tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66010563452191226722024-03-05T08:34:54.403-08:00Anglican MusicA discussion of Anglican hymnody, chants and other service music in the broader context of liturgical Christian music. Also includes a broader consideration of Anglo-Catholic liturgy and the associated church (re)organization of the American Continuing Anglican movement.J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.comBlogger355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-40394943547785035102023-12-31T15:50:00.000-08:002023-12-31T15:50:30.085-08:00Cambridge Christmas Eve #106: plus ça change<p>Last week, the exemplar of the modern English choral sound — Kings College Cambridge — reprised their 106th annual Christmas Eve service of Nine Lessons and Carols. The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001th7d" target="_blank">recording</a> of the live BBC broadcast is available until January 23 and the bulletin is available at <a href="https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-and-carols" target="_blank">KCC’s Lessons & Carols website.</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60LXOt-jWHGJBnGhVZYUeRAG9URIhE_9s0r2HcINScP9jlgzD2DWV4gPq30528_davVBqts-AzqyIwThBQmnTvfm-cCBZb0AhFWRl6tw4hzA5PH1U0MCjfASnikq2QZthEqcXMqxkeLqOWa7JtOqsDwyJEA-KV5K-5X3PW_CetCfPQSvOhayP4Mym_QP-/s522/Day-I_Saw_Eternity.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="340" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60LXOt-jWHGJBnGhVZYUeRAG9URIhE_9s0r2HcINScP9jlgzD2DWV4gPq30528_davVBqts-AzqyIwThBQmnTvfm-cCBZb0AhFWRl6tw4hzA5PH1U0MCjfASnikq2QZthEqcXMqxkeLqOWa7JtOqsDwyJEA-KV5K-5X3PW_CetCfPQSvOhayP4Mym_QP-/w156-h239/Day-I_Saw_Eternity.jpg" width="156" /></a></div><p>The service, created in 1918 and broadcast (almost) continuously since 1928, was central to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1740355320000017" target="_blank">defining and promoting the distinctive</a> “English” choral sound after World War II.</p><p>Both the service and the sound were created by the legendary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Henry_Mann" target="_blank">Arthur Henry Mann (1850-1929)</a>, the former Norwich chorister who was appointed to lead KCC in 1876. The transformation of KCC — and English choral music — was brilliantly described by Timothy Day in <i>I Saw Eternity the Other Night,</i> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0141988592" target="_blank">his 2019 book</a> about the choir, which I was fortunate to review <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1740355320000017" target="_blank">in 2021</a> for the <i>Journal of Anglican Studies.</i></p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Changed and Now Different</h3>
<p>Although I listen every year, the last time I published a systematic analysis was for <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2020/12/cambridge-choral-christmas-in-covidtide.html" target="_blank">2020’s recorded Covidtide performance.</a> Some things are different and some are not: as the French would say, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. </p><p>This year most noticeable change is the near absence of the work of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/24/sir-stephen-cleobury-obituary" target="_blank">Stephen Cleobury (1948-2019)</a>, who conducted more Christmas Eve broadcasts (37) than any other, with the longest tenure of any KCC music director since Mann.</p>
<p>In 2018 — the centennial of Lessons and Carols and Cleobury’s final Christmas Eve service — both Cleobury and KCC pulled out all the stops, with a major promotional push, a documentary and two CDs — one in anticipation of the centennial and <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2019/11/new-cd-of-2018-kcc-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">one capturing the centennial service.</a></p><p><a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/100-years-of-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">The December 2018 service</a> included one piece arranged by Cleobury (“Seven Joys of Mary”), and one edited by him. It also (characteristically) featured three hymns with Cleobury descants: “Once in Royal David’s city,” “While shepherds watched their flocks,” and “Hark, the herald angels sing.” The first was the standard arrangement to open the KCC service for many years: it is listed as the opening descant in the oldest online program for KCC — the 1997 service recorded in the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190906212156/http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-and-carols/archive" target="_blank">archives of KCC’s 2019 website</a> (as well as 2000, 2010 and many services in between).</p>
<p>As every year since December 2019, the service was led by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Hyde_(organist)" target="_blank">Daniel Hyde (1980- )</a>, who succeeded Cleobury as music director in October 2019, less than two months before his death. A choral scholar at KCC under Cleobury in 2000, Hyde used the Cleobury opening descant in 2019 and 2020, but not any service since. In fact, none of the hymns sung by the choir since 2021 have included one of Cleobury’s familiar descants.</p>
<h3>Changing but the Same</h3>
<p>While the service is world-popular for the singing, the original point was the lessons. As the 2020 booklet summarized</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Wherever the service is heard and however it is adapted, whether the music is provided by choir or congregation, the pattern and strength of the service, as [Eric] Milner-White pointed out, derive from the lessons. ‘The main theme is the development of the loving purposes of God ...’ seen ‘through the windows and the words of the Bible’.</p></blockquote><p>Unlike the original 1918 service created by Mann and Rev. Milner-White — but like all services from 1997-2007 and since 2018 — the first reading censors God’s pronouncement from Genesis 3:16 as being offensive to modern sensibilities:</p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.</p></blockquote>
<p>However, consistent with KCC’s official hymnal, the 1986 <i>New English Hymnal </i>— and unlike (say) <i>Hymnal 1982</i> — the new-born King was “born that man no more may die” and “to raise the sons of earth.”</p><p>The service also continues to introduce <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_carols_at_the_Nine_Lessons_and_Carols,_King%27s_College_Chapel" target="_blank">new music,</a> both the annual new commissioned carol (instituted by Cleobury in 1983) and another new work in memory of Cleobury.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Congregational Hymns</h3><div>This year, the congregation had a chance to sing five hymns:</div>
<div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Once in Royal David’s City, </b>verses 3-6</li><li><b>O Little Town,</b> verses 1-4. Americans are reminded that it's always Ralph Vaughan William’s <font style="font-variant: small-caps;">Forest Green</font> and not the <font style="font-variant: small-caps;">St. Louis</font> we hear on the radio.</li><li><b>The First Nowell, </b>verses 1,2,4,6 (and all refrains)</li><li><b>O Come All Ye Faithful, </b>verses 1-7</li><li><b>Hark! the Herald-Angels Sing,</b> verses 1-3. As in the <i>New English Hymnal</i> used at King’s College (but unlike <i>Hymnal 1982</i>) Jesus was “Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth.”</li></ol></div><p>According to <a href="https://www.sinden.org/carols" target="_blank">David Sniden’s KCC database, </a>the first hymn and the last two are unchanged for all services since 1997, and were part of the <a href="https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/pdfviewer/21744" target="_blank">original 1918 service</a> (although in 1918 the choir performed a carol before the first hymn).</p><p>With Cleobury’s descants banished, #1 had a descant by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Ledger" target="_blank">Philip Ledger</a> (who led KCC from 1974-1982) and #3, #4 and #5 descants by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Willcocks" target="_blank">David Willcocks</a> (1957-1973). For Adeste Fideleis, verse 6 uses the Willcocks descant while the refrain to verse 7 was reharmonized by Hyde.</p><p>A pleasant surprise was the descant by Thomas Armstrong to #2 (“O Little Town”), which seems quite traditional (if not retro) compared to the more flowery descants of the past two or three decades. This descant was previously sung by KCC (under Cleobury) in 2016 and captured on this KCC <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaxIkPqiJrY" target="_blank">audio recording</a> among several found on YouTube. </p><p>Armstrong is a common name, but the liner from a <a href="https://www.avie-records.com/releases/carols-from-queens/" target="_blank">2015 Christmas CD </a>from Queen’s College Oxford helpfully notes that the descant is by “Thomas Armstrong (1898 – 1994)”. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Armstrong_(musician)" target="_blank">Armstrong</a> was the organist at Christ Church, Oxford from 1933-1955. According to the <i><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/54713" target="_blank">Oxford Dictionary of National Biography</a></i></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">[I]n 1923 he … pursue[d] composition studies at the Royal College of Music with Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, and R. O. Morris. …As a composer, Armstrong belonged to the gentle English tradition of Parry, Vaughan Williams, Howells, and Finzi; …. His own compositions are unjustly neglected, many remaining unpublished. One aspect of his music, however, is more familiar than people realize, for some of the striking descants sung in Christmas carol services and concerts were written by him. He acknowledged Vaughan Williams to be the greatest influence of anybody on his life.</p></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">This Year’s Carols</h3><div>Beyond the hymns, there were only a handful of choral pieces that (if (s)he were just listening without a program) the average listener would say “that is a carol.” Two are familiar carols: “The angel Gabriel” and “Come ye faithful Christians” (aka Hereford Carol).</div><div><br /></div><div>Another is Cleobury’s 2012 arrangement of “King Jesus hath a garden.” It’s not one I’ve heard before, but it sounds like a traditional carol — perhaps because the tune has been sung by the Dutch for nearly 400 years. A third is Ledger’s “A spotless rose is blooming,” written by Ledger in 2002 for KCC using a German text translated by Catherine Winkworth. All seem consistent with Percy Dearmer’s 1931 explanation of the role of a carol of expressing the joy of the season:</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">The typical carol gives voice to the common emotions of healthy people in language that can be understood and music that can be shared by all. Because it is popular it is therefore genial as well as simple; it dances because it is so Christian, echoing St. Paul’s conception of the fruits of the Spirit in its challenge to be merry — ‘Love and joy come to you’. (Dearmer, 1931, p. v-vi)</div></blockquote><div>Two pieces are more like what one scholar termed an “anthem carol” — although not strophic, they (mostly) have the feel of a traditional Christmas carol — both because of the texts and also because they are written by well-known sacred composers.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first was the KCC debut of “And all the stars looked down,” premiered at the 2022 Christmas concert of the Lord’s Taverners: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rutter" target="_blank">John Rutter</a> adapted a Chesterton poem to new music written in Cleobury’s memory. The other was “O radiant dawn,” written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_MacMillan" target="_blank">James MacMillan</a> using the text for Dec. 21 from the Advent “O Antiphons” (also verse 5 of the <i>Veni Emmanuel </i>Advent hymn).</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Other “Carols”</h3><div>In one way or another, the other pieces don’t quite sound like carols. Perhaps the closest was this year’s carol commissioned by KCC — “He smiles within his cradle” by Cheryl Frances-Hoad — which uses dynamics and other familiar carol techniques, even if the harmony is not what most listeners would expect.</div><div><br /></div><div>Two other ones were also close. One is “Benedicamus Domino,” a 1924 carol by Peter Warlock. Listening to it again, there were two reasons that I didn’t care for it. First, with the unfamiliar Latin words racing by, I had no idea what they were singing (the program includes an English translation). Second, the texture of the BBC broadcast seemed muddy — whether due to my home stereo, the chapel’s notorious acoustics or the BBC audio mixing, I can’t really say. With the same speakers, another YouTube recording captures joyous sentiment of the refrain translated “Hurrah, this is our year!”, with a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2ecVqsEbFU " target="_blank">Dec. 23 performance</a> by Magdalene College, Oxford.</div><p>The other is the 2006 setting of “Adam lay ybounden” by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Martin_(organist)" target="_blank">Matthew Martin,</a> former music director of Keble College, Oxford. As with the YouTube Covidtide performance by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFHo_SyTOOQ" target="_blank">Pembroke College Cambridge, </a>it has an atmospheric feel to it rather the rigid stanzas of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=626Nrbtwtao" target="_blank">more familiar</a> carol by (former KCC music director) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Ord" target="_blank">Boris Ord.</a> But to me, that feel means that the sound and texture pre-empt the teaching value of the text — and thus (IMHO) the Ord rendition is more suitable for a services of Lessons & Carols, where historically the carols has taught as much (or more) than the lessons.</p><p>The remaining three, written in the last 40 years, feel out of place at a celebration of the birth of baby Jesus. They may be a triumph for modern music, but not something I would expect earn a lasting spot in the (vast) Christmas repertoire (but then I have a strong bias against modern tonality).</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">This Year’s Sung Service</h3><div>For the record, here is the full list of this year’s choral and congregational music (with composition dates where available). Past and present KCC music directors are shown<b> <i>in italics.</i></b></div><div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>(Hymn) <b>Once in Royal David's city:</b> C.F. Alexander; music by Henry Gauntlett, arranged by <b><i>A.H. Mann</i>,</b> descant by <b><i>Philip Ledger</i></b></li><li><b>Out of your sleep</b>: 15th century; music by Robin Nelson (1999)</li><li><b>Adam lay ybounden</b>: 15th century; music by Matthew Martin (2006)</li><li><b>Illuminare Jerusalem</b>: 16th century; music by Judith Weir (1985). <b><i>Commissioned by KCC.</i></b></li><li><b>O radiant dawn</b>: Liber Usalis; music by James MacMillan (2007)</li><li>(Hymn) <b>O Little Town of Bethlehem:</b> Phillips Brooks; traditional English tune arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, descant by Thomas Armstrong</li><li><b>King Jesus hath a garden</b>: 17th century Dutch (Heer Jesus beeft een Hofken) translated by G.R. Woodward; traditional Dutch tune adapted by Charles Wood, arranged by <b><i>Stephen Cleobury</i></b></li><li><b>A spotless rose is blowing:</b> 14th century German (trans. Catherine Winkworth); music by <i><b>Philip Ledger</b> </i>(2002), originally composed for <b><i>Stephen Cleobury</i></b> and KCC.</li><li><b>The Angel Gabriel</b>: Sabine Baring-Gould; Basque carol, arranged by <b><i>David Willcocks</i></b></li><li><b>Come ye faithful Christians </b>(Hereford Carol): traditional English; English folk tune, arranged by Christopher Robinson (2012)</li><li><b>Who is there that singeth so </b>(Sir Christèmas): 15th century English; music by William Mathias (1971)</li><li>(Hymn) <b>The First Nowell</b>: traditional Cornish; traditional Cornish tune, arranged by <b><i>David Willcocks</i></b> (1961)</li><li><b>He smiles within his cradle (The Cradle):</b> 17th century Austrian; music by Cheryl Frances-Hoad (2023). <b><i>Commissioned by KCC.</i></b></li><li><b>And all the stars looked down</b>: G.K. Chesterton; music by John Rutter (2022), composed in Cleobury’s memory</li><li><b>Benedicamus Domino:</b> 15th century English; music by Peter Warlock (1924)</li><li>(Hymn) <b>O come all ye faithful</b>: J.F. Wade translated by Frederick Oakley et al; music by J.F. Wade, arranged by <b><i>David Willcocks </i></b>and<b> <i>Daniel Hyde</i></b></li><li>(Hymn) <b>Hark! the herald-angels sing:</b> Charles Wesley et al; music by Felix Mendelssohn, descant by <b><i>David Willcocks</i></b></li></ol></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">References</h3><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Day, Timothy. <i>I Saw Eternity the Other Night: King's College, Cambridge, and an English Singing Style.</i> Penguin UK, 2018.</li><li>Dearmer, Percy, “Preface”. In Percy Dearmer, Martin Shaw, and Ralph Vaughan Williams (eds.) <i>The Oxford Book of Carols, </i>Oxford University Press, 1931, pp. v-xxvi.</li><li>Stoker, Richard. “Armstrong, Sir Thomas Henry Waitunlocked (1898–1994),” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography." (2004), <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/54713 " target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/54713 </a></li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-37720709219943211312023-11-21T09:38:00.000-08:002023-12-28T09:57:31.109-08:00ACNA now plans 2029 music resources before hymnal<p><i>While its <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2023/09/acna-plans-new-hymnal-in-2030.html#more" target="_blank">September announcement</a> promised to have a hymnal ready by 2029, the new Hymnal Commission this week <a href="https://anglicanchurch.net/hymnal-commission-creates-music-resource-task-force/" target="_blank">announced</a> it will have "music resources" in 2029 and a hymnal after that.</i></p><h1 class="vcex-heading vcex-module wpex-text-2xl wpex-font-normal wpex-m-auto wpex-max-w-100 vcex-heading-plain wpex-block" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpex-heading-color); font-family: adobe-caslon-pro, serif; font-size: var(--wpex-text-2xl); font-stretch: inherit; letter-spacing: 3px; line-height: var(--wpex-heading-line-height); margin: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="vcex-heading-inner wpex-inline-block wpex-clr" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HYMNAL COMMISSION CREATES MUSIC RESOURCE TASK FORCE</span></h1><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Nov 20, 2023</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="adobe-caslon-pro, serif" style="color: #111111;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVThVm5tq7yrfwM07EBOPrh5qRamdE9hWpFExWFQbFz_tStyhRf03BAFNWvmes4vJa_-SUprwsICQP2eyqnt1TXZRE5W_EK5yGZe2Oaa4T6fkTVKCP0wzAST3n3QycNEU2aKKfu4N-3K8L9WSj3LTCrndeZwBYk3NrueKXNPwsQmaVPSjqhXPms8uQBvd7/s850/ACNA-hymnal-piano-Nov2023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="850" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVThVm5tq7yrfwM07EBOPrh5qRamdE9hWpFExWFQbFz_tStyhRf03BAFNWvmes4vJa_-SUprwsICQP2eyqnt1TXZRE5W_EK5yGZe2Oaa4T6fkTVKCP0wzAST3n3QycNEU2aKKfu4N-3K8L9WSj3LTCrndeZwBYk3NrueKXNPwsQmaVPSjqhXPms8uQBvd7/s320/ACNA-hymnal-piano-Nov2023.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span ><div><span ><span ><br /></span></span></div>The twelve-member Hymnal Commission, which was chartered at the June 2023 Meeting of the College of Bishops, met at St. Mark’s Church in Arlington, Texas, from November 13-15. Our task was to develop a process that would produce a Hymnal for the Anglican Church in North America. We considered the rich musical gifts of our Church, as well as the many diverse contexts and needs of the congregations our work must serve. We desired to produce a Hymnal that would bless and unify our young Province.</span></span></div><div><span ><span><div><br /></div><div>Deliberations on how to proceed were thoughtful, prayerful, and eventually inspired.</div><div><br /></div><div>What emerged was a path forward that surprised us all.</div><div><br /></div><div>The purpose of a Hymnal is to support congregational worship through song. But a Hymnal alone is not enough. While our Province has several churches of varying sizes with well-established music programs and resources, it also has many small congregations and pioneering missions. Our task is to serve everyone, from the established church with organ and choir to the start-up church plant meeting in a living room. Many church leaders have limited time and resources. They need something that can help them prepare for weekly worship, finding music that is not only appropriate for that particular week’s biblical readings and themes, but also theologically sound, spiritually powerful, and musically excellent.</div><div><br /></div><div>This realization led to a true paradigm shift.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rather than beginning with the final product (a finished Hymnal), we discerned a need for a more immediately accessible resource, available in both electronic and print form, following the three-year lectionary of the Church Year (Book of Common Prayer, 2019) and providing a wide range of suitable hymns and songs for each Sunday’s or occasion’s Lectionary readings.</div><div><br /></div><div>These resources will allow congregations to explore our rich Anglican musical heritage and to discover the best of new and ecumenical music. As churches use the books and online repository, they can provide feedback, as well as suggestions for additional songs. Songwriters and composers can offer their work for consideration. Brothers and sisters who have come to the ACNA from other parts of the Anglican world can share their own musical traditions. And we can revise the collection based on the way the Church actually uses it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The result of our meeting was to propose re-forming the commission as a Music Resources Task Force, which can undertake this project, with a goal of presenting a final version for approval at the quinquennial Provincial Assembly in 2029.</div><div><br /></div><div>These materials, in turn, can serve as the foundation for an official Provincial Hymnal.</div><div><br /></div><div>We propose this approach to creating a Hymnal for two reasons. First, it acknowledges the current realities and needs of our Province, and it allows the whole Province to participate in the process as fully as possible. Second, this approach is deeply Anglican, rooted in our encounter with Holy Scripture in the liturgy. It moves from common prayer to shared song.</div><div><br /></div><div>As we begin our work, we entreat your prayers. We also invite your suggestions and contributions! If possible, please indicate which specific Sunday lectionary reading(s) or themes the song relates to. Suggestions and feedback can be sent to musicresourcestaskforce@anglicanchurch.net.</div><div><br /></div><div>To God be the glory!</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Most Rev. Robert Duncan, D.D., Archbishop Emeritus, Meeting Chair</li><li>The Rt. Rev. Andrew Williams, Bishop in New England, Music Resources Task Force, Chair</li><li>The Rt. Rev. Chip Edgar, Bishop of South Carolina, Liturgy Task Force, Chair</li><li>The Rev. Jonathan Kanary, Ph.D,, Christ Church and Brazos Fellows, Waco, TX, Music Resources Task Force, Vice-Chair</li><li>The Ven. Darrell Critch, M.Mus., D.Min., Archdeacon of Eastern Canada</li><li>The Rev, Rick Milliorn, Principal Musician, St. Clement’s, El Paso, TX</li><li>Mr. Simon Dixon, M.A., Director of Music and Worship, The Falls Church Anglican, Falls Church, VA</li><li>Mrs. Dixie Hall, M.Mus., Principal Musician, St. David’s Church, Post Falls, ID</li><li>Dr. Terry Fullerton, Principal Musician (Retired), St. John’s Vancouver, Vancouver, BC</li><li>Mrs. Kathy Fox Powell, Choirmaster, St. Mark’s Church, Arlington, TX</li><li>Mr. Mark Snow, Canon for Cathedral Music, Christ Church Pro-Cathedral, Plano, TX</li><li>Mr. Chris Walchesky, Director of Music and Choirmaster, St. Philip’s Church, Charleston, SC</li></ul></div></span></span></div>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-58419733604469513412023-09-13T06:57:00.003-07:002023-09-14T20:32:42.822-07:00ACNA plans new hymnal in 2030The Episcopal Church hymnals of 1940 and 1982 have been the main hymnals for most U.S. Anglican churches outside TEC. Longtime readers know that I've long been interested in what sort of hymnal these latter Anglicans will come up with. Now there are two (and someday perhaps three):<div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The <i><a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20of%20Common%20Praise%202017" target="_blank">Book of Common Praise 2017</a></i> was the first such hymnal, from the Reformed Episcopal Church (with its unique history and structure within the ACNA). The publisher released a version with a different title (<a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-latest-acna-hymnal.html" target="_blank"><i>Magnify the Lord</i>)</a> but later withdrew it to make room </li><li>This spring, I learned of a second hymnal, <a href="https://singuntothelord.org/" target="_blank"><i>Sing Unto the Lord,</i> </a>being organized by the music director of Christ Church Anglican, an ACNA parish in Savannah Georgia. The the hymnal is in production and will be in print in October. I plan to review this later this fall for <i>North American Anglican.</i></li><li>As #2 began to send out promotional materials, the ACNA's on-again, off-again efforts to make an official hymnal warmed up with <a href="https://anglicanchurch.net/provincial-council-and-college-of-bishops-2023-recap/" target="_blank">a decision out of the June 2023 House of Bishops meeting.</a> This week the ACNA sent an email blast announcing their new hymnal (below) — also <a href="https://anglicanchurch.net/acna-hymnal-commission/" target="_blank">on their website.</a></li></ol><div>I’ll follow up on this more down the road, but what is interesting to me about the latter email are two things. First, the new hymnal is not until 2030. Second, the tone of the email seems to be "don’t buy that bad hymnal while you’re waiting seven years for our new hymnal.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Needless to say, I'll have more to say on all of these topics later on.</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">ACNA HYMNAL COMMISSION FORMED</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Archbishop Duncan to Chair First Meeting in November</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>At the June 2023 meeting of the College of Bishops, Archbishop Foley Beach named, and the College confirmed, a 2030 Hymnal Commission. An official hymnal for the Anglican Church in North America is to be prepared for College of Bishops approval and provincial use not later than the quinquennial Provincial Assembly of June 2029.</div><div> </div><div>To the Commission were named the following:</div><div> The Most Rev. Robert Duncan, Chair, Archbishop Emeritus</div><div> The Right Rev. Charles (Chip) Edgar, Bishop of South Carolina (Liturgy Task Force)</div><div> The Right Rev. Andrew Williams, Bishop in New England</div><div> The Venerable Dr Darrel Critch, Archdeacon of Eastern Canada</div><div> The Rev. Dr Jonathan Kanary, Christ Church Waco, TX, and Baylor University (Liturgy Task Force)</div><div> The Rev. Rick Milliorn, Principal Musician, St. Clement’s, El Paso, TX</div><div> Mr. Simon Dixon, Principal Musician, The Falls Church Anglican, Falls Church, VA</div><div> Mrs. Dixie Hall, Principal Musician, St. John’s Anglican, Post Falls, ID</div><div> Mr. Terry Fullerton, Principal Musician, St. John’s, Vancouver, BC</div><div> Mrs. Kathy Fox Powell, Choirmaster, St. Mark’s, Arlington, TX</div><div> Mr. Mark Snow, Principal Musician, Christ Church, Plano, TX</div><div> Mr. Chris Walchesky, Principal Musician, St. Phillip’s, Charleston, SC</div><div> </div><div>As initially conceived, the Hymnal Commission will do its work in four sub-committees:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Hymns of the Anglican Patrimony (esp. ref. 1940, 1982, and 2017 Hymnals)</li><li>Hymns of Ecumenical and Global Significance</li><li>Hymns, Choruses, and Spiritual Songs of the Last Half-Century</li><li>Service Music for the BCP 2019 (both ordinary and traditional language texts) </li></ol></div><div>Led by members of the Hymnal Commission, these sub-committees will engage many other members of the Province – clergy, musicians, and a panoply of respected lay leaders – in an effort representing the breadth and musical needs of the whole Province.</div><div> </div><div>As with the development of the <i>Book of Common Prayer 2019, </i>regular reports and a wide-open feedback loop – hymnalcommission@anglicanchurch.net – will allow the whole Church to contribute to the development of this ACNA Hymnal.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the Hymnal Commission is announced, the congregations of the Province are also advised that a hymnal under the title “Sing Unto the Lord” is being widely advertised. “Sing Unto the Lord” is not an official or authorized ACNA Hymnal. Indeed much of its Communion service music remains service music written for the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and there are unauthorized borrowings from the ACNA Altar Book. Moreover, its articles do not have instructional authority in this Church. Substantial portions of “Sing Unto the Lord” are already available in the Reformed Episcopal Church Hymnal of 2017, The Book of Common Praise. The publisher of this hymnal, Anglican Music Publishing, is an independent initiative and has no official or ministry partner relationship to the Anglican Church in North America.</div></div><div><br /></div></div><div><i>Update Sept 14. Below is the clip art from the ACNA website (and AAC email blast) used to represent the new hymnal, which may (or may not) suggest what sort of hymnal is intended from the process.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayj3H209ZvYwYa4-8DajU6WR0Qjt0DPG9sIg_JToCHqe-dgGvL7XNz7Iib2hzs0wok_TZ3lrGZxdEAVMug1M100de8YN_EiaIpoAhq44c_FdO45oV9Yb7aFniKbAx2X8yJOE1SkawE3DKlNuKTnUHMwo76CwKPVSMdXttxEaWhX9880LVLGTTiQqcOp3I/s290/Guitar_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="290" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayj3H209ZvYwYa4-8DajU6WR0Qjt0DPG9sIg_JToCHqe-dgGvL7XNz7Iib2hzs0wok_TZ3lrGZxdEAVMug1M100de8YN_EiaIpoAhq44c_FdO45oV9Yb7aFniKbAx2X8yJOE1SkawE3DKlNuKTnUHMwo76CwKPVSMdXttxEaWhX9880LVLGTTiQqcOp3I/s1600/Guitar_thumb.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></div>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-76011573408768966982022-12-26T18:09:00.000-08:002022-12-26T18:13:07.023-08:00Loyal Lutheran Listeners Love Christmas Carols<p>On Friday, <a href="https://twitter.com/IssuesEtc" target="_blank">@IssuesEtc</a> repeated their annual listener poll of favorite Christmas hymns and carols. Here I analyze in detail how the 20 songs selected map onto #Lutheran (and #Anglican) hymnody, as well as how this relates to the availability of recordings (a topic I discussed <a href="https://northamanglican.com/singing-together-for-the-advent-of-our-lord/" target="_blank">this month for Advent hymn</a>s).</p>
<p>The <a href="https://issuesetc.org/2022/12/23/3571-what-is-your-favorite-christmas-hymn-and-why-12-23-22/" target="_blank">December 23 show</a> demonstrated the skill of the show’s host, Pastor Todd Wilken, who soon begins his 25th year behind the microphone. He expertly merged 41 votes (from phone calls, email, Tweets and Facebook comments) for these pieces. But more generally, this episode is a masterful use of the radio (or MP3-delayed podcast) format, with brief (and mostly interesting) listener suggestions interspersed with playing recordings of the crowd favorites.</p>
<h3>The Nominees</h3>
<p>Formally entitled “What Is Your Favorite Christmas Hymn, and Why?” Friday’s two-hour show played 20 musical pieces. I looked each one up on Hymnary: Hymnary’s total of hymnals using the hymn (listed below) includes alternate translations. </p>
<p>In alphabetical order (with the start times indicated), these 20 pieces were:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>“All my heart this night rejoices” [01:26:40]: translated from “Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen” by Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676); 267 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/all_my_heart_this_night_rejoices">https://hymnary.org/text/all_my_heart_this_night_rejoices.</a> </p>
</li>
<li><p>“Angels we have heard on high” [00:39:10]: translated from “Les Anges dans nos Campagnes”, an 18th century French carol; 213 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/angels_we_have_heard_on_high">https://hymnary.org/text/angels_we_have_heard_on_high.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/103152628/angels-we-have-heard-on-high-from-anniversary-carols">Solo Deo Cantorum.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light” [00:52:40]: by Johann Rist (1607-1667); 55 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/break_forth_o_beauteous_heavenly_light">https://hymnary.org/text/break_forth_o_beauteous_heavenly_light.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/335731827/break-forth-o-wondrous-heavenly-light-from-christmas">Robert Shaw Chamber Singers.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“For unto us a child is born” [01:13:55]: by G.F. Händel (1685-1759). Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/256418176/messiah-hwv-56-for-unto-us-a-child-is-born-chorus">Bach Collegium Japan.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“From heaven above to earth I come” [00:58:30]: translated from “Vom himmel hoch” by Martin Luther (1483-1546); 147 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/from_heaven_above_to_earth_i_come_to_bea">https://hymnary.org/text/from_heaven_above_to_earth_i_come_to_bea.</a> </p>
</li>
<li><p>“God rest ye merry gentlemen” [01:29:50]:, an 18th century English carol; 116 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/god_rest_ye_merry_gentlemen">https://hymnary.org/text/god_rest_ye_merry_gentlemen.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/55236362/god-rest-ye-merry-gentlemen">King's College Choir.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“Hark the herald angels sing” [00:17:20]: by Charles Wesley (1707-1788); 1350 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/hark_the_herald_angels_sing_glory_to">https://hymnary.org/text/hark_the_herald_angels_sing_glory_to.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/46755084/hark-the-herald-angels-sing-after-mendelssohns-gutenberg">King's College Choir.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“Joy to the world” [00:02:35]: by Isaac Watts (1674-1748); 1814 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/joy_to_the_world_the_lord_is_come">https://hymnary.org/text/joy_to_the_world_the_lord_is_come.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/125283831/joy-to-the-world">John Rutter & Cambridge Singers.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“Let our gladness have no end” [00:24:50]: translated from “Narodil se Kristus Pán”, 15th century Bohemian carol; 10 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/let_our_gladness_have_no_end">https://hymnary.org/text/let_our_gladness_have_no_end.</a> Performed by Children's Choirs of St. Paul Lutheran Church (Fort Wayne).</p>
</li>
<li><p>“Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming” [01:36:20]: translated from “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen”, 16th century German carol; 106 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/lo_how_a_rose_eer_blooming">https://hymnary.org/text/lo_how_a_rose_eer_blooming.</a> Performed by LPR Choir.</p>
</li>
<li><p>“O come, all ye faithful” [01:05:25]: translated from “Adeste Fidelis” by James Frances Wade (1711-1786); 924 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_all_ye_faithful_joyful_and_triump">https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_all_ye_faithful_joyful_and_triump.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/55236348/adeste-fideles-o-come-all-ye-faithful">King's College Choir.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“O Holy Night” [00:21:50]: translated from “Cantique de Noël” by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877); 45 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/o_holy_night_the_stars_are_brightly_shin">https://hymnary.org/text/o_holy_night_the_stars_are_brightly_shin.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/383047573/o-holy-night">Mormon Tabernacle Choir.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“O how Joyfully” [01:33:40]: translated from “O du Fröhliche” by Johann Daniel Falk (1728-1826); 129 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/o_du_frohliche_o_du_selige">https://hymnary.org/text/o_du_frohliche_o_du_selige.</a> Performed by Kapelle of Concordia University Chicago.</p>
</li>
<li><p>“O Jesus Christ, thy manager is” [00:47:55]: translated from “O Jesu Christ, Dein Kripplein Ist” by Paul Gerhardt; 7 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/o_jesus_christ_thy_manger_is">https://hymnary.org/text/o_jesus_christ_thy_manger_is.</a> </p>
</li>
<li><p>“Of the father's love begotten” [00:31:50]: translated from “Corde natus ex Parentis” by Prudentius (348-405+); 218 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/of_the_fathers_love_begotten">https://hymnary.org/text/of_the_fathers_love_begotten.</a> Performed by Cantorei of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.</p>
</li>
<li><p>“Praise God the Lord ye sons of men” [00:06:15]: translated from “Lobt Gott Ihr Christen” by Nikolaus Herman (c.1500-1561); 115 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/praise_god_the_lord_ye_sons_of_men">https://hymnary.org/text/praise_god_the_lord_ye_sons_of_men.</a> Performed by LPR Choir.</p>
</li>
<li><p>“Silent Night” [01:18:25]: translated from “Stille Nacht” by Joseph Mohr (1792-1848); 749 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/silent_night_holy_night_all_is_calm_all">https://hymnary.org/text/silent_night_holy_night_all_is_calm_all.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/101815805/stille-nacht-heilige-nacht-arr-alice-parker-robert-shaw">Musica Sacra.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“What child is this” [00:44:45]: by W. Chatterton Dix (1837-1898); 197 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/what_child_is_this_who_laid_to_rest">https://hymnary.org/text/what_child_is_this_who_laid_to_rest.</a> Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/54882103/what-child-is-this-arr-r-proulx-for-choir">Richard Proulx & The Cathedral Singers.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“What sweeter music” [01:44:15]: by Robert Herrick (1591-1674). Performed by <a href="https://www.shazam.com/track/55941916/what-sweeter-music">John Rutter & Cambridge Singers.</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>“Where shepherds lately knelt” [00:10:30]: by Jaroslav Vajda (1919-2008); 9 hymnals. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/where_shepherds_lately_knelt_and_kept_th">https://hymnary.org/text/where_shepherds_lately_knelt_and_kept_th.</a> </p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Note that two are not actually hymns (and don’t appear in hymnals). One is “For until us a child is born,” the 12th movement from Part I (the Advent section) of Händel’s. The other is “What sweeter music,” a carol written by John Rutter (based on a 16th century poem) for the 1987 King’s College Cambridge Lessons & Carols service.</p>
<p>Of the 18 hymns, 7 were originally in German — perhaps not surprising for a radio show serving the main Lutheran denomination established by German immigrants to the U.S. Meanwhile, 2 were from French and 2 from Latin — all four of these are popular American carols, as are two of the German ones.</p>
<h3>Performers</h3>
<p>Some performers were announced, while in other cases Shazam identified the recording for me.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, six familiar pieces were performed by professional caliber English choirs: King’s College Cambridge (3), John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers (2) and Richard Proulx and The Cathedral Singers (1). Four came from similar caliber American choirs, with one each by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Musica Sacra, Robert Shaw Chamber Singers and Solo Deo Gloria Cantroum, and one Japanese group (Bach Collegium Japan).</p>
<p>Five of the German Lutheran hymns were credited to US Lutheran performers, including elite choirs from Concordia Chicago and the Fort Wayne seminary. Three German hymns and one 20th century LCMS hymn were uncredited, but some sounded like the LPR Choir (credited with two performances).</p>
<h3>Singing these Hymns at Christmas</h3>
<p>To see how much these hymns could be sung by congregations — and to judge how “Lutheran” these hymns are — I looked at the latest hymnal of the largest U.S. Lutheran jurisdictions:</p>
<ul><li>Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: <i>Evangelical Lutheran Worship </i>(2006)</li><li>Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod: <i>Lutheran Service Book</i> (2006)</li><li>Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod: <i>Christian Worship</i> (1993)</li><li>Evangelical Lutheran Synod: <i>Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary</i> (1996)</li></ul><p>For Anglican comparison, also searched the latest Church of England hymnal used in most English choral recordings (<i>New English Hymnal</i>), The Episcopal Church hymnal also used by ACNA parishes (<i>Hymnal 1982</i>), and the main hymnal of Continuing Anglicans (<i>Hymnal 1940</i>). (Note I am ignoring variations in tunes and text, which were a big deal for <a href="https://northamanglican.com/singing-together-for-the-advent-of-our-lord/" target="_blank">Advent hymns I examined earlier)</a>.</p><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td align="right"><i>Denomination</i></td>
<td align="center">TEC</td>
<td align="center">TEC</td>
<td align="center">CoE</td>
<td align="center">ELCA</td>
<td align="center">LCMS</td>
<td align="center">WELS</td>
<td align="center">ELS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Seq</th>
<th>Text</th>
<th>H40</th>
<th>H82</th>
<th>NEH</th>
<th>ELW</th>
<th>LSB</th>
<th>CW</th>
<th>ELH</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td>All my heart this night rejoices</td>
<td align="center">32</td>
<td align="center">545</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">273</td>
<td align="center">360</td>
<td align="center">37</td>
<td align="center">115</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td>Angels we have heard on high</td>
<td align="center">42</td>
<td align="center">96</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">289</td>
<td align="center">368</td>
<td align="center">63</td>
<td align="center">116</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td>Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light</td>
<td align="center">25</td>
<td align="center">91</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">378</td>
<td align="center">44</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">5</td>
<td>From heaven above to earth I come</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">268</td>
<td align="center">358</td>
<td align="center">38</td>
<td align="center">123 & 124</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">6</td>
<td>God rest ye merry gentlemen</td>
<td align="center">40</td>
<td align="center">105</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">126</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">7</td>
<td>Hark the herald angels sing</td>
<td align="center">27</td>
<td align="center">87</td>
<td align="center">26</td>
<td align="center">270</td>
<td align="center">380</td>
<td align="center">61</td>
<td align="center">125</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">8</td>
<td>Joy to the world</td>
<td align="center">775</td>
<td align="center">100</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">267</td>
<td align="center">387</td>
<td align="center">62</td>
<td align="center">138</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">9</td>
<td>Let our gladness have no end</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">291</td>
<td align="center">381</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">10</td>
<td>Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming</td>
<td align="center">17</td>
<td align="center">81</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">272</td>
<td align="center">359</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">11</td>
<td>O come, all ye faithful</td>
<td align="center">12</td>
<td align="center">93</td>
<td align="center">30</td>
<td align="center">283</td>
<td align="center">379</td>
<td align="center">55</td>
<td align="center">133</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">14</td>
<td>O Jesus Christ, thy manager is</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">372</td>
<td align="center">40</td>
<td align="center">161</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">15</td>
<td>Of the Father's love begotten</td>
<td align="center">20</td>
<td align="center">82</td>
<td align="center">33</td>
<td align="center">295</td>
<td align="center">384</td>
<td align="center">35</td>
<td align="center">181</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">16</td>
<td>Praise God the Lord ye sons of men</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">148</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">17</td>
<td>Silent Night</td>
<td align="center">33</td>
<td align="center">111</td>
<td align="center">34</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">363</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">140</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">18</td>
<td>What child is this</td>
<td align="center">36</td>
<td align="center">115</td>
<td align="center">40</td>
<td align="center">296</td>
<td align="center">370</td><td align="center">67</td>
<td align="center">145</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">20</td>
<td>Where shepherds lately knelt</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center"> </td>
<td align="center">369</td>
<td align="center">54</td>
<td align="center"> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>No surprise that the Händel (#4) and Rutter (#19) choral pieces were not in hymnals, and only a small surprise that “O Holy Night” (#12) is not.</p>
<p>The big surprise was the absence of two German Lutheran hymns in the German hymnal: “O du Fröhliche” (#13) was not in any current hymnal, while “Lobt Gott Ihr Christen” (#16) was only in the hymnal of the (historically Norwegian) ELS (although both tunes were used elsewhere in recent Lutheran hymnals). Also, the hymn by 17th century Lutheran Pastor Jacob Rist (#3) with its Bach harmonization seems more popular among Episcopalians than Lutherans.</p>
<h3>The Winner: a Favorite for 16 Centuries</h3>
<p>Thirteen of the hymns were nominated by only one caller (or correspondent), including such perennial favorites such as “Angels we have heard on high” and “Silent night.” Three received two votes; those with more were</p>
<ul><li>3 votes: ”Joy to the world” and “O come, all the faithful”</li>
<li>5 votes: “Hark the herald angels sing”</li></ul>
<p>Most of the reasons for the votes were either because of what the text teaches, or strong personal memories or sentiments associated with the hymn.</p>
<p>With 11 votes, the landslide winner was <b>“Of the Father’s love begotten,”</b> a 4th century hymn by <a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Prudentius_AC" target="_blank">Prudentius</a> that I blogged about in <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/our-fathers-love.html" target="_blank">2008</a> (based on an Issues Etc. discussion of the hymn by a LCMS seminary Professor Arthur Just) and <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2020/01/on-twelfth-day-of-christmas-carols.html">2010</a>. Of course, I’m particularly excited because the hymn was introduced into the English-language repertoire by <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/01/bicentennial-of-john-mason-neale.html" target="_blank">John Mason Neale,</a> the great hymn translator of the 19th century.</p>
<p>What was particularly interesting were many of the comments by those who wrote to nominate the hymn. I tried to transcribe all 11 comments, but here are some excerpts:</p>
<ul><li>Elaine: “because of the transcendent beauty of the music and the lyrics”</li>
<li>Joshua: “text and tune are beautiful, and a long part of the church’s history”</li>
<li>Janet: “because I have always loved ancient melodies and texts”</li>
<li>David: “it’s been sung by Christians since the fourth century”</li>
<li>Jennifer: “the simplicity of the plainchant makes you focus on the fabulous lyrics which take you from the beginning of time to the end, full of the gospel message combined that with the age of the hymn and I love thinking about all the saints before who have sung the same words”</li>
<li>Brandon: “I love the beautiful simplicity of that ancient hymn. It’s a joy to hear or sing — with or without accompaniment — yet the majesty of the lyrics can still awe. And given its age I like how by singing it, the church unites across time and space in language to honor the birth of our savior.”</li></ul>
<p>To me, this is the epitome of the argument for what I call <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/timeless%20hymns" target="_blank">“timeless hymns”</a> and this hymn’s place at the front of the panoply of such hymns.</p>
<p>I realize that those who call and nominate a hymn are not a cross-section of a parish or denomination. Still, I think it suggests that the arguments that we have to dumb down worship to reach Christian worshippers are giving up much too easily.</p>
<h3>References</h3>
<ul><li>Joint Commission on the Revision of the Hymnal, The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd ed. (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1951).</li>
<li>Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrot, <i>The New Oxford Book of Carol</i>s (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992)</li>
<li>Joel W. West, “Singing Together for the Advent of our Lord,” North American Anglican, December 22, 2022, URL: <a href="https://northamanglican.com/singing-together-for-the-advent-of-our-lord/">https://northamanglican.com/singing-together-for-the-advent-of-our-lord/</a></li></ul>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-32818012914196004472022-07-30T22:33:00.000-07:002022-12-26T18:15:29.775-08:00Praise songs without pentinenceIn the past, I’ve expressed my skepticism about Christian Contemporary Music. But as I keep running into (intelligent and capable) CCM advocates, it’s clear I need to identify more theoretical and empirical evidence supporting these concerns. <div><br /></div><div>This month, Terry Mattingly of GetReligion <a href="https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2022/7/19/what-messages-do-the-psalms-contain-about-faith-that-are-missing-in-this-praise-song-age" target="_blank">highlighted a study</a> of CCM texts by <a href="https://www.carey.ac.nz/team-member/dr-michael-rhodes/" target="_blank">Prof. Michael J. Rhodes</a>, a Baptist Old Testament professor in New Zealand. (Strangely, the <a href="https://www.craiggreenfield.com/blog/worship-music-is-broken" target="_blank">original story</a> and Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljrhodes/status/1437861080936636425" target="_blank">tweets</a> are from last September).</div><div><br /></div><div>The story was about how Rhodes looked at the lyrics of the first 25 songs in the CCLI Top 100 worship songs. He contrasted the themes of the top 25 praise songs to those of the 150 psalms of the historic psalter. Here are a few highlights from Rhodes’ <a href="https://www.craiggreenfield.com/blog/worship-music-is-broken" target="_blank">Sept. 30 column</a> in <i>Christianity Today:</i></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>“There is only one passing mention of the word justice in the Top 25. …</li><li>“There are zero references to the poor or poverty in the Top 25. …</li><li>“The widow, refugee, and oppressed are completely absent from the Top 25. …</li><li>“References to enemies are rare in the Top 25.”</li></ul><div>And his final point:</div><blockquote>Maybe most devastatingly, i<b>n the Top 25, not a single question is ever posed to God.</b> When we sing the Top 25, we don’t ask God anything. By contrast, prick the Psalter and it bleeds with the cries of the oppressed, pleading for God to act.</blockquote>
<div>So without assessing the pros and cons of Rhodes’ argument, his premise is indisputable: the themes of 2500-3000 years of Judeo-Christian worship are the gold standard, and today’s praise hymns don’t measure up to that standard.</div>
<h4>Penitential Hymns</h4>
<div>To be fair, the typical Christmas, Easter or Trinitytide hymns tend to be upbeat as well.
</div><br /><div>
Still, when considering the psalms, I spotted what I thought an even more striking omission: no mention of the pentience, repentance and confession by King David and others throughout the psalms, repeated by worshippers across the centuries. The first and last verses of this hymn — sung by Episcopalians at Lent — seems an appropriate example of what such pentinence might look like:</div>
<blockquote>With broken heart and contrite sigh<br />
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry:<br />
Thy pardoning grace is rich and free<br />
O God, be merciful to me.<br />
<br /> And when, redeemed from sin and hell,<br />
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,<br />
My raptured song shall ever be,<br />
God has been merciful to me.
</blockquote>
<div>Authored in 1852 by English Baptist preacher <a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Elven_C" target="_blank">Cornelius Elven,</a> for Episcopalians it has been sung regularly since it was first published in <i>The Hymnal</i> of 1874.</div>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-66759677794861803522021-11-25T15:10:00.000-08:002022-12-26T18:14:36.948-08:00Hymns for Thanksgiving Day<p>Thanksgiving Day is an unusual holiday in the BCP — not part of the liturgical calendar, but with more theological significance than the other “National Days” (as my favorite hymnal terms them).</p><p>I previously wrote a 1500-word article for <i>North American Anglican </i>entitled “Hymns ‘of’ Thanksgiving and ‘for’ Thanksgiving.” Since people can read it <a href="https://northamanglican.com/hymns-of-thanksgiving-and-for-thanksgiving/" target="_blank">there</a>, let me summarize a few ideas here.</p><p>First, despite the origins of the holiday with the <a href="https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving" target="_blank">17th century Pilgrims,</a> the US ECUSA prayer book ignored the holiday until it got its own collect and readings in the 1928 BCP — and was also mentioned in the 1979 and 2019 prayer books. In the 1928, it has <a href="http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1928/Readings_1928.htm#Thanksgiving" target="_blank">a substitute for the Venite</a> that is derived from <a href="https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=504879477" target="_blank">Psalm 147</a>; this has four chants in <i>Hymnal 1940</i> (684-687) although I think using the Venite plainchant (612) would be more realistic.</p><p>In the article, I identified eight hymns from the three current American hymnals — <i>Hymnal 1940, Hymnal 1982 </i>and <i>Magnify the Lord </i>(aka <i>Book of Common Praise 2017</i>) —as well as the US (1916) and English antecedents (TEH, A&M). From this, I recommended three hymns as suitable for a November harvest-themed festival:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>“<a href="https://hymnary.org/text/come_ye_thankful_people_come" target="_blank">Come, ye thankful people, come</a>” sung to St. George’s Windsor (H40: 137; H82: 290; MTL: 203) was universally popular since its 1861 publication in <i>Hymns Ancient and Modern.</i></li><li>“<a href="https://hymnary.org/text/we_plow_the_fields_and_scatter" target="_blank">We plow the fields and scatter</a>” sung to Claudius (H40: 138; H82: 291; MTL: 204) also dates to 1861.</li><li>“<a href="https://hymnary.org/text/for_the_beauty_of_the_earth" target="_blank">For the beauty of the earth</a>” (H40: 296; H82: 416; MTL: 206,207) originated with <i>The English Hymnal</i> (1906), but there is little agreement on the tune.</li></ul><p>All three of these appear in more than 400 hymnals, and thus may be known to Christians from other backgrounds. But for an ecumenical hymn that will be widely known, I’d recommend the Catherine Winkworth translations of two German hymns:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>“<a href="https://hymnary.org/text/now_thank_we_all_our_god" target="_blank">Now thank we all our God</a>” by <a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Rinkart_M" target="_blank">Martin Rinkart</a> (1586-1649), was written about the Thirty Years’ War but is an excellent hymn of gratitude for the entire church year.</li><li>“<a href="https://hymnary.org/text/praise_to_the_lord_the_almighty_the_king" target="_blank">Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation</a>” by <a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Neander_Joachim" target="_blank">Joachim Neander</a> (1650-1680) is also suitable year round, but more as a general hymn of praise.</li></ul><p>The runners up are the Presbyterian “Praise to God, immortal praise,” the Dutch “We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing,” and the Anglican “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.”</p><p>Together, these eight hymns cover both concepts of Thanksgiving — the November U.S. holiday or general gratitude to our divine creator.</p>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-44852745595594898282021-07-11T20:15:00.002-07:002022-12-26T18:14:09.515-08:00"My Way" as Highway to Hell?<p>Among the most theological of C.S. Lewis' books is <i>The Great Divorce.</i> Lewis uses the writer George MacDonald — who he considered <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210309175142/http://cslewis.org/resources/studyguides/Study%20Guide%20-%20The%20Great%20Divorce.pdf" target="_blank">“his master”</a> — to explain how so many people end up in Hell.</p><p><i>The Great Divorce</i> was the subject of one of four talks by Peter Kreeft last week at the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210526015111/https://www.holycommuniondallas.org/anglicanway.html" target="_blank">Anglican Way Institute.</a> Kreeft, a <a href="https://www.peterkreeft.com/books.htm" target="_blank">prolific author</a> and Catholic philosophy professor at Boston College, noted that one passage of the book is more quoted than any other:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.”</div></blockquote><div>Kreeft considered this an apt summary of a doctrine of free will and salvation — as (during Q&A) did Fr. Lawrence Bausch, the outgoing head of <a href="https://www.fifna.org" target="_blank">Forward in Faith North America.</a> In the end, this is just another manifestation of Pride, the first of the Seven Deadly Sins formalized in the 6th century by Pope Gregory.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Pastoral Dilemma of Funeral Hymns</h4><div>Hearing this summary of <i>The Great Divorce </i>suggested a potential pastoral problem. Sure enough: when I looked up the latest funeral hymn survey by a U.K. chain of funeral homes, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200719225021/https://www.coop.co.uk/funeralcare/music/charts" target="_blank">this is what I found:</a></div><div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">Based on the data and insights of our Funeral Directors and Funeral Arrangers, who conduct up to 100,000 funerals a year, we can reveal that our 2019 chart winner is... ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra.</div></blockquote><p>The Sinatra song was tops not only in the 2019 survey, but also in 2016 and 2012. (It was briefly dislodged by “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” in the 2014 survey).</p><p>The problem is that, as Kreeft summarized, “Every time we choose ‘my will be done’ instead of ‘thy will be done,’ we choose hell.” In case people missed his point, Kreeft termed the Sinatra favorite as “the song people sing going into hell”. (While “My Way” has been the overall leader for most of the past decade, “Highway to Hell” was #5 on the Rock chart <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161020041138/http://www.co-operativefuneralcare.co.uk/globalassets/fnc_chart_2016_2.pdf" target="_blank">in 2016</a>).</p><p>It’s a little too late to convert the heart of the deceased once he/she is in a pine box. So discussing funeral hymns seems like a catechetical opportunity for pre-need planning — at least for those who still want a church ceremony.</p></div>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-40877797643820046882020-12-24T20:28:00.005-08:002021-11-25T15:12:28.289-08:00Cambridge Choral Christmas in CovidtideAs (almost) every year since 1918, the King‘s College Choir (<a href="https://twitter.com/ChoirOfKingsCam" target="_blank">@ChoirOfKingsCam</a>) today sang its <a href="https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-and-carols" target="_blank">Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.</a> As with last year, it was led by Daniel Hyde, the <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/100-years-of-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">seventh KCC Director of Music</a> since the broadcasts began in 1928. Thanks to the current pandemic, it was broadcast via tape delay rather than live with a congregation.<div><br /></div><div>Hyde stepped in last fall to lead the choir in the 2019 service. In 2020, with a full year to prepare (albeit during the season of Covidtide), Hyde clearly put his mark on the choir and the beloved Christmas Eve service. He added two carols that (according to <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/unparalleled-lessons-carols-resource.html" target="_blank">the Sinden.org cross-reference</a>) were not sung at the service in the past 40 years or so</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/as_i_sat_on_a_sunny_bank.htm" target="_blank">As I sat on a Sunny Bank</a>, a folk carol variant of “I saw Three Ships” arranged by Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987)</li><li>Still, Still, Still, arranged by Bob Chilcott (1955-)</li></ul></div><div>As seems to be KCC custom, Hyde used his own descant, in this case for the Poston carol. Overall, my daughter and I heard four pieces with descants:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Once in Royal David’s City, with the familiar Stephen Cleobury descant</li><li>While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night, in an arrangement (and thus presumably descant) credited to KCC professor (and vice provost) <a href="https://www.mus.cam.ac.uk/directory/nick-marston" target="_blank">Nicholas Marston</a> (c. 1960-)</li><li>O Come all ye Faithful, with the KCC signature double-descant in the final two verses. The <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w59fN6uPE8kjbgLeEBJD2eRNwHq37nbg/view?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">program</a> implies they are by Christopher Robinson (1936-) and David Hill (1957-). These were the descants <a href="https://twitter.com/ChoirOfKingsCam/status/1341784497088581638" target="_blank">teased</a> (from the separate TV broadcast) in a 38 second clip on the official Twitter account</li><li>Hark the Herald Angels Sing, with the familiar Philip Ledger descant</li></ol><div><div>At least three carols appeared to be new arrangements: “O Come all ye Faithful”, “Away in a Manger” and “The Holly and the Ivy”. Hyde also brought back three arrangements that (Sinden.org implies) were last sung during Ledger’s tour at the helm (1974-1981): “Of the Father’s Heart Begotten,” “A Maiden Most Gentle,” and “The Shepherd’s Cradle Song”.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, the choir sang familiar pieces as well:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Three date to the original service: Once in Royal, O Come, and Hark the Herald Angels. </li><li>Others were sung last year, notably Vaughan Williams’ “This is the Truth” and Sussex Carol (“On Christmas Night all Christians Sing”)</li><li>Others were sung for <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/100-years-of-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">the 2018 centennial:</a> </li><ul><li>“Adam lay Ybounden,” arranged by former KCC leader Boris Ord (1929-39, 1946-56)</li><li>“In the Bleak Midwinter,” the Rosetti poem with melody and harmony by former leader Harold Darke (1940-45)</li><li>“In dulci jubilo,” translated and arranged by Robert de Pearsall</li></ul></ul></div><div>The recording is available online, or <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCRadio3/status/1341865970139279364" target="_blank">repeated on BBC 3</a> at 1<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qks5" target="_blank">300 GMT Christmas Day</a> (0800 EST, 0500 PST). For once, the choir <a href="https://twitter.com/ChoirOfKingsCam/status/1342057052684873728" target="_blank">can listen with their family.</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_o_N75MQYa8huZE-5Tz64fjfcsAgnzmTkSeO6QKCenSyyKII-5NT9bAGNhg4MSE-OtmuvhPyQBN9LE5oObpnm5fvP-YB1BRDWOUa4m46P3Dxm-qYsiKVXWxa1z74m_-vLgubFL_4pAVFF/s822/KCC+2020+tweet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="605" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_o_N75MQYa8huZE-5Tz64fjfcsAgnzmTkSeO6QKCenSyyKII-5NT9bAGNhg4MSE-OtmuvhPyQBN9LE5oObpnm5fvP-YB1BRDWOUa4m46P3Dxm-qYsiKVXWxa1z74m_-vLgubFL_4pAVFF/w294-h400/KCC+2020+tweet.png" width="294" /></a></div>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-85299296110525879842020-11-26T14:36:00.003-08:002022-12-26T18:15:06.359-08:00Giving thanks on Thanksgiving<p>Readers I know I am thankful for any chance to sing a familiar hymn. However, for <i>Thanksgiving</i> hymns, there are really two types: those for the fall Thanksgiving holiday, and those for giving thanks without regard to the season. The former are more uniquely suited for this week in November, and also less well known.</p><p>From a range of American hymnals of the past 120 years — plus <i>The English Hymnal</i> (1906) from the CoE — I identified eight hymns listed as a “Thanksgiving” hymn. I discussed these eight hymns in <a href="https://northamanglican.com/hymns-of-thanksgiving-and-for-thanksgiving/" target="_blank">a column</a> yesterday in the <i>North American Anglican.</i></p><p>Below is the table I made up for my own reference with the hymn texts, tunes and sequences in the hymnals:</p>
<div style="font-size: smaller;">
<table border="1" cellpadding="2">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Text</td>
<td>Tune</td>
<td>TEH</td>
<td>1892</td>
<td>1916</td>
<td>1940</td>
<td>1982</td>
<td>2017</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Come, ye
thankful people, come</td>
<td>St. George's Windsor</td>
<td>289</td>
<td>193</td>
<td>421</td>
<td>137</td>
<td>290</td>
<td>203</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>For the
beauty of the earth</td>
<td>†</td>
<td>309</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>425</td>
<td>296</td>
<td>416</td>
<td>206</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>We plow the
fields and scatter</td>
<td>Claudius</td>
<td>293</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>423</td>
<td>138</td>
<td>291</td>
<td>204</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Now thank
we all our God</td>
<td>Nun danket</td>
<td>533</td>
<td>466</td>
<td>422</td>
<td>276</td>
<td>397</td>
<td>200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Praise to
God, immortal praise</td>
<td>Dix</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>192</td>
<td>420</td>
<td>140</td>
<td>288</td>
<td>591</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Praise to
the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation</td>
<td>Lobe den Herren</td>
<td>536</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>279</td>
<td>290</td>
<td>349</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Praise God,
from whom all blessings flow</td>
<td>Old Hundredth</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>139</td>
<td>380</td>
<td>208</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>We gather
together to ask the Lord's blessing</td>
<td>Kremser</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>315</td>
<td>433</td>
<td>199</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<p>Notes: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1892 tunes vary by edition, so tunes taken from the 1896 xx</li><li>2017 is <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-latest-acna-hymnal.html" target="_blank">the new REC hymnal:</a> <i>Magnify the Lord </i>aka<i> Book of Common Praise 2017</i>.</li><li>† For this hymn, the tune varies between hymnals</li></ul><div>Note also that it is not until 1928 that Thanksgiving is offically observed by the ECUSA <i>Book of Common Prayer.</i></div><h4>Harvest Hymns</h4><div>The first three hymns are harvest hymns suitable for singing in the fall. Of these three, my personal favorite is “We plow the fields and scatter,” both for the tune (with harmony) and the text:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_3AwzpihM8qRr8tj2KxJQt5XfJ_8zaAjZI8ZItSzwf1iH_SAocgiJNYa_rvvt8v5A7jc64HHLCu4gworl8U-apGkuM22I69NAaF0ezKaJLoy3UvlIe4lAMJlyCb1kQ4hvvKkTEtEkat8/s2048/H40-138-cropped.png" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1454" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_3AwzpihM8qRr8tj2KxJQt5XfJ_8zaAjZI8ZItSzwf1iH_SAocgiJNYa_rvvt8v5A7jc64HHLCu4gworl8U-apGkuM22I69NAaF0ezKaJLoy3UvlIe4lAMJlyCb1kQ4hvvKkTEtEkat8/s200/H40-138-cropped.png" /></a></div><blockquote><p>We plow the fields, and scatter<br />
The good seed on the land,<br />
But it is fed and watered<br />
By God's almighty hand;<br />
He sends the snow in winter,<br />
The warmth to swell the grain,<br />
The breezes and the sunshine,<br />
And soft refreshing rain.</p>
<p><i>Refrain:</i> All good gifts around us<br />
Are sent from heaven above;<br />
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord<br />
For all his love.</p>
<p>He only is the Maker<br />
Of all things near and far;<br />
He paints the wayside flower,<br />
He lights the evening star;<br />
The winds and waves obey him,<br />
By him the birds are fed;<br />
Much more to us, his children,<br />
He gives our daily bread.<br />
<i>Refrain</i></p>
<p>We thank thee, then, O Father,<br />
For all things bright and good,<br />
The seedtime and the harvest,<br />
Our life, our health, our food:<br />
No gifts have we to offer<br />
For all thy love imparts,<br />
But that which thou desirest,<br />
Our humble, thankful hearts.<br />
<i>Refrain</i></p></blockquote><div>The greatest personal disappointment was find that when singing “For the beauty of the earth,” the tune I associate with this hymn — Dix — is only used with a hymnal that didn’t exist five years ago.</div>
<h4>Giving thanks</h4><div>Most of the remaining hymns sing praise to God in a manner that could be done year round, such as “Praise to God,” “Praise to the Lord,” and “Praise God.” In this category, it’s impossible to beat “Now thank we all our God” by Martin Rinkart; it certainly was familiar to everyone present when we sang it last Sunday. </div><div><br /></div><div>One hymn — “We gather together” — is associated with Thanksgiving only because of the opening phrase; however, the remaining text is from a 1597 hymn giving thanks after Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants. It only gradually entered American hymnals in the mid-20th century, based on a late 19th century translation.</div>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-69649405284946905882020-08-28T20:02:00.002-07:002020-08-28T20:02:54.478-07:00A CCM superstar and two archbishops go into a videoconferenceToday’s email blast includes an invitation from the ACNA for discounted registration to Keith and Kirsten Getty’s annual conference on contemporary worship music. I was surprised to learn that the Gettys (denominational affiliation unknown) have become the official CCM (and perhaps hymn) suppliers to the ACNA.<br />
<br />
I mean no respect to the Gettys’ obvious songwriting, performing and business abilities. The planned tribute to Anglican theologian and BCP/ESV editor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._I._Packer" target="_blank">James Innell Packer </a>(1926-2020) is also well-deserved.<br />
<br />
However, I’m not just used to a performer being endorsed by a denomination unless there’s a clear denominational affinity/membership involved. If the conference weren’t $150 (with the discount), I might just go to find out <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbGEuNi2SKs" target="_blank">what’s a happenin’.</a><br />
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<h4 class="null" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, Baskerville, Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong><u>Join Fellow Anglicans at the Getty Music Worship Conference: Sing! Global 2020, Aug. 30- Sept 2</u></strong></h4>
<br />
Each year, Keith and Kristyn Getty – friends of the Province and known for their modern hymns such as “In Christ Alone,” “The Power of the Cross,” and “Speak O Lord” - host the Sing! Worship Conference. This year’s conference will feature a particular focus on the beauty of structured prayer and the Anglican liturgy. Due to the current pandemic, the conference has been moved to an online format and will take place August 30 – September 2. Registrants will have access to all content for 90 days after the conference.<br />
<br />
The Most Rev. Robert Duncan, Archbishop Emeritus of the Anglican Church in North America, will lead a special seminar entitled “Scripture Arranged for Worship: Singing the Book of Common Prayer.” In tribute to his life and ministry, a never-before-seen legacy interview with Dr. J.I. Packer (recorded 2018) covering topics from the importance of personal holiness to modern liturgy will be shown. And, don’t miss the conversation with Keith Getty, Archbishop Foley Beach, and Archbishop Robert Duncan on the formative power of singing the Word.<br />
<br />
Keith and Kristyn Getty are doing great work to help deepen worship and train church leaders around the world. Their organization has worked closely with the Anglican Church in North America and Archbishop Beach in the past to bring quality training on liturgy, music, and artistry to the global family of God’s people. <br />
<br />
Because of the special relationship between the Gettys and the Province, members of the Anglican Church in North America can receive a 30% discount on registration for the conference by following this link - <a href="http://bit.ly/singacna" style="color: #751515; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/singacna</a><br />
<br />
To learn more about the Sing! Global online conference, including a list of speakers and schedule, please visit <a href="https://www.gettymusicworshipconference.com/" style="color: #751515; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank">www.gettymusicworshipconference.com</a>. Don't miss this opportunity to grow deeper in your faith and learn from pastors, musicians, and artists from around the world!<br />
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What can you expect at Sing! Global 2020? Sermons from trusted expositors on the wonder and power of the Word of God. Practical talks and interviews on how Scripture informs every aspect of corporate and family worship and fuels evangelism and missions. Over 60 breakout sessions on preaching, prayer, congregational singing, liturgy, hymn writing, family devotions, and the doctrine of the Word. Songs led by musicians committed to doctrinal depth and Christ-exalting hymnody. This event will also showcase the unity of the church as we are led in sung worship from six continents! Registration includes access to all content for 90 days so you can catch up and go deeper.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a data-qa="message_attachment_title_link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnBIGoTnhD8&feature=youtu.be" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">A Conversation with Keith Getty, Archbishop Robert Duncan & Archbishop Foley Beach</span></a></td></tr>
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J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-1524931337866617752020-08-23T17:46:00.002-07:002020-08-23T22:14:16.934-07:00God be merciful to me...Regular readers know I love singing harmony — which usually means straightforward voice leading and harmonies, sung several times a year. Today our communion hymn (H40: #60) was one of my favorite Lenten hymns, “With broken heart and contrite sigh”:<br />
<blockquote>
With broken heart and contrite sigh<br />
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry:<br />
Thy pardoning grace is rich and free<br />
O God, be merciful to me.<br />
<br />
I smite upon my troubled breast,<br />
With deep and conscience guilt oppressed;<br />
Christ and His cross my only plea:<br />
O God, be merciful to me.<br />
<br />
Far off I stand with tearful eyes,<br />
Nor dare uplift them to the skies;<br />
But Thou dost all my anguish see:<br />
O God, be merciful to me.<br />
<br />
Nor alms, nor deeds that I have done,<br />
Can for a single sin atone;<br />
To Calvary alone I flee:<br />
O God, be merciful to me.<br />
<br />
And when, redeemed from sin and hell,<br />
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,<br />
My raptured song shall ever be,<br />
God has been merciful to me.</blockquote>
There were four surprises in singing it today.<br />
<h4>
Liturgical Year</h4>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqf3ctvrONovZMe3lR_LH8DJEzlphPKM4SjKXr7ac-9nx2cR8GFMdAB5ts6FOYtSTB2XaU_vVIlDHZzAawEwKrskkY-jBb5HmX-4guv8L2eFWnnsYhVnwWYo4oVRTPi94Jh7A8Kr3AWs2/s1600/ELH-455.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="997" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqf3ctvrONovZMe3lR_LH8DJEzlphPKM4SjKXr7ac-9nx2cR8GFMdAB5ts6FOYtSTB2XaU_vVIlDHZzAawEwKrskkY-jBb5HmX-4guv8L2eFWnnsYhVnwWYo4oVRTPi94Jh7A8Kr3AWs2/s320/ELH-455.png" width="199" /></a>My favorite hymnal recommends it for Ash Wednesday (HC), Lent I (MP and HC) and Lent V (EP). Not surprisingly, <i>Hymnal 1940</i> and other hymnals list it as a Lenten or penitential hymn.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However — contrary to our hymnal guidelines — today we used it to support the gospel reading. The hymn is about the tax collector (publican) from this parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, which is Luke 18:9-14 and Trinity 11 in the historic one-year lectionary.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The usage was perfect. Today’s sermon was about the (familiar) lesson that Jesus teaches about confession of sin, penitence and humility, and the hymn allowed all of us to cement this message in our hearts by singing it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
It turns out this usage is exactly how it is scheduled in the 1996 <i>Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, </i>the hymnal of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Lutheran_Synod" target="_blank">Evangelical Lutheran Synod,</a> the Norwegian Lutherans who didn’t join the ELC in 1917 (which later became the ELCA).</div>
<h4>
Origin of the Text</h4>
<div>
I didn’t recognize the name of the author, Cornelius Elven. So when I got home, I looked up the origins of the text and author. Julian’s <i>Dictionary of Hymnology</i> (<a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Elven_C" target="_blank">via Hymnary</a>) says</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Elven, Cornelius, </b>pastor for fifty years of the Baptist Church at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, was born in 1797, and died in 1873. His hymn, "With broken heart and contrite sigh” (Lent), is found in several collections in Great Britain and America. It was written in Jan., 1852 (Miller’s <i>Singers & Songs,</i> p. 449) for use at special services by his own congregation, and was included in the <i>Baptist Psalms & Hymns, </i>1858.</blockquote>
<div>
The <i>Hymnal 1940 Companion</i> helpfully adds</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This digression on the Parable of the Publican was written by Cornelius Eleven … It is based on St. Luke 18:13. It was first published in <i>Baptist Psalms & Hymns, </i>1858, and in the [PECUSA] <i>Hymnal </i>of 1874.</blockquote>
<div>
So the intended use is actually for the parable and not the penitential season.</div>
</div>
<h4>
Recent Unpopularity</h4>
<div>
Hymnary is biased against older hymnals: by default, it only shows hymnals listing from 1979 onwards. Only 5 hymnals since 1979 list this hymn — but 202 before that date. Among the five, three are US denominational hymnals:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><i><a href="https://hymnary.org/hymnal/CWLH1993?page=3" target="_blank">Christian Worship:</a> #</i>303, the 1993 hymnal of Wisconsin Synod Lutherans</li>
<li><i><a href="https://hymnary.org/hymnal/ELH1996?page=4" target="_blank">Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary: </a>#</i>455</li>
<li><a href="https://hymnary.org/hymnal/BHUC2012?page=2" target="_blank"><i>Baptist Hymnal</i> </a>[2012]: #286, from the American Baptist Churches (a smaller, and more liberal denomination than the Southern Baptists). Google Books <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oRj8LwEACAAJ" target="_blank">suggests </a>that indicates that this is a slightly updated edition of the 1920 American Baptist hymnal, albeit one from the<a href="https://www.judsonpress.com/Pages/About/About-Us.aspx" target="_blank"> official American Baptist publisher</a> located a few blocks from the denominational HQ.</li>
</ul>
Not surprisingly, seven other Baptist hymnals list the text, including the <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymnal/BHTB1871?page=3" target="_blank">1871,</a> <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymnal/BHUC1883?page=3" target="_blank">1883,</a> and <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymnal/BHPB1904?page=5" target="_blank">1904</a> Baptist hymnals. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, I was <i>shocked</i> to discover that this Baptist stalwart has not appeared in a Southern Baptist hymnal of the 20th or 21st century. I manually verified with my bookcase that this text (or anything by Elven) does not appear in the 1940 <i>The Broadman Hymnal</i> or the 1956, 1975, 1991 or 2008 editions of <i>The Baptist Hymnal — </i>nor does it appear in the 2010 <i>Celebrating Grace,</i> an unofficial (and slightly less conservative) Southern Baptist hymnal.</div>
<div>
<i><br />
</i></div>
<div>
Seeing such omission makes it less surprising that it was dumped by contemporary Episcopalians in <i>Hymnal 1982. </i>Also not surprising is that it passed unchanged from <i>Hymnal 1940 </i>as hymn #97 in <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-latest-acna-hymnal.html" target="_blank"><i>Magnify the Lord</i> </a>(aka <i><a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/09/21st-century-hymnals-come-to-waco.html" target="_blank">Book of Common Praise 2017</a></i>), the 2017 Reformed Episcopal Church hymnal.</div>
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<div>
<h4>
Melodic Divergence</h4>
</div>
<div>
In looking at US hymnals, these are the tunes I found</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Migdol: [PECUSA] <i>Hymnal 1896</i> (87)</li>
<li>Eisenach: <i><span style="font-style: normal;">[PECUSA] </span>Hymnal 1916</i> (133)</li>
<li>Nuremberg: <i><span style="font-style: normal;">[PECUSA] </span>Hymnal 1872</i> (71, 2nd tune) in the Goodrich & Gilbert edition† of <i>Hymnal 1872</i>.</li>
<li>St. Cross: the 1930 <i><a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/ALH1930/72" target="_blank">American Lutheran Hymnal</a> </i>and the 1958 <i><a href="https://hymnary.org/hymnal/SBHC1958?page=4" target="_blank">Service Book and Hymnal</a></i></li>
<li>St. Luke: <i>Evangelical Lutheran Worship </i>and <i>Christian Worship</i></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<div>
† In 1872, PECUSA standardized the text but not the music, so each edition had its own tune choices.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://hymnary.org/tune/babylons_streams_campion" target="_blank"><span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Babylon’s Streams</span></a> is the tune I sang this morning. It is the tune Episcopalians (Reformed or not) published 2017, 1940 and the Goodrich & Gilbert edition of <i>Hymnal 1872</i> (71, 1st tune), and has a very penitential feel. Also using this tune is the 1970 American Baptist <i><a href="https://hymnary.org/hymnal/H4CW1970?page=0" target="_blank">Hymnbook for Christian Worship</a></i> (#50), which lists three verses under “Forgiveness” rather than repentance.<br />
<br />
Other than these three hymnals (BCP 2017 is not in Hymnary), the other 23 uses of the tune are given for other texts. The tune is also the subject of an organ chorale by English composer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harris" target="_blank">William Henry Harris</a> (1883-1873), who served as the <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/william-h-harris-mn0001633258/biography" target="_blank">court organist of Windsor Castle.</a> The “Fantasy on the Tune Babylon’s Streams” was performed <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/911505.pdf" target="_blank">as early as 1923.</a><br />
<br />
The tune by composer and poet Thomas Campian (1567-1620) was the most lasting contribution of what would be an important transitional collection of tunes for the Church of England. As Valnetine (1951:254) summarized:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thomas Campion's <i>First Book of Ayres, </i>published in 1613, shows the influence of the madrigal in the loosening of the rigid form imposed in the Church Tunes. Thomas Campion wrote the words and composed the music for such hymns as "The Weather-beaten Sail" (S.P. 567) and "The Song of Joy" (S.P. 639). The best-known tune from this important book is "Babylon's Streams" (S.P. 124, E.R. 487, A.M.R. 228). These tunes, it is to be observed, were composed for hymns and not for Metrical Psalms. This is an advance in the history of the hymn tune.</blockquote>
How this pairing was created in 1872 is not explained by the <i>Hymnal 1940 Companion, </i>and my search of Google Scholar produced no answers. Because it is not used in any other major hymnal (with a published hymnal companion), this story may be lost to history.<br />
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<h4>
References</h4>
Valentine, Cyril H. "The Hymn Tune in the English Church." <i>Theology </i>54, no. 373 (1951): 250-257.</div>
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J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-23515429304370783072020-06-14T22:34:00.002-07:002020-06-14T22:34:59.866-07:00A most appropriate communion hymnToday we sang one of my favorite communion hymns “Humbly I adore thee” — a timeless hymn (#204) from my <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-first-hymnal_26.html" target="_blank">favorite hymnal</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
Humbly I adore thee, Verity unseen,<br />
Who thy glory hidest 'neath these shadows mean;<br />
Lo, to thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,<br />
Tranced as it beholds thee, shrined within the cloud.<br />
<br />
Taste, and touch, and vision, to discern thee fail;<br />
Faith, that comes by hearing, pierces through the veil.<br />
I believe whate'er the Son of God hath told;<br />
What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.<br />
<br />
O memorial wondrous of the Lord's own death;<br />
Living Bread, that givest all thy creatures breath,<br />
Grant my spirit ever by thy life may live,<br />
To my taste thy sweetness never failing give.<br />
<br />
Jesus, whom now veiled, I by faith descry,<br />
What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny,<br />
That thy face unveiled, I at last may see,<br />
With the blissful vision blest, my God, of thee. <i>Amen.</i></blockquote>
<h4>
Anglican Versions of Adoro Devote</h4>
<a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2007/09/ancient-hymn-of-devotion.html" target="_blank">As I summarized back in 2007,</a> the words in <i>Hymnal 1940</i> were translated from the 13th century Latin text is attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas (“Adoro devote, latens veritas”). It uses a tune that first appeared in <i>Hymns Ancient & Modern </i>in 1869; however, <i>A&M </i>had its own translation by Bishop J.R. Woodford — a translation (“Thee we adore”) later used in <i>The English Hymnal</i> (1906) and <i>New English Hymnal†</i> (1986).<br />
<br />
All the American hymnas keep the <i>A&M</i> tune, termed <span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Adoro Devote</span> in the U.S. hymnals — even if (as <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2007/09/ancient-hymn-of-devotion.html" target="_blank">noted earlier</a>) there are differences in the rhythms. Here is the H40 version:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRT9_otAra2CQEuvWV9kL57ZSYyNjd9S6-aNbf8jOuV8AmYR4DD9MmqhTwOev43xuQuo9jylYMyaa9TAqltPtj3JdA5v5ye6ZsrD_13mRr8Tww9lzMn5qHtWSTCQDfo8pwZza74BLrzfR/s1600-h/TeAdoro-Hymnal1940.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5105869399968591874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRT9_otAra2CQEuvWV9kL57ZSYyNjd9S6-aNbf8jOuV8AmYR4DD9MmqhTwOev43xuQuo9jylYMyaa9TAqltPtj3JdA5v5ye6ZsrD_13mRr8Tww9lzMn5qHtWSTCQDfo8pwZza74BLrzfR/s400/TeAdoro-Hymnal1940.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
US Anglicans — <i>Hymnal 1940, Hymnal 1982</i> and <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-latest-acna-hymnal.html" target="_blank"><i>Magnify the Lord†</i> </a>— all use the ”1939” translation of <i>Hymnal 1940. </i>Among Lutherans, <i>Lutheran Book of Worship </i>(1978)†, <i>Evangelical Lutheran Worship </i>(2006)† and the <i>Lutheran Service Book </i>(2006)† all use versions of the <i>A&M </i>translation, while <i>Lutheran Worship </i>(1982) uses its own translation. All use the same tune.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
† These are newer observations since the 2007 posting.</div>
<br />
<i>The Hymnal 1940 Companion</i> actually credits its translation to an earlier source<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The translation is that of the <i>Monastic Diurnal, </i>1932, save for the first line which there read “Deity unseen,” following the Latin text commonly used prior to the research of Dom Wilmart [<i>Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale,</i> I (1929)], ”Deity” missed the full subtlety of St. Thomas’ thought which uses “Verity” much as St. Ambroses earlier used “O God of truth.” … The <i>Diurnal </i>translation is but another stage in over a century of versions, all duly traced by [John] Julian [<a href="https://archive.org/stream/imslp-dictionary-of-hymnology-julian-john/PMLP213617-Julian-DictionaryOfHymnology_A-O#page/n39/mode/1up/search/adoro" target="_blank">in his <i>Dictionary of Hymnology</i></a>]. </blockquote>
Not surprisingly, <i>Magnify the Lord</i> (aka <i>Book of Common Praise 2017</i>) follows <i>The Hymnal 1940</i>, while <i>Hymnal 1982</i> modifies verse 4.<br />
<br />
One of the earlier translations mentioned by Julian is <i><a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/new-research-on-john-mason-neale.html" target="_blank">Hymnal Noted.</a></i> Although originally by <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/rev-john-mason-neale-dd-24-jan-1818-6.html" target="_blank">John Mason Neale (1818-1866),</a> the only edition I found with this hymn is the posthumous 10th edition of 1889. Still, the passages comparable to the 1940 text look very familiar:
<br />
<blockquote>
PROSTRATE I adore Thee, Deity unseen,<br />
Who Thy Glory hidest, 'neath these shadows mean;<br />
Lo, to Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,<br />
Tranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.<br />
<br />
Taste, and touch, and vision in Thee are deceived,<br />
But the hearing only, well may be believed,<br />
I believe what e’er the Son of God hath told,<br />
What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.<br />
<br />
Oh, Memorial wondrous of the Lord's Own Death,<br />
Living Bread, that givest all His creatures breath;<br />
Grant my spirit ever by Thy Life may live,<br />
To my taste Thy sweetness never-failing give.<br />
<br />
Jesu, Whom now veiled, I by faith, descry,<br />
What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny;<br />
That Thy Face unveiled, I at last may see,<br />
With the blissful vision blest, my God, of Thee. <i>Amen.</i></blockquote>
<h4>
Today's Significance</h4>
This text was particularly moving under today’s circumstances. It was our family’s first Sunday back at church since our last visit together on March 15. On March 13 we got a confident message that “St. X is staying open” — but eight days later were told “Until further notice, St. X will be closed for Sunday services.” A week ago, the church resumed — though none of us could make it — and today continued under extreme social distancing regulations imposed by the state of California.<br />
<br />
For more than two months, our family sang together in our TV room: on Palm Sunday, Easter and throughout Eastertide. Today was the first time we were singing together at church, and could hear the others of our church (and the choir) singing as well.<br />
<br />
There is also the fact that I like plainsong, I like hymns that predate the fracturing of the Western church, this hymn is strongly associated with <i>Hymnal 1940,</i> and one I know well.<br />
<br />
But finally, there was the connection to Aquinas. While our hymnal (and 21st century Anglicans) have a few hymns by <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/Ambrose" target="_blank">Ambrose</a> and <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2019/04/fortunatus-and-neale.html" target="_blank">Fortnatus,</a> the reality is that Aquinas is one of the oldest hymnwriters of the undivided Western church. I always appreciate the continuity and certainty of singing the same timeless hymn that’s been sung for centuries by other Christians. This Sunday, with all the discontinuity and uncertainty in the world this year, it was particularly appreciated.J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-12842767256499719272020-03-22T14:42:00.001-07:002020-03-23T08:39:24.987-07:00Virtual Worship In Time of Great SicknessToday many U.S. Anglican churches across the country worshipped online. The disruption caused by the current crisis poses significant challenges, both in the short run and in the long run.<br />
<br />
A week ago, churches were still debating how to worship face to face, e.g. by <a href="https://wannabeanglican.blogspot.com/2020/03/in-one-kind.html" target="_blank">communion in one kind.</a> While most churches were in person a week ago, government order has shut down most if not all the churches in the most heavily affected states (New York, Massachusetts, Washington, California) as well as specific metropolitan regions.<br />
<br />
Today, for the 4th Sunday of Lent, we “attended” service at our current church and peeked in on services (or watched replay excerpts) at four churches where we previously worshiped.<br />
<br />
The three largest streamed on YouTube; a fourth used ChristianWorldMedia.com, while the smallest used FaceBook live. Two emailed links to PDF versions of the worship booklet. All had a sermon.<br />
<br />
Such services can be assessed in terms of what works as worship, what works for worshippers, and what works for the church.<br />
<br />
In my opinion, the pastoral goal of the online service should be to both reinforce the faith of those attending, and also providing reassurance and comfort to those attending online. Thus, a key goal is (or should be) to provide normalcy for faithful worshippers. At the same time — to be blunt — the online churches must remain relevant to their parishioners, who otherwise may not return when the crisis is over.<br />
<br />
Below are the services ranked (purely subjectively) in terms of the degree of vibrancy and normalcy. This is also (with one exception) their order from largest (most resources) to smallest.<br />
<h4>
1. St. Matthew’s</h4>
St. Matthew’s provided a video window into an almost-normal service. The emailed booklet was almost identical to that used last year — with the full order of service, music for the chants and words for the hymns.<br />
<br />
From a technical standpoint, the church has been livestreaming for years because the cry room(s) are linked to the service by TV cables and not a pane of glass. The church had the best video quality, with an HD camera and a long shot showing the sanctuary and front of the nave.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IamC0egj4vTOjnpelDZiJxOdqOux7aiWX0azOwH7LbeHEZ7uW35TBjE-Y-H4socY8xzdr3nzy87pRb6yt4VZW8W_0Uqx2WhhPNCvZK6FQ_ebdKjDWdR7R-q04QTZYWoNP4snOzPNxg09/s1600/StMatthews.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IamC0egj4vTOjnpelDZiJxOdqOux7aiWX0azOwH7LbeHEZ7uW35TBjE-Y-H4socY8xzdr3nzy87pRb6yt4VZW8W_0Uqx2WhhPNCvZK6FQ_ebdKjDWdR7R-q04QTZYWoNP4snOzPNxg09/s400/StMatthews.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Part of the normalcy came from having full music, as on every Sunday. There was an organ prelude and postlude, three hymns, the various chants of the (medieval) mass setting (Second Communion Service in <i>Hymnal 1940</i>), and anthems for the (non-existent) offertory and communion. This also included sung responses and some chanted prayers.<br />
<h4>
2. Christ Church</h4>
<div>
Christ Church had a camera on a chair near the altar, a tight short on the altar and altar party. There were no musicians, chanted prayers, and a single hymn at the end. The sermon was preached from a lectern moved on camera. Otherwise the service was pretty similar to the regular service.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The final hymn — “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” — was sung <i>a capella</i> by the clergy and handful of laity. The rector (by far the best singer of the clergy at the five services) led the melody for the first three verses and then switched to bass for the final verses — similar to an unaccompanied midweek service.</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjfyXtLiu3d3OQ6U6ouCGWSLJvzZU4Aw09ymwZeyjCtcmF6JuItFK_awmCdSSjmkyfmmVVHpzSFH5qbtuGLVsLlJtdauxAOUJBxcZTS23ZyrSq7RwrnZQRhzELqcPYD82fHhHWRVlDMam/s1600/ChristChurch.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="929" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjfyXtLiu3d3OQ6U6ouCGWSLJvzZU4Aw09ymwZeyjCtcmF6JuItFK_awmCdSSjmkyfmmVVHpzSFH5qbtuGLVsLlJtdauxAOUJBxcZTS23ZyrSq7RwrnZQRhzELqcPYD82fHhHWRVlDMam/s400/ChristChurch.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With a better camera angle and regular music, like #1 this also would have fully projected the feeling of normalcy.</div>
<h4>
3. St. James</h4>
<div>
This church also has experience streaming, with a long angle camera (and a close-in camera) filming from the choir loft. The music team — pianist and harpist — were playing hymns from the hymnal, and the order of service seemed similar to what I recall from my last in person visit. So other than the nearly-empty pews, this was a faithful video of an almost normal service.</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVZpMS9cvg1cscaSWcqOzhNbq1LgDPJScPq2eIqUrP87GhcW0ZopDQwtOToLGqQMV8OoKlSlDQtVsBb2uJeUL-hGQ_FqCy9d7bCVVfwVT2hma2esTGljQSNAyy6VAl0t_Yfyu-KbxQTMU/s1600/StJames.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="943" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVZpMS9cvg1cscaSWcqOzhNbq1LgDPJScPq2eIqUrP87GhcW0ZopDQwtOToLGqQMV8OoKlSlDQtVsBb2uJeUL-hGQ_FqCy9d7bCVVfwVT2hma2esTGljQSNAyy6VAl0t_Yfyu-KbxQTMU/s400/StJames.png" width="400" /></a></div>
However, the rector seemed to emphasize how different things are, the stress we are all facing in society, and the precautions being taken; personally, I would trust my pastor’s judgement and would want as much normalcy and comfort as possible in the service. (The details of precautions IMHO belong in the weekly email newsletter).</div>
<h4>
4. Holy Communion</h4>
<div>
While the video quality and angle on the altar party were good, this felt a little sparse — a said Morning Prayer service with a 15 minute sermon in the middle.</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIK_xGK_gdV9cRXxU-hKCE3aPmkgmhetTeKavRHCW5gugc3VkGsAa0TL2GjQ9CGCkz90RkLinfAH10YUHzbDFiUpMGEeeB0ke2p5JYL81qILMlcOpQFklXUn7NNcKrACPDu46D-VcI0tLf/s1600/HolyCommunion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="851" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIK_xGK_gdV9cRXxU-hKCE3aPmkgmhetTeKavRHCW5gugc3VkGsAa0TL2GjQ9CGCkz90RkLinfAH10YUHzbDFiUpMGEeeB0ke2p5JYL81qILMlcOpQFklXUn7NNcKrACPDu46D-VcI0tLf/s400/HolyCommunion.png" width="400" /></a></div>
During the announcement, the senior cleric confessed that this is the church’s first effort at live streaming. He asked the online audience to "be patient with us as we learn to offer our services through live stream”. Presumably in future week this will be better — particularly if some form of music can be added back in.</div>
<div>
<h4>
5. A Small Parish</h4>
</div>
<div>
Finally, I watched the Facebook of a small church with limited resources. The rector has small children and thus may be more reluctant than some to head into the community; instead of being broadcast from the normal (shared) church, it came from his home altar.</div>
<div>
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Even given these limitations, it still felt very different from the in person services. The service was Holy Eucharist (2019 ACNA prayer book), but there was no celebration of the mass or administration of Holy Communion. The rector frequently interrupted the liturgy to chat with his virtual audience. I am not the rector (or a member) of this parish, so perhaps this is more comforting to his flock — but it did not feel like normal liturgical worship.</div>
<h4>
Times of Great Mortality</h4>
<div>
Two of the parishes use the 1928 <i>Book of Common Prayer.</i> During their service, both read the Anglican prayer most relevant for these trying times:</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>In Time of Great Sickness and Mortality</i></div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
O MOST mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succour. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our hearts unto that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. <i>Amen.</i></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
This prayer — unique to the American church — is found in every <i>Book of Common Prayer</i> from <a href="http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1789/Prayers&Thanks_1789.htm" target="_blank">1789</a> to <a href="http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1928/Pray&Thanks.htm" target="_blank">1928</a>. However, it was unexplicably omitted from the 1979 prayer book, and the ACNA’s 2019 revision of that prayer book.</div>
<h4>
Effective Online Singing</h4>
<div>
My major research (and practice) interest is in encouraging congregational singing, both because people learn more by singing (“He who sings, prays twice”) and because Anglican worship and liturgy are inherently participatory.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There are the questions of mechanics. A booklet (with tunes) is always best, but in one case the booklet did not match what those in the service were singing. Church #2 didn’t have a booklet, but instead called out the hymn number at the last minute — although a familiar hymn, I’m not sure how many parishioners own that hymnal.</div>
<div>
<br />
Those that included music provided appropriate support for singing along. We’ve found in past (virtual) said liturgy that those at home can’t have their mikes on — e.g. for a creed or psalm — because there’s too much of a time lag to synchronize. Even so, there’s a need to encourage participation, so those at home feel like we are singing together. It definitely worked best when the broadcast service allowed us to hear everyone singing, rather than just the choir (#1) or just the praise leader (#3). That requires a conscious effort at setting up the mikes and mixing them.<br />
<br />
It really wouldn’t have felt participatory if I’d been here alone: fortunately, my daughter sang soprano (and sometimes alto) as I tried to sight-read the bass. We both felt more empowered to take risks than if others had been around to hear us; I also got to cheat and sing some of the choir-only parts that I knew.<br />
<br />
The choir (#1) did two things that were seemed to work well. First, the descant on one hymn was particularly effective: since the choir (music director) choir likes to do descants, this seemed “normal” — but also the descant cut through the mediocre sound reproduction of my TV. Similarly, the <i>a capella </i>choir (properly miked) on one verse really allowed us to hear the four parts clearly.</div>
<div>
<h4>
Implications for the Future</h4>
</div>
<div>
Live streaming virtual worship is here to stay. Certainly it will continue as a substitute for those who can’t come to church — shut-ins, travelers, or those on shift work. It may also be a way to introduce a church to its mission field.<br />
<br />
I doubt that for Anglican and other liturgical churches it will replace face to face worship (but I’ve been wrong before). The key to our worship is participation, and — absent a holographic projection of us worshipping together — virtual worship is <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/view-from-your-pandemic-online-church-coronavirus/" target="_blank">a poor substitute</a> in providing that sense of community and participation.<br />
<br />
If, in the long run, churches rely more heavily on online worship, the mediocrity of the online experience will likely lead to declining engagement with the parish, its mission, a live lived by faith — and concomitant willingness to support the local parish.<br />
<br />
Therefore, there is more that can be done to develop such a sense of engagement for virtual worship. Some of it is pure mechanics — a high resolution camera, zoomed in on the right location, and a dress rehearsal to understand how the service will appear to those viewing online.<br />
<br />
The keys to singing are twofold. First, make the text and music available to those not sitting in the building. The second is picking up and mixing the sound so we hear the instruments, singing by the professionals, and also by the amateur clergy and laity present in the room. While we won’t have a full congregation in times of social distancing, under more normal times, the sounds of congregational singing in <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/george-bushs-houston-funeral.html" target="_blank">an online broadcast </a>can really help the feeling of being there.</div>
<br />
There are other nuances and implications for encouraging singing and participation with online services that require further study and consideration. There’s probably a dissertation in here somewhere.J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-28699596504651365692020-03-08T14:40:00.000-07:002020-03-08T17:48:05.910-07:00Hymns of our ancestorsThis morning at church, our family sang the opening hymn, #483 from <i>Hymnal 1940:</i><br />
<blockquote>
Come, ye disconsolate, where'er ye languish;<br />
Come to the mercy-seat, fervently kneel:<br />
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;<br />
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.<br />
<br />
Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,<br />
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure,<br />
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,<br />
"Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot cure."<br />
<br />
Here see the Bread of Life; see waters flowing<br />
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above;<br />
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing<br />
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.</blockquote>
It is not a hymn I know well, but it is one that we’ve sung before. As my daughter sang soprano and I sight-read the (straightforward) bass part, I had a picture of my ancestors (or other American churchgoers) singing it back in the mid-19th century. (It is not in <i>Hymnal 1982</i>, but is in <i>Magnify the Lord/Book of Common Praise 2017: </i>#541).<br />
<br />
The same words were in <i>Hymnal 1916 </i>(#388), the hymnal my mother and uncle would have used as teenagers growing up in a tiny Northern California farming town. My grandparents died when I was a kid, so I don’t know the religious practices of my family before then. It is also in <i>Hymnal 1892</i> (#637), but does not appear to be in any <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecusa" target="_blank">PECUSA</a> hymnals before that. It is not in the main <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England" target="_blank">CoE</a> hymnals of 1861-present, including the <i>New English Hymnal</i> (1986).<br />
<h4>
Ecumenical Impact</h4>
Hymnary.org <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/come_ye_disconsolate_whereer_ye_languish" target="_blank">reports</a> it is in 1960 hymnals, with a higher proportion of those of the late 19th century.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZv_e3frLzvWMTm9qjxmN-41qUmW0LEnIp52ZcyyPPEXhJFm2zXpezZTVsROVZ2-Few_JjSYfHLABv81jQ4qkqU9vJK2ibBouLRnB63eInsFD41zbrt1ph3tkwDexqGbLJp3SMjm5bCg-a/s1600/Come+ye+disconsolate-hymnals+1800s-2000s.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="1392" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZv_e3frLzvWMTm9qjxmN-41qUmW0LEnIp52ZcyyPPEXhJFm2zXpezZTVsROVZ2-Few_JjSYfHLABv81jQ4qkqU9vJK2ibBouLRnB63eInsFD41zbrt1ph3tkwDexqGbLJp3SMjm5bCg-a/s400/Come+ye+disconsolate-hymnals+1800s-2000s.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Beyond PECUSA, what is the pattern for other denominations?<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Presbyterian. </i>The hymn is in <i>The Hymnbook</i> (1955) and <i>The Hymnal </i>(1933), so my dad might have sung it as a young man or when we attended Presbyterian churches in the 60s. It is also in US Presbyterian hymnals from 1843-1917, but not after 1955.</li>
<li><i>Lutheran.</i> The <a href="https://www.elca.org/" target="_blank">ELCA</a> and its predecessors include the hymn in its latest hymnal, <i>Evangelical Lutheran Worship</i> (2006), <i>Service Book & Worship </i>(1958), <i>American Lutheran Hymnal </i>(1930), and hymnals in 1923 and 1918. The <a href="https://www.lcms.org/" target="_blank">LCMS</a> includes it in <i>The Lutheran Hymnal </i>(1941) and earlier 1918, 1912 and 1892 English-language hymnals.</li>
<li><i>Methodist. </i>The Methodist church seems to include it in most hymnals from 1843 to its latest <i>United Methodist Hymnal</i> (1989).</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Authorship</h4>
Thomas Moore (1779-1852) a Dublin-born Catholic poet; as John Julian says in his <i>Dictionary of Hymnology — </i>echoed by the <i>Hymnal 1940 Companion </i>— “His connection with hymnody is confined to his <i>Sacred Songs,” </i>and that these songs were republished in hymnbooks “mainly in America”.<br />
<br />
This text from <i>Sacred Songs</i> (1816) was modified by <a href="https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/lowell-mason" target="_blank"><i>Spiritual Songs for Social Worship</i> </a>(1831) Thomas Hastings and Lowell Mason. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lowell-Mason" target="_blank">Mason</a> (1792-1872).was a famous American church musicologist who was president of Boston’s Handle and Haydn Society and founder of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Academy_of_Music" target="_blank">Boston Academy of Music</a>.<br />
<br />
The tune <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Consolation</span> by English composer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Webbe" target="_blank">Samuel Webbe</a> (1740-1816), as published in 1792. The tune was arranged by Hastings and Mason for this text in their <i>Spiritual Songs for Social Worship,</i> and is the only tune I found used with this text. Given the dates, this is pre-Victorian 19th century English hymnody (text, arrangement and pairing).
<br />
<br />
Mason is the author of tunes or arrangements for 7 hymns in <i>Hymnal 1940,</i>, including those for “Nearer My God to Thee” and “My Faith Looks Up to Thee.” As with <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Consolation,</span> I find his harmonies quite singable: perhaps they were written for an earlier time when accompaniment was more rare, or at least congregational singers had less formal music training than in the latter half of the century. Or perhaps it was before the Romantic era dissonances of the late 19th century classical composers.<br />
<br />
No matter what the reason, it seems like the harmonizations from the 18th century to mid-19th century — the era Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn — are more approachable for sight-reading by amateur singers like myself.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeK0-pdg4wUTCvEOceM4QAqgg5u0Mj0BafuZ5XT8K11kjNGjqNsxp6jjt4nLV9ZVeUWlajbiNv4fahnbjBeRUsoQS28SKxEiMebAyo7-pxxYh70xKswTR9eB2URY9k-gnYX_OqwRUCz-j/s1600/H40-483.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1061" height="604" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeK0-pdg4wUTCvEOceM4QAqgg5u0Mj0BafuZ5XT8K11kjNGjqNsxp6jjt4nLV9ZVeUWlajbiNv4fahnbjBeRUsoQS28SKxEiMebAyo7-pxxYh70xKswTR9eB2URY9k-gnYX_OqwRUCz-j/s640/H40-483.png" /></a></div>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-13032308560328097012020-02-10T22:56:00.000-08:002020-02-10T22:57:55.886-08:00The latest ACNA hymnalI have been <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20of%20Common%20Praise%202017" target="_blank">writing about</a> the REC’s <i>Book of Common Praise 2017</i> since I bought my first copy in fall 2017. This is the first American Anglican hymnal of the 21st century, which is an updated <i>Hymnal 1940</i> with updates from <i>Hymnal 1982, </i>the 2006 <i>Lutheran Service Book</i> and a range of Methodist, Southern and CCM pieces.<br />
<br />
There are two important updates.<br />
<h4>
Two Editions: <i>Book of Common Praise</i> and <i>Magnify the Lord</i></h4>
<div>
The publisher of BCP 2017 has re-released the hymnal with a new title and new ISBN as <i>Magnify the Lord. </i>After the first three pages, the remaining 907 pages of each hymnal is identical. Here are the covers and ISBN numbers:</div>
<center>
<table><tbody>
<tr><td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4ocgYmOvws2rV9z2VHRiIsMYpft_WmmJB5qkgtVY2Y8iXeRQKSusqdbjjVFDLVrM6KUUZf6xQpCfvw8w6qzMdChkaReWNjJCzaPjGWXl4QkEalVnA2_AWgJS08Q5rt13PBZWXzSaLo2x/s1600/BookOfCommonPraise-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="471" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4ocgYmOvws2rV9z2VHRiIsMYpft_WmmJB5qkgtVY2Y8iXeRQKSusqdbjjVFDLVrM6KUUZf6xQpCfvw8w6qzMdChkaReWNjJCzaPjGWXl4QkEalVnA2_AWgJS08Q5rt13PBZWXzSaLo2x/s320/BookOfCommonPraise-cover.jpg" width="157" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://anglicanliturgypress.com/shop/thebookofcommonpraise/" target="_blank">Book of Common Praise 2017</a></i><br />
ISBN: 978-0-9993910-1-3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td><td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4vAzm0WlHzt6FIRaHxNRBof2DAjvhXHkOhgdtlwqA0Xx7bVY1ri0QV5t75QF9iSqKpiIHteaZddJKtaCrlatMtmQD3RCFjKgc96mivGlhCamQoZUznnspcxIggQicFAn3JhudvagClpq/s1600/MagnifyTheLord-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="900" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4vAzm0WlHzt6FIRaHxNRBof2DAjvhXHkOhgdtlwqA0Xx7bVY1ri0QV5t75QF9iSqKpiIHteaZddJKtaCrlatMtmQD3RCFjKgc96mivGlhCamQoZUznnspcxIggQicFAn3JhudvagClpq/s320/MagnifyTheLord-cover.jpg" width="157" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://anglicanliturgypress.com/shop/magnify-the-lord/" target="_blank">Magnify the Lord</a></i> (2019)<br />
ISBN: 978-1-732448-8-4</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<div>
The are available from the same publisher (Anglican Liturgy Press) at the same price ($25). According to the publisher, the assumption is that REC parishes will buy <i>Book of Common Praise</i> but all other parishes will prefer (the more neutrally named) <i>Magnify the Lord.</i><br />
<br />
This hymnal is the first new ACNA hymnal — from the ACNA’s publisher — but noticeably did not have any editorial input from anyone outside the REC dioceses within the ACNA. (By my calculation, the REC accounts for about 7% of the ACNA’s <a href="https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2019/02/15/the-growth-of-the-anglican-church-in-north-america/" target="_blank">ASA</a>. Apparently some of the remaining ACNA got annoyed at this non-ACNA sponsored hymnal from ACNA dioceses. So a Publisher’s Note in all editions of the hymnal now say<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMRN_tHc-xViGy5qi0lqDVyjpq2qT0WjuryqfEcMRk9Q2LE_d_2KBBD5I2VBW9xZ1zxtM2omxZEjvDRo4sKFJayS4ia2S8Qyoe_m760-1ua8SeQm3N90P4ASR6jRAiruG8qZBa9hvXa4n/s1600/HymnV71N1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMRN_tHc-xViGy5qi0lqDVyjpq2qT0WjuryqfEcMRk9Q2LE_d_2KBBD5I2VBW9xZ1zxtM2omxZEjvDRo4sKFJayS4ia2S8Qyoe_m760-1ua8SeQm3N90P4ASR6jRAiruG8qZBa9hvXa4n/s320/HymnV71N1.jpg" width="243" /></a>This is not the hymnal of the Anglican Church in North America. However, it has been commended for use in the Anglican Church in North America along with such other hymnals as are in use in the Province.</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<h4>
First Hymnal Review of <i>MTL</i></h4>
Last month, <i><a href="https://thehymnsociety.org/resources/the-hymn-a-journal-of-congregational-song/" target="_blank">The Hymn</a></i> published my 500-word review of the new hymnal: as far as I (and the publisher) know, this is the first independent review of this new hymnal. Although I submitted my review last May, when I saw my first copy of <i>MTL, </i>I rushed to update the review to talk about the new title not the old.<br />
<br />
For copyright reasons, I won’t post the entire review (but am glad to email it to anyone who requests it).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What if a church wanted an updated selection of hymns but with traditional (pre-1980s) language? That is the goal of Magnify the Lord (originallyBook of Common Praise 2017) edited by Chris Hoyt, music director of the Reformed Episcopal Church cathedral in Dallas.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Although nominally an update to the REC’s hymnal [<i>Book of Common Praise</i>] from 1885, 1907 and 1943, the first goal of the hymnal was “to preserve the best of <i>The Hymnal</i> (1940).” That hymnal is still in widespread use by REC and other Anglican churches that rejected <i>Hymnal 1982</i> with its more inclusive language. Thus the MTL hymns retain the older wording, with H40 providing 318 of the 639 hymn-tune pairings in MTL. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The other half will be new to H40 readers.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
I then noted the additions from <i>Hymnal 1982, Southern Harmony, The Sacred Harp,</i> Charles Wesley and CCM stars Stuart Townend/Keith Getty.<br />
<br />
My conclusion<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Overall, <i>Magnify the Lord</i> offers a 21st century interpretation of English, American and contemporary hymns for tradition-minded parishes.</blockquote>
According to the publisher, the first adoption of the BCP 2017 outside of the REC <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/09/21st-century-hymnals-come-to-waco.html" target="_blank">was made in 2018</a> Christ Church, Waco, a Diocese of Ft. Worth parish of the ACNA. The rector decided this hymnal was the best fit to their local style, which combines a high church (modern language) liturgy with more of a blended repertoire of music — including a lot of Wesley, Baptist hymns and Townend/Getty.<br />
<h4 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
References</h4>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Chris Hoyt, ed., <i>The Book of Common Praise 2017, </i>Newport Beach, Calif.: Anglican House Media Ministries, 2017.</li>
<li>Chris Hoyt, ed., <i>Magnify the Lord, </i>Newport Beach, Calif.: Anglican Liturgy Press, 2019.</li>
<li>J. W. West, “Magnify the Lord,” book review, <i>The Hymn,</i> 71, 1 (Winter 2020): 41.</li>
</ul>
</div>
J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-86703263502236782452020-01-05T21:28:00.001-08:002020-01-05T21:28:09.905-08:00On the Twelfth Day of Christmas CarolsToday was both the 12th day of Christmas, and the last service of Christmastide. As with most Anglican churches, our music director had to schedule something from the Christmas section of the hymnal — after using many of the best known hymns on Dec. 24 (two services), Dec. 25 and Dec. 29 (1st Sunday after Christmas). As we prepare for 353 days without Christmas carols until the afternoon of December 24, three pieces of music this music stood out.<br />
<h4>
Sussex Carol</h4>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/100-Years-Nine-Lessons-Carols/dp/B07GRVVY78/ref=as_li_ss_il?keywords=100+years+of+king%27s&qid=1578267706&sr=8-2&linkCode=li2&tag=anglicanmus07-20&linkId=11a486680e1c08c93939869e197ac0df&language=en_US" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B07GRVVY78&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=B07GRVVY78" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />My daughter was thrilled that the offertory anthem was the David Willcocks arrangement of the Sussex Carol (”On Christmas night all Christians sing"). She is a huge King’s College fan, and after listening to the <a href="https://amzn.to/2QsQE12">100 Years of Nine Lessons and Carols</a> for the past year, she has the melody, words and many of the descants memorized (particularly those of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Willcocks" target="_blank">Willcocks</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Ledger" target="_blank">Philip Ledger</a>). Although I have a number of recordings of this carol, the Willcocks is instantly recognizable on the third verse, the first of two verses with a descant: the boy sopranos are soaring over the top with choral colorings that accentuate the harmonies (but have little to do with the words).<br />
<br />
Hymnary says this carol is found <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/on_christmas_night_all_christians_sing" target="_blank">in 39 hymnals</a><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Lutheran (ELCA): <i>Lutheran Worship </i>(1978), <i>Evangelical Lutheran Worship</i> (2008)</li>
<li>Presbyterian Church USA: <i>Glory to God </i>(2013)</li>
<li>Southern Baptist Convention: the unofficial <i>Celebrating Grace </i>(2010), more progressive than the official <i>Baptist Hymnal </i>(2008)</li>
</ul>
<br />
As far as I can tell, these do not list descants in the main hymnal (but sometimes these have auxiliary descant books). However, the Willcocks arrangement with descant is in his <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2sEaI7T" target="_blank">Carols for Christmas.</a></i><br />
<br />
<h4>
Of the Father’s Love</h4>
Beyond the King’s favorite, my heart was gladdened that two of the three hymns were by <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/rev-john-mason-neale-dd-24-jan-1818-6.html" target="_blank">John Mason Neale,</a> the great Victorian hymn translator (and subject of <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/new-research-on-john-mason-neale.html" target="_blank">my first music publication</a>). The communion hymn was “Of the Father’s love begotten.” (H40: 20; H82: 82). This hymn was the subject of one of my first posts on this blog, <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/our-fathers-love.html" target="_blank">back 11 years ago</a>.<br />
<br />
The text (at the end of the 4th century) by Prudentius. The Neale translation of “Of the Father sole begotten” first appeared in his 1851 <i>Hymnal Noted. </i>According to <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/new-research-on-john-mason-neale.html" target="_blank">my 2018 paper</a> in <i>The Hymn</i>, it was the 4th most popular hymn in 20th century US hymnals of the 105 texts and tunes in <i>Hymnal Noted.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdq5lSgWTn3H2a-dtKNdlmtcZbzJCy17uPxZG774G44OeC2B8hub_cFGo_hC2PbiN9PTPeUzbZTIRVOciXuVyugPle4m_AiOFmhYFPQxNZj_Hm-VKKjp_EfzdgzCy3Mugo-re2tNxyzH4/s1600/HN-Of+the+father+sole+begotten.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="574" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdq5lSgWTn3H2a-dtKNdlmtcZbzJCy17uPxZG774G44OeC2B8hub_cFGo_hC2PbiN9PTPeUzbZTIRVOciXuVyugPle4m_AiOFmhYFPQxNZj_Hm-VKKjp_EfzdgzCy3Mugo-re2tNxyzH4/s400/HN-Of+the+father+sole+begotten.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The Latin text (“Corde natus ex parentis”) was intended as a Christmastide evening hymn, and the tune (Divinum mysterium) was listed by Neale as a 13th century melody. The initial verse was later changed to “Of the Father’s love begotten” by H.W. Baker for <i>Hymns Ancient & Modern.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Hymnal Noted</i> had 6 verses, but H40 only has 5 (H82 has only 4). <i>The English Hymnal </i>(#613) has 9 and the <i>New English Hymnal </i>(#33) has 7, but both use a later translation by R.F. Davis (“Of the father’s heart begotten”).<br />
<br />
My favorite verse today — one I hadn’t noticed before — is V4 in H40:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thee let old men, thee let young men,<br />Thee let boys in chorus sing;<br />Matrons virgins, little maidens,<br />With glad voices answering:<br />Let their guileless songs re-echo,<br />And the heart is music bring,<br />Evermore and evermore!</blockquote>
It has significant modifications from Neale’s V5<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thee let age, and Thee let manhood,<br />Thee let choirs of infants sing;<br />Thee the matrons and the virgins,<br />And the children answering:<br />Let their modest song re-echo,<br />And their heart its praises bring,<br />Evermore and evermore.</blockquote>
Even so, there are two reasons I like it. First, it suggests the true joy of singing to the gift of the Christ child from God the Father. Second, it alludes to an antiphonal or responsive style of singing — 1000+ years before Neale and the Victorian choirs — which is a wonderful image of continuity for such a timeless hymn.<br />
<br />
We closed out this unison hymn with a descant written by our music director that (AFAIK) is only sung at our church.<br />
<h4>
Good Christian Men Rejoice</h4>
We closed with the familiar “Good Christian men, rejoice!”. It was first published in 1853 by Neale and Thomas Helmore in <em>Carols for Christmastide. </em>As Neale’s preface explains, the texts<i> </i>(except for Good King Wenceslas and Toll! Toll!) are free translations from the 16th century Swedish Lutheran <em>Piae Cantiones </em>(available online <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1802/25581" target="_blank">in a 1910 reprint</a>).<em> </em>In Neale’s book, “Good Christian Men” is listed as “perhaps 14th century.” Our hymnal (H40)— like the original text — includes only three verses: at a normal tempo, the carol seems like it’s over almost as soon as it’s begun.<br />
<br />
The 1853 book included Helmore’s adaptation of medieval tunes for each carol — in this case, the instantly recognizable In Dulce Jubilo. The harmonization in <em>Hymnal 1940</em> is credited to <em>Hymnal 1916 </em>(#549), from the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA (PECUSA).<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the harmonization was done by <a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Douglas_Winfred" target="_blank">Winfred Douglas</a>. In 1916, the name might not have meant much, but twenty years later, he had edited and published <em>Hymnal 1940. </em>Unlike <em>Hymnal 1916</em> and 1906's <em>The English Hymnal, </em>H40 contained a section with settings of mass and daily office chants for regular, congregation-sung chanting. The hymnal thus played a key role in 20th century American hymnody by introducing (or re-introducing) to the world many plainchant settings, adaptations and harmonizations.<em><br />
</em><br />
<br />
Hymnary says this carol in <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/good_christian_men_rejoice">197 hymnals</a>. This total includes the gender-neutered variant “Good Christian friends” that was introduced by the 1978 <em>Lutheran Book of Worship, </em>and then copied by <em>Hymnal 1982</em> and subsequent Methodist, Presbyterian and even Catholic hymnals — as well as <i>Celebrating Grace.</i><br />
<br />
Alas, the 1853 book held an influence far past its modern-day holdings: it’s not on the British, Oxford or Cambridge libraries, and WorldCat lists only one copy, in the <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1114230477" target="_blank">Royal College of Music.</a> No copies have been scanned by Archive.org or Google Books, but all the texts are included in the posthumous 1914 <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=THxCAAAAIAAJ" target="_blank">Collected Hymns, Sequences and Carols of John Mason Neale</a>.</i>J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-69075741297147026632019-12-30T22:44:00.002-08:002019-12-31T11:35:07.761-08:00In defense of Victorian carolsIn my defense of Anglican hymnals against exaggerated claims by @LutheranSatire, I got a little pushback. My <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2019/12/victorian-christmas-anachronisms.html" target="_blank">previous defense</a> was that these anachronistic “snow” carols are comparatively rare. For example, in the latest U.S. Anglican hymnal, <i><a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20of%20Common%20Praise%202017" target="_blank">Book of Common Praise 2017,</a></i> of the 56 Christmas hymns (not counting Advent or Epiphany), two are these “snow” hymns: “In the bleak midwinter” and “Snow lay on the ground.”<br />
<div>
<h4>
The Satirical Accusation</h4>
In the <a href="https://youtu.be/dR67HSs4RPI" target="_blank">original video</a>, “Luther” (i.e. Pastor Hans Fiene) argued with two upper-crust Englishmen (one a vicar with clerical collar) over how they wrote hymns. Their hymn begins</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The snow was cold<br />
And the snow was bright<br />
And the snow was all around<br />
Christ was born<br />
On the day that God<br />
Sent snow upon the ground.</blockquote>
<div>
to which “Luther” said (in effect) that it really snow in Bethlehem, and snow is not the reason why the first Christmas was such an important event in human history. He chastised them to get past the snow and tell the message of why God sent his son to the earth. The author’s summary of the video is<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Instead of focusing on theology, the British love meditating on snow, silence, and livestock in their Christmas hymns. Martin Luther finds this annoying.</blockquote>
<h4>
How Bad Are The Four Worst Hymns?</h4>
</div>
<div>
As I noted yesterday, there are four 19th century Anglican hymns that mention this cold/snow theme, and all open with this theme — in most cases, the “worst” verse in the sense that it proved “Luther’s” point.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, according to the “Luther” standard, I went back (using the Hymnary.org lyrics) and tried to find how well the author got around to telling a message about the meaning of Christ’s birth. Here is what I found</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th valign="top">Worst</th>
<th valign="top">Best</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" rowspan="1" valign="top"><div align="center">
1. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/in_the_bleak_midwinter">In
the Bleak Midwinter</a></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made
moan, <br />
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; <br />
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, <br />
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.</td>
<td valign="top">Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth
sustain; <br />
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign. <br />
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed <br />
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. </td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td colspan="2" rowspan="1" valign="top">2. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/the_snow_lay_on_the_ground">The
Snow Lay on the Ground</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">The snow lay on the ground,<br />
The stars shone bright,<br />
When Christ our Lord was born<br />
On Christmas night.<br />
Venite adoremus Dominum;<br />
Venite adoremus Dominum.</td>
<td valign="top">And thus that manger poor<br />
Became a throne;<br />
For He Whom Mary bore<br />
Was God the Son.<br />
O come, then, let us join<br />
The heavenly host,<br />
To praise the Father, Son,<br />
And Holy Ghost.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="2" rowspan="1" valign="top">3. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/see_amid_the_winters_snow">See
Amid the Winter's Snow</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">See, amid the winter's snow,<br />
born for us on earth below,<br />
see the tender Lamb appears,<br />
promised from eternal years.<br />
<i>Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn!</i><i><br />
</i><i>Hail, redemption's happy dawn!</i><i><br />
</i><i>Sing through all Jerusalem,</i><i><br />
</i><i>"Christ is born in Bethlehem."</i></td>
<td valign="top">Lo, within a manger lies<br />
He who built the starry skies;<br />
He, who throned in height sublime,<br />
sits amid the cherubim! <i><br />
Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn!</i><i><br />
</i><i>Hail, redemption's happy dawn!</i><i><br />
</i><i>Sing through all Jerusalem,</i><i><br />
</i><i>"Christ is born in Bethlehem."</i> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="2" rowspan="1" valign="top">4. <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/twas_in_the_winter_cold_when_earth">’Twas
in the Winter Cold</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">’Twas in the winter cold, when earth<br />
Was desolate and wild,<br />
That angels welcomed at His birth<br />
The everlasting Child.<br />
From realms of ever bright’ning day,<br />
And from His throne above<br />
He came with humankind to stay,<br />
All lowliness and love.</td>
<td valign="top">Grant me Thyself, O Savior kind,<br />
The Spirit undefiled,<br />
That I may be in heart and mind<br />
As gentle as a child;<br />
That I may tread life’s arduous ways<br />
As Thou Thyself hast trod,<br />
And in the might of prayer and praise<br />
Keep ever close to God.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div>
<br />
Of these, I would say #2 and #3 eventually make a theological point that would satisfy the pickiest Luther-ite; by emphasizing a subjective response, #4 never quite gets there although the sentiment is appropriate; and #1 never really gets past the contemplation into explaining the significance of Christ’s birth.<br />
<br />
Remember that<br />
<ol>
<li>is the famous English carol sung most years by King’s College Cambridge, and the only one sung regularly at Anglican churches; </li>
<li>is found in recent Anglican hymnals but not in any top 10 or top 25 list of Christmas hymns at Anglican churches;</li>
<li>is an English Catholic hymn not found in US Anglican hymnals, but was published in the <i>Lutheran Service Book</i> (2006), the most recent hymnal from Pastor Fiene’s denomination;</li>
<li>is so obscure that it’s only been found in five hymnals total since it was published in 1871 and thus is irrelevant to any claims about what Anglican think, sing or say.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Darke-In-The-Bleak-Midwinter/dp/B01ALB67U4/ref=as_li_ss_il?keywords=%22in+the+bleak+midwinter%22+darke&qid=1577820356&s=dmusic&sr=1-2&linkCode=li2&tag=anglicanmus07-20&linkId=976ecef4929cedd96b5bc9fa9938f430&language=en_US" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B01ALB67U4&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=B01ALB67U4" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><i>Update: </i>To be fair, “In the Bleak Midwinter” is also the one with the greatest cultural impact. Amazon lists a total of <a href="https://amzn.to/2SElTrH" target="_blank">189 digital recordings</a> of this hymn, including more than a dozen by English cathedral or chapel choirs, including King’s College Cambridge (both <a href="https://amzn.to/39reGkE" target="_blank">Holst</a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/2QtIWCE" target="_blank">Darke</a>). It also has (relatively sober) recordings by the <a href="https://amzn.to/2ML8quf" target="_blank">Cambridge Singers,</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/2F6Tkes" target="_blank">Chanticleer,</a> the <a href="https://amzn.to/36eAvSy" target="_blank">King's Singers,</a> and the <a href="https://amzn.to/2QbE32c" target="_blank">Mormon Tabernacle Choir. </a>Pop recordings include the <a href="https://amzn.to/2QBtsfX" target="_blank">Blind Boys of Alabama, </a>the <a href="https://amzn.to/2ZDlkjc" target="_blank">Moody Blues</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/36eA0b8" target="_blank">Dan Fogelberg, </a><a href="https://amzn.to/2ZGGBbV" target="_blank">James Taylor,</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/2MLJWBj" target="_blank">Julie Andrews, </a><a href="https://amzn.to/2ML8BFV" target="_blank">Sarah Brightman, </a>and (of course) <a href="https://amzn.to/2QaxInI" target="_blank">Keith and Kristyn Getty.</a> (The total is inflated somewhat by including instrumental recordings without the problematic text, such as the one by <a href="https://amzn.to/2u81BN4" target="_blank">The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines</a>).<br />
<br />
So, in effect, the criticism by “Luther” boils down to a single poem by Christina Rossetti, one that the editors of <i>The English Hymnal</i> decided in 1906 to pair with a purpose-written Gustav Holst tune for the first new Anglican hymnal of the 20th century. Even stipulating this omission, does this justify the suggestion that Anglican Christmas hymns tend to be “inferior hymns”?</div>
J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-14954914704867256852019-12-29T23:03:00.000-08:002019-12-30T22:45:47.649-08:00Victorian Christmas AnachronismsThe 19th century brought not on the rise of distinctively English hymns and carols, but also anachronistic characterization of Bethlehem winters. <a data-mce-href="https://lutheransatire.org/videos/" href="https://lutheransatire.org/videos/">@LutheranSatire</a> has been particularly caustic in its evaluation, with Pastor Hans Fiene (in his alter ego M. Luther) <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=dR67HSs4RPI" target="_blank">ridiculing two Victorian gentlemen</a> as they compose “Inferior Anglican Christmas Hymns”.<br />
<br />
On the one hand, the enthusiasm of Victorian England was admirable, as a single hymnal — <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymns_Ancient_and_Modern" target="_blank">Hymns Ancient & Modern</a></i> <i>— </i>became the first in Britain (AFAIK in the world) so sell over 8 million copies in less than 50 years (Long 1971; Orford 2017). Nowhere was this enthusiasm greater than at Christmas. As the “Victorian Era” website <a data-mce-href="http://victorian-era.org/victoian-christmas-carol.html" href="http://victorian-era.org/victoian-christmas-carol.html">says</a><br />
<blockquote>
What better way to get into the festive spirit then singing a Victorian Christmas carol. During this era, they were very into joyful choruses of Christmas songs and had revived old medieval songs whilst adding their own spin and writing new ones!<br />
<br />
These were meant for both the relaxed occasions such as when singing amongst friends and family and the other songs were meant for more religious, respectful occasions.</blockquote>
And some of the 19th century carols, including many of <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/rev-john-mason-neale-dd-24-jan-1818-6.html" target="_blank">those by J.M. Neale,</a> were translations or reharmonizations of ancient or medieval hymns that were centuries old. If there was snow involved — as in Neale’s <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/good_king_wenceslas_looked_out" target="_blank">“Good King Wenceslas”</a> — it was in Britain and not 31° N of Bethlehem.<br />
<br />
Other winter excesses cannot be traced to the Victorians. This includes the “in kaltem winter” (“cold of winter”) in the 16th century carol <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Es_ist_ein_Ros_entsprungen" target="_blank">“Es ist ein Ros”</a> (<a href="https://hymnary.org/text/lo_how_a_rose_eer_blooming" target="_blank">“Lo, how a rose e'er blooming”</a> to Anglicans) or the 20th century American secular ditties like <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Snow!_Let_It_Snow!_Let_It_Snow!" target="_blank">“Let it Snow!”</a> (1945) or <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frosty_the_Snowman" target="_blank">“Frosty the Snowman”</a> (1950).<br />
<br />
Nonetheless, by searching through Hymnary and my Anglican hymnals, I found <b>exactly four </b>Anglican hymns that, to a greater or lesser degree, might attract the scorn of Pastor <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Luther</span> Fiene. (Although one might be hypocritical for a 21st century LCMS pastor to attack).<br />
<h4>
1. In the Bleak Midwinter</h4>
This poem by English poet Christina Rossetti was commissioned by and published by an American magazine in 1872. It is by far her most popular work (Beall 2015). As a hymn, it has been published in <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/in_the_bleak_midwinter" target="_blank">at least 70 hymnals.</a> None of these are by the Missouri or Wisconsin synod Lutherans, but it does appear in the latest (2006) and most ecumenical ELCA hymnal, <i><a href="http://in%20the%20bleak%20midwinter%2C%20frosty%20wind%20made%20moan%2C%20%20earth%20stood%20hard%20as%20iron%2C%20water%20like%20a%20stone%3B%20snow%20had%20fallen%2C%20snow%20on%20snow%2C%20snow%20on%20snow%2C%20%20in%20the%20bleak%20midwinter%2C%20long%20ago.%202%20our%20god%2C%20heaven%20cannot%20hold%20him%2C/" target="_blank">Evangelical Lutheran Worship.</a></i><br />
<br />
The first stanza is the one that would cool any appreciation by Pr. Fiene:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,<br />
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;<br />
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,<br />
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.</blockquote>
As a hymn, it first appeared in <i>The English Hymnal</i> (1906), with a new tune written for this text: Cranham by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Holst" target="_blank">Gustav Holst.</a> (Yes, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planets" target="_blank">that</a> </i>Gustav Holst.) According to Hymnary.org, it accounts for 63/70 of the hymnals printing of the text; six are <a href="https://hymnary.org/tune/castle_cason" target="_blank">Castle</a> by Don Cason and one Adventist hymnal that used <a href="https://hymnary.org/tune/uinta_hooper" target="_blank">Uinta</a> by the hymnal’s editor.<br />
<br />
However, not found in any hymnal is the 1909 setting of the hymn by Harold Darke — instead in choral anthem books. However, it is a regular favorite of the <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/King%27s%20College%20Cambridge" target="_blank">King’s College Cambridge</a> annual Lessons & Carols service — <a href="http://blog.sinden.org/2015/11/spreadsheets-carol-service-faq.html" target="_blank">according to David Sinden</a>, of the last 23 broadcasts, 11 had Darke and two Holst. It was also once voted the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/3631068/In-the-Bleak-Midwinter-voted-greatest-carol-of-all-time.html" target="_blank">best Christmas carol</a> of all time.<br />
<h4>
2. The Snow Lay on the Ground</h4>
For the first Sunday after Christmas, we sang “The Snow Lay on the Ground” (<i>Hymnal 1940:</i> 41; <i>Hymnal 1982</i>: 110; <i>Book of Common Praise 2017</i>: 81; <i>New English Hymnal: </i>28). Hymnary.org says it appears in 39 hymnals, and quotes Julian (1907) in <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/the_snow_lay_on_the_ground" target="_blank">summarizing</a> its origins as<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This appears to be a West of England traditional carol, and is given as such in R. R. Chope's Carols, 1875, No. 44, where it begins "The snow lay deep upon the ground." In the Crown of Jesus, 1862, No. 146, it begins “The snow lay on the ground" and is marked, with regard to the tune, as "Christmas Carol, sung in Rome by the Pifferari from the Abruzzi Mountains." The text of 1862 is in the Arundel Hymnal, 1902, and many others. </blockquote>
The 39 hymnals include Episcopalian and Catholic Hymnals, but neither <i>Hymns A&M </i>(1861-1904) or <i>The English Hymnal</i> (1906) nor <i>any</i> Lutheran hymnal. Again, it’s the first verse that would boil Fiene’s blood:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The snow lay on the ground,<br />
The stars shone bright,<br />
When Christ our Lord was born<br />
On Christmas night.<br />
Venite adoremus Dominum;<br />
Venite adoremus Dominum.</blockquote>
<h4>
3. See Amid the Winter's Snow</h4>
Surpisingly popular is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See,_amid_the_Winter%27s_Snow" target="_blank">“See Amid the Winter’s Snow,”</a> penned in 1858 by Anglo-Catholic (turned Roman Catholic) hymnist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Caswall" target="_blank">Edward Caswall.</a> Among the <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/see_amid_the_winters_snow" target="_blank">140 hymnals listed by Hymnary, </a>it’s found in the Anglican hymnals of Canada and Ireland, the 1990 <i>Presbyterian Hymnal</i>, and (natch) numerous Catholic hymnals. (But no Episcopalian or American Anglican hymnals).<br />
<br />
Again, the first stanza fits the problematic pattern:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
See, amid the winter's snow,<br />
born for us on earth below,<br />
see the tender Lamb appears,<br />
promised from eternal years.<br />
<i>Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn!</i><i>Hail, redemption's happy dawn!</i><i>Sing through all Jerusalem,</i><i>"Christ is born in Bethlehem."</i></blockquote>
However, it appears that Luther’s influence is limited among the German-American Lutherans, as it is <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/LSB2006/373" target="_blank">hymn #373</a> Pastor Fiene’s favorite hymnal — the current (2006) LCMS <i><a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/LSB2006/373" target="_blank">Lutheran Service Book.</a></i><br />
<h4>
4. ’Twas in the Winter</h4>
Here my ignorance is more excusable, as this <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/twas_in_the_winter_cold_when_earth" target="_blank">1871 text</a> by Irish clergyman Rev. Charles Ingham Black appears in only five hymnals. The most prominent is nearly 150 years ago, from John Stainer’s <i>Christmas Carols New and Old.</i><br />
<br />
I doubt our fussy German-American pastor has heard of this hymn, but if he did, again he’d turn straight to the first verse<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
’Twas in the winter cold, when earth<br />
Was desolate and wild,<br />
That angels welcomed at His birth<br />
The everlasting Child.<br />
From realms of ever bright’ning day,<br />
And from His throne above<br />
He came with humankind to stay,<br />
All lowliness and love.</blockquote>
<h4>
Summary</h4>
I don’t think four hymns support Pastor Fiene’s claim for a trend for Anglican anachronistic Christmas carols, particularly given there lack of popularity:<br />
<ul>
<li>None was published in the dominant Victorian hymnal, <i>Hymns Ancient & Modern,</i> during Victoria’s life — either the 1861 or 1889 editions.</li>
<li>Only one (#1) was found in <i>The English Hymnal, </i>the Edwardian collection of Victorian hymns published in 1906.</li>
<li>Only two (#1,#2) were published the American Anglican/Episcopal hymnals of the 20th and 21st centuries. </li>
<li>A third hymn (#3)— as bad as the others — was selected by his LCMS colleagues <b>to be published in his preferred hymnal</b></li>
</ul>
So to paraphrase an English playwright back: methinks the pastor doth protest too much.<br />
<br />
The most influential 19th century Anglican hymnwriter, <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/01/bicentennial-of-john-mason-neale.html" target="_blank">John Mason Neale, </a>did not write any Christmas carols (other than Wenceslas) that survive to this day; his best-remembered hymns are for Easter and Palm Sunday. However, his <a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Neale_JM?sort=asc&order=Instances" target="_blank">most reprinted Advent hymn</a> — <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/draw-nigh-emmanuel.html" target="_blank">a translation of a medieval Latin text</a> written centuries before Herr Doktor Luther was born — contains exactly the sort of timeless truths Pastor Fiene would espouse.<br />
<br />
In its current form (from the <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/veni-emmanuel-out-of-sync-thanks-to.html" target="_blank">1861</a> edition of <i>Hymns A&M</i>) , “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/HPEC1940/2" target="_blank">the second hymn</a> in <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-first-hymnal_26.html" target="_blank">my favorite hymnal </a>(<a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/LSB2006/357" target="_blank">#357</a> in Pastor Fiene’s hymnal)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Oh, come, Oh, come, Emmanuel,<br />
And ransom captive Israel<br />
That mourns in lonely exile here<br />
Until the Son of God appear.<br />
<i>Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel<br />Shall come to thee, O Israel.</i></blockquote>
<h4>
References</h4>
<ul>
<li>Beall, Mary Kay, “In the Bleak Midwinter,” <i>The Hymn,</i> 56, 4 (Autumn 2015), 47-49.</li>
<li>Julian, John, <i>Dictionary of Hymnology</i>, London: Murray, 1907. URL: <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/julian_j/">https://www.ccel.org/ccel/julian_j/</a></li>
<li>Long, Kenneth R., <i>The Music of the English Church</i> (New York: St. Martin’s, 1971), p. 334
</li>
<li>Orford, Barry A., “Music and Hymnody” in Stewart J. Brown, James Pereiro, and Peter Nockles, eds., <i>The Oxford Handbook of the Oxford Movement</i> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 376-386.
</li>
<li><i>Christmas Carols New and Old</i>, by Henry R. Bramley & John Stainer (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1871). URL: <a href="https://archive.org/details/christmascarolsn00staiiala">https://archive.org/details/christmascarolsn00staiiala</a></li>
</ul>
<i>Update: See <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2019/12/in-defense-of-victorian-carols.html" target="_blank">further discussion</a> of these four hymn on Dec. 30</i><br />
<br />J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-11310524665960603362019-12-24T10:15:00.001-08:002023-12-28T15:27:02.874-08:00King’s College Cambridge: Lessons & Carols 2019For the 102nd consecutive Christmas Eve, the choir of King’s College Cambridge sang its <a href="https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-and-carols" target="_blank">Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.</a> As every year since 1928 (but one), this service was broadcast worldwide by the BBC; thanks to the Internet, it is <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cmrx#play" target="_blank">also available for replay</a> for the next 30 days.<br />
<br />
This year’s Lessons and Carols service was the first led by Daniel Hyde. As an undergraduate, Hyde was <a href="https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/king%E2%80%99s-college-cambridge-names-daniel-hyde-as-new-music-director" target="_blank">an organ scholar at King’s,</a> and then served in a variety of choral posts before becoming Director of Music at King’s in October 2019.<br />
<br />
It also marked the first service since the Nov. 22 death of Stephen Cleobury, who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/dec/21/kings-college-cambridge-choir-prepares-for-live-christmas-broadcast" target="_blank">suffered a skull fracture</a> when he was knocked over by a bicyclist in March 2018 but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/24/sir-stephen-cleobury-obituary" target="_blank">died of cancer.</a> Cleobury led l<a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/100-years-of-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">ast year’s 100th anniversary service,</a> and with 37 years at the helm was the choir’s longest serving leader since Arthur Henry Mann, who launched the modern King’s choir as its music director from 1876 to 1929.<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/I-Saw-Eternity-Other-Night/dp/0241352185/ref=as_li_ss_il?keywords=king%27s+college&qid=1577210739&s=books&sr=1-2&linkCode=li2&tag=anglicanmus07-20&linkId=7914beb4e4a051b68ca7dd0e424ec76b&language=en_US" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0241352185&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0241352185" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
Finally, it is the first King’s service I’ve heard since finishing Timothy Day’s masterful history of King’s: <i><a href="https://amzn.to/35XFuqs" target="_blank">I Saw Eternity the Other Night: King's College Cambridge, and an English Singing Style.</a> </i>Although it makes only passing reference to its signature annual radio broadcast, it provides a well-researched and detailed explanation of the context for how the choir became so influential (even before its first 1926 evensong radio broadcast).<br />
<h4>
This Year’s Service</h4>
<div>
In <a href="https://64qvsuvxf9nwqh8hwopln5h9dzdc.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/9L&C+order+of+service+2019+optimised.pdf" target="_blank">this year’s program, </a>the lessons were as in previous years, except that (as in <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/100-years-of-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">2018</a>, <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2017/12/kings-college-cambridge-100th-annual.html" target="_blank">2017</a> and 1997-2007) the college <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-right-way-to-do-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">censored</a> Genesis 3:16 (“Your desire shall be for your husband”) from the opening lesson. At <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/unparalleled-lessons-carols-resource.html" target="_blank">David Sinden’s website</a>, the sung music has been added to his database of all services since 1997 (along with last month’s Advent service at <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/advent-lessons-carols-in-cambridge.html" target="_blank">St. John’s Cambridge</a>).</div>
<br />
The program included only seven pieces used last year† — including the three obligatory hymns: Once in Royal David’s City, O Come All Ye Faithful, and Hark the Herald Angels. Only four of the pieces had the same arrangement.†† For the first time since 2013, the service drops “In the bleak midwinter,” which in the last four years was to the tune by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Darke" target="_blank">Harold Darke</a> (acting King’s music director during WWII); in 2008, English choirmasters voted it the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/3631068/In-the-Bleak-Midwinter-voted-greatest-carol-of-all-time.html" target="_blank">best Christmas carol “of all time.”</a><br />
<br />
The service included descants by the three most recent choir directors: Stephen Cleobury, Philip Ledger and David Willcocks, but (unlike last year) only one(?) Cleobury descant rather than three (restoring the better-known Ledger descant for the final hymn); however, it has two other Cleobury arrangements not used in his final Christmas Eve service.<br />
<br />
It also included a newly-commissioned anthem, as it had every year since 1983 when Cleobury instituted the practice. This year, it was an anthem by Philip Moore to the text of “The angel Gabriel.”<br />
<br />
From the program — and from listening to the descants — the sung music credits are:<br />
<ul>
<li>[Hymn] ††Once in royal David’s city: words, C. F. Alexander; melody, H. J. Gauntlett, harmonized <b>A. H. Mann; </b>descant <b>Stephen</b> <b>Cleobury</b></li>
<li>On Christmas night all Christians sing: Sussex Carol; arr. R. Vaughan Williams</li>
<li>This is the truth sent from above: Herefordshire Carol; arr. R. Vaughan Williams & C. Robinson</li>
<li>Angels from the realms of glory: words, J. Montgomery; music, French trad., arr. R. Jacques</li>
<li>Ding! dong! merrily on high: words, G.R. Woodward; music, 16th century French, arr. <b>David Willcocks</b> (from <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2MFUt0X" target="_blank">100 Carols for Choirs</a></i>)</li>
<li>[Hymn] It came upon the midnight clear: words, Edmund H. Sears; music: Arthur Sullivan (as in <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2PWW3gV" target="_blank">New English Hymnal</a></i>) with descant by John Scott</li>
<li>Unto you is born this day: words, P. Brooks; music: Walford Davies</li>
<li>There is no rose of such virtue; words, anon. c. 1420; music, Elizabeth Maconchy</li>
<li>††Little Lamb, who made thee: words, William Blake; music: John Tavener</li>
<li>The angel Gabriel: words, Basque; music, Philip Moore</li>
<li>††Seven Joys of Mary: arr. <b>Cleobury</b></li>
<li>†Silent Night: words: Joseph Mohr; music: Franz Gruber, arr. <b>Cleobury</b></li>
<li>How do you capture the wind on the water: words and music, John Rutter</li>
<li>[Hymn] †While shepherds watched: words, N. Tate; music from Thomas Este’s <i>Psalter</i></li>
<li>Away in a manger: words, anon.; music, W.J. Kirkpatrick, arr. <b>Cleobury</b></li>
<li>Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child: Coventry Carol; music: Kenneth Leighton</li>
<li>Who is there that singeth so, Nowell: words, anon.; music, William Mathias</li>
<li>[Hymn] ††O come all ye faithful: Adeste fideles, transl. Frederick Oakley; music, J.F. Wade, descant <b>David Willcocks</b></li>
<li>[Hymn] †Hark the Herald Angels: words, Charles Wesley “et al“; music, Mendelssohn, descant <b>Philip Ledger</b></li>
</ul>
<h4>
Applicability to Parish Choirs</h4>
<div>
In the English tradition (even more than in the U.S.), there is a dramatic difference between the cathedral and parish choirs. The KCC service is highly influential, spawning lessons & carols services on five continents. But what application does this program have for ordinary parish churches?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First, although all the non-congregation pieces are listed as “carols”, many don’t really correspond to the medieval (or at least pre-Victorian) <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2016/12/a-cause-for-caroling-bbc-reprises-xmas.html" target="_blank">English carol genre</a> but instead are choral anthems. The new Moore anthem would be an excellent choice for a small parish — particularly one where the organ and organist can manage the instrumental interludes.<br />
<br />
However, many of the other choices are so complex (if not ornate) that they would not work for most choirs (or, for that matter, most audiences). Subjectively, it seems like this year’s by Hyde has moved further in this direction than under Cleobury — and certainly that under King’s unquestioned dominance from 1925-1975 under Boris Ord and David Willcocks. (OTOH, it may not be a fair comparison if we what consider incremental by Willcocks in 1960 or 1970 was highly <i>avant garde</i> at the time).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For the American audience, Sullivan’s tune Noel for For “It came upon the midnight clear” (although in some U.S. hymnals) would not be familiar to Americans raised on the more familiar Carol.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Still, lessons & carols services worldwide have copied the King’s pattern since 1919 of opening “Once in royal David’s city” with a soprano soloist, and many delay congregation singing until verse 3 (as King’s did today). The request by Hyde that men’s voices not sing the first 2/3 of each refrain of “O come, all ye faithful” also seems easy to adopt.</div>
<br />
<div>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/100-Carols-Choirs-David-Willcocks/dp/0193532271/ref=as_li_ss_il?crid=QME8YL4OYY41&keywords=100+carols+for+choirs&qid=1577210332&sprefix=100+carols+for,aps,300&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=anglicanmus07-20&linkId=b42334f3def1b8ed280518ac531050e2&language=en_US" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0193532271&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0193532271" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />While Cleobury’s “Seven joys” was sung as a choral carol, some of the verses could be sung by the congregation. Similarly, Cleobury’s “Away in a manger” or “Silent night” would work for a small church choir, as would Willcocks’ “Ding dong” from <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2MFUt0X" target="_blank">100 Carols for Choirs.</a></i> (The latter remains an invaluable Christmas resource for church choirs large and small).<br />
<br />
Overall, the annual King’s service remains an inspiration both for church musicians, and also ordinary congregation members who are unable to experience such excellence locally.</div>
J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-34255376430181650842019-12-21T22:12:00.001-08:002019-12-23T19:27:23.646-08:00Biblical prophesies in Handel's Messiah<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfx4RqjegQKRTXuBB5aJajgWadZzT6X4ExnapvqXj2Oagp9HSJRSLlz5mgRa4344Rmavm21K4f5fNnRDdAe0NYFjMjwv9GY5yaOa9fPkqI1vfC8fsm5h0wPEgcRsfpqSct42WuGcLgwI8e/s1600/DalMonte-cropped.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="1418" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfx4RqjegQKRTXuBB5aJajgWadZzT6X4ExnapvqXj2Oagp9HSJRSLlz5mgRa4344Rmavm21K4f5fNnRDdAe0NYFjMjwv9GY5yaOa9fPkqI1vfC8fsm5h0wPEgcRsfpqSct42WuGcLgwI8e/s320/DalMonte-cropped.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soprano soloist Carolyne DalMonte and conductor Ruben Valenzuela<br />
at La Jolla Symphony performance of Handel’s Messiah, Dec 15, 2019.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last weekend, I joined a community sing-along for the Christmas portion of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Messiah-oratorio-by-Handel" target="_blank">Handel’s Messiah, </a>sponsored and accompanied by the <a href="https://lajollasymphony.com/" target="_blank">La Jolla Symphony</a> in Carlsbad.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Since my youth, much of what I know the prophesies of the coming Messiah came from singing and listening to the Messiah over these decades. After Sunday’s performance, I thought I would look up the Scriptural references to the KJV (Authorized Version) that was in use at the date of the 1742 premier.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The score we used is the 1912 edition edited by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Tertius_Noble" target="_blank">T. Tertius Noble</a> (1867-1953), <b><a href="https://archive.org/details/messiahoratoriof00hand/" target="_blank">available</a> in the public domain at Archive.org. </b>In looking through the score — and the words <a href="http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/messiah.htm" target="_blank">posted in 1999</a> on the Stanford libretto archive, one thing grabbed me. In many cases, the text by Charles Jennens takes a Scripture passage and spans several movements; this may be a trivial insight, but it is not one that I realized either by listening, or by singing the choruses.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Below is my cross-reference of the arias, recitatives and choruses, the latter indicated by †.</div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
Part I</h4>
1. Overture<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40%3A1-5&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 40:1-5:</a><br />
2. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people<br />
3. Every valley shall be exalted<br />
4. And the glory of the Lord†<br />
<br />
5. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Haggai+2%3A6-7&version=KJV" target="_blank">Haggai 2:6-7</a>: For thus saith the Lord of hosts<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+3%3A1-3&version=KJV" target="_blank">Malachi 3:1-3</a>:<br />
The Lord, whom ye seek<br />
6. But who may abide the day of his coming?<br />
7. And he shall purify†<br />
<br />
8. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+7%3A14%3BMatthew+1%3A23&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 7:14;Matthew 1:23</a>: Behold, a virgin shall conceive<br />
9. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40%3A9%2C60%3A1&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 40:9,60:1</a>: O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion†<br />
10. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+60%3A2-3&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 60:2-3</a>: For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,<br />
11. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+9%3A2&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 9:2</a>: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:<br />
12. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+9%3A6&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 9:6</a>: For unto us a child is born†<br />
13. Pastoral Symphony<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A8-11&version=KJV" target="_blank">Luke 2:8-11</a>:<br />
14. There were shepherds abiding in the field<br />
15. And the angel said unto them<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A8-11&version=KJV" target="_blank">Luke 2:13-14</a>:<br />
16. And suddenly there was with the angel<br />
17. Glory to God†<br />
<br />
18. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah+9%3A9-10&version=KJV" target="_blank">Zechariah 9:9-10:</a> Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion<br />
19. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+35%3A5-6&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 35:5-6</a>: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened<br />
20. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40%3A11%3BMatthew+11%3A28-29&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 40:11;Matthew 11:28-29</a>: He shall feed his flock like a shepherd<br />
21. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A30&version=KJV" target="_blank">Matthew 11:30</a>: His yoke is easy, and his burden is light†<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
Part II</h4>
22. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A29&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 1:29</a>: Behold the lamb of God†<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+53%3A3-6&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 53:3-6</a>:<br />
23. He was despised<br />
24. Surely he hath borne our griefs†<br />
25. And with his stripes we are healed†<br />
26. All we like sheep have gone astray†<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+22%3A7-8&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 22:7-8</a>:<br />
27. All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn<br />
28. He trusted in God that he would deliver him:<br />
<br />
29. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+69%3A20&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 69:20</a>: Thy rebuke hath broken His heart:<br />
30. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lamentations+1%3A12&version=KJV" target="_blank">Lamentations 1:12</a>: Behold, and see if there be any sorrow<br />
31. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+53%3A8&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 53:8</a>: He was cut off out of the land of the living<br />
32. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+16%3A10&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 16:10</a>: But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell<br />
33. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+24%3A7-10&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 24:7-10</a>: Life up your heads, O ye gates†<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+1%3A5-6&version=KJV" target="_blank">Hebrews 1:5-6</a>:<br />
34. Unto which of the angels said He at any time<br />
35. Let all the angels of God worship Him†<br />
<br />
36. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+68%3A18&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 68:18</a>: Thou art gone up on high<br />
37. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+68%3A11&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 68:11</a>: The Lord gave the word†<br />
38. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+52%3A7%3B+Romans+10%3A15&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15</a>: How beautiful are the feet<br />
39.<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=+Romans+10%3A18%3B+Psalm+19%3A4&version=KJV" target="_blank"> Romans 10:18; Psalm 19:4</a>: Their sound is gone out into all lands†<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+2%3A1-4&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 2:1-4</a>:<br />
40. Why do the nations so furiously rage<br />
41. Let us break their bonds asunder†<br />
42. He that dwelleth in Heav'n<br />
<br />
43. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+2%3A9&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 2:9</a>: Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron<br />
44. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+19%3A6%2C11%3A15%2C19%3A16&version=KJV" target="_blank">Revelation 19:6,11:15,19:16</a>: HallelujahJ.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-11377050326011191372019-12-14T07:54:00.002-08:002019-12-14T15:29:59.962-08:00Advice from the Musicians of the ACNARecently the ACNA <a href="http://www.anglicanchurch.net/?/main/page/1929" target="_blank">announced</a> a new <a href="https://acnamusicresources.com/" target="_blank">website</a> and new task force for worship music:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Anglican Church in North America’s Music Task Force has now released music resources to accompany the Psalms for the upcoming seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. It has also released today a Hymns and Spiritual Songs Worship Planner for the Advent season. These resources have been launched on the Task Force’s new website.<br />
<br />
The Music Task Force was commissioned out of the Liturgy and Common Worship Task Force, the group responsible for the Book of Common Prayer 2019. Now, the attention turns to the musicality of the Anglican tradition.</blockquote>
For a comparatively small denomination with limited resources, the 1.0 version of the website is surprisingly polished and complete. The current site lists 11 pages behind the home page:
<ol>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Music Leadership Philosophy</li>
<li>Hymns and Spiritual Songs</li>
<li>Psalter</li>
<li>Service Music</li>
<li>Altar Book</li>
<li>Choirs</li>
<li>Handbells</li>
<li>Keyboards</li>
<li>Praise Teams and Folk Groups</li>
<li>Web Resources</li>
<li>Pastor and Church Musician Relationship</li>
</ol>
Across these pages are more than a dozen “highly recommended articles” — nearly all uploaded with November modification dates — as well as planning resources tied to Advent Year A in the ACNA BCP 2019 lectionary.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Despite the predominance of praise music in the ACNA — particularly in its largest parishes — the site is relatively balanced in the worship wars. For example, #3 lists quotes from Jaroslav Pelikan and Keith/Kristyn Getty. The former states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Tradition</b> is a good thing. It is <b>traditionalism</b> that is bad. Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in conversation with the past, while remembering where we are and when we are and that it is we who have to decide. </blockquote>
<div>
The worship planner on the same page includes references to hymns from <i>Hymnal 1982</i> and <i>Book of Common Praise 2017</i> (listed as the “2019” hymnal) as well as praise songs. For example, Advent 4 (Year A) lists these hymns</div>
<table border="1">
<tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Hymns</th></tr>
<tr><td><b>Title</b></td><td><b>Tune</b></td><td><b>Hymnal 1982/REC 2019 Hymnal</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>Savior of the Nations, Come</td><td>Nun komm</td><td>#54/#10</td></tr>
<tr><td>Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus</td><td>Stuttgart</td><td>#66/#1</td></tr>
<tr><td>Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming</td><td>Es ist ein rose</td><td>#81/#32</td></tr>
<tr><td>Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence</td><td>Picardy</td><td>#324/#263</td></tr>
<tr><td>Lift Up Your Heads</td><td>Truro</td><td>#436/#390</td></tr>
<tr><td>O Come, O Come, Emmanuel</td><td>Veni Emmanuel</td><td>#56/#7</td></tr>
<tr><td>People, Look East</td><td>Besancon</td><td>Internet/#12</td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Spiritual Songs/Communion Songs</th></tr>
<tr><td><b>Title</b></td><td><b>Tune</b></td><td><b>Hymnal 1982/REC 2019 Hymnal</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>Comfort, comfort ye my people<br>(works well with instrumental ensemble)</td><td>Psalm 42</td><td>#67/#20</td></tr>
<tr><td>All Beautiful the March of Days(works well with instrumental ensemble)</td><td>Forest Green</td><td>Internet</td></tr>
<tr><td>Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence(works well with instrumental ensemble)</td><td>Picardy</td><td>#324/#263</td></tr>
<tr><td>The King of Glory (Israeli Folk Song)</td><td>Betty Pulkingham</td><td>Internet</td></tr>
<tr><td>Lift Up Your Heads</td><td>Steven Fry</td><td>Internet</td></tr>
<tr><td>Emmanuel</td><td>Jeff Buchan</td><td>Internet</td></tr>
<tr><td>Awake, O Israel (Israeli Folk Song)</td><td>Merla Watson</td><td>Internet</td></tr>
<tr><td>Exodus XV</td><td>Frank Gallio</td><td>Internet</td></tr>
<tr><td>Waiting in Silence</td><td>Carey Landry</td><td>Internet</td></tr>
</table>
<h4>
Task Force and Members</h4>
<div>
The task force consists of Mark Williams (Parish Musician, <a href="https://ccasav.org/clergy-and-staff/" target="_blank">Christ Church Anglican, </a>Savannah, Georgia), Rev. Darrell Critch (rector of <a href="http://churchofthegoodsamaritan.ca/" target="_blank">Church of the Good Samaritan</a> in St. John’s, Newfoundland) and Jeremy Redmond (Music Associate at <a href="https://www.stpetersfl.com/staff" target="_blank">St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral </a>in Tallahassee, Florida) While Williams “was chosen to chair the ACNA Music Task Force by Archbishop Robert Duncan” — i.e. more than five years ago — the website suggests the task force is relatively nascent: three is a relatively small task force, and there’s no discussion of the task force processes, meetings, or contact information.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Similarly, the “Musicians of the Anglican Church in North America (MACNA)” seems like the ACNA response to the <a href="https://anglicanmusicians.org/the-journal/" target="_blank">“Association of Anglican Musicians,”</a> which publishes a journal 10x/year for church musicians in The Episcopal Church. However, there no additional information about the MACNA, or a way for musicians to join this organization.</div>
<h4>
Advice for Effective Congregational Singing</h4>
<div>
While much of the material is specific to the ACNA — e.g. the chants and forthcoming altar book are modeled on the BCP 1979 and <i>Hymnal 1982 — </i>some aspects are of more general interest. Several articles offer advice on introducing a new hymn (or “song”) — helpful for any music director who has not thought out the right vs. wrong way to do so.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The <a href="https://acnamusicresources.com/music-leadership-philosophy/" target="_blank">interview</a> with Williams makes some good points that would be relevant (in my research) to the music director of any liturgical church</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To me then, what is important is that the choice of music has these quality traits: that it is singable by the congregation and was composed with this in mind (it is not a soloistic piece of music). That the melody of the song is well-crafted and that there is a good marriage between the melody and the text. That the music, as much as possible, is in a key that the congregation can sing (no notes below the A below middle C and no notes above high D or E). That the music carries some level of high intrinsic value; that it has stood the test of time, however long. And that the choice of music fits the liturgical year or the theme for the day for worship. </blockquote>
<div>
Similarly, “3 Errors of Musical Style that Stifle Community,” an article by Canadian Baptist pastor Tim Challies, should be must reading by leaders on any side of the worship wars. Based on the book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1433543540" target="_blank">The Compelling Community,</a></i> Challies explains those three errors are</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>Music that’s difficult to sing corporately, </i>particularly rhythmic complexity.</li>
<li><i>Music with limited emotional breadth. “</i>Much of church music is happy music. But if that is all we ever have, we substantially dilute the Christian experience. And the tone we set in our services will inevitably carry over into relationships.”</li>
<li><i>Music that feels like a performance.</i> “Musical accompaniment can help by leading us in song and helping us through sections of songs that are more difficult to sing. Or it can overpower congregational worship and turn us from active worshipers into passive listeners.”</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
A liturgy committee, membership association and newsletter are what the ACNA (and Continuing Anglicans before them) church musicians left behind in TEC. It is good to see the first step (at a realistic scale) towards knowledge sharing and professionalism among North American Anglicans.</div>
J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-53517398640524318892019-11-29T11:12:00.000-08:002019-12-25T23:13:32.220-08:00New CD of 2018 KCC Lessons & Carols service<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nine-Lessons-Carols-Centenary-Service/dp/B07XR5FZHN/ref=as_li_ss_il?&linkCode=li3&tag=anglicanmus07-20&linkId=5acfb9eedd54ec8dad72734e3267e055&language=en_US" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B07XR5FZHN&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=anglicanmus07-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=B07XR5FZHN" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />The choir of King’s College Cambridge has released a CD of their complete service (with lessons) from last year’s Christmas Eve service, <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/100-years-of-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">the 100th anniversary</a> of the first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s.<br />
<br />
The CD, entitled (appropriately), “A Festival Of Nine Lessons & Carols: The Centenary Service,” was released on the captive King’s College label. It is available on CD from <a href="https://amzn.to/2PXQvTp" target="_blank">Amazon US</a> or <a href="https://amzn.to/2EQwvLW" target="_blank">Amazon UK,</a> as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD" target="_blank">SACD hybrid disk</a> with both regular and surround sound. The digital download is available <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-carols-the-centenary-service/1482103097?uo=4&ls=1&app=itunes&at=1000lon8&ct=g4l696" target="_blank">only on iTunes.</a> Both include a PDF program booklet, which includes a small-format version of the seat bulletin as well as some general background information.<br />
<br />
The download captures the <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/12/100-years-of-lessons-carols.html" target="_blank">last year’s complete service</a>, as does the CD (with two exceptions†):<br />
<ol>
<li>Once in royal Davids City (Congregation Hymn)</li>
<li>The Bidding Prayer, Lords Prayer and Benediction</li>
<li>Up! good Christen folk</li>
<li>First Lesson</li>
<li>Adam lay ybounden</li>
<li>Jesus Christ the apple tree</li>
<li>Second Lesson</li>
<li>In dulci jubilo</li>
<li>I Saw Three Ships†</li>
<li>Third Lesson</li>
<li>Nowell sing we</li>
<li>Unto us is born a Son (Congregation Hymn)</li>
<li>Fourth Lesson</li>
<li>A Spotless Rose</li>
<li>The Lamb</li>
<li>Fifth Lesson</li>
<li>Joys Seven</li>
<li>Bogorditse Dyevo</li>
<li>Sixth Lesson</li>
<li>What sweeter music</li>
<li>Stille Nacht</li>
<li>Seventh Lesson</li>
<li>In the bleak midwinter</li>
<li>While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night (Congregation Hymn)†</li>
<li>Eighth Lesson</li>
<li>O mercy divine</li>
<li>Sir Christmas</li>
<li>Ninth Lesson</li>
<li>O come, all ye faithful (Congregation Hymn)</li>
<li>Collect and Blessing</li>
<li>Hark! the herald angels sing (Congregation Hymn)</li>
<li>In dulci jubilo, BWV 729 (postlude)</li>
</ol>
<div>
† Included on iTunes but not CD; CD owners can use a special code to <a href="https://www.kingscollegerecordings.com/product/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-carols-the-centenary-service-supplementary-download/?v=7516fd43adaa" target="_blank">download</a> the files in either WAV or MP3 format</div>
J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-44900272130118727962019-09-29T07:02:00.004-07:002019-09-29T18:55:27.711-07:00Singing to angels and arcangels<h4>
The Feast of Michaelmas</h4>
The feast of St. Michael is celebrated on Sept. 29 by the liturgical Western churches. The celebration of St. Michael dates to <a href="http://www.holidayscalendar.com/event/michaelmas/" target="_blank">5th century Rome</a> on Sept 30, and on <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10275b.htm" target="_blank">Sept. 29 from the 7th century onward.</a> In England, Michaelmas was <a href="https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Michaelmas/" target="_blank">once one of the major English quarterly holidays</a> (along with Christmas, Lady Day and Midsummer), and was traditionally celebrated by a feast with a fatted goose.<br />
<br />
The Catholic church today remembers the three archangels named in scripture: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael. In the Anglican church, the feast is for St. Michael and All Angels. This is also the observance of the Lutheran church, which kept it despite dropping so many other Roman holidays; as an LCMS writer explains:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At the time of the Reformation, the Lutherans revised the celebration of former holidays and saint days in order to give greater prominence to the work of Jesus. St. Michael and All Angels was retained in the Lutheran liturgical calendar because it was seen as a principal feast about Christ. In fact, Philip Melanchthon, a colleague of Dr. Martin Luther, even wrote a hymn about St. Michael and All Angels (LSB 522, “Lord God, To Thee We Give All Praise”).<br />
<br />
At first, this might strike us as strange. How is a feast named after an archangel about Jesus? But as with all commemorations within the Lutheran Church, the focus is not on the person but held in grateful thanksgiving to our Lord for using this person (or His holy angels) to give glory to His name and to bring about salvation for His people. The event celebrated on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels is thus important both in regard to our salvation and to the comfort it brings the Christian conscience.</blockquote>
The website Text This Week helpfully <a href="http://www.textweek.com/festivals/michael.htm" target="_blank">lists readings</a> for Roman Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran congregations. All agree on the appointed reading for today: <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12%3A7-12&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Revelation 12:7-12, </a>telling how St. Michael leads the victorious battle in heaven. (I would probably still be chanting this Epistle today — as I did 25 years ago — if we hadn’t changed churches).<br />
<h4>
Anglican Hymns</h4>
I had trouble finding familiar hymns with texts that fit today. The <a href="http://www.liturgytools.net/2017/09/hymn-for-feast-sts-michael-gabriel-raphael-archangels-all-angels-michaelmas-29-september.html" target="_blank">LiturgyTools</a> website has a list of hymn (most of which I don’t know), but perhaps the most obvious hymn (for “All Angels” if not St. Michael) is a Victorian hymn:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Ye holy angels bright,<br />
who wait at God's right hand,<br />
or through the realms of light<br />
fly at your Lord's command,<br />
assist our song,<br />
for else the theme<br />
too high doth seem<br />
for mortal tongue.</blockquote>
I remember it from childhood because it is the last hymn of the first edition of <i>Hymnal 1940</i> (600), it is also the last hymn of <i>Book of Common Praise 2017 </i>(#639); it is also found in <i>The English Hymnal </i>(#517); the <i>New English Hymnal</i> (#475) and <i>Hymnal 1982</i> (#625). The tune is <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Darwall’s 148th,</span> published by John Darwall in 1770, with a wonderful four part harmony. Hymnary.org says it’s <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/ye_holy_angels_bright?extended=true#instances" target="_blank">found in 95 hymnals</a> — basically Anglican hymnals worldwide — but not in Catholic or Lutheran ones, and only the earliest (1933) <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/Meth1933/26" target="_blank">US Methodist hymnal.</a> It has a descant by Sydney Nicholson, published both in <i>Hymnal 1982 </i>and the <i>Oxford Book of Descants.</i><br />
<br />
This hymn is recommended for this day in <i>Hymnal 1940,</i> as is “Ye watchers and the holy ones” (H40: 599, H82: 618; BCP17: 637). While this connection to the feast day seems less direct, this hymn is also found in <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/ye_watchers_and_ye_holy_ones" target="_blank">Catholic, Lutheran, and Methodist hymnals</a> (for those that still use hymnals). The tune is <span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Lasst uns enfreuen, </span>from a 17th century German Catholic hymnal and harmonized by Ralph Vaughan Williams. There is a descant by Christopher Gower in the <i>Oxford Book of Descants,</i> while my own music director (J. Davis Simmons) has written his own magnificent descant.<br />
<br />
<i>Hymnal 1940</i> lists four hymns for the feast day:<br />
<ol start="120">
<li>“Around the throne of God,” written by <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/rev-john-mason-neale-dd-24-jan-1818-6.html" target="_blank">John M. Neale</a>, and set to the (quite singable) 1873 tune <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Abends.</span></li>
<li>“Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright,” a 9th century Greek text translated by Neale in <i>Hymns of the Eastern Church,</i> set to <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Trisagion,</span> a tune composed for this purpose and published in the 1868 edition of <i>Hymns Ancient & Modern.</i></li>
<li>“Angels and ministers, spirits of grace,” by Percy Dearmer in his 1933 <i>Songs of Praise, Enlarged Edition</i> (one of the few hymns from this hymnal that made it into H40). It is set to the Irish tune <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Slane</span>; two different descants are in the <i>Oxford Book of Descants.</i> </li>
<li>“Christ the fair glory of the holy angels,” the official office hymn for this date — a 9th century Latin text translated by <i>The English Hymnal</i> and updated by H40. It has a choice of two tunes: <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Christ Sanctorum</span> (a Sarum plainsong) and the 17th century <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Coelites Plaudant.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
The <i>New English Hymnal </i>has only one text — the latter — with <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Iste Confessor</span> (also a plainsong) and <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Coelites Plaudant.</span> <i>Book of Common Praise 2017</i> also retains only this one text, but with the tune <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Supplication</span> by W.H. Monk (music editor of <i>Hymns A&M</i>).<br />
<br />
For once, <i>Hymnal 1982</i> does not have the widest selection of hymns for saints’ days. For the office hymn, it retains <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Coelites Plaudant</span> (#282) and adds a second plainsong (#283), <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Caelitum Joseph</span> (adapted in 1983 by Schola Antiqua). The other text it has is “O ye immortal throng of angels” (#284), a text by Philip Doddridge) set to <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Croft’s 136th.</span><br />
<h4>
Lutheran Hymns</h4>
With DuckDuckGo, I also found a Lutheran website with hymn suggestions for this date: the Free Lutheran Chorale-Book. It <a href="https://www.lutheranchoralebook.com/hymns-for-st-michael-and-all-angels/" target="_blank">writes</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The most well-known is Paul Eber’s “Lord God, to Thee We All Give Praise” (“Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir“), 1554. It appears in The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, as No. 254, “Lord God, We All to Thee Give Praise,” and in the Lutheran Service Book, 2006, as No. 522, “Lord God, to Thee We Give All Praise.” Eber’s German hymn is a paraphrase of a Latin composition by Philipp Melanchthon, “Dicimus gratias tibi” (“We give thank to Thee”), 1543. The tune, which in the Lutheran chorale tradition is known as “Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir,” is well known among English speakers as “Old Hundredth” due to its association with the metrical setting of Psalm 100 in the Geneva Psalter. </blockquote>
Hymnary lists 22 (18th and 19th century) <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/herr_gott_dich_loben_alle_wir" target="_blank">hymnals with the German text</a>, and 18 (Lutheran) hymnals <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/lord_god_we_all_to_thee_give_praise?extended=true#instances" target="_blank">with the English text</a>, including the current LCMS and WELS (but not ELCA) hymnals. However, the text is more generically about angels than specific to St. Michael.<br />
<br />
It mentions a second hymn, the 17th century “Aus Lieb läßt Gott den Christenheit,” but that was only published in the U.S. in an 18th century German Lutheran hymnal by C.F.W. Walther.<br />
<br />
I pulled out my copy of the 1941 <i>The Lutheran Hymnal,</i> and it offers its own assortment of hymns that overlaps H40:<br />
<ol start="254">
<li>“Lord God, we all to thee give praise,” set to <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Old Hundredth.</span></li>
<li>“Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright,” set to <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">O Quanta Qualis,</span> a 17th century plainsong tune<i>.</i></li>
<li>“Around the throne of God,” set to <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Winchester New </span>(a descant is available in the <i>Oxford Book of Descants</i>).</li>
<li>“Jesus, brightness of the Father,” a 9th century text translated by Edward Caswall, set to <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Neander</span><span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span>(a descant is available in the <i>Oxford Book of Descants</i>).</li>
</ol>
The latter two familiar tunes seem a great way to get Anglicans to sing these lesser known Anglican texts.<br />
<ol start="254">
</ol>
</div>
J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-78176280261760606912019-09-22T18:48:00.003-07:002019-09-23T13:26:13.297-07:00A hymn worthy of an Apostle<h4>
A Bright Contribution to Saints’ Hymns</h4>
September 21 is the feast of St. Matthew. In observance of the feast day, today we sang a hymn intended for the occasion: “He sat to watch o’er customs paid” by Rev. William Bright (1824-1901). I didn’t recognize it because it’s not in <i>Hymnal 1916, Hymnal 1940 </i>or <i>Book of Common Praise 2017.</i><br />
<br />
According to Julian’s <i>Dictionary of Hymnology</i> (via <a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Bright_W" target="_blank">Hymnary</a>), Bright was an Oxford grad, fellow and later chaired professor (and canon of Christ Church Oxford). Julian concludes: “Canon Bright's hymns merit greater attention than they have received at the hands of compilers.” Indeed, his best known hymn, “And now, O Father, mindful of the love”, appears in <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/and_now_o_father_mindful_of_the_love" target="_blank">only 73 hymnals.</a> By comparison, <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/J.M.%20Neale" target="_blank">John Mason Neale</a> has <a href="https://hymnary.org/person/Neale_JM?sort=desc&order=Instances" target="_blank">24 hymns</a> in more than 100 hymnals, although such <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/rev-john-mason-neale-dd-24-jan-1818-6.html" target="_blank">prodigious output</a> of timeless hymns (e.g., “All glory, laud and honor,” “Good Christian men rejoice” and “O come, O come Emmanuel”) is impossible to match.<br />
<br />
“He saw to watch o’er customs paid” appears in <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/he_sat_to_watch_oer_customs_paid#" target="_blank">11 hymnals.</a> In <i>Songs of Praise Discussed,</i> it is described thus<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dr. Bright’s hymn, which is one of the really good saint’s day hymns, combining in lines of classical finish the historical facts with their practical application, was first published in the <i>Supplementary Hymns</i> to <i>Hymns Ancient and Modern </i>(1889).</blockquote>
The first and last of the six verses summarize the premise of the hymn:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He sat to watch o’er customs paid,<br />
A man of scorned and hardening trade,<br />
Alike the symbol and the tool<br />
Of foreign masters’ hated rule.<br />
<br />
Who keep thy gifts, O bid them claim<br />
The steward’s, not the owner’s name;<br />
Who yield up all for thy dear sake,<br />
Let them of Matthew’s wealth partake.</blockquote>
<h4>
Tuning In</h4>
<div>
Alas, both <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-first-hymnal_26.html" target="_blank">my favorite Anglican hymnal</a> and the <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/09/21st-century-hymnals-come-to-waco.html" target="_blank">newest Anglican hymnal</a> don’t include this hymn. <i>Hymnal 1940</i> is lamentably sparse in its coverage of saints’ days, something that <i>Hymnal 1982</i> certainly improves upon.<br />
<br />
While there is a consistent pattern of the text, the choice of tune was highly fragmented. Because it is Long Metre (8.8.8.8), there is an embarrassment of options.<br />
<br />
Of the 11 hymnals, 7 are familiar Anglican hymnals. Not surprisingly, the hymn first appeared with the 2nd supplement (1889) to original 1861 <i>Hymns Ancient & Modern</i> (aka “original edition” aka “standard edition”). In these, it is hymn #615 with the tune <span style="font-variant: small-caps;"><a href="https://hymnary.org/tune/gloucester_hodges" target="_blank">Gloucester</a></span>, while the same text and tune are #238 in the “New Edition” (1904). Finally, the <i>Hymns Ancient & Modern Revised </i> (1950, aka the “Revised edition”) it was #563, to Thomas Turton’s tune <span style="font-variant: small-caps;"><a href="https://hymnary.org/tune/ely_turton">Ely.</a></span><br />
<br />
<i>The English Hymnal</i> (1906) published the hymn (#240) to the tune <span style="font-variant: small-caps;"><a href="https://hymnary.org/tune/alfreton_13423" target="_blank">Alfretòn.</a></span> The same text and tune are also found in the 1925 <i>Songs of Praise </i>(#237), and the 1986 <i>New English Hymnal</i> (<a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/NEH1985/189" target="_blank">#189</a>).<br />
<br />
A third tune was chosen by <i>Hymnal 1982</i> (<a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/EH1982/281" target="_blank">#281</a>). <span style="font-variant: small-caps;"><a href="https://hymnary.org/tune/breslau" target="_blank">Breslau</a></span> is a 15th century German tune, harmonized by Mendelssohn.<br />
<br />
Today, however, we sang none of the above. Instead, our choir director selected <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Creator Alme Siderum.</span> This <a href="https://hymnary.org/tune/conditor_alme_siderum" target="_blank">Sarum plainsong tune</a> is one of my favorites — and beloved by many — from its use with the hymn <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/creator_of_the_stars_of_night" target="_blank">“Creator of the Stars of Night.”</a><br />
<br />
No matter what the tune, the text is one that one that deserves to be in any Anglican hymnal.</div>
<h4>
Collecting Our Thoughts</h4>
For mass, the gospel is the calling of Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13), and for mass and daily office the collect from <a href="http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1549/Readings_SaintsB_1549.htm#St.%20Matthew" target="_blank">1549</a> until <a href="http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1789/Readings1789&1892D.htm#StMatthew" target="_blank">1928</a> is the same<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
O ALMIGHTY God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist; Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches, and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. <i>Amen</i>.</blockquote>
The collect in the <a href="http://www.bookofcommonprayer.net/collects/traditional#holy_days" target="_blank">1979 ECUSA prayer book</a> is inexplicably different (even in Rite I)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of thine apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of thy Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. <i>Amen</i>.</blockquote>
For this collect, the 2019 <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/ACNA%20liturgy" target="_blank">ACNA prayer book</a> does not follow the 1979 (as it <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-acnas-near-final-liturgy.html" target="_blank">often does</a>), but more closely follows the historic Anglican liturgy:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lord Jesus, you called Matthew from collecting taxes to become your apostle and evangelist: Grant us the grace to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches, that we may follow you as he did and proclaim to the world around us the good news of your salvation; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. <i>Amen</i>.</blockquote>
<div>
<br /></div>
J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6601056345219122672.post-45924664824887294292019-06-30T21:24:00.000-07:002019-07-29T07:20:46.253-07:00Dear Lord, we give thanks for Hubert ParryIn doing my research this past year on Anglican parish hymn singing, I made up a list of litmus questions to ask music directors, all of which got at a tension in the American interpretation of English hymn-singing. One was “Hail thee, Festival Day!” — which is both the <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2007/04/ralph-vaughan-williams-easter.html" target="_blank">great Vaughan Williams tune</a> from <i>The English Hymnal</i> and a difficult hymn to sing.<br />
<br />
Another was using <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Repton</span> for Whittier’s text <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/dear_lord_and_father_of_mankind" target="_blank">“Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.”</a> When it was mentioned this month on our favorite Facebook group, my daughter had never realized that it was missing from the hymnal she grew up on (her dad’s <a href="https://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-first-hymnal_26.html" target="_blank">favorite hymnal</a>) but was instead a later addition.<br />
<br />
Two years ago I blogged on <a href="http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com/2017/07/picking-tune-for-whittiers-greatest-hit.html" target="_blank">this combination</a> — one of five tunes used for this text by Anglican hymnals — because the music director at my current church loves <span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Repton</span>. It was only in the past month that I realized how rare — and recent — the pairing is. Hymnary lists the hymn text as appearing <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/dear_lord_and_father_of_mankind" target="_blank">in 434 hymnals,</a> with tune names for 134. Of these 134, only 23 list <span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Repton</span>.<br />
<h4>
<i>Songs of Praise</i></h4>
The first example of this pairing was in <i>Songs of Praise</i> (1925), where it was the first tune of Hymn #481 in both SOP and <i>Songs of Praise, Extended Edition </i>(1933).<br />
<br />
SOP had Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams as music editor, and Percy Dearmer as text editor<i>.</i> This hymnal is little known among Americans, but it was the key English hymnal between <i>The English Hymnal</i> (1906) and the <i>New English Hymnal</i> (1986). If you look at writing about 20th century British hymnody, the only other seminal hymn book during this period is the 1928 <i>Oxford Book of Carols — </i>with the same three editors.<br />
<br />
Vaughan Williams and Dearmer had played the same roles in <i>The English Hymnal, </i>the most influential English hymn book of the 20th century. This is ironic, since (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Praise_(hymnal)" target="_blank">according to Wikipedia</a> quoting a Dearmer biography) SOP was created by the two men (plus Shaw) because TEH was too “high church”. I don’t have direct knowledge of early 20th century COE politics, but clearly TEH was less high church than <i>Hymns Ancient & Modern,</i> which is undeniably among the most high church English-language hymnals of all time.<br />
<br />
We could just take the editors at their word. Here is how the newer preface in SOPEE (1933) begins<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When <i>Songs of Praise</i> was first published in 1925, the object to make, so far as then possible, a collection of hymns that should be national in character; and a hope was expressed in the Preface that the book might be of use to those who bear the responsibility of our national education.</blockquote>
The preface then elaborates on how the original SOP was adopted in British schools, and how the editors of SOPEE sought to incorporate their feedback in the revision.<br />
<h4>
Parry’s Tune <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Repton</span></h4>
This is what the hymnal companion to SOP (<i>Songs of Praise Discussed,</i> 1933) says about the tune<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">repton,</span> by Sir Hubert Parry, is from his oratorio <i>Judith</i> (1888), where in Scene ii, a dialogue between Meshollemeth and a Child, it is sung by the former to the words beginning ‘Long since in Egypt’s plenteous land’. The tune is typical of the composer in its broad melody, and especially in the elliptical rhythm of the last three lines. In its present form it makes a fine, strong unison tune.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Charles_Hubert_Hastings_Parry" target="_blank">Charles Hubert Hastings Parry</a> (1848-1918) was the English composer who was an Oxford music professor from 1900-1908, succeeding John Stainer. Unlike the other tunes, the lilting pastoral melody drives to a conclusion. Note that with <span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Repton</span>, the last phrase (“In deeper reverence praise”) is repeated but not with the other tunes (Rest, Nicolaus, Hammersmith).<br />
<h4>
The Parry-Whittier Combination</h4>
As elsewhere in SOP, the new tune for words previously in TEH retained the TEH text — in this case, the same five verses as TEH #383, beginning with<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,<br />
forgive our foolish ways;<br />
reclothe us in our rightful mind,<br />
in purer lives thy service find,<br />
in deeper reverence, praise.</blockquote>
The original text also continued in later hymnals through the 1980s.<br />
<br />
The use of <span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Repton</span> in SOP was ignored by <i>Hymnal 1940 </i>(#435)<i>. The Hymnal 1940 Companion</i> (pp. 270-271) says Whittier’s text was written in 1872, first published as a hymn in 1884, and first published in an ECUSA hymnal in <i>Hymnal 1916. </i>The H40C notes the second tune (<span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Rest</span>) was written for this specific text in the <i>Congregational Hymnal</i> (1887).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0DNx9aEiEuC5UQGI7QYHijiSUN7H3_YKIAO5Ei-widYaqY2Eta6c1ZLiMw7TDV6KBRVwnBJEgeUdnEyptCPj5q2N4pN-S_89FK-P7ZA_OhEwRUZVp5Ndm56vXv8lpbQWk3ZG03jZb2tA/s1600/Cantatte341.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1006" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0DNx9aEiEuC5UQGI7QYHijiSUN7H3_YKIAO5Ei-widYaqY2Eta6c1ZLiMw7TDV6KBRVwnBJEgeUdnEyptCPj5q2N4pN-S_89FK-P7ZA_OhEwRUZVp5Ndm56vXv8lpbQWk3ZG03jZb2tA/s200/Cantatte341.png" width="125" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cantate Domino, </i>#922</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
However, the next three American hymnals did include <span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Repton</span>:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/cantate-domino-hymnal-supplement-g-2264/oclc/5929267" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Cantate Domino</a> (#922), the 1979 Anglo-Catholic supplement to <i>Hymnal 1940 </i>(sequentially numbered from H40) that was prepared by the ESCUA diocese of Chicago. It has a simplified version of the SOP harmonization.</li>
<li><i>Hymnal 1982 </i>(#653), simplified to unison — with the accompaniment printed only in the organist accompaniment edition.</li>
<li><i>Book of Common Praise 2017 </i>(#602), with a slightly more complex version than the 1979 hymnal. This is the only edition not marked “unison”, with the implication the harmonization can be sung — but (as with much of BCP17) not all that singable by a congregation or unrehearsed choir.</li>
</ul>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXqpH9u1sS_xAfKXQ0WLkzAWJ_pLbcnBlF5m4c1IRcUn9L3Pm7WIDWqHjZ6-4DqAVmu0sTu_wGTBm0SS2KX6U8OxCTOBXfAMDQpm1jKd7QRNTgtNNq2NVsJQo-nfoOmFpNVUAHBxmcefC/s1600/NEH-353a.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1058" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXqpH9u1sS_xAfKXQ0WLkzAWJ_pLbcnBlF5m4c1IRcUn9L3Pm7WIDWqHjZ6-4DqAVmu0sTu_wGTBm0SS2KX6U8OxCTOBXfAMDQpm1jKd7QRNTgtNNq2NVsJQo-nfoOmFpNVUAHBxmcefC/s400/NEH-353a.png" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first three staves of the arrangement<br />
in the <i>New English Hymnal.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the second half of the century, <span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps;">Repton</span> was the preferred tune of most Anglican hymnals:<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada</i></li>
(1971), <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/HBAC1971/249a" target="_blank">#249</a>
<li><i>Australian Hymn Book with Catholic Supplement </i>(1977), <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/AHBC1977/519b" target="_blank">#519</a> (2nd tune)</li>
<li><i>New English Hymnal</i> (1986), <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/NEH1985/353a" target="_blank">#353</a>, with the same harmonization as <i>SOPEE</i></li>
<li><i>Common Praise</i> (2000), <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/CPAM2000/411" target="_blank">#411</a>, with a simplified harmonization</li>
</ul>
Despite the longstanding respect for Whittier’s text, later hymnals rewrote the text to serve their sociopolitical goals. The aggressive inclusivity in 1995 of <i>The New Century Hymnal</i> by the United Church of Christ bowdlerizes Whittier’s opening phrase as “Dear God, embracing humankind.”<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the 1998 English<i> Common Praise</i> twists it to become “Dear God, compassionate and kind.” The harmonization is the same as the subsequent 2000 edition of <i>Common Praise </i>with the original words.<br />
<h4>
Conclusions</h4>
<div>
This is a clear case where the original (arguably most authentic) tune has become obsolete — the revised pairing 40 years later (by Vaughan Williams and/or Shaw) has become the new standard. Sometimes the adoption of a new tune is (arguably) an inferior choice, but — according to the consensus of music directors that I interviewed for my study — this is clearly a better choice.</div>
<h4>
References</h4>
Percy Dearmer, <i>Songs of Praise Discussed, </i>London: Oxford, 1933.<br />
<br />
Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw, eds., <i>Songs of Praise, </i>London: Oxford, 1925.<br />
<br />
Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw, eds., <i>Songs of Praise, Enlarged Edition, </i>London: Oxford, 1933.<br />
<br />
Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, <i>Cantate Domino: Hymnal Supplement G-2264,</i> Chicago: GIA, 1979.<br />
<br />
<i>New English Hymnal,</i> London: Canterbury Press, 1986.<br />
<br />
<i>The Hymnal 1940 Companion,</i> 3rd rev. ed., New York: Church Pension Fund, 1951.<br />
<br />J.Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00248876387772558074noreply@blogger.com0