Victoria Day

Up here north of the 49th we are approaching the first long weekend of 'summer'. (I write this with tongue in cheek as the temperature at 9:40 a.m. is only 2C (36F) - so far below normal it's disgusting!) We still observe Queen Victoria's birthday, which is actually May 24th, although the holiday is designated as the Monday preceding the 24th. In researching her well known connection with Felix Mendelssohn, I learned a little more about her husband Prince Albert. I knew that he was a musician of sorts and that he played the organ. Organists know this kind of thing! What I learned was that he also wrote music. You can read a little more about that here. I don't know that I have ever heard any of Prince Albert's compositions although apparently they are performed from time to time. So, happy Victoria Day; enjoy the fireworks!

Dreaming in Music

Last night I was dreaming in music. Sunday's anthem was floating somewhere in my subconscious - maybe in the state of "This music is so glorious, I can't let it go, even when I'm asleep!" I rarely accompany the choir on the organ, but this week I am and maybe that is part of what makes the music so wonderful. It's also the fact that it is written by John Rutter and I've never met a Rutter anthem I didn't like.

"So what is this glorious music?" you may ask. The title is Eternal God, c. 1999 by Collegium Music Publications. I have an edition printed by Hinshaw Music, Inc. All the verses have great lyrics, but a few lines in particular stand out for me.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for music,
Blest gift from heav'n to all your servants here on earth...

and

As we are blest, so may our gift bless others:
May hearts be touched and spirits lifted up anew.

I hope you, my reader, will have an opportunity to hear this piece sometime.

I am the Good Shepherd

Yesterday's Gospel lesson was from John 10 where Christ describes himself as the Good Shepherd. One of the hymns we sang at St. Andrew's was Saviour like a shepherd lead us. Of course, there are many other hymns with a shepherd theme, particularly Psalm 23. I have no statistics to back me up, but I would guess that Psalm 23 is one of the best known passages of scripture. That thought then followed to, "What would be the second best known passage?" I'm guessing The Lord's Prayer. So why are there so many different settings of Psalm 23 (I can think of half a dozen or so without much difficulty.) and only 2 or 3 well known musical settings of The Lord's Prayer? Does one passage speak to us more than the other? Are we more willing to be comforted by the words of Psalm 23 than we are to earnestly pray the words of The Lord's Prayer? Your comments are welcome!

You learn something new everyday!

In all honesty, I learned this new thing on Sunday but I didn't want to post twice on one day... So, a friend at church was going through some music she had at home and brought me some to look at. One item was The Manitoba School Song Book first copyright in 1940 and reprinted many times, the most recent (the date of my copy) being February 1959. Yes, I know; it's not really all that recent!

I realized once again, as I thumbed through the book, how British oriented the school system was at that time. Makes sense, historically speaking. I was not yet in school in 1959 (!) but when I think back to my elementary school years, yes, the songs we sang in music class were often British folk songs, hymns and occasionally Canadian folk songs. By now, you're wondering what it was I learned.

Well, the hymn that is variously called The Agincourt Hymn or Deo Gratias is one that I have seen with the words, "O love, how deep, how broad, how high". I recall my organ teacher, Conrad Grimes, referring to this tune as The Agincourt Hymn but I had no idea why. Here are the words I found. Unfortunately there is no information given about the lyrics, approx. date of origin, etc.

Our King went forth to Normandy,
With grace and might of chivalry;
The God for him wrought marv'lously,
Wherefore England may call and cry Deo gratias.

He set a siege, the sooth for to say,
To Harfleur town with royal array;
That town he won, and made a fray,
That France shall rue till Domesday. Deo gratias.

Then went our King, with all his host,
Through France for all the Frenchman's boast:
He spared for dread of least nor most,
Until he came to Agincourt coast. Deo gratias.

Then forsooth that Knight comely,
In Agincourt field he fought manly:
Through grace of God most mighty,
He had both the field and the victory. Deo gratias.

Their dukes and earls, lord and baron,
Were taken and slain and that well soon:
And some were led into London,
With joy and mirth and great renown. Deo gratias.

The gracious God now save our King,
His people and all his well-willing:
Give him good life and good ending,
That we with mirth may safely sing, Deo gratias.

A New Perspective

I hinted in my previous post that my perspective on some hymns has changed over time. That fact is consistent, I think, in that our perspective on many things changes as we go through life. The specific hymn that came to mind during Holy Week was "Beneath the Cross of Jesus", a hymn I have known and sung since childhood. I used to dread singing this hymn as it seemed to me to be so painfully slow and mournful, and not really enjoyable to sing. When I consider the text, the tune (ST. CHRISTOPHER) definitely suits it and I think as children, very generally speaking, we do not want to think of sad things, or hear sad tunes. Maybe the simple fact of it is that as we mature physically, we realize that sadness is inevitably part of life. Hopefully we also are maturing spiritually and realize the importance of Christ's death and why the cross is such an important part of our faith.

On Good Friday, when we sang this hymn, I found my eyes filling with tears at the profundity of the words of verse 3 - part prayer, part confession.

I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His (Jesus') face;
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss;
my sinful self my only shame, my glory all, the cross.

More to come...

I have been thinking lately about how my perspective on hymns has changed. Hymns I once dreaded to sing in church have now become meaningful and emotional to me. Is this simply a matter of maturity/age? Is it a matter of understanding/comprehension? I will write more on this subject when Holy Week has come to its glorious conclusion.