other sessions).

One new aspect of the program this year is that most of the hymn festivals (big sings!) will be streamed online for anyone to watch and listen. You can go to the St. Olaf's multimedia page each day and the links will be there to access the program.

Sunday, July 12: We Sing Our Story: A Sing for Joy Hymn Festival
John Ferguson and Bruce Benson, Coordinators; 7:30 pm CDT

Monday, July 13: Into the Way of Peace
Carl P. Daw, Jr., Coordinator; Mark G. Meyer, Organist; 7:30 pm CDT

Wednesday, July 15: Giving Life to the Word: Hymns on Parables
Tina Schneider, Scott Foxwell, and Adam M. L. Tice, Coordinators; 7:30 pm CDT

Thursday, July 16: Youthful Hearts: Sing to the Lord!
Paul Westermeyer, Coordinator; David Cherwien, Organist; 10:30 am CDT

Remember -- all times are Central Daylight!

If I figure out where the camera is, maybe I'll wave...


Sunday Night UPDATE: Things are off to a good start, though I am trying not to take it as a bad omen that the first hymn we sang tonight was missing its final verse! The hymnal used (the one in the chapel pews here at St. Olaf's) is the newish Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and apparently its editors think author Henry Van Dyke went on too long -- they only wanted three verses. Here's the last, in case you were watching and missed it too.

Mortals, join the mighty chorus
Which the morning stars began;
All God's love is reigning o'er us,
Kindred love binds hand to hand.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward
In the triumph-song of life!

I feel better now. We also sang The Canticle of the Turning, a modern version of the Magnificat that commenter Leland mentioned to us back on May 31, 2008. And there were some other new, interesting texts as well as old favorites. Toward the end, the climax of the evening came with Shall we gather at the river. The weather here is quite hot, and I was thinking about author Robert Lowry's uncomfortable Brooklyn summer that prompted the writing of that hymn, and also about singing it on hot summer nights in New York myself many years ago.

Early to bed; it's going to be a busy week.

The Feast of the Visitation

Mary's visit to her kinswoman Elizabeth, recorded in Luke 1:39-56, tells us of the importance of these two pregnant women. Elizabeth greets Mary with words that have come down through the ages: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Mary responds with a prophetic song of praise that we know as the Magnificat.

My soul proclaims the greatness of our God,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
who has looked with favor on this lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
You O God have done great things for me,
and holy is your Name.
You have mercy on those who fear you in every generation.
You have shown the strength of your arm,
and have scattered the proud in their conceit.
You have cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and have lifted up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich you have sent away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel,
for you have remembered your promise of mercy,
The promise you made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and Sarah and their children for ever.
(Version by Frank Huber, 1999)

Taken out of the passage in Luke, Mary's song has been set to music thousands of times: in large choral works by composers such as J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi, in liturgical settings used in worship (Evensong in the Episcopal and Anglican traditions, and Matins in the Eastern Orthodox Church), and of course, as congregational hymns. The metrical version from the Scottish Psalter of 1650 begins:

My soul and spirit, filled with joy,
My God and Saviour praise,
Whose goodness did from poor estate
This humble handmaid raise.

Nearly 350 years later, Miriam Therese Winter of the Medical Mission Sisters wrote a version called My soul gives glory to my God, which appears in some newer hymnals.

Somewhere in-between (probably around 1708) Isaac Watts wrote his version of the Magnificat, broadening it from the song of one woman to a hymn for the congregation. Back in the twentieth century we adapted it for contemporary use, taking Watts's original (which subtly warned of Marian idolatry in one verse) and building on it.

Our souls shall magnify our God,
In God the Savior we rejoice;
While we repeat the Virgin's song,
May the same spirit tune our voice.

The Highest saw her low estate,
And mighty things God's hand has done
For Mary, chosen to become
The mother of the Promised One.

Let every nation call her bless'd,
Let endless years prolong her fame;
And God above shall be ador'd;
Holy and mighty is God's Name.

To those that hope and trust in God
Whose mercy stands for ever sure:
From age to age the promise lives,
And God's performance is secure.

God spake to Abr'am and his line,
"In thee shall all the earth be blest;"
From Sarah's child, through ages long
We see the promise manifest.

And now no more shall Israel wait,
No more the world shall lie forlorn:
Lo, the desire of nations comes;
Behold, the Savior Christ is born!

Isaac Watts, c. 1708; adapt.
Tune: TRURO (L.M.)
from Psalmodia Evangelica, 1789