Congregational singing at Advent lessons & carols

This weekend, our family attended an Advent lessons and carols at another church where we knew some people. I normally just go to the one at my church, so it was a chance to see how other people interpret it.

I’m not sure there is a standard set of lessons for Advent lessons (as King’s College Cambridge has set the standard for Christmas lessons). While the lessons differed from St. John’s Cambridge, I did find a 2018 Advent L&C service with identical lessons (and other US churches that had nearly-identical lists):

1. Genesis 3:1-15
2. Isaiah 40:1-11
3. Jeremiah 31:31-34
4. Micah 5:2-4
5. Isaiah 11:1-9
6. Zephaniah 3:14-18
7. Luke 1:26-38

Congregational Singing

One great thing was that this church has a strong music tradition (apparently with a special fund) and one that emphasizes congregational singing. We sat about 1/3 of the way from the front, and there was strong singing throughout. In contrast, this month at my home parish, I can recall the congregation was tenative on the early verses of some hymns (perhaps less familiar) until they got the hang of it.

The music director had two hymns where verse 3 was a capella, and two other hymns where men and women alternated. This is not rocket science, so I'm surprised more parishes don’t do this, particularly on longer hymns.

With the seven lessons, there were only four choir-only pieces. I only recognized one: the Peter Warlock version of “Adam Lay Y Bounden,” which KCC did on Christmas Eve in 2002, 2004, and 2006 (according to David Sindon’s latest report). My wife asked me if this is the one that I and her younger brothers sang as St. Paul's Choristers in San Diego decades ago, and I said no. I went to my KCC iTunes playlist, and we did the more tonal Boris Ord version (that both our daughter and I prefer). Still, a reasonable choice, and the Brahms anthem “The White Dove” had possibilities.

Hymnal 1982

There was a great choice of hymns and lots of chances for the congregational to sing. However, this was a service at a parish where they use my least favorite hymnal, Hymnal 1982 (when compared to Hymnal 1940, Magnify the Lord or even Sing Unto the Lord). And the music we sang out of the booklet (straight from H82) was a reminder why.

Here are the six hymns that we sang:

1. O come, O come Emmanuel to Veni Emmanuel. In 2018, I posted a detailed discussion of how (unlike H40 and also MTL) Hymnal 1982’s idiosyncratic phrasing (breaks only on every other phrase) is unnatural and hard to sing, and my daughter & I felt it again this week. There is a compromise position, which I heard this fall at another H82 parish for an ordination: do a lift (gentle pause) in the middle of the doubled phrase, to keep the energy moving forward but allow everyone to catch their breath. Instead, we plowed like a metronome to the end of the long phrase. To its credit, SuTL uses the H82 notational look, but maintains two beats at the end of every phrase. (yes!)
2. Comfort, Comfort me my people. A worthy hymn that's not in H40, but in H82, MTL and SUtL. However, H82 (as is its wont) omits the harmony for the pews and the choir, while both MTL and SUtL include the 4-part harmonization (which SUtL attributes to "Johann Jeep, 1659"). (The tune is variously listed as Genevan 42, Psalm 42, or Freu Dich Sehr.)
3. Savior of the Nations, Come! This Martin Luther adaption of an Ambrose (4th century) text is sadly not in H40. Both H82 and SUtL use Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland without harmony (sigh), while MTL includes four parts for a different tune, Antioch. The former is more familiar — but needs parts.
4. Come thous long expected Jesus. Everyone has Wesley's text with the familiar Stuttgart. That wasn't so hard, was it?
5. Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding. Everyone uses Caswall's translation with Merton. Ditto.
6. Lo! he comes with clouds descending. This is where my daughter and I agreed to disagree. I prefer the four part St Thomas, while our true Anglophile loves the flowing Helmsley sung by all the English choirs. All four hymnals provide both (the correct choice), leaving it to the choirmaster or priest to decide. However, H82 omits the harmony for Helmsley. H40 directs unison but the organ part becomes SATB in MTL. SUtL follows MTL, except (for an added treat) includes the Rutter descant(!) on verse 4.

At this week's service, there was the other (milder) disappointment: no descants! And I can't blame that on H82, because descants are a choir thing that doesn't require (although can be helped by) a hymnal descant. Our parish is an H40 parish, but we are blessed with descants several times a month, particularly during festal season.

The Rutter descant for Helmsley is beautiful, but I can't find an Oxbridge descant for Veni Emmanuel. The Oxford Book of Descants includes one by Robert Gower, and in my library books by Antony Baldwin and Charles Webb include one. For this historic plainchant, I have heard (and prefer) a descant sung only on the last two refrains — providing additional emphasis to our vow that "Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel."

References

David Sindon, “Carol Service Spreadsheets,”  https://www.sinden.org/carols/

J.W. West, "Veni Emmanuel out of sync thanks to Hymnal 1982," December 19, 2018, https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/veni-emmanuel-out-of-sync-thanks-to.html