Loyal Lutheran Listeners Love Christmas Carols

On Friday, @IssuesEtc 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 this month for Advent hymns).

The December 23 show 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.

The Nominees

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. 

In alphabetical order (with the start times indicated), these 20 pieces were:

1. “All my heart this night rejoices” [01:26:40]: translated from “Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen” by Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676); 267 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/all_my_heart_this_night_rejoices. 

2. “Angels we have heard on high” [00:39:10]: translated from “Les Anges dans nos Campagnes”, an 18th century French carol; 213 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/angels_we_have_heard_on_high. Performed by Solo Deo Cantorum.

3. “Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light” [00:52:40]: by Johann Rist (1607-1667); 55 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/break_forth_o_beauteous_heavenly_light. Performed by Robert Shaw Chamber Singers.

4. “For unto us a child is born” [01:13:55]: by G.F. Händel (1685-1759).  Performed by Bach Collegium Japan.

5. “From heaven above to earth I come” [00:58:30]: translated from “Vom himmel hoch” by Martin Luther (1483-1546); 147 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/from_heaven_above_to_earth_i_come_to_bea. 

6. “God rest ye merry gentlemen” [01:29:50]:, an 18th century English carol; 116 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/god_rest_ye_merry_gentlemen. Performed by King's College Choir.

7. “Hark the herald angels sing” [00:17:20]: by Charles Wesley (1707-1788); 1350 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/hark_the_herald_angels_sing_glory_to. Performed by King's College Choir.

8. “Joy to the world” [00:02:35]: by Isaac Watts (1674-1748); 1814 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/joy_to_the_world_the_lord_is_come. Performed by John Rutter & Cambridge Singers.

9. “Let our gladness have no end” [00:24:50]: translated from “Narodil se Kristus Pán”, 15th century Bohemian carol; 10 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/let_our_gladness_have_no_end. Performed by Children's Choirs of St. Paul Lutheran Church (Fort Wayne).

10. “Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming” [01:36:20]: translated from “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen”, 16th century German carol; 106 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/lo_how_a_rose_eer_blooming. Performed by LPR Choir.

11. “O come, all ye faithful” [01:05:25]: translated from “Adeste Fidelis” by James Frances Wade (1711-1786); 924 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_all_ye_faithful_joyful_and_triump. Performed by King's College Choir.

12. “O Holy Night” [00:21:50]: translated from “Cantique de Noël” by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877); 45 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/o_holy_night_the_stars_are_brightly_shin. Performed by Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

13. “O how Joyfully” [01:33:40]: translated from “O du Fröhliche” by Johann Daniel Falk (1728-1826); 129 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/o_du_frohliche_o_du_selige. Performed by Kapelle of Concordia University Chicago.

14. “O Jesus Christ, thy manager is” [00:47:55]: translated from “O Jesu Christ, Dein Kripplein Ist” by Paul Gerhardt; 7 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/o_jesus_christ_thy_manger_is. 

15. “Of the father's love begotten” [00:31:50]: translated from “Corde natus ex Parentis” by Prudentius (348-405+); 218 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/of_the_fathers_love_begotten. Performed by Cantorei of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.

16. “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. https://hymnary.org/text/praise_god_the_lord_ye_sons_of_men. Performed by LPR Choir.

17. “Silent Night” [01:18:25]: translated from “Stille Nacht” by Joseph Mohr (1792-1848); 749 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/silent_night_holy_night_all_is_calm_all. Performed by Musica Sacra.

18. “What child is this” [00:44:45]: by W. Chatterton Dix (1837-1898); 197 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/what_child_is_this_who_laid_to_rest. Performed by Richard Proulx & The Cathedral Singers.

19. “What sweeter music” [01:44:15]: by Robert Herrick (1591-1674).  Performed by John Rutter & Cambridge Singers.

20. “Where shepherds lately knelt” [00:10:30]: by Jaroslav Vajda (1919-2008); 9 hymnals. https://hymnary.org/text/where_shepherds_lately_knelt_and_kept_th. 

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.

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.

Performers

Some performers were announced, while in other cases Shazam identified the recording for me.

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).

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).

Singing these Hymns at Christmas

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:

• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006)
• Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod: Lutheran Service Book (2006)
• Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod: Christian Worship (1993)
• Evangelical Lutheran Synod: Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996)

For Anglican comparison, also searched the latest Church of England hymnal used in most English choral recordings (New English Hymnal), The Episcopal Church hymnal also used by ACNA parishes (Hymnal 1982), and the main hymnal of Continuing Anglicans (Hymnal 1940). (Note I am ignoring variations in tunes and text, which were a big deal for Advent hymns I examined earlier).

	Denomination	TEC	TEC	CoE	ELCA	LCMS	WELS	ELS
Seq	Text	H40	H82	NEH	ELW	LSB	CW	ELH
1	All my heart this night rejoices	32	545		273	360	37	115
2	Angels we have heard on high	42	96		289	368	63	116
3	Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light	25	91			378	44
5	From heaven above to earth I come				268	358	38	123 & 124
6	God rest ye merry gentlemen	40	105					126
7	Hark the herald angels sing	27	87	26	270	380	61	125
8	Joy to the world	775	100		267	387	62	138
9	Let our gladness have no end				291	381
10	Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming	17	81		272	359
11	O come, all ye faithful	12	93	30	283	379	55	133
14	O Jesus Christ, thy manager is					372	40	161
15	Of the Father's love begotten	20	82	33	295	384	35	181
16	Praise God the Lord ye sons of men							148
17	Silent Night	33	111	34		363		140
18	What child is this	36	115	40	296	370	67	145
20	Where shepherds lately knelt					369	54

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.

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.

The Winner: a Favorite for 16 Centuries

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

• 3 votes: ”Joy to the world” and “O come, all the faithful”
• 5 votes: “Hark the herald angels sing”

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.

With 11 votes, the landslide winner was “Of the Father’s love begotten,” a 4th century hymn by Prudentius that I blogged about in 2008 (based on an Issues Etc. discussion of the hymn by a LCMS seminary Professor Arthur Just) and 2010. Of course, I’m particularly excited because the hymn was introduced into the English-language repertoire by John Mason Neale, the great hymn translator of the 19th century.

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:

• Elaine: “because of the transcendent beauty of the music and the lyrics”
• Joshua: “text and tune are beautiful, and a long part of the church’s history”
• Janet: “because I have always loved ancient melodies and texts”
• David: “it’s been sung by Christians since the fourth century”
• 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”
• 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.”

To me, this is the epitome of the argument for what I call “timeless hymns” and this hymn’s place at the front of the panoply of such hymns.

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.

References

• Joint Commission on the Revision of the Hymnal, The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd ed. (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1951).
• Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrot, The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992)
• Joel W. West, “Singing Together for the Advent of our Lord,” North American Anglican, December 22, 2022, URL: https://northamanglican.com/singing-together-for-the-advent-of-our-lord/

In defense of Victorian carols

In my defense of Anglican hymnals against exaggerated claims by @LutheranSatire, I got a little pushback. My previous defense was that these anachronistic “snow” carols are comparatively rare. For example, in the latest U.S. Anglican hymnal, Book of Common Praise 2017, 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.”

The Satirical Accusation

In the original video, “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

The snow was cold
And the snow was bright
And the snow was all around
Christ was born
On the day that God
Sent snow upon the ground.

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

Instead of focusing on theology, the British love meditating on snow, silence, and livestock in their Christmas hymns. Martin Luther finds this annoying.

How Bad Are The Four Worst Hymns?

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.

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

Worst	Best
1. In the Bleak Midwinter
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago.	Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
2. The Snow Lay on the Ground
The snow lay on the ground, The stars shone bright, When Christ our Lord was born On Christmas night. Venite adoremus Dominum; Venite adoremus Dominum.	And thus that manger poor Became a throne; For He Whom Mary bore Was God the Son. O come, then, let us join The heavenly host, To praise the Father, Son, And Holy Ghost.
3. See Amid the Winter's Snow
See, amid the winter's snow, born for us on earth below, see the tender Lamb appears, promised from eternal years. Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn! Hail, redemption's happy dawn! Sing through all Jerusalem, "Christ is born in Bethlehem."	Lo, within a manger lies He who built the starry skies; He, who throned in height sublime, sits amid the cherubim! Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn! Hail, redemption's happy dawn! Sing through all Jerusalem, "Christ is born in Bethlehem."
4. ’Twas in the Winter Cold
’Twas in the winter cold, when earth Was desolate and wild, That angels welcomed at His birth The everlasting Child. From realms of ever bright’ning day, And from His throne above He came with humankind to stay, All lowliness and love.	Grant me Thyself, O Savior kind, The Spirit undefiled, That I may be in heart and mind As gentle as a child; That I may tread life’s arduous ways As Thou Thyself hast trod, And in the might of prayer and praise Keep ever close to God.

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.

Remember that

1. is the famous English carol sung most years by King’s College Cambridge, and the only one sung regularly at Anglican churches; 
2. is found in recent Anglican hymnals but not in any top 10 or top 25 list of Christmas hymns at Anglican churches;
3. is an English Catholic hymn not found in US Anglican hymnals, but was published in the Lutheran Service Book (2006), the most recent hymnal from Pastor Fiene’s denomination;
4. 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.

Update: To be fair, “In the Bleak Midwinter” is also the one with the greatest cultural impact. Amazon lists a total of 189 digital recordings of this hymn, including more than a dozen by English cathedral or chapel choirs, including King’s College Cambridge (both Holst and Darke). It also has (relatively sober) recordings by the Cambridge Singers, Chanticleer, the King's Singers, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Pop recordings include the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Moody Blues, Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor, Julie Andrews, Sarah Brightman, and (of course) Keith and Kristyn Getty. (The total is inflated somewhat by including instrumental recordings without the problematic text, such as the one by The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines).

So, in effect, the criticism by “Luther” boils down to a single poem by Christina Rossetti, one that the editors of The English Hymnal 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”?

Victorian Christmas Anachronisms

The 19th century brought not on the rise of distinctively English hymns and carols, but also anachronistic characterization of Bethlehem winters. @LutheranSatire has been particularly caustic in its evaluation, with Pastor Hans Fiene (in his alter ego M. Luther) ridiculing two Victorian gentlemen as they compose “Inferior Anglican Christmas Hymns”.

On the one hand, the enthusiasm of Victorian England was admirable, as a single hymnal — Hymns Ancient & Modern — 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 says

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!

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.

And some of the 19th century carols, including many of those by J.M. Neale, were translations or reharmonizations of ancient or medieval hymns that were centuries old. If there was snow involved — as in Neale’s “Good King Wenceslas” — it was in Britain and not 31° N of Bethlehem.

Other winter excesses cannot be traced to the Victorians. This includes the “in kaltem winter” (“cold of winter”) in the 16th century carol “Es ist ein Ros” (“Lo, how a rose e'er blooming” to Anglicans) or the 20th century American secular ditties like “Let it Snow!” (1945) or “Frosty the Snowman” (1950).

Nonetheless, by searching through Hymnary and my Anglican hymnals, I found exactly four Anglican hymns that, to a greater or lesser degree, might attract the scorn of Pastor Luther Fiene. (Although one might be hypocritical for a 21st century LCMS pastor to attack).

1. In the Bleak Midwinter

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 at least 70 hymnals. None of these are by the Missouri or Wisconsin synod Lutherans, but it does appear in the latest (2006) and most ecumenical ELCA hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

The first stanza is the one that would cool any appreciation by Pr. Fiene:

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

As a hymn, it first appeared in The English Hymnal (1906), with a new tune written for this text: Cranham by Gustav Holst. (Yes, that Gustav Holst.) According to Hymnary.org, it accounts for 63/70 of the hymnals printing of the text; six are Castle by Don Cason and one Adventist hymnal that used Uinta by the hymnal’s editor.

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 King’s College Cambridge annual Lessons & Carols service — according to David Sinden, of the last 23 broadcasts, 11 had Darke and two Holst. It was also once voted the best Christmas carol of all time.

2. The Snow Lay on the Ground

For the first Sunday after Christmas, we sang “The Snow Lay on the Ground” (Hymnal 1940: 41; Hymnal 1982: 110; Book of Common Praise 2017: 81; New English Hymnal: 28). Hymnary.org says it appears in 39 hymnals, and quotes Julian (1907) in summarizing its origins as

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. 

The 39 hymnals include Episcopalian and Catholic Hymnals, but neither Hymns A&M (1861-1904) or The English Hymnal (1906) nor any Lutheran hymnal. Again, it’s the first verse that would boil Fiene’s blood:

The snow lay on the ground,
The stars shone bright,
When Christ our Lord was born
On Christmas night.
Venite adoremus Dominum;
Venite adoremus Dominum.

3. See Amid the Winter's Snow

Surpisingly popular is “See Amid the Winter’s Snow,” penned in 1858 by Anglo-Catholic (turned Roman Catholic) hymnist Edward Caswall. Among the 140 hymnals listed by Hymnary, it’s found in the Anglican hymnals of Canada and Ireland, the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal, and (natch) numerous Catholic hymnals. (But no Episcopalian or American Anglican hymnals).

Again, the first stanza fits the problematic pattern:

See, amid the winter's snow,
born for us on earth below,
see the tender Lamb appears,
promised from eternal years.
Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn!Hail, redemption's happy dawn!Sing through all Jerusalem,"Christ is born in Bethlehem."

However, it appears that Luther’s influence is limited among the German-American Lutherans, as it is hymn #373 Pastor Fiene’s favorite hymnal — the current (2006) LCMS Lutheran Service Book.

4. ’Twas in the Winter

Here my ignorance is more excusable, as this 1871 text by Irish clergyman Rev. Charles Ingham Black appears in only five hymnals. The most prominent is nearly 150 years ago, from John Stainer’s Christmas Carols New and Old.

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

’Twas in the winter cold, when earth
Was desolate and wild,
That angels welcomed at His birth
The everlasting Child.
From realms of ever bright’ning day,
And from His throne above
He came with humankind to stay,
All lowliness and love.

Summary

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:

• None was published in the dominant Victorian hymnal, Hymns Ancient & Modern, during Victoria’s life — either the 1861 or 1889 editions.
• Only one (#1) was found in The English Hymnal, the Edwardian collection of Victorian hymns published in 1906.
• Only two (#1,#2) were published the American Anglican/Episcopal hymnals of the 20th and 21st centuries. 
• A third hymn (#3)— as bad as the others — was selected by his LCMS colleagues to be published in his preferred hymnal

So to paraphrase an English playwright back: methinks the pastor doth protest too much.

The most influential 19th century Anglican hymnwriter, John Mason Neale, 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 most reprinted Advent hymn — a translation of a medieval Latin text written centuries before Herr Doktor Luther was born — contains exactly the sort of timeless truths Pastor Fiene would espouse.

In its current form (from the 1861 edition of Hymns A&M) , “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is the second hymn in my favorite hymnal (#357 in Pastor Fiene’s hymnal)

Oh, come, Oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

References

• Beall, Mary Kay, “In the Bleak Midwinter,” The Hymn, 56, 4 (Autumn 2015), 47-49.
• Julian, John, Dictionary of Hymnology,  London: Murray, 1907. URL: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/julian_j/
• Long, Kenneth R., The Music of the English Church (New York: St. Martin’s, 1971), p. 334
• Orford, Barry A., “Music and Hymnody” in Stewart J. Brown, James Pereiro, and Peter Nockles, eds., The Oxford Handbook of the Oxford Movement (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 376-386.
• Christmas Carols New and Old, by Henry R. Bramley & John Stainer (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1871). URL: https://archive.org/details/christmascarolsn00staiiala

Update: See further discussion of these four hymn on Dec. 30

Singing to angels and arcangels

The Feast of Michaelmas

The feast of St. Michael is celebrated on Sept. 29 by the liturgical Western churches. The celebration of St. Michael dates to 5th century Rome on Sept 30, and on Sept. 29 from the 7th century onward. In England, Michaelmas was once one of the major English quarterly holidays (along with Christmas, Lady Day and Midsummer), and was traditionally celebrated by a feast with a fatted goose.

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:

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”).

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.

The website Text This Week helpfully lists readings for Roman Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran congregations. All agree on the appointed reading for today: Revelation 12:7-12, 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).

Anglican Hymns

I had trouble finding familiar hymns with texts that fit today. The LiturgyTools 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:

Ye holy angels bright,
who wait at God's right hand,
or through the realms of light
fly at your Lord's command,
assist our song,
for else the theme
too high doth seem
for mortal tongue.

I remember it from childhood because it is the last hymn of the first edition of Hymnal 1940 (600), it is also the last hymn of Book of Common Praise 2017 (#639); it is also found in The English Hymnal (#517); the New English Hymnal (#475) and Hymnal 1982 (#625). The tune is Darwall’s 148th, published by John Darwall in 1770, with a wonderful four part harmony. Hymnary.org says it’s found in 95 hymnals — basically Anglican hymnals worldwide — but not in Catholic or Lutheran ones, and only the earliest (1933) US Methodist hymnal. It has a descant by Sydney Nicholson, published both in Hymnal 1982 and the Oxford Book of Descants.

This hymn is recommended for this day in Hymnal 1940, 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 Catholic, Lutheran, and Methodist hymnals (for those that still use hymnals). The tune is Lasst uns enfreuen, from a 17th century German Catholic hymnal and harmonized by Ralph Vaughan Williams. There is a descant by Christopher Gower in the Oxford Book of Descants, while my own music director (J. Davis Simmons) has written his own magnificent descant.

Hymnal 1940 lists four hymns for the feast day:

120. “Around the throne of God,” written by John M. Neale, and set to the (quite singable) 1873 tune Abends.
121. “Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright,” a 9th century Greek text translated by Neale in Hymns of the Eastern Church, set to Trisagion, a tune composed for this purpose and published in the 1868 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern.
122. “Angels and ministers, spirits of grace,” by Percy Dearmer in his 1933 Songs of Praise, Enlarged Edition (one of the few hymns from this hymnal that made it into H40). It is set to the Irish tune Slane; two different descants are in the Oxford Book of Descants. 
123. “Christ the fair glory of the holy angels,” the official office hymn for this date — a 9th century Latin text translated by The English Hymnal and updated by H40. It has a choice of two tunes: Christ Sanctorum (a Sarum plainsong) and the 17th century Coelites Plaudant.

The New English Hymnal has only one text — the latter — with Iste Confessor (also a plainsong) and Coelites Plaudant. Book of Common Praise 2017 also retains only this one text, but with the tune Supplication by W.H. Monk (music editor of Hymns A&M).

For once, Hymnal 1982 does not have the widest selection of hymns for saints’ days. For the office hymn, it retains Coelites Plaudant (#282) and adds a second plainsong (#283), Caelitum Joseph (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 Croft’s 136th.

Lutheran Hymns

With DuckDuckGo, I also found a Lutheran website with hymn suggestions for this date: the Free Lutheran Chorale-Book. It writes

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. 

Hymnary lists 22 (18th and 19th century) hymnals with the German text, and 18 (Lutheran) hymnals with the English text, including the current LCMS and WELS (but not ELCA) hymnals. However, the text is more generically about angels than specific to St. Michael.

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.

I pulled out my copy of the 1941 The Lutheran Hymnal, and it offers its own assortment of hymns that overlaps H40:

254. “Lord God, we all to thee give praise,” set to Old Hundredth.
255. “Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright,” set to O Quanta Qualis, a 17th century plainsong tune.
256. “Around the throne of God,” set to Winchester New (a descant is available in the Oxford Book of Descants).
257. “Jesus, brightness of the Father,” a 9th century text translated by Edward Caswall, set to Neander (a descant is available in the Oxford Book of Descants).

The latter two familiar tunes seem a great way to get Anglicans to sing these lesser known Anglican texts.

Favorite Lutheran Epiphany hymns

Last Tuesday, the listeners of Issues Etc. answered an open call for their favorite Epiphany hymns. Host Todd Wilken hosted a 56 minute session with the various listener comments.

As Pastor Wilken noted, Epiphany has three roles in the liturgical year

• The eponymous feast, commemorating the visitation of the Magi, representing more broadly the expansion of the mission of the Church to reach the Gentiles.
• The transition between Christmas and Lent (which IMHO is more about Christmas at the beginning and explicitly pre-Lent at the end)
• The home of specific feasts, such as the Baptism of our Lord and (for Lutherans) the Feast of the Transfiguration

As with other shows, the audience was primarily (if not entirely) Lutheran — and thus the votes represent a LCMS audience (presumably picking their hymns from the Lutheran Service Book or The Lutheran Hymnal).

The two most popular choices (with four votes each) were the first two Epiphany hymns in the LSB:

• “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise” (LSB: 394; TLH: 134; H40: 53): text by Christopher Wordsworth. In the LCMS hymnals they use a St. George by 19th century English organist George Elvey. However, the Anglicans (ironically) use Salzburg, written by 17th century German Protestant composer Jacob Hintze (working for the Calvinist Great Elector of Brandenburg) and harmonized the great Lutheran Kapellmeister — J.S. Bach himself.
• “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” (LSB: 395), with text and tune by 16th century Lutheran pastor Philip Nicolai. The earlier translations were “How Lovely Shines the Morning Star” (TLH: 343) and "How Bright Appears the Morning Star” (H40: 329),

Other hymns from the Epiphany section of the LSB that were mentioned (and would be familiar to Anglicans) were As with Gladness Men of Old (LSB: 397, TLH: 127; H40: 52), Hail to the Lord's Anointed (LSB: 398; TLH: 59; H40: 545) and Brightest and Best of the Sons* of the Morning (LSB: 400, TLH: 128; H40: 46).

Note that for the latest hymnal for the “conservative” LCMS, the title phrase “Sons of the Morning” in Reginald Heber’s 1811 text was inexplicably changed to politically correct "Stars of the Morning" in the LSB.

As was true seven years earlier, the German Lutherans (and their hymnals) omit two of our favorite Anglican hymns for the season: “What star is this, with beams so bright” (H40 #47) and “Earth has many a noble city” (H40 #48).

Anglo-German favorites

Today our opening hymn was a familiar one for the congregation — not only for us, but a German visitor who joined us. We have special readings this month, and it turns out that the first two hymns — matched to the readings — were both based on 17th century German masters.

The entrance hymn was “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (H40: 279; H82: 390), a Catherine Winkworth translation of the 1680 text by Joachim Neander. The hymn is found in every English and American Anglican hymnal since the 1860s. The original text is based on Psalm 103 and 150.

My Hymnal 1940 Companion describes Neander as “the principal poet of the Reformed Church in Germany.” Our German visitor recognized the tune but not the English words, until (quoting Ian Bradley’s text) I noted German text is called “Lobe den Herren”. He also noted that the hymn was a favorite of King Frederick Wilhem III of Prussia (1770-1840).

The five verses were published in 1680. In 1863, the English translation was published (in her Chorale Book for England) by Miss Winkworth, “the foremost translator of German hymns into English in the nineteenth century.” The Hymnal Companion said that Neander picked the tune “Hast du denn, Jesu” from the Strassund Erneuerten Gesangbuch. It lists the date as 1665 while Bradley lists it as 1655.

Pulling out my LCMS hymnals, both The Lutheran Hymnal (39) and Lutheran Service Book (790) also use the Winkworth translation — but with all five verses. The Handbook to The Lutheran Hymnal lists the tune as 1665, and “Neander adapted this tune to his text in 1679.”

The gradual hymn was “Ah, Holy Jesus” (H40: 71; H82: 158). Our German visitor considered it somewhat familiar, but not a well known favorite from back home.

According to the Companion, it was published in 1630 as “Herzliebster Jesu” by Johan Heermann and adapted from a 15th century text (once attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo). The tune was written a decade later for this text by Johann Crüger (1598-1662), who served as cantor of the St. Nicholas Church of Berlin from 1622-1662. The companion describes him as “a principal fountain-head in the development of Lutheran hymnody throughout the 17th century.”

ECUSA sings the 1897 text by Robert Bridges, but the LCMS hymnals (TLH: 143; LSB: 439) they use the earlier Catherine Winkworth translation, “O, dearest Jesus,” complete with 15 verses.

Create in me a clean heart

During my brief period as an LCMS Lutheran, I grew to love The Lutheran Hymnal (1941). Like Hymnal 1940, the hymnal was a brilliant integration of many streams of music that served faithful Christians for decades during the postwar era, until revisionists took ahold of the liturgy and “improved” it.

One thing to admire about TLH was the simplicity of the service music: there were no alternative variants, but a standard text and tune at every point in the service. For example, morning prayer (which our parish did semi-monthly) comprised pp. 5-14 of TLH.

On pp. 12-13 was a simple 17th century tune that followed the sermon, with the text “Create in me a clean heart”:

This morning, I was reminded of that tune when a parishioner read this passage from Psalm 51:

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

(I’ve shown the KJV text available in 1941, but this morning we used the ESV).

The tune is no longer part of the LCMS liturgy with the Lutheran Service Book (2006). However, as a sop to the blue-haired faithful, it is reprinted (with the same harmonization) as Hymn #956.

TLH didn’t offer credits for service music, but LSB helpfully notes

Text: Psalm 51:10-12
Tune: Johann Georg Winer, 1583-1651, adapt.: setting, The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941
Schaffe in Mir, Gott

Our gradual used this text, but a much more contemporary setting attributed to Keith Green. I was able to find a few versions on YouTube, but the official Keith Green version seems to be more plodding and schmalzy than what our praise band did. Still, if they had asked me, I’d request the Winer version.