Archive for music

Lamb-a ram-a sheep horns

Jericho panel from the Ghiberti doors Grace Cathedral, San Francisco Photo: Bernard Gagnon  Wikimedia Commons

Jericho panel from the Ghiberti doors
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Photo: Bernard Gagnon
Wikimedia Commons

“So the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.”

Joshua 6

I imagine Joshua would be pleased (in a warrior-sort-of way) to know that the world is still singing his song. “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” is one of the most popular American spirituals, sung in a variety of arrangements by Mahalia Jackson, the Delta Rhythm Boys, the Moses Hogan Singers, and children everywhere (It’s so much fun to knock that brick wall down at the final tumbling cadence.)

Here for your enjoyment is Elvis’ 1960 version from the album His Hand in Mine. Elvis is backed by the Jordanaires, and sings in the style of the Golden Gate Quartet–an incredible group out of Norfolk, Virginia whom Elvis admired and once met.


Goodnight God

 

I remember this one.

The King’s Highway

US 501 North of Durham, NC Photo credit: Jim Saintsing

US 501 North of Durham, NC
Photo credit: Jim Saintsing

 

A friend of mine took this picture and it reminded me of a gospel favorite by Thomas A. Dorsey and Mary Gardner, performed here with Alex Bradford. If you don’t know about Thomas A. Dorsey, you should. He’s the composer of Take My Hand Precious Lord, Peace in the Valley, When the Gates Swing Open, and many, many more. This is just a taste.

 

Gifts of love to mind and sense

Barn swallow  Photo credit: Jason Mrachina w$nd3rl0st on Flickr

Barn swallow
Photo credit: Jason Mrachina
w$nd3rl0st on Flickr

 

When I read that the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral choir in Portland was going to sing all 720 hymns in The Hymnal 1982 to raise money for a trip to England, my first thought was, “What a great idea!” and my second, which followed soon thereafter was, “Oh! They’ll sing #585. I hope they like it.”

#585, you see, is  “Morning glory, starlit sky,” a lovely hymn I recently discovered. The words are a poem written by W. H. Vanstone; the tune, Bingham, was composed by Dorothy Howell Sheets specifically for this hymnal.  I’d never heard it until it became the Hymn of the Month at a local church, and the congregation sang it each Sunday in November until it became familiar.

New hymns can be a difficult sell and a distraction during Sunday morning worship, so most churches stick with the familiar. Someone is bound to complain if the experience is unsettling or if they just don’t like the tune, but if I can put in a plug for adding #585, please let me do so here.

I really like Sheets’ setting of Vanstone’s words, but unfortunately, I can’t find an online version to share. (Note to musician friends: could you fill this gap in the internet?)  I’ll send you to the sheet music or you can grab an Episcopal hymnal, but you’ll have to find a way to pick it out for yourself.

Meanwhile, here’s another beautiful setting by Barry Rose which I hope you’ll enjoy.

Morning glory, starlit sky,
Soaring music, scholar’s truth,
Flight of swallows, autumn leaves,
Memory’s treasure, grace of youth:

Open are the gifts of God,
Gifts of love to mind and sense;
Hidden is love’s agony,
Love’s endeavour, love’s expense

Love that gives, gives evermore,
Gives with zeal, with eager hands,
Spares not, keeps not, all outpours,
Ventures all, its all expends.

Drained is love in making full,
Bound in setting others free,
Poor in making many rich,
Weak in giving power to be.

Therefore he who shows us God
Helpless hangs upon the tree;
And the nails and crown of thorns
Tell of what God’s love must be.

Here is God, no monarch he,
Throned in easy state to reign;
Here is God, whose arms of love,
Aching, spent, the world sustain.
 

Jubal’s lyre

From the Standard of Ur British Museum Photo: Wikimedia

From the Standard of Ur
British Museum
Photo: Wikimedia

 

And Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.  Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron.

Genesis 4:19-21

In my world, people fall generally into the categories of “Math and Science” and “Humanities.” In Genesis 4 people were differentiated too, though the categories are not academic. There is Abel, a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In subsequent generations came Jabal, the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle, Tubal-cain, the forger of instruments of bronze and iron, and Jubal, the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.

I’m thankful that God’s people were thinking about music from early days, so this morning I’ll share this air from George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Joshua (1748).

 

Oh, had I Jubal’s lyre,
Or Miriam’s tuneful voice!
To sounds like his I would aspire,
In songs like hers rejoice.
My humble strains but faintly show,
How much to Heav’n and thee I owe.

Laetentur coeli – May the heavens rejoice!

Laetentur coeli,                                          May the heavens rejoice
exultet terra,                                              and the earth be glad,
a facie Domini quia venit,                           before the Lord
quia venit!                                                  who is coming!

 

From Psalm 96:11-13

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

Children of the Heavenly King

Photo via The Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia

 

I found myself thinking about this hymn today, I couldn’t tell you why. I learned it (though with a different tune) from my mother who was leading the children’s choir at the time. We sang it with our primary school voices, but the words are not really meant for children–they’re meant for those of us with a few years and some wear and tear. And they point to one of the reasons why having children in church is so important. We need to be reminded that God can see the sweetness adults still embody. We need to remember that, though we are not children, we are children of God.

When I was little and would start to leave the house looking dirty or unkempt, my mother would tell me, “I can’t let you go out looking like that. People will think that nobody loves you!” She of course, knew what I was like under the grime and disheveled hair. Not an orphan or a street urchin or a prodigal, but a beloved child with a home.

 

 
 
The choir of Wakefield Cathedral conducted by Jonathan Bielby
Tune: “Melling” by John Fawcett. Words: John Cennick

Children of the heavenly King,
As ye journey, sweetly sing;
Sing your Saviour’s worthy praise,
Glorious in his works and ways

We are travelling home to God,
In the way the fathers trod;
They are happy now, and we
Soon their happiness shall see.

Fear not, brethren; joyful stand
On the borders of your land;
Jesus Christ, your Father’s Son,
Bids you undismayed go on.

Lift your eyes, ye sons of light,
Zion’s city is in sight:
There our endless home shall be,
There our Lord in glory see

My soul is a witness

Your life is shaped by by the songs your parents teach you. Mine was, at least. And among the many, many songs we sang in the kitchen, in the car, in the bathtub, (really, where didn’t we sing?) were spirituals. From as far back as I can remember, we sang “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” and “I Got Shoes.” They were just as familiar as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” when I was growing up.

I will always have a special fondness for spirituals.  I love the tunes and the power of the imagery. I love the way the songs tell stories. So it’s a great pleasure when I discover a spiritual that’s new to me, or hear a new take on a familiar tune. This recording of “Witness” is one of those musical delights. It’s thrilling to hear singer Valentina Oriani and guitarist Marco Squicciarini weave in and out, around the tune and one another.  A terrific way to start the week.

 

 

Oh Lord, what manner of man is this?
All nations in him are blest,
all things are done by his will;
he spoke to the sea and the sea stood still.

Now, ain’t that a witness for my Lord?
Ain’t that a witness for my Lord? (2x)
My soul is a witness for my Lord.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees,
His name was Nicodemus and he didn’t believe.
The same came to Christ by night.
Wanted to be taught out of human sight.
Nicodemus was a man who desired to know
how a man can be born when he is old.
Christ told Nicodemus as a friend,
“Man you must be born again.”
Said, “Marvel not, man, if you wanna be wise,
Repent, believe and be baptized”.

Then you’ll be a witness for my Lord,
You’ll be a witness for my Lord (2x)

My soul is a witness for my Lord.

Now you read about Samson, from his birth
strongest man that ever lived on earth,
‘way back yonder in ancient times
he killed ten thousand Philistines.
Then old Samson went wandering about;
Samson’s strength was never found out
Till his wife sat upon his knee.
She said: “Tell me where your strength lies, if you
please”.
Now, Samson’s wife, she talk so fair,
Samson said: “Cut off my hair,
shave my head as you clean your hand
and my strength will become like a natural man”.

Old Samson was a witness for my Lord. (3x)
My soul is a witness for my Lord.

There’s another witness for my Lord. (3x)
My soul is a witness for my Lord.

Lead guitarist for the Flaming Tongues

The burning day

 

 

Redeemed souls your voices raise,
and sing His wonders o’er.
In songs of everlasting praise the great I AM adore.
To time and sense we’ll bid adieu,
Earth’s glories we’ll despise,
Eternal treasure we’ll pursue
that everlasting prize.
How fading are all earthly things,
like shadows flee away!
The cross substantial treasure brings,
that never will decay.

Ye joyful mountains skip like rams while Edom melts away.
And all the little hills like lambs
shall clap their hands and play!
Join in their song, ye joyful souls,
for this great burning day!
By love we’re known in heav’n above,
love bears our song away.

Redeemed souls your voices raise,
and sing His wonders o’er.
In songs of everlasting praise
the great I AM adore.
On cherub’s wings your flight begins
to leave this dark abode.
The cross will save us all from sin
and bring us home to God.

 
Text and tune: Elder John Lockwood
Sodus, New York, 1835.

A snippet of Kevin Siegfried’s arrangement