Music for December 13, 2015 + Advent III

Vocal Music

• O Thou, the Central Orb – Charles Wood
• When Jesus Came to Jordan - Attr. to William Walker (1809-1875)

Instrumental Music

• O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – Larry Dalton (1946-2009)
• Savior, of the Nations, Come – Gerald Near
• Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding – Gerald Near 

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “R” which are from Renew.)

• Hymn 616 - Hail to the Lord’s Anointed (Es flog ein kleins Waldvögelein)
• Hymn 679 - Surely it is God who saves me (Thomas Merton)
• Hymn R26 - Jesus, name above all names (Hearn)
• Hymn 59 - Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding (Merton)
• Hymn R278 - Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
• Hymn 76 - On Jordan’s ban the Baptist’s cry (Winchester New)

The Good Shepherd Choir is joined this Sunday in singing two anthems, one from the body of standard Anglican repertoire, and the other from the American Folk Hymn tradition. This Sunday we will hear the Gospel reading of John the Baptist's foretelling the coming of Jesus. Perhaps we are rushing things, but the choirs will sing the hymn When Jesus Came to Jordan to be Baptized by John, by Fred Pratt Green, the prolific British Methodist pastor and hymn writer. The Rev. Mr. Green wrote this text to help explain the "why" of Jesus' baptism. It has been paired with a tune from the American songbook Southern Harmony of 1854. We will be singing a simple, austere version of this hymn-tune with bells and an ostinato (a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm) sung by the men of the choir.

We sang the other anthem, O Thou, the Central Orb, back in October, so you can read about it here. The St. Gregory Choir will be singing the anthem as part of their choral festival in January, so we though we would sing it again with them, as it is perfect for Advent, too, with the line "Come, quickly come, and let thy glory shine."

The opening voluntary is a piano arrangement of the Advent hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel. What is interesting to me is that it is arranged by Larry Dalton, a Pentecostal pianist. We typically don't think of Pentecostal musicians being interested in the same hymns that we sing. I feel this goes to prove the universality of this old - and I mean old - hymn. The text comes from a 7 verse poem that dates back to the 8th century. The melody was originally music for a Requiem Mass in a fifteenth-century French Franciscan Processional which was adapted by Englishman Thomas Helmore and published it in Part II of his The Hymnal Noted in 1854. The website Hymnary.org, a comprehensive index of hymns and hymnals, says that this hymn is found in 423 hymnals. (A Mighty Fortress is found in 586 hymnals, Amazing Grace in 1161!)

Larry Dalton was a world renowned pianist, conductor, composer and concert artist from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was born and raised in Big Stone Gap, VA, but he adopted Tulsa as his hometown when attending Oral Roberts University. During his college years, he traveled with the Oral Roberts ministry and later returned to serve as the Music Director for their TV ministry.

Larry was a Steinway Piano Artist, concertizing in over 40 countries, as well as arranging for many popular secular artists and Christian artists. His repertoire included music of every kind, including Southern Gospel, classical, and big band. 

He founded Living Sound, a contemporary Christian music group that ministered to the persecuted church in Poland, the USSR, Romania, East Germany and Yugoslavia. They also performed in great European cathedrals and at St. Peters in Rome hosted by Pope John Paul II.

Also, the keen eye will notice, in perusing the list of hymns and their tune names, that the tune name for the hymn Jesus, Name Above All Names is HEARN. It has nothing to do with me, but is named after the composer of the chorus, New Zealander Naida Hearn. I won't tell the whole story of how a 43 year old housewife came to write one of the most universal praise choruses today, but you can read the story here.