Earth Day

Over here on the web they were looking for 12,008 churches, synagogues, and "other places of worship" to mark Earth Day in some fashion. There may well be that many but the trick would be to get them actually to sign up and be counted, which seems less likely.

All creatures of the earth and sky,
With gladness lift your voices high,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam:
O sing praises, O sing praises,
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
Ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou rising morn in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice:
O sing praises, O sing praises,
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for thy God to hear,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright,
That givest us both warmth and light:
O sing praises, O sing praises,
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Dear mother earth, who day by day
Unfoldest blesings on our way,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
The flow'rs and fruits that in thee grow,
Let them thy glory also show:
O sing praises, O sing praises,
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

All ye of understanding heart,
Forgiving others, take your part,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let all things their Creator bless,
Worshipping God in humbleness:
O sing praises, O sing praises,
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Francis of Assisi, 1225; paraphrase William H. Draper, 1919; alt.
Tune: LASST UNS ERFREUEN (8.8.4.4.8.8.4.4.4.4.4.)
Geistlische Kirchengesang, 1623

Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury

The Italian-born Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, died on this day in 1109, which is commemorated in both the Roman Catholic and Episcopal calendars of saints. He was considered one of the first scholarly philosophers of Christian theology, but he also wrote the Mariale, a series of poems about the Blessed Mother.

This video presents some of those poems juxtaposed with the stained glass windows from St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney and choral accompaniment (which I can't identify).




Like most saints, he has a Victorian-era hymn tune named for him, presented here with a commemorative text useful for many saints' days.

Creator, by whose people
Our house was built of old,
Whose hand hath crowned thy children
With blessing manifold,
For thine unfailing mercies
Far-strewn along our way,
With all who passed before us,
We praise thy Name today.

The changeful years unresting
Their silent course have sped,
New comrades ever bringing
In comrades' steps to tread;
And some are long forgotten,
Long spent their hopes and fears;
Safe rest they in thy keeping,
Who changest not with years.

They reap not where they labored;
We reap what they have sown;
Our harvest may be garnered
By ages yet unknown.
The days of old have dowered us
With gifts beyond all praise;
Creator, make us faithful
To serve the coming days.

Before us and beside us,
Still held in thine own hand
A cloud unseen of witness,
Our elder comrades stand:
One family unbroken,
We join, with one acclaim,
One heart, one voice uplifting
To glorify thy Name.

George Wallace Briggs, 1920; alt.
Tune: ST. ANSELM (7.6.7.6.D.)
Joseph Barnby, 1869

Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise

We're still in the liturgical season of Easter with yet another Sunday beyond today (Easter V) before Ascension, but I know that many churches have slipped into the "General Hymns" section of their hymnals. It's not as though there aren't enough Easter hymns to sing during the season, but somehow they lose interest. You don't still have to be singing about the stone being rolled away or Mary in the garden; the resurrection theme is a broad one.

At the Lamb’s high feast we sing,
Praise victorious echoing,
Who hath washed us in the tide
Flowing from his piercèd side;
Praise we Christ, whose love divine
Gives us sacred blood for wine,
Gives us manna for the meal,
Christ, whose presence here we feel.

Where the Paschal blood is poured,
Death’s bright angel sheathes the sword;
Israel’s hosts triumphant go
Through the wave that drowns the foe.
Praise we Christ, whose blood was shed,
Paschal Victor, Paschal Bread;
With sincerity and love
Eat we manna from above.

Mighty Victor from the sky,
Hell’s fierce powers beneath thee lie;
Thou hast conquered in the fight,
Thou hast brought us life and light;
Now no more can death appall,
Now no more the grave enthrall;
Thou hast opened paradise,
And in thee thy saints shall rise.

Easter triumph, Easter joy,
Nothing now can this destroy;
From sin’s pow'r do thou set free
Souls reborn, O Christ, in thee.
Hymns of glory, songs of praise,
Maker, unto thee we raise;
Risen One, all praise to thee,
With the Spirit ever be.

Latin, 1632; tr. Robert Campbell, 1849; alt.
Tune: SALZBURG (7.7.7.7.D.)
Jakob Hintze, 1678; harm. J.S. Bach, 18th c.

(Yes, that J.S. Bach)

Back when we were working on the possibility of a denominational hymnal (see blog entry for February 5) I always knew that the title of today's entry up there was what I would like to call the finished volume. Apparently it's not even in the original text/translation of this hymn -- must be someone else's "alt." from generations past, but it was particularly appropriate for our collection which encompassed a (very) wide range of both hymns and songs. And you'll probably note that our "alt." in this hymn is quite extensive.

More Voices Found: Anna Laetitia Waring

Welsh poet Anna Laetitia Waring was born on this day in 1823. Raised a Quaker, she converted to Anglicanism in 1842. Like most hymnwriters of her day, she was highly educated and learned Hebrew in order to read the daily psalter in that language. She published two popular collections of verse and many of the poems were later published in various hymnals. Her first book, Hymns and Meditations, was published in 1850, went through many editions, and is now available online through Google Books.

I wasn't expecting to do two of these in a row, but it was a surprise to find that Waring's most familiar hymn, In heavenly love abiding, is not included in The Hymnal 1982 (it was in the earlier Episcopal hymnals of 1940 and 1916, as well as hymnals of many other denominations).

Here's one that may owe more to Waring's Quaker background, and would probably not be considered sufficiently doctrinal to appear in many hymnals. It's short, but I like it.

Tender mercies, on my way
Falling softly like the dew,
Sent me freshly every day,
I give thanks to God for you.

Though I have not all I would,
Though to greater bliss I go,
Every present gift of good
To Eternal Love I owe.

Source of all that comforts me,
Well of joy for which I long,
Let the song I sing to thee
Be an everlasting song.

Anna Laetitia Waring, 1850; alt.
Tune: VIENNA (7.7.7.7.)
Justin Heinrich Knecht, 1797

More Voices Found: Ada Rose Gibbs

Back on January 30 (you can look it up) I wrote about Voices Found, a 2003 hymnal from Church Publishing. To quote from their description of the book, it is "a unique compilation of contemporary and historical materials that crosses boundaries of geography, time, and culture as it represents the diversity of the gifts of women and seeks to affirm and expand the spirituality of all women and men as they find new voices in the church's song." (whew!)

Particularly, I'm interested in the historical aspect, and in exploring things which were left out of that volume. It's a theme I intend to revisit, and I'm sorry to have been so long in getting back to it. Today's hymn is at the top of my list of things that should have been included.

Ada Rose, who died on April 16 in 1905, was a professional singer who studied at the Royal College of Music. She married William James Gibbs in 1898, after the end of her singing career and they were apparently involved in the Keswick Convention. She wrote the music, a tune called CHANNELS, for this hymn.

How I praise thee, precious Savior,

That thy love laid hold of me;

Thou hast saved and healed and filled me

That I might thy channel be.

Refrain:

Channels only, blessèd Savior,

But with all thy wondrous power

Flowing through us, thou canst use us

Every day and every hour.

Emptied that thou shouldest fill me,

A clean vessel in thy hand;

With no power but as thou givest

Graciously with each command.

Refrain

Witnessing thy power to save me,

Setting free from self and sin;

Thou who bought me to release me,

In thy fullness, O come in.

Refrain

Jesus, fill now with thy Spirit

Hearts that full surrender know;
That the streams of living water
From my inner self may flow.

Refrain

Mary E. Maxwell, c. 1900; alt.

Tune: CHANNELS (8.7.8.7. with refrain)

Ada Rose Gibbs, c. 1900

This is a very accessible tune, kind of midway between a "standard" hymn tune and a gospel song. A congregation will pick it up quickly. Obviously I don't know why it was left out of Voices Found, or even if it was considered, but its omission is unfortunate. Gibbs and Maxwell also collaborated on another hymn, The way of the cross means sacrifice.

I've seen the above photo any number of times at the Cyber Hymnal site and thought that Gibbs was dressed a bit oddly. I was pretty surprised to learn in researching this post that she was appearing as Katisha in The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. She sang with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company between 1885 and 1890, both on tour and occasionally at the Savoy Theater, also appearing in the principal contralto roles in The Pirates of Penzance, Ruddigore, Yeomen of the Guard, and The Gondoliers.

Mary E. Maxwell, who wrote the text of this hymn, is somewhat more mysterious. Not much appears to be known about her. I found one reference that speculates that she was actually Mary Elizabeth Braddon (who later married John Maxwell), a popular writer of dozens of sensational novels, and best known for Lady Audley's Secret. If Braddon was indeed the same Maxwell, she probably would have preferred to used her lesser-known married name for hymnwriting, but I've found nothing yet in reading about Braddon that indicates any hint of an interest in religion.

Beside the Living Stream

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday in some traditions. Readings include the Twenty-Third Psalm and other references to Christ as Shepherd. There are plenty of appropriate anthems and hymns that follow this theme. You could have all five (or four, or three?) of the hymns in your worship service be different paraphrases of Psalm 23, all in different musical styles. I'll choose just one for today, an English text from the eighteenth century joined with an American Southern Harmony tune from the nineteenth.

My Shepherd, you supply my need,
Redeemer is your name;
In pastures fresh you make me feed
Beside the living stream.
You bring my wand'ring spirit back
When I forsake your ways;
And lead me, for your mercy's sake,
In paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death
Your presence is my stay,
One word of your supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Your hand, in sight of all my foes,
Will still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Your oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may God's house be my abode,
And all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.

Isaac Watts, 1719; alt.
Tune: RESIGNATION (C.M.D.)
Southern Harmony, 1855

It's actually a little odd to use a psalm paraphrase by Isaac Watts, as Watts believed that hymns shouldn't be exclusively drawn from the psalms and from Scripture, as they had been in the Calvinist tradition. When he expressed this opinion to his father, he was challenged to write something better.

So he did.

Now, not all of his approximately 750 hymns (697 listed at cyberhymnal.org) are better than the earlier psalm paraphrases, but just about any hymnal index you examine will still contain a good number of his texts, more than 200 years later. The good stuff endures.
As I said, there are plenty of other good hymns and anthems for today. A less appropriate musical selection would be Handel's All we like sheep from Messiah, which does not actually refer to Christ as Shepherd but concludes with "And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Have not Lent's long shadows departed? But that's what we're singing today. Guess it seemed like a good idea last summer when the music for the year was being chosen.


Baaaaaaaa.

Christopher Smart

Poor Christopher Smart. Probably the most widely-known fact about him is that he spent a good part of his adult life locked up in an asylum. Nowadays his doctor would have found the right dosage of mood-altering pharmaceu-ticals and he'd be just fine.

Smart, born on this day in 1722, wrote two epic poems which have kept his literary reputation alive to this day. Jubilate Agno, not published in full until 1939, was used as the basis for Benjamin Britten's cantata Rejoice in the Lamb. His most significant work, A Song to David (eighty-five verses long) is described by one source as having "a poetic quality which eludes critical analysis." Some of the verses were adapted into a hymn which first appeared in the English hymnal Songs of Praise in 1925.

We sing of God, the mighty source
Of all things; the stupendous force
On which all strength depends;
From whose right arm, beneath whose eyes,
All period, power and enterprise
Commences, reigns and ends.

The world, the clust'ring spheres were made;
The glorious light, the soothing shade,
Dale, meadow, grove, and hill;
The multitudinous abyss,
Where secrecy remains in bliss,
And wisdom hides her skill.

Glorious the sun in mid career;
Glorious the assembled fires appear;
Glorious the comet's train:
Glorious the trumpet and alarm;
Glorious th' almighty stretched-out arm;
Glorious the enraptured main:

Glorious, most glorious, is the crown
Of Christ, that brought salvation down
As told, the Promised One;
Seers that stupendous truth believed,
And now the matchless deeds achieved,
Determined, dared and done.

Christopher Smart, 1763; alt.
Tune: MAGDALEN COLLEGE (8.8.6.D.)
William Hayes, 1774

One additional verse appears in some hymnals and online sources:

Tell them I AM, the Lord God said
To Moses, while earth heard in dread,
And, smitten to the heart,
At once, above, beneath, around,
All nature without voice or sound
Replied, O God, thou art.

I like this one, especially the second half, but I don't think it completely fits with the theme of creation in the other four verses.

Now, some might fantasize about a hymn of eighty-five verses, but some of them simply wouldn't work as congregational song. A few chosen at random:

Control thine eye, salute success,
Honor the wiser, happier bless,
And for thy neighbor feel;
Grutch not of Mammon and his leav'n,
Work emulation up to heav'n
By knowledge and by zeal.

(grutch?)

With vinous syrup cedars spout;
From rocks pure honey gushing out,
For adoration springs;
All scenes of painting crowd the map
Of nature; to the mermaid's pap
The scaled infant clings.

(um, no)

For adoration, incense comes
From bezoar, and Arabian gums;
And from the civet's fur:
But as for prayer, or e'er it faints,
Far better is the breath of saints
Than galbanum and myrrh.

(You can't have to look up three or more words in a single verse. And could anyone possibly sing about the breath of saints?)

A Song to David was not included in a 1791 edition of Smart's collected poems because it was thought to provide evidence of his insanity. Twentieth century composer William Albright wrote an oratorio based on the work. (I have a recording of it somewhere, but don't remember much about it.)

William Augustus Muhlenberg

Muhlenberg, whose feast-day we mark today, was an Episcopal priest born in 1796. His grandfather was the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. His strong interest in congregational song led to an 1821 pamphlet, A Plea for Christian Hymns. After compiling a collection of hymns for use in his own parish, he was appointed by General Conference to the committee which produced the Protestant Episcopal Hymnal of 1826.

Later in his career he founded one of the first Episcopal Church Schools in the country. In 1846 he became the rector of the Church of the Holy Communion in New York, where he founded the first American order of Protestant Episcopal deaconesses, the Sisterhood of the Church of the Holy Communion. The Sisterhood and the parish were instrumental in the founding of St. Luke's Hospital, where Muhlenberg became the first pastor and superintendent.

Muhlenberg wrote several hymns and sacred poems, some published in the Hymnal of 1826 and others produced later. A collection was published in 1860 for the benefit of St. Luke's Hospital. In the foreword, he wrote:

"What kind of poetical merit these compositions possess I perfectly understand. [...] Would that they had the inspiration of Watts's or Wesley's lyre!"

I have to agree that his hymns, now little-known, are perhaps not of the first order. His own version of Jerusalem, my happy home begins with these verses:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
Name ever dear to me;
O may at last my home be found,
Jerusalem, in thee!

O may these eyes thy crystal walls
And gates of pearl behold.
Thy jasper and thy sapphire stones,
Thy streets of purest gold.

The alleluias of thy hymns
Before the great I AM;
The harpers harping with their harps
The new song of the Lamb.

Not an improvement on the version we know today, though undoubtedly earnest (couldn't the harpers sound on their harps, or even play on them?). Much of his verse tends toward the flowery. I find one interesting hymn, Shout the glad tidings, that looks toward the gospel songs of the later nineteenth century - with the right accompanist it would probably rock the house.

Regardless of the merit of his own verse, Muhlenberg is rightfully honored today for his work in education and hospital building.

P.S. In 1976 the Church of the Holy Communion was deconsecrated after the parish merged with two other NYC congregations. In 1983 the building, at 20th Street and 6th Avenue, became the Limelight discotheque. The original altar is now in a church of the same name in Lake View, NY (outside Buffalo).

Calvin W. Laufer

Calvin Weiss Laufer was born on this day in 1874. After graduating from Union Seminary in 1900, he became a Presbyterian minister and later worked as the associate editor of the Presbyterian Hymnal of 1933. He wrote several hymns (both texts and tunes, sometimes together and sometimes separate), but this is the one I like best.

We thank thee, God, thy paths of service lead
To blazoned heights and down the slopes of need;
They reach thy throne, encompass land and sea,
And we who journey in them walk with thee.

We’ve sought and found thee in the secret place
And marveled at the radiance of thy face;
But often in some far off Galilee
Beheld thee fairer yet while serving thee.

We’ve felt thy touch in sorrow’s lonely way
Abound with love and solace for the day;
And, ’neath the burdens there, thy constancy
Has held our hearts enthralled while serving thee.

We’ve seen thy glory like a mantle spread
O’er hill and dale in saffron flame and red;
But in the eyes of all, redeemed and free,
A splendor greater yet while serving thee.

Calvin W. Laufer (text and tune), 1919; alt.
Tune: FIELD (10.10.10.10)

Martin Luther King Jr.

Today of the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Episcopal calendar of saints. It is also the fortieth anniversary of his assassination.

Dr. King's favorite hymn was reported to be Precious Lord, take my hand by Thomas Dorsey, written in 1932. I did not know until today that the tune was actually adapted by Dorsey from an earlier tune by George N. Allen called MAITLAND, first published in 1844.

Another appropriate hymn for today was written by the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier, an activist for abolition.


O pure reformers! not in vain
Your trust in humankind;
The good which bloodshed could not gain,
Your peaceful zeal shall find.

The truths you urge are borne abroad
By every wind and tide;
The voice of nature and of God
Speaks out upon your side.

The weapons which your hands have found
Are those which heav'n has wrought:
Light, truth, and love -- your battleground,
The free, broad field of thought.

Press on! and if we may not share
The glory of your fight,
We'll ask at least, in earnest prayer,
That God will bless the right.

John Greenleaf Whittier, 1843; alt.
Tune: AZMON (C.M.)
Carl G. Glaser, 1828; arr. Lowell Mason, 1839

I chose AZMON for its vigor, but an alternate tune might be MARTYRDOM. A different mood, but still appropriate.

I know people will be singing today in honor of Dr. King and his work.

Loud Your Anthems Raise!

Now here's a press release for an event that I would love to attend.

The Sir Arthur Sullivan Society and the English Music Festival present a morning of Sullivan's church music in Keble College, Oxford, on Saturday 24 May 2008 as part of the second English Music Festival.

The centrepiece will be a service of Matins using (almost) exclusively Sullivan's music. The Sullivan Singers, directed by David Owen Norris, will sing the Te Deum and Jubilate in D (1866) and Lead, kindly light (1871). Singers are invited to form a "come and sing" choir to sing two anthems under the direction of David Owen Norris: The strain upraise (1868) and Sing, O heavens (1869). In addition, Sullivan's psalm chant will be used and the following hymns will be sung: Alleluia! alleluia! (LUX EOI), Onward, Christian soldiers (ST. GERTRUDE), To Thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise (GOLDEN SHEAVES), Breathe on me, breath of God (IN MEMORIAM). The officiant and preacher will be the Revd. Dr. Ian Bradley.

Matins is at 1100 in Keble College chapel, then at 1215 in the Pusey Room of Keble College, Ian Bradley will give a talk entitled "Stage or Sanctuary? Assessing Sullivan's hymn tunes and sacred music" which will finish at or shortly after 1300.

Singers of all voices are welcome to join the "come and sing" choir. There is no charge and music will be provided. The only stipulation is that you must must attend a rehearsal, which begins in Keble chapel at 0930. If you want to sing, please if at all possible give advance notice so that we have an idea of numbers and can ensure that sufficient copies of the music are made.

Non-singers are of course just as welcome as singers - just come and listen if you prefer!

Stephen Turnbull
Secretary, Sir Arthur Sullivan Society

I did sing in the choir for a similar (though less ambitious) service in 1995 when attending the International Gilbert & Sulllivan Festival in Buxton, England. This year's anthems seem more interesting and appropriate overall; we did the Io paean section from The Martyr of Antioch which was distinctly odd, and God sent his messenger, the rain from The Golden Legend, which was beyond the capability of the group, though we also did In Rama was there a voice heard from The Light of the World which was surprisingly unique. But they were all oratorio choruses; this year's set are perhaps a better fit for a worship service.

Even the Rev'd Dr. Bradley concurs that Sullivan's hymn tunes are a decidedly mixed bag.

"It is certainly true that Sullivan's hymn tunes are extraordinarily variable in quality -- when they are bad, they are very, very bad."

from Bradley's Abide With Me: The World of Victorian Hymns

They will at least be singing Sullivan's two best tunes: ST. GERTRUDE and LUX EOI. GOLDEN SHEAVES seems just a tad 'busy' and I don't really know IN MEMORIAM, which doesn't seem to turn up in any online searches, though I found it last night in a British Methodist hymnal.

Well, I can't be there in person, but there will undoubtedly be 'reviews' posted on Savoynet, the talkative e-mailing list for Gilbert & Sullivan enthusiasts.

P.S. Pictures! yay!

Chanticleer

Last night I attended a local performance by Chanticleer, the renowned professional male chorus. It was an evening of truly stunning vocalism; the group sounds even better than I remember from the last time I saw them several years ago.

Check out their tour schedule and don't hesitate to see them if they are performing nearby.

Franz Joseph Haydn

On this day in 1732 the composer Franz Joseph Haydn was born. Probably best known by musicians for his multitudinous symphonies and chamber pieces, yet he was also an accomplished composer of sacred choral music, several masses and the sublime oratorio The Creation.

Many years ago, someone told me that Haydn had claimed that the music of his masses was so joyful because he could never think of God without smiling. Since then I've never found that attribution in print, but it's not hard to imagine him saying something like that. The Haydn masses are happy compositions and well worth hearing if you haven't.

Haydn shows up in hymnbooks also. His most well-known tune, AUSTRIA, written as a national hymn for his native country, reportedly after a trip to England during which he was impressed and pleased on hearing God save the king sung. Sadly, in modern times the tune has fallen somewhat out of favor due to its use as the national anthem of Germany during World War II, and modern hymnals are likely to set John Newton's Glorious things of thee are spoken to other tunes.

Another tune was developed from the opening phrase of The heavens are telling, a chorus from The Creation.

The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame
Their great Original proclaim.
Th’unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator’s powers display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth;
While all the stars that round her burn
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all
Move round this dark terrestrial ball?
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found?
In reason’s ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,
“The hand that made us is divine.”

Joseph Addison, 1712
Tune: CREATION (L.M.D.)
Franz Joseph Haydn, 1798

Deeply Chuckling

A friend of mine in the choir told me that she was going to write to our organist/choir director to commend him on how well the Good Friday service went last week. She had actually typed that we "nailed it" before reconsidering.

For the record, we sang:
St. John Passion (Victoria)
The Reproaches (Victoria)
O vos omnes (Casals)
Crucifixus a 8 (Lotti)

A bit too bleak for my tastes, but there you go. I miss the Passion with Hymns - we "perform" it twice, as theater on Palm Sunday and in music on Good Friday. Why not just read it and reflect on it?

If the title of this post is too obscure, check out verse two here.

The Feast of the Annunciation

The angel Gabriel from heaven came,
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame;
“All hail,” said he, “thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

“For know a blessèd mother thou shalt be,
All generations laud and honor thee,
Thy child shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold,
Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head,
“To me be as it pleaseth God,” she said,
“My soul shall laud and magnify God's holy Name."
Most highly favored lady, Gloria!

Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was born
In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn,
And faithful folk throughout the world will ever say—
“Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

Basque carol;
tr. Sabine Baring-Gould, 19th c.; alt.
Tune: GABRIEL'S MESSAGE (10.10.12.10)

Yes, because of Easter week the feast has been transferred this year, but this is the traditional date. Baring-Gould, of course, has a much more familiar hymn text to his credit.

High and Holy Hymning

Another Holy Week down. Went well, but it seems longer each year I think. Too tired to post much of anything coherent after last night's Vigil service (breaking o'er the purple east as in olden SF days), two services this morning and Compline tonight.

Easter Eve

The German hymn for this night that begins

O Traurigkeit,
O Herzeleid,
Ist das nicht zu beklagen!
Gott, des Vaters einig Kind,
Wird ins Grab getragen!

was translated by the prolific Catherine Winkworth as

O darkest woe!
Ye tears, forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder?
God the Father’s only Son
Now lies buried yonder.

Charles Winfred Douglas, in the Hymnal 1940, begins his (copyrighted) translation

O sorrow deep!
Who would not weep (...)

That hymn has only two verses, and leaves us at the tomb. But the service of the Great Vigil goes all the way to resurrection. When we were working on our hymnal we wanted something different. Longer, certainly (we always wanted more verses**), and ending on a more hopeful note. We received permission from the Church Pension Fund to use Douglas's two verses, then added two more of our own:

Savior and Friend,
Our voices blend
In hymns and prayers and stories,
Telling of God's covenants,
Graces, gifts, and glories.

Rest from thy pain,
Then rise again!
O Jesus, soothe our sorrow
As we wait throughout this night
For the glorious morrow.

Tune: O TRAURIGKEIT (4.4.7.7.6.)
(German, 17th c.)

** The Episcopalians clearly felt it was too short also; they added two verses in the Hymnal 1982 by James Waring McCrady (who also added - actually replaced - a verse for Once in royal David's city).

Maundy Thursday

'Tis midnight, and on Olive's brow
The star is dimmed that lately shone;
'Tis midnight, in the garden now,
The suffering Savior prays alone.

'Tis midnight, and from all removed,
The Savior wrestles lone with fears;
E'en that disciple Jesus loved
Heeds not the savior's grief and tears.

'Tis midnight, and for others' guilt
The dear Redeemer weeps for love;
Yet all that have in anguish knelt
Are not forsaken by our God.

'Tis midnight, and from heav'nly plains
Is borne the song that angels know;
Unheard by mortals are the strains
That sweetly soothe the Savior's woe.

William B. Tappan, 1822; alt.
Tune: OLIVE'S BROW (L.M.)
William B. Bradbury, 1853

I miss this hymn very much but the Episcopalians don't use it. Though it's a thoroughly American hymn, both text and tune, I do wonder whether Bradbury wrote the tune with Anglican chant in mind. Each line has repeated notes at the beginning (slight variation on the fourth), then three moving chords at the end. Not quite chant set to meter, but suggestive perhaps?

Thanks to the William Bs (Tappan and Bradbury) for a memorable hymn.

Green Palms and Blossoms Gay (?)

Choices abound on Palm Sunday. The deliciously vulgar but beloved Jean-Baptiste Faure The Palms, or something more sublime like John Ireland's Greater love or Weelkes's Hosanna to the Son of David?

Ride on, ride on in majesty to ST. DROSTANE or THE KING'S MAJESTY (copyrighted tune, sorry)? ** Some people apparently even do WINCHESTER NEW (though I haven't myself). Of course, it largely comes down to what denomination you are. and therefore what hymnal you use, though in these days of composition software, desktop publishing and whatnot you can pretty much mix and match whatever you want (copyright permitting).

For that matter, is it Palm Sunday at all, or Passion Sunday? Can you sing Hosanna, loud hosanna as the closing hymn, or must you do O sacred head, sore wounded? And if you do sing the Hosanna, and next week you sing The day of resurrection, will you sing ELLACOMBE again, or LANCASHIRE?

Personally, I think that if Passion Sunday predominates, you give everyone a pass on coming to church Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. They've heard the story - bring on the Resurrection!

** At church today this choice at least was apparently avoided by not singing it at all. Too much Passion, not enough Palm. (Definitely O sacred head as the recessional).

Gregory the Great

Today is the feast-day of Pope Gregory I, also called "the Great." Lots to be found around the internets on his life and works, including several great hymns of the church that have come down to us and are still in use today. Most appropriately for the season, we present Gregory's Clarum decus jejunii as translated for The English Hymnal in 1906.

The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by whom all things were made,
For us has fasted and has prayed.

Alone and fasting Moses saw
The loving God who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The steeds and chariots of flame.

So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Delivered from the lions’ might;
And John, the Savior’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s Name.

Then grant us, Christ, like them to be
Full oft in fast and prayer with thee;
Our spirits strengthen with thy grace,
And give us joy to see thy face.

Creator, Christ, and Spirit blest,
To thee be every prayer addressed,
Who grace and pow'r doth freely share,
With all who turn to thee in prayer.

Gregory the Great, 6th century;
tr. Maurice R. Bell, 1906; alt.
Tune: ERHALT UNS, HERR (L.M.)
from Joseph Klug's Geistliche Leider, 1543;
harm. J.S. Bach, c. 1735

There had been other translations of Gregory's hymn, including one by Henry W. Baker in 1875 in a slightly different meter.

But all those men! Moses, Elijah, Daniel, John, etc. -- were there no women "full oft in fast and prayer" with the Almighty? For our hymnal we removed the Daniel/John verse (though I like it) and replaced it with a verse by my friend Steve about Esther (it's his copyright, so I won't reproduce it here). Doubly appropriate, as the Feast of Purim frequently (if not always?) falls during Lent.

Blog Break

Been sick with one of those cold/flu/virus things that muddles up your head and makes any kind of concentration unpleasant. So I missed some commemorations I had planned to write about for the last few weeks, but there's always next year. If you use them all up in the first year of your blog, what's left for your second?

Sorry about that, St. Polycarp (February 23). You'll get your entry next year.

Lent 2: Psalm 121

From the Psalm for the Second Sunday of Lent:

Unto the hills around do I lift up
My longing eyes;
O whence for me shall my salvation come,
From whence arise?
From thee, my God, shall come my certain aid,
From thee, my God, who heav'n and earth hath made.

Thou wilt not suffer that my foot be moved;
Safe shall I be.
No careless slumber shall thine eyelids close,
Who keepest me.
Thou art the living God, who slumb'rest ne'er,
Who keepest Israel in thy holy care.

O Living God, fore'er our keeper true,
Our changeless shade;
Forever our defense on every hand
Thyself hath made.
And now no sun by day shall ever smite;
No moon shall harm us in the silent night.

From ev'ry evil God shall keep our souls,
From ev'ry sin;
God shall preserve our ev'ry going out,
Our coming in.
Above us watching, God whom we adore
Shall keep us henceforth, yea, forevermore.

John D.S. Campbell, 1877; alt.
Tune: SANDON (10.4.10.4.10.10.)
Charles Henry Purday, 1860

Triple-Header

Today is not only the traditional feast day of St. Valentine (though he got bounced out of the calendar of saints several years ago), but also of the brothers St Cyril and St. Methodius, now considered the patron saints of Europe.

This fourteen-verse Hymn to the Saints Cyril and Methodius can't easily be sung to a familiar hymn tune because the English translation didn't preserve any consistent meter.

There also seems to be a Hymn in Honour of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius written for mixed-voice chorus by Tchaikovsky which might be interesting to locate (it's not on CPDL). He seems to have been pretty crabby about writing it, so you have to wonder if it was among his best efforts.

No High Carousals During Lent

Further exploration of yesterday's hymn reveals that it was Francis Pott, the editor of Hymns Fitted to the Order of Common Prayer (1861) who substantially molded and reworked the original nine-verse text of George Hunt Smyttan.

Compare the penultimate verse of both versions:

Pott (and possibly subsequent others)
So shall we have peace divine:
Holier gladness ours shall be;
Round us too shall angels shine,
Such as ministered to thee.

Smyttan
Holy peace and truth divine,
Joy and gladness, light and love,
All around, like angels, shine,
Tokens of our home above.

Pott is aligning the text more specifically to Jesus' trials in the wilderness and our overcoming of those trials.

Of Smyttan's nine verses, two that were removed are the original third and fourth:

And shall we in silken ease,
Festal mirth, carousals high, --
All that can our senses please, --
Let our Lenten hours pass by?

Shall we not with thee retire,
Far from all the giddy throng,
Searching out our heart's desire,
Mourning sin the whole day long?

Pott was, perhaps, a tad less conservative than Smyttan and may have thought these verses a bit extreme. On the other hand, he also removed this more pleasant verse, the original seventh:

For a heavenly food is ours,
And in faith's high hope we live;
Riches, too, come down in showers,
Brighter far than earth can give.

It's also possible that editor Pott simply thought that the theme and intent of the hymn was sufficiently expressed in six verses (cut by later editors to five, remember) and that the remaining three were less necessary. Or maybe someone was telling him "People don't like to sing nine verses any more; cut it down." (Those people are still around, but now they want everything cut to three verses.)

Lenten Hymn

Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted and yet undefiled.

Shall not we thy sorrow share
And from worldly joys abstain,
Fasting with unceasing prayer,
Strong with thee to suffer pain?

Then if Satan on us press,
Flesh or spirit to assail,
Victor in the wilderness,
Grant we may not faint nor fail!

So shall we have peace divine:
Holier gladness ours shall be;
Round us, too, shall angels shine,
Such as ministered to thee.

Keep, O keep us, Savior dear,
Ever constant by thy side;
That with thee we may appear
At th'eternal Eastertide.

George Hunt Smyttan and Francis Pott; alt.
Tune: HEINLEIN (7.7.7.7.) also known as AUS DER TIEFE RUFE ICH
From Nürn­berg­isch­es Ge­sang­buch, 1676

This time the "alt." isn't mine; the text comes intact out of the Hymnal 1940. Others got to the text before me. There's another verse describing the forty-day wilderness ordeal not generally used in American hymnals that follows the first above:

Sunbeams scorching all the day;
Chilly dew-drops nightly shed;
Prowling beasts about thy way;
Stones thy pillow, earth thy bed.

That one almost seems to come out of one of the children's hymns of Cecil Frances Alexander.

Ash Wednesday

Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with thee to mourn our sins
And close by thee to stay.

As thou with Satan didst contend,
And didst the vict'ry win,
So give us strength in thee to fight,
In thee to conquer sin.

As thou didst hunger bear, and thirst,
So teach us, gracious Friend,
To hunger, thirst for righteousness,
Injustice to amend.

And through these days of penitence,
And through thy Passiontide,
Yea, evermore, in life and death,
Jesus! with us abide.

Abide with us, that so this life
Of suff'ring overpast,
An Easter of unending joy
We may attain at last!

Claudia F. Hernaman, 1873; alt.
Tune: ST. FLAVIAN (C.M.)
from Day’s Psal­ter, 1563

This well-known hymn for the first day of Lent by Claudia Frances Hernaman has crossed denominations and appeared in many hymnals for more than a hundred years. I've found two modern adaptations of this hymn, one for general use and one with a specific LGBT focus (scroll down slightly on both pages). I think they are both interesting variations on the Lenten themes of the original.

I recently spotted this hymn in an older hymnal index, with its author listed as C.F. Hernaman. Unless you were familiar with this text, you wouldn't know that C.F. was Claudia Frances. I sometimes wonder when I look at an old index if some of the authors and composers listed by their initials are actually unknown women (sometimes anonymous by their own choice). Google and the Internet make cross-referencing easier than it used to be, but I still believe that there are authors and composers, published in perhaps only one or two hymnals, whose gender we may never know.

You May Have Noticed...

I believe that every full hymn text I have posted thus far (not so many, but it's early days) has been capped with the mysterious "alt.". So what's up with that?

As you probably know, "alt." is a long-standing convention in the world of hymnody, meaning that something in the text has been altered from the original. Could be one word, could be several. Could be for any number of reasons. Sometimes the revision is so extensive that "alt." is insufficient and it becomes "adapt. by ___." But let's not go there just yet.

Sometimes an "alt." is from so long ago, or is so universally accepted that modern hymnal editors don't even acknowledge it anymore. Charles Wesley wrote a hymn called Hark, how all the welkin rings back in 1739, but everyone knows it today as Hark, the herald angels sing. Would we still be singing it today if the first line had not been changed? (We also generally only sing three of the original five verses, but that's another blog entry for another day.)

There are many reasons why hymn texts have come to be changed over the years. Sometimes theological differences between denominations forced rewrites. Sometimes archaic words have been updated. In some modern hymnals, words like "thee" and "thou" have been modernized to "you," forcing further changes in declension, syntax, rhyme, and meter.

For myself, many of the changes in the texts I'm posting are made for reasons of inclusive language, or perhaps, better called expansive language. Nearly twenty years ago I was involved with a project to develop a hymnal for use in the Metropolitan Community Churches. We developed a set of guidelines around inclusivity and expansiveness which are close to those found here (developed by the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ). The guidelines on that page are not dated, but I suspect ours were developed earlier. In some instances we went even beyond those guidelines, and a few (not all) of those instances, twenty more years of perspective have led me to believe that we occasionally went a bit too far, but not often. If you make your way through the UCC guidelines, they lay out most of the precepts I'm going by with hymn texts.

Here in the beginning of the twenty-first century, the concept of "inclusive language" dates back more than thirty years, yet it sometimes seems that it is just as controversial in some circles as it was back then. Many denominational hymnals have made modest attempts at changing the predominantly male-focused language of hymnody, at least with regard to humankind and the people of God, but few are willing to go further. On this blog, I'm going to go further, as we did nearly twenty years ago.

Most blogs that I have found on the topic of hymns are pretty conservative, even downright reactionary (and not always in a particularly informed way). They have lots of rules: "a hymn must do THIS" and "a hymn cannot be THAT," and "a hymn can never never say THAT OTHER THING." Most of them are also bitterly opposed to inclusive language in even its most mild form. On the other hand, I have a reeeeeally broad definition of what a hymn is. Since I couldn't find a blog with a similar viewpoint, I had to make my own. In the earlier MCC project, we drew from a very wide range of material across many denominations (and theologies) and vastly differing musical styles. I may not go quite so far musically, due in part to my own musical tastes and in part due to the issue of copyright (modern stuff simply can't be posted online, even though "everybody does it") but you'll see a broad theological spectrum.

So, I'm proceeding with "alts" that you may not have seen before. You may not like 'em. That's fine, but I'm not going to argue about it. I already know your arguments and it's very unlikely that you can convince me that you're right. I also know that I probably can't convince you, if your mind is made up (and it usually seems to be, online), and it doesn't bother me. As Biblical scholarship has progressed, so too should our hymnody. The world is moving on, but I'm not forcing anyone to keep up. The fourth verse of Washington Gladden's hymn Behold, a Sower from afar begins

Light up thy Word; the fettered page
From killing bondage free;
Light up our way; lead forth this age
In love’s large liberty.

That's what I think "alt." can do, with our hymns as well as our Scripture. Expansive language makes everything fit better in "love's large liberty."

P.S. As you can see, I have no problem with "thee" or "thou." I'm not pleased that The New Century Hymnal took them all out (even though they did a lot of things right). Bad poetry! Probably more to say about that at another time.

The Feast of the Presentation

O Zion, open wide thy gates,
As we with thanks draw near;
A Source and Savior both in one,
The Truth Himself is here.

Aware of hidden Deity
The joyful Mary brings
Her newborn babe, with two young doves,
Her humble offerings.

The aged Simeon sees at last
This promise long-desired,
And Anna welcomes Israel's hope,
With holy rapture fired.

"This is the light prepared to shine
Upon the lands of earth;
This, Israel's glory evermore,
Salvation's blessed birth!"

But silent knelt the mother blest
Of the yet-silent Word,
And pond'ring all things in her heart,
With speechless praise adored.

Jean de Santeuil, 1680
tr. Edward Caswall, 1849; alt.
Tune: THIS ENDRIS NYGHT (C.M.)

There are other hymns for this day (though not a great many), but of course I'd choose the one that includes both Simeon AND Anna, from the passages in the Gospel of Luke.

Weather Report

Our church choir is singing Evensong at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City this Sunday evening at 6:00 pm. Big place. Not so big that it might have its own weather system to be reported, but if it did, it might sound something like this:

Weather Report ala Cathedral

In a similar vein, if you should have some need to learn about the Traffic Code in England, this might be a good way to do so.

Some background here.

Yes, I know these have probably been all over the internets by now, but they are new to me.