Third Sunday in Advent 2014

Say to them that are of a fearful heart:  Be strong, fear not: behold your God will come and save you.

Communion Sentence - Advent III

Sarum Rite Anglican Missal

There are so many wonderful songs for Advent and Christmastide that take us beyond what for most of us are our traditional carols.  I was fortunate growing up to be introduced to many Polish carols as well as traditions by the Michalskis who lived next door to my family and were my best friends.  This may well have been the door that opened up a world for me which went beyond my Anglo-Saxon roots. 

Through the years I've been introduced to Christmastide music and customs that are as varied and wonderful as the place where I experienced them.   And it seems in the last twenty years that Christmas music has expanded beyond the traditional to include carols from all eras and many cultures.

The traditions and music of the Basque region are generally unknown to the world at large but one regional carol has become a favourite over the past few years.   Birjina gaztetto bat zegoen recounts the story of the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel to Mary of her role as chosen vessel for the birth of Christ.  The original melody was dance-like as performed here by Aquabella.

In 1897 on a commission from the French Government the French musicologist, teacher and composer Charles Bordes collected and published Les Archives de la tradition basque.  It came to the attention of Sabine Baring-Gould one of the most fascinating men in Victorian-Edwardian England.  Baring-Gould was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar.  He wrote over 1240 publications - ghost stories, novels, biographies, hymns (Onward Christian Soldiers is only one of his many), collections of folk stories and, what he considered his greatest achievement, collections of folks songs.  He made alterations in some of the lyrics which he considered too risqué for the time but left his notes behind for those who in the future might wish to study the original texts.  He translate much of Bordes' collection, the most widely known being Birjina gaztetto bat zegoe.

It does not appear that the carol achieved any great popularity in the early 1900s but over the past few decades has become a choral staple at Christmastide.  There have been many settings though few have preserved it's dancing metre.   Of the many videos available I found this simple version by the Crimson Ensemble the most folk like.

The Wikipedia entry on Baring-Gould makes for a fascinating read - the man was a true polymath, a ture genius and a fascinating character besides.   And he opened the door that gave us this beautiful Advent carol.

My blog buddy Debra and I had the same thought and she has posted a lovely version of this carol on She Who Seeks.

December 14 - 1896: The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.

Second Sunday in Advent 2014

O people of Sion, behold the Lord is nigh at hand to redeem the nations: and in the gladness of your heart the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard.

Ps. Hear, O though Shepherd of Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep.

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.

Introit - Advent II

Sarem Rite Anglican Missal

One of the advantages of working shift work those many years ago at Air Canada was that it gave me the opportunity to listen to Off the Record, a Monday to Friday early afternoon staple on the CBC.  I have often spoken of how host Bob Kerr introduced me - and thousands of others - to music from his enormous and very catholic collection of recordings.  So much of what I came to discover and enjoy in music was because of  his eclectic and encyclopedic taste.  And at no time were those discoveries more enjoyable than in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  Bob would play everything from Medieval to Mady Prior to Meissen and a world beyond Adeste Fideles was revealed.

One particular favourite became Sing We Noel - Christmas Music from England & Early America by the Boston Camerata.  This rather eclectic mixture of music jumped back and forth across the Atlantic mixing Medieval with American folk interspersed with readings in Old and Middle English.  One of my favourite tracks was The Midnight Cry, a Southern American shape-note hymn.

Though the Parable of the Ten Virgins (see below) only appears in one of the gospels it was a favourite subject in the Middle Ages and strongly influenced Gothic art and architecture.  It's message was clear: the call to judgement could come at any time, you must be always ready.  It was a warning that appealed to many of the Evangelical sects and became a popular subject for sermon and song in the Protestant church. 

The shape-note tradition was to find it's genesis when the first edition of The Sacred Harp appeared in 1844.  Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha King gathered, transcribed and arranged hymns and songs of worship of the American south and published some 250 pieces - proudly announcing that it included "nearly 100 pieces never before published" - in the first edition.  It was to undergo many revisions and became the standard music book for many churches until well into the early 20th century.

The Midnight Cry appeared in that first edition, and every subsequent revision.  Other than the fact that the tune was first published in the Southern Harmony Hymnal in 1835 and the words a year earlier in the Baptist Harmony Hymnal little information is available concerning its origins.  In the Denson revision of 1911 the writer notes: None of the books we can get hold of give the name of the author of this music. It is an old tune and has been in use for 100 years. The original text had ten verses including some rather stern admonitions to the unprepared and a rather frightening description of their impending fate.   White and King reduced it to six verses and it is this version that the Boston Camerata recorded.

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Matthew 25:1-13

KJV

Though the tale is a cautionary one I have always questioned the attitude of the Wise Virgins. After all one would think that Christian charity would have extended to sharing their lamp oil. However that is a theological discussion for another day.

December 7 - 1965: Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously revoke mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.

Advent 2014

Grant unto us, O Lord, we beseech thee: so to wait for thy loving-kindness in the midst of thy temple; that in readiness of heart and mind we may hail the coming feast of our redemption.

Post-Communion Prayer - Advent I

Saram Rite Anglican Missal

Today is the First Sunday in Advent, that period when in many Christian church preparations are made spiritually for the coming Christmastide.  A minor penitential period, it is meant as a time of reflection and mediation - and also as a build up to the second greatest feast of the Christian calendar.  The readings, introits, graduals, prayers and hymns all point to the coming birth and the redemptive nature of that birth.  I have written in the past about both the religious tradition of the Advent Wreath and the more secular Advent Calendar that are connected with the season of Adventtide.

Once again I'm lighting my virtual Advent Wreath and as I did last year including an Advent Carol to mark the day.  In other posts I have spoken of the tendency to think of carols as being a Christmastide form but they were originally intended for use outside the church - in processions or even dances to celebrate the various joyous feasts of the Church calendar. 

Given that so many of the Christian Advent traditions stem from the Lutheran church it is seems appropriate to begin the season with an old Lutheran carol.

A memorial to Frans Michael Franzén,
poet and clergyman, in his hometown of
Oulu, Finland.  

Set to an old Swedish folk melody that dates circa 1560, Prepare the Royal Highway (Bereden väg för Herran) was written by Frans Michael Franzén, a Swedish-Finnish Lutheran clergyman, teacher and poet.  A member of the Swedish Academy and one time Bishop of Härnösand, he provided the lyrics for some twenty or more hymns in the Swedish Lutheran hymn book.

The tune  first appeared in Swenska Psalmboken a hymnal published in Stockholm in 1697; Franzén's lyrics were added in the 1812 edition.  It became a favourite and has appeared in almost every Lutheran hymn book since.  It appears that the original 6/8 meter was considered too secular at one point and it was changed to 4/4 in many Lutheran publications, including as I understand it, the Lutheran Service Book published in 2006*.  Fortunately more recent practice - including this arrangement with a tambourine by Timothy Shaw - has returned it to its joyful dance-like origins - more befitting of a true carol.

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As well as the wreath and carols a tradition of my virtual observance of the season for the past seven years has been to open a window on my friend Larry's Advent Calendar.  In previous years he has revealed the often hidden sights of Rome, his adopted city - doors, windows, fountains, angels.  This year he's opening the stable door, as it where.  A left click on the picture below will take your directly to his Advent Calendar for 2014.

I'll be posting a link on my sidebar so that should you wish you may join me in opening another window each day leading up to December 25th.

The design for my Advent wreath was adapted from an icon on the website of the Convent van Betlehem in the Netherlands.  The sisters have been a presence in Duffel since they took refuge there during the religious wars in the 1600s.  Unfortunately I've not been able to find out much about the order in English but their history looks to be a fascinating one and I must try and do some research at a later date.

November 30 - 1786: The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).

Third Sunday in Advent

Introit for the Third Sunday in Advent

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice: let your moderation be known unto all men: the Lord is at hand.  Be careful for nothing: but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let you requests be made known unto God

A Manual of Catholic Devotion

For Members of the Church of England (Revised 1969)

So why the rose coloured, rather than sarum blue, candle and why does the celebrant wear rose vestments of the Third Sunday of Advent?  I found this slighty flowery explanatory posting on a blog called the Phat Catholic Apologetics:

The reason for the color change is to emphasize in a poignant way that the Lord is near. Advent is now more than half-way over! The bursting forth of such an unusual color has the effect of a sudden exclamation in a quiet room. In the midst of our penances, and our quiet contemplation, a voice cries out: Gaudete in Domino semper! “Rejoice in the Lord always!” Those are the words of the Entrance Antiphon for today, and that’s why we call this day “Gaudete Sunday.”

As I say a bit flowery but strangely touching and as good as any other I've seen.

These pages come from the expanded 1871 edition of Christmas Carols Old and New.  The illustration
for Come Ye Lofty Come ye Lowly was done by Francis  Arthur Fraser - one of a family of artists
known for their engravings and watercolours.

Stainer and Ramsden Bramley's Christmas Carols Old and New contained more that was old rather than new.  Many of the carols included were indeed old - or at least the melodies were: folk and ballad tunes that had originated in the fields, farmhouses, city streets and even the taverns of England, France and Germany.

Archer T. Gurney's Come Ye Lofty Come Ye Lowly was first published in the Penny Post, vol ii p321 in 1852.  Gurney was born in 1820, studied law and was subsequently called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1846.  However in 1849 he left the legal world and took holy orders; he held several prestigious positions within the Church of England including the chaplaincy of the Court Church in Paris from 1858 until 1871.   He was a prolific writer of sacred poems, hymns and theological texts but also was a playwright of historical dramas and translations of theatrical pieces including Schiller's Turandot.

There are two tunes associated with this hymn: one an old Breton folk tune and the other written by Sir George Job Elvey (1816-1893).  Elvey served as Master of the Boys Choir and organist at St George's Chapel, Windsor for more than 50 years and wrote, amongst other hymns, Crown Him with Many Crowns and (one of my favourites) Come Ye Thankful People Come.  Rather than go with the Breton (the older melody) Stainer and Ramsden Bramley included Elvey's setting in their carol collection.

As often happens, while researching  this carol I came across a third version - written in 1897 by George William Warren, the organist at St Thomas, New York City.  The sheet music was issued as a supplement to various Hearst newspapers throughout the United States in December of that year.

I have only been able to find examples of Gurney's text set to the Breton tune - one version is sung by the Williamsville High School Madrigal Choir conducted by Eric Henderson at a concert in the Old State Capital Building in 2012.

The second is the old Breton folk melody played on the organ by Richard R. Cronham and recorded in 1946.

As I was researching this carol I came across a supplement issued in December 1897 by various Hearst newspapers across the United States: sheet music for Come Ye Lofty Come Ye Lowly  in third setting.  In those days every middle-class family had a piano and sheet music would have been a popular give away - particularly if it were "free" with the day's San Francisco Examiner or New York Journal.  The music was by George William Warren who was organist at St Thomas Fifth Avenue in New York City from 1870 until 1900.  When Warren died in 1902 he was buried from the church he had served for so long and thousands attended the funeral - however no music was played as it was felt there was no organist finer than the diseased.  William C McFarlane, who had succeeded him and was a much respected concert organist must have been a bit miffed to be told this.  And of course this led to me doing a bit more digging and a question arose: was this William C. McFarlane the same Will C. McFralane who is recorded in the Milken Archive of Jewish Music as composing music for the Reform church in the late-1800s early-1900s?

It is very strange how a Christmas Carol published in the 1870s in Englands leads through a labyrinth of websites to a church organist who played at Temple Emanu-El in New York City for the delegates at the twenty-second Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1911.  The council was held with much fanfare—and at which the former United States president, Theodore Roosevelt, was among the non-Jewish as well as Jewish dignitaries who addressed the convention. Sadly I could find nothing more about the ecumenical MacFarlane nor any samples of his music.

December 15 - 1890: Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull is killed on Standing Rock Indian Reservation, leading to the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Second Sunday in Advent

Offertory for the Second Sunday in Advent

Wilt thou not turn again, O God, and quicken us, that they people may rejoice in thee; show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

A Manual of Catholic Devotion

For Members of the Church of England (Revised 1969)

In 2011 and I posted a series on Christmas carols and included several of the carols that Sir John Stainer and Henry Ramsden Bramley had compiled in their Christmas Carols Old and New.   Published in 1871 that slim volume contained twenty carols, many that are sung today - by the last edition in 1878 it had expanded to over seventy. As we approach Christmastide I thought I'd celebrate the Sunday's in Advent by seeing if I could find versions of some of the lesser known carols in their collection and sharing them with you.

Though better known than some of the other carols, A Virgin Unspotted is heard more often these days performed by choirs in concert than as a congregational hymn.  Perhaps it is feared that its jaunty tune will lead to dancing in the pews ... or worse!


Its melody is certainly in the style of the old carole and could have just as easily served for a country dance.    It was a particular favourite in Gloucestershire and the first known printings of a text was in 1661.  Samuel Harward (b1740 - d1809), a local ballad printer, published a set of the words in Tewekesbury in the late 18th century. 

It is possible that it derived from A Virgin Pure that appears in several collections prior to the Stainer-Bramley collaboration.  In his introduction to this earlier carol in his Songs of the Nativity William Henry Husk notes that this version was first printed by Rev. Arthur Bedford around 1734.  He finds the Reverend gentleman rather suspect in his knowledge of Christmas music or language:

Mr. Bedford, in the title of the carol, has given us a singular etymological derivation of the word carol from Carolus; viz. "A Christmas carol, so called because such were in use in K. Charles I. Reign."! The reader of the present volume will not, it is feared, entertain a very high opinion of Mr. Bedford's antiquarian learning, at least on the subject of Christmas carols.

Until recent times both variations were sung at Christmas in various Gloucestershire villages though A Virgin Pure was often set to the tune of Admiral Benbow, a popular ballad.  The tune most commonly used and included by Stainer and Bramley is Herefordshire.

This version of Herefordshire by the Riga Dom Cathedral Boys Choir  brings out the dance like rhythm of the carol.  The choir's recordings of Christmas music is quite enjoyable and features both the sacred and secular - including a rollicking Jolly Old St Nicholas.

 Many carols were brought to the New World and sung in community celebrations at Christmastide.  A Virgin Unspotted was a well known carol in colonial America and there are variations recorded as far as Appalachia.   The tune was also used in a variation known under the title  In Bethlehem City.
 

 In 1778 William Billings published his The Singing Master's Variations and included the carol set to a new tune:  Judea.  The carol was to appear in various forms in at least four other collections of shape-note song books however of the American settings Billing's remains the favoured.

No matter the version used the refrain always exhorts us: 

Therefore be merry
Set sorrow away!
For Jesus our Savour
Was  born on this day!

December 8 - 1596: Luis de Carabajal the younger, one of the first Jewish authors in the Americas, died in an auto-da-fé in Mexico City.

Advent 2013

This is the first Sunday in Advent - the days of the Christian church calendar leading up to the Feast of the Nativity.

Advent Wreaths

When I was a child only Lutheran churches, and perhaps a handful of Anglican churches, followed the custom of Advent Wreaths.   It has now become a widespread tradition in many Christian faiths - Roman, Orthodox and Protestant. I remember my surprise a few years ago when I saw a Presbyterian church - a faith I grew up in -  advertising their service to light the first candle of their Advent Wreath.  Advent Wreath? Presbyterians?  Dear god what next dancing?

There are many theories as to where the custom began.  Is it a Christian carry-over from a Northern pagan rite?  A good possibility as the use of the circle, greenery and fire as symbols of regeneration in the face of winter is not uncommon in folk traditions of Northern peoples. Or as has been suggested was it a 19th century creation by a Lutheran pastor who used it as a way to mark the time until Christmas for the urban poor he was ministering to?  As with many traditions the truth of its birth probably lies somewhere between the two with many regional and parochial variations.

Within the Christian faith there are differences in the form and ritual surrounding the Advent Wreath.  In some churches the candles reflect the colour of the vestments traditional worn by the priest on the four Sundays of Advent:  violet for the penitential days and rose for Gaudete Sunday in the Roman church, Sarum blue and rose for those respective days in the Anglican church.  In Protestant churches the candles are normally red - a traditional colour of the season.   In some churches a fifth white candle is placed in the centre of the wreath to be lit on Christmas Eve - the Christ candle.  In keeping with the longer Advent period in the Orthodox church there are seven candles and I found a very fine explaination of the colours and their meaning on the site of St John the Evangelist Orthodox church.

In some churches the candle is simply lit with the singing of a hymn, in others there is a prayer and a hymn or Advent carol (yes there are Advent carols).  Still other churches include it as a more meditative element with a traditional service.  Several years ago when we were in Munich we attended a simple but lovely Advent Vespers at the Michaelskirche which I wrote about at the time.

Advent Calendars

A more secular tradition is the Advent Calendar - again a Lutheran creation, perhaps created by that same pastor.  At first they would have been homemade but by the late 1800s had become a stationery item in many countries.  Most were made in Germany or by German immigrants and consisted of a single sheet of cardboard with doors cut into it; it was then backed by a thinner sheet of paper with the verse or picture for the day printed on it which would be revealed as doors were opened.

The first Advent Calendar designed and printed by Richard Seller in 1946.  It became a very
popular import in North America when the Eisenhower family received one.  It is still available today.

With the rationing of paper and printing restrictions in the Second World War the custom disappeared however was revived in the late 1940s by Richard Sellmer.  He created the first calendar by hand in his Stuttgart living room and was given permission by the American command responsible for the sector to print them in December of 1946.  The company Richard Sellmer Verlag - still owned by his family - produces some 120 designs a year (a click will take you to some of this year's designs). Many of the designs are traditional and some are reproductions from earlier years.

The Rathaus in Hündfeld, Germany becomes a gigantic Advent Calendar for the Christmas Season.

Most Advent Calendars begin on December 1st though the actual season can begin anytime in late November-early December.  And they can take many forms - elaborate creations with gifts behind each door, simple cards with a Christmas picture or text behind each door; the subjects can be secular or sacred; they can be store bought or homemade.  They can be the size of a city block or they can be virtual and fit on an iPhone.

A handcraft Advent Calendar made from painted, recycled tin cans and a branch -
an ingenuous example of a homemade countdown to Christmas.

My friend Larry has been creating a virtual Advent Calendar on his blog since he arrived in Rome.  In 2007 we opened "windows" of Rome; in subsequent years "doors", "gates", "angels", "fountains" and "modern churches" of the Eternal City have revealed a thought, verse, text or music for the Advent season.  Though he doesn't blog much anymore Larry is once again posting his virtual Advent Calendar and this year we are climbing the "stairs" - and there are so many - of Rome to count down to Christmas.  As in year's past I will be posting a sidebar to Larry's Calendar which I will update daily to lead you to his post of the day.

Let's begin by mounting the stairs at Larry and Vin's apartment building in Garbatella which will take us up our first Roman staircase towards the Feast of the Nativity.  We took that staircase a good many times to celebrate Christmas, birthdays and good times with two of our dear friends. 


December 1 -1966: The first Gävle goat, an annual Swedish Yule Goat tradition, is erected in Gävle.

Larry's Advent Calendar

As he has for the past six years my dear Larry has created a virtual Advent Calendar to count down the days until the Feast of the Nativity.  I'll quote from Larry's entry for this first day of Advent by way of introduction: 

Previous years I have posted Roman windows, doors, gates, angels and fountains. This year I will continue my Advent Calendar tradition with Modern Churches in Rome. It is a type of building that is usually not seen in the Eternal City by most visitors (and residents). Every day of Advent you will be able to log in and see a different church of the 20th or 21st century that I have encountered here in Rome.

A click on this very beautiful modern church door by Igor Mitoraj will lead you to the beginning of Larry's photo tour through some of the 250 modern churches often overlooked amongst the baroque splendour that dominates the city.

Another door by Mitoraj - one of the two for Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri - posted on the sidebar will give you access to each day's door and another modern church in our beloved Roma.

December 1 - 1885: First serving of the soft drink Dr Pepper at a drug store in Waco, Texas .

Larry's Advent Calendar

My dear friend Larry's blog has been dormant for the past few months and I was afraid that another cherished tradition may be about to fall by the wayside: his Advent Calendar.

But I'm overjoyed to report that once again this year he will be marking  the days leading to Christmas with a daily picture and verse .  In previous years he's taken us through Roman doors and gates, allowed us to gaze through Roman windows and given us glimpses of the angels that guard the city.  This year he's quenching our thirst at a few of the many fountains that are found in his - and previously my - adoptive city.

As always I will be posting a sidebar link so that you can open a window each day and share the sights and words of Advent with Larry.  Given the time change it may be a little late in the day when the window is opened but opened it shall be.  A click on the image above will take you to his posting for today - the First Sunday in Advent.

There are some traditions I'm happy to see continue and don't ever want to lose.


27 novembre/November - Prima Domenica di Avvento