Joyfully Singing

          And here ends advent for 2022. Thank you for joining me along the way. Tonight marks the beginning of our Christmas celebration. I want to close with perhaps one of the most beautiful contemporary choral Christmas works I have heard. I had the great pleasure of singing in the recording you'll hear which we performed for the 2019 Christmas at Christ Concert. It was the centerpiece for that concert and remains one of the most moving of any of the Christmas pieces I have sung with that choir.  Night of glory, night of grace, Earth and heaven in one place, We behold our Maker's face, Night of glory, night of grace. Night of glory, so divine, Ageless king steps into time, To seek and save a life like mine, Night of glory, so divine, Gloria, gloria, glory in the highest. Night of glory, He is here, No more longing dry your tears, Angels tell us have no fear, Night of glory, He is here! Night of glory, night of grace, Earth and heaven in o...

             This morning, when I woke, the sun was shining brightly in a dazzlingly blue sky. Those of you who know me will understand why this did not please me. However, the wind was also blustering quite strongly, knocking the branches of our trees together and maintaining that consistent dull roar outside that often comes before or after a Hurricane or a bad storm brushes our area.           As I watched, a large cloud crept up from the north, slowly blocking out more and more of the sky. It was really earie at one point as it seemed to half block out the sun, but now, as I write this, the day is completely cloud covered and looks for all the world as though we have another stormy day, to my utter delight and everyone else's dismay.           Being the time of year that it is, of course, my thoughts went straight to the Shepherds, who poss...

          This year, I discovered that Latin is my favourite language to sing in. It doesn't seem to matter that I only understand it haltingly. Perhaps it's the way Latin songs flow, or the fact that Latin songs are generally sacred. There's something about the way the words flow set to music that makes me so very happy.         I know we started off the season with a macaronic text which contained Latin sentences, but this carol set would not be complete without an entire Latin song of its own.           This time I chose the beautiful ancient text "Creator Alme Siderum" originally, "Conditor Alme Siderum." It was originally written in the 7th century with the latter title, "Creator of The Stars of Night," but was adapted by some pope in the 1600's to conform to common meter. Unfortunately the "tweaking" changed the hymn immensely from what it was, which was only a r...

       As I considered the carol for today, as well as listening to an exhorbitant number of interpretations on youtube, looking for one that I wanted, I realized that this might be one of the simplest, most straightforward presentations of the gospel I have ever encountered in a Christmas carol.           Written in Gaelic by Mary MacDougal of Scotland, this three stanza carol feels at first like a set of cliche, overly wrung, trite Christian phrases, but as I read over Lachlan Macbean's translation, a sense of the song's true significance struck me for the first time.           I've heard and played this carol multiple times over the past several years, but I always considered it rather basic. I guess it is basic, the gospel, that is. Take a look at the words: Child in the manger, infant of Mary,  Outcast and stranger, Lord of all; Child who inherits all o...

             Alright, this doesn't really have anything to do with lullabys or cradles. This one is a beautiful song speaking from the perspective of the magi who came to visit Jesus approximately two years after his birth. Even if they weren't there on the day, they are inextricably linked to the Christmas story.               I don't have much to wax eloquent on today regarding the thoughts of the wisemen, or their perspectives on the matter. I will say that we witness in Scripture a group of very humble and, indeed, wise men. They followed God's warning and did not return to Herod with the location of Jesus' whereabouts. They worshiped the child even though they found him in a lowly little town, and probably in a lowly house too. They gave him gifts that would have been of immense practical value for Mary and Joseph as well as having great symbolic resonance, and th...

          Due to an appalling lack of time, today's post will not only be brief, but will also recycle a carol I shared in this series a few years ago. It's been long enough that I think many of you reading this now may have either forgotten about this carol or weren't even following my blog at this time.            Remember...that's the key word here. God tells us to remember so many times throughout the scriptures, and repeats Himself with the same goal in mind. We so easily forget. We so easily lapse into a state of blissful oblivion. It's much easier to blame our problems on ignorance than inattention.           When I was growing up, forgetting was never an excuse for negligence. The excuse "I forgot" was responded to with, "If it had been important enough to you, you would have remembered."           We ...

        The carol I'm sharing today is probably familiar to most of you and I know I've shared it multiple times, but I'm sharing it again because I just love it. Once again, this establishes my claim that German carols are some of the best there are.           I'm going to go ahead and share the German and English lyrics side by side because, once again, the original meaning kind of got lost in the more poetic translations. 1. Still, still, still, weil’s Kindlein schlafen will! Maria tut es nieder singen, ihre keusche Brust darbringen, Still, still, still, weil’s Kindlein schlafen will! 1. Hush, hush, hush, for the little child wants wants to sleep! Maria sings to him, offers him her chaste breast. Hush, hush, hush, for the little child wants to sleep. 2. Schlaf, schlaf, schlaf, mein liebes Kind schlaf! Die Engel tun schon musizieren, bei dem Kindlein jubilieren. Schlaf, schlaf, schlaf, m...

           I didn't intend it, but I've realized that all my songs this year seem to be centered around the ignominy of the cradle and are either lullabys or refer to the manger in some specific sense. Today's carol is no exception. On the other side of the centuries from Bach, today's carol comes to us from one of my favourite American Singers, Jazz musicians and performers from the early half of the twentieth century. There's something about this guy and his music that has me coming back again and again.             I'm super grateful that he lived in a time where his voice could be recorded. However, not just that, but the content of his songs were exceedingly rich, especially considering what most of his contemporaries were producing. Many of you may be familiar with his song, When I Fall in Love, or the last song he wrote before he was claimed by cancer, L-O-V-E but how many o...

            I have little to say about today's carol. A German poem by Paul Gerhardt set to music by J.S. Bach. This is not because it is a poor song, but because it is so great, so complete. My blathering on would be unnecessary and annoying. Just reading these beautiful verses had tears springing to my eyes.              Since most of you reading this probably don't understand German, I will post the English translation beneath each verse. You're welcome. ;)  1. Ich steh an deiner Krippe hier, O Jesu du mein Leben; Ich komme, bring und schenke dir, Was du mir hast gegeben. Nimm hin, es ist mein Geist und Sinn, Herz, Seel und Mut, nimm alles hin Und laß dir's wohlgefallen. I stand at your manger here, oh Jesus, you, my life. I come and bring and present to you the things you have give to me: receive it, it is my spirit and mind, my heart, my soul, my courage, take it ...