Little-known ancient Advent hymn: Come thou, redeemer of the earth

With Advent starting Sunday, Neale's hymn “Come, thou Redeemer of the earth” seems perfectly suited to the season. It is well known to English congregations, but not here in the U.S.

From Ambrose to the 20th Century via John Mason Neale

Neale’s translation of “Veni, Redemptor gentium” appears in Hymnal Noted. Then as now, the original Latin text is attributed to St. Ambrose (340-397). My copy of the (1909) hymnal companion to the New Edition (1904) of Hymns Ancient & Modern says that Augustine himself attests to the authorship by Ambrose, and the text has been used in the Mozarbic (Iberian), Ambrosian and Latin rites. It is based on Matthew 1:23 in the Christmas birth narrative.

The hymnal companion lists the first verse as

Veni, redemptor gentium;
ostende partum virginis;
miretur omne saeculum,
talis decet partus Deo.

The hymn was picked up in various English hymnals. Here is the version in 1906's The English Hymnal (hymn #14)

Come, thou Redeemer of the earth,
and manifest thy virgin-birth:
let every age adoring fall;
such birth befits the God of all.

Begotten of no human will,
But of the Spirit, thou art still
The Word of God, in flesh arrayed,
The promise fruit to man displayed,

The virgin womb that burden gained
With virgin honour all unstained;
The banners there of virtue glow;
God in his temple dwells below

From God the Father he proceeds,
to God the Father back he speeds,
His course he runs to death and hell,
Returning on God's throne to dwell.

O equal to thy Father, thou!
Gird on thy fleshly mantle now,
The weakness of our mortal state
With deathless might invigorate.

Thy cradle here shall glitter bright,
and darkness breathe a newer light,
Where endless faith shall shine serene,
And twilight never intervene.

All laud to God the Father be,
All praise, eternal Son, to thee:
All glory, as is ever meet,
To God the Holy Paraclete. Amen.

The 1986 New English Hymnal (#19) changes verse 2 to

Begotten of no human will,
but of the Spirit, thou art still
the Word of God, in flesh arrayed,
the Saviour, now to us displayed.

It also changes verse 7, as well as verse 8:

O Jesu, virgin-born, to thee
eternal praise and glory be,
whom with the Father we adore
and Holy Spirit, evermore. Amen.

Hymns A&M hews closer to Neale’s original, starting with “O come, Redeemer of the earth”.

I learned of the hymn while working on my next hymn research project. One of the people I met recommended Cantate Domino, a hymnal supplement (hymns #800-962) for traditional Episcopal parishes using Hymnal 1940. When I checked it out, #804 contains the Neale hymn.

Tune by Michael Praetorius

The two English hymnals list two tunes. One is the original tune from Hymnal Noted — listed as from the Salisbury Hymnal – which the A&M companion says is the tune used with the Sarum, York and Hereford hymns to this text. (As with all of Hymnal Noted, the tune was presumably adapted by its music editor, Thomas Helmore).

However, TEH and NEH list as an alternative Puer Nobis, the Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) tune that we already sing for Epiphany (“What star is this with beams so bright”) and Easter (“That Easter day with joy is bright”). 

All three hymnals use the 1901 harmonization by George Woodward (1848-1934); in Hymnal 1940, the harmony is listed (#47, #98) for accompaniment but the hymns are marked “unison” — i.e., few congregations have sung the parts. Hymnal 1940 lists a different harmonization (more like Praetorius’) for Hymn #158 (“O splendour of God’s glory bright”) while Hymnal 1982 (#124) lists a third harmonization attributed to Hymns Ancient & Modern, Revised Edition.

This Praetorius tune is found in the King’s College Cambridge recording on YouTube. The text skips verses 2 and 3, but follows the 1906 version except for the final verse (which is closer to but not exactly the same as the 1986 version). Unlike the Epiphany hymn, the tempo is almost dirge-like.

Inclusion in the Anglican Hymnal Supplement

My bishop doubts there will be demand for a 21st century Continuing Anglican hymnal, given the decline of books, traditional worship, and of course the 2017 publication of the REC hymnal. So instead he's encouraged me to think about what would go into a supplement to Hymnal 1940. (If H40 goes out of print, we might first have to assemble a public domain H40 based on Hymnal 1916 and other texts no longer in copyright).

Cantate Domino lists this for Advent, while the English list it for the 12 days of Christmas. An argument can be made for either one; for example, it was included in the 2016 Advent carols service by King’s College Cambridge. I would list it for Advent for two reasons. First, we need more good Advent hymns and don’t have enough time to sing all the Christmas hymns we have. Second, we already have a slightly different version of the tune (H40: 34) at Christmas, which would create even greater confusion.

For the text, I’m inclined to use the TEH text — improved through use over the 50 years after Neale’s original (but still out of copyright). With eight verses, at least some would need to be optional. Nowadays, there's an advantage to matching the recorded version, so I’d try to find the KCC text (and its copyright status).

The tune choice is much easier. In my research, I am realizing that beauty at the cost of complexity is still possible for choirs at medium or large sized Anglican (TEC, Continuing, ACNA…) churches. However, for hymns, a certain amount of realism is needed. I'm not sure that Helmore’s arrangement is worth the extra effort for the average choir or congregation, particularly when compared to this beautiful (and familiar) Praetorius tune.

Finally, I don't find the Woodward harmony particularly singable, and few Americans would know it already. So I would look at one of the other harmonizations, or even see about the original Praetorius version.

References

Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, Cantate Domino: Hymnal Supplement G-2264 (Chicago, GIA: 1979).

William H. Frere, ed., Hymns Ancient and Modern: Historical Edition, London: Wm. Clowes and Sons Ltd. 1909.

J. M. Neale and Thomas Helmore, Hymnal Noted: Parts I & II (London: Novello, 1851, 1856), available at https://books.google.com/books?id=2E3Dya5ON5oC

The English Hymnal, London: A. R. Mowbray, 1906. URL:  https://archive.org/details/theenglishhymnal00milfuoft

Picking a tune for Whittier’s greatest hit

This morning’s bulletin included a copy of “Dear Lord and Father of mankind,” which meant it wasn’t in the hymnal — but it was. So this warranted further investigation.

When I got home, I checked my six 20th century Anglican hymnals — it’s in all of them, but with different tunes. All seem to use the same five verses — dropping the 4th verse of Whittier’s original 6 — and it appears to have escaped bowdlerization in the later hymnals (perhaps because the only offensive word, “mankind”, appears in the first phrase). However, there are five different tunes.

In chronological order:

• The English Hymnal (1906): #383, Hammersmith
• Hymnal 1916: #120, 1) Newcastle; and 2) Rest
• Songs of Praise, Enlarged Edition (1931): #481, 1) Repton; 2) Nicolaus (Lobt Gott)
• Hymnal 1940: #435, 1) Hermann (same as Nicolaus); 2) Rest
• Hymnal 1982: #652, Rest; #653, Repton
• New English Hymnal (1986): #353, Repton

Text

The 1872 text is by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), the American poet whose work I had heard of as a kid but (it appears) I never read any of it. His name is more familiar because it was attached to a street near my elementary school (and high school), a town (where Richard Nixon grew up) and a college. The Cyber Hymnal reports that this abolitionist was known as “America’s ‘Quaker Poet’,” that he authored nearly 100 hymns and perhaps 20 are still found in hymnals. Of these texts, “Dear Lord” is the only one I recognize.

Here are the five verses, in the form that (according to Hymnal 1940 Companion) it was first adapted in 1905:

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard
beside the Syrian sea
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word
rise up and follow thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee,
O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with thee
the silence of eternity,
interpreted by love!

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!

Usage

The hymn is listed as a general hymn except in 1916, when it’s called out for Septuagesima. The Liturgical Index of Hymnal 1940 lists it for morning prayer at Trinity VII MP, and evening prayer on Lent III and St. Matthias. In the Lectionary hymn choices by Rev. Richard R. Losch on DrShirley.org, it is recommended for

• Epiphany 3A/St. Andrew: Matthew 4:12-23
• Epiphany 3B: Mark 1:14-20
• Epiphany 5C: Luke 5:1-11
• Last Epiphany B/Proper 8C: I Kings 19: 9-21
• Proper 7B: Mark 4:35-5:20
• Proper 14C: Hebrew 11:1-16

Tunes

These are the five tunes across the six hymnals:

• Hammersmith, by William Henry Gladstone, M.P. (1840-1891), eldest son of the famous British prime minister.
• Newcastle, written in 1875, it is the only surviving hymn of English organist Henry L. Morley (c. 1834).
• Nicholaus, written in 1554 by Nicholaus Hermann (c.1500-1561), the early Lutheran hymnwriter; the tune was arranged and harmonized by J.S.  Bach (apparently for his BWV 151 cantata).
• Hermann, the same tune, but harmonized by Winifred Douglas for his Hymnal 1940.
• Repton, written in 1888 by Sir C. Hubert H. Parry (1848-1918), second director of the Royal College of Music who is buried in the Chapel of the OBE at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The New English Hymnal says it was “from a song in his oratorio Judith.”
• Rest, by English organist Federick Maker (1844-1927), written in 1887 specifically for this text.

All except the Parry have four part harmonies. If the hymnal choices reflect broader congregational popularity, today the choice seems to be between Rest and Ripton.

Rest is the one we sang as a kid, is familiar to an Episcopalian of the past century, and has four part harmonies; however, cradle Episcopalians are no longer the core audience for Anglican churches. Ripton has only a melody — the Parry harmonization is for organ and not voices — but is the one that’s on all the recordings (by English choirs, naturally).

Because the range is better for lower voices, I vote for Rest. Our music director (an Anglophile) votes for Ripton because, well, it’s Parry; my teenage daughter also votes for it, because it’s the one she’s learned on YouTube.

I get the argument about Parry, but musically I don’t give Parry, Stainer, Stanford or even Elgar the same deference as Purcell or Tallis. (I would put Holst and Vaughan Williams in the latter category). So here it seems like a matter of taste or congregation familiarity. But in the long run, if Americans don’t record their tunes they’ll be forgotten by future generations.