SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Friday, December 22, 2017
Luke 1:39-45
ELW #257 - "O Come, Thou King of Nations, Come" - VERSE 7
Random, Whimsical, Touching, and occasionally interesting musings of Music Director and Seminarian Lisa Helmel Thomas
Friday, December 22, 2017
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Thursday, December 21, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Luke 1:26-38
ELW #257 - "O Come, Thou Dayspring" - VERSE6
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Wednesday, December 20, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
ELW #257 - "O Come, Thou Key of David" - VERSE 5
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Tuesday, December 19, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
ELW #257 - "O Come, Thou Branch of Jesse" - VERSE 4
Monday, December 18, 2017
Monday, December 18, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID;
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Monday, December 18, 2017
Psalm 126
ELW #257 - "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
VERSE 3 - "...O Lord of Might"
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Sunday, December 17, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID; Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID;
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Isaiah 16:1-4, 8-11
ELW #257 - "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
NOTE: The "O Antiphons" begin today!!
We use a different verse of this Advent hymn each day
until next week (Advent 4/Christmas Eve)
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Saturday, December 16 - John 1:6-8, 19-28 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Saturday, December 16, 2017
John 1:6-8, 19-28
ELW #253 - "He Came Down"
Friday, December 15, 2017
Friday, December 15 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Friday, December 15, 2017
Philippians 3:12-16
#ELW 245 "Creator of the Stars of Night"I
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Thursday, December 14, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID; Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID;
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Habakkuk 2:1-4
ELW #261 - "As the Dark Awaits the Dawn"
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Wednesday, December 13, 2018 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and So
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Wednesday, December 13, 2018
Luke 1:5-17
ELW #265 - The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 11 & 12 - SNGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID;
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Monday, December 11, 2017
Isaiah 40:1-11
ELW #266 "All Earth is Hopeful"
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Psalm 27
ELW #264 - "Prepare the Royal Highway"
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Saturday, December 9, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Ezekiel 36:24-28
LW #259 - "Fling Wide the Door"
Friday, December 8, 2017
Friday, December 8, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Friday, December 8, 2017
Jeremiah 1:4-10
ELW 241 ' "O Lord , How Shall I Meet Thee?"
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Thursday, December 7, 2017 - Songs in the Key of David: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Psalm 85:8-13
ELW #267 - "Joy to the World"
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song, December 6, 2017
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Mark 13:24-37
ELW #240 - "Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah"
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - Songs in the Key of David: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:
Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
ELW 256: "Comfort, Comfort Now My People"
Monday, December 4, 2017
ADVENT HYMN PRESENTATION at the Victorian Christmas Tea - Redemption Lutheran Church, Sunday, December 3, 2017
Happy New Year!! You know, this IS it…the beginning of the church year. And how do we begin it? This year, with the fabulous Gospel of Mark. I don’t know about you, but Matthew was also fun in a different way… Chock full of information and details, Matthew wrote with the heart of a teacher, with the people of Israel in mind. Now, with Mark’s Gospel, we have a narrative. It reads like a story, and we can run through it seamlessly, like a movie.
Nevertheless we begin another Church year - and we being with awakening, waiting, and preparation. It is the season of Advent. Not a dark, idle time — but a very deep and productive time, and time to see, hope, feel, and experience with all our senses.
And so, like good Lutherans, we embark on the season of Advent. It gives us a rhythm for our Christmas preparations. Perhaps you also celebrate St. Nicholas Day, coming up on December 6 (Santa’s shoes), or St. Lucia’s Day on the 14th (wreaths with candles worn on heads), or maybe you follow a certain devotional calendar. Perhaps you prepare by decorating your home, opening a daily Advent calendar filled with treats, trinkets, particular sayings, or Bible verses. Or light the four candles on an Advent wreath….In any event, we participate in rituals that mark the time leading up to the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
No matter what we do, however, this is still not in sync with contemporary society around us. We can talk forever about when is too soon for 101 FM to start playing Christmas Carols (I think they’ve settled on November 20 this year), or when the big box stores start trotting out their holiday merchandise, but in general society reflects the sentiment, “I want it NOW.” It’s all about instant gratification.
Place your Amazon Prime order and get it by TONIGHT! Hurry! You get FREE shipping by midnight tonight. Don’t just bid on eBay — buy it NOW!!
Fast food, fast cars. Instant video — it can all be done via SmartPhones today. Many of us rarely send out hard copy Christmas cards these days, though I can say that when I do received one, I am touched in a special way that can never be substituted by a text or e-mail, regardless of how colorful or how many dancing reindeer are on them.
With all this instant stuff, it is only natural that many folks want their Christmas Carols right away. Even before November 20. In church, it becomes a bit challenging once we hit the first Sunday in Advent. I have people coming to me every year, asking, “Why don’t we sing Christmas carols yet?”
Well, that ’s the point. It’s not Christmas yet, that’s why. And without going into any great explanation, we’ll use our latest hymnal as an example. The Evangelical Book of Worship alone contains 27 Advent hymns and includes contributions from all over the world, including Yiddish, Korean, Cameroon, French, Italian, Basque, and Catalan traditions, not to mention the others in our green, blue (With One Voice) and burgundy (This Far By Faith) hymnals. This gives us at least one song per day to sing throughout Advent, and with this I would like to introduce my project — Songs in the Key of David: Advent Devotional Readings and Songs. You get the traditional daily readings from the Lectionary, and based on those readings I have chosen a song for each day which you can sing that day by yourself or with a group.
“But I don’t know all the songs,” you will say. That’s okay, I’m going to put them up each day on FB and a blog site and this way you can get to them every day — I’ll even record it so you can play it back on your phone or computer.
For now, I’d like to go through a few Advent hymns that have touched my life as I’ve become more familiar with them. And not all of them are dirges, as you might be afraid they are. Actually, none of them are. Some are chants, some sound like dances. some are more modern and ethereal and talk about stars, the heavens, time and creation. Some are sad and full of longing for a better time, while at the same time full of faith, hope, and anticipation. Advent is indeed a very exciting time which needs to be observed and celebrated!
First off, I’d like to begin with today’s hymn, which is actually not an Advent hymn at all, but a song which you might be familiar with called “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” I chose this one because it refers to the potter and the clay, which is straight from today’s Isaiah reading. There are 3 verses but all in all it’s very short. Please join me in singing.
So when we think of an Advent hymn, we usually think of …”O Come O Come Emmanuel,” right? And that’s about the extent of it.
Our first Advent hymn is “Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah.” F irst published in 1984 for unison choir as one of Three Songs for Advent, its composer, Wayne Wold, uses a melody from a Yiddish folk tune called TIF IN VELDELE,” which means “deep in the forest.” Let’s sing one verse of this hauntingly beautiful tune as we wait for light beyond our darkness.
Do you remember the tune “Morning Has Broken?” The text of our next song, People Look East,” is written by Eleanor Farjeon, who is best known for her more famous song, “Morning Has Broken,” which is also in the ELW. Her brothers also helped her write the text. We find Love in the form of the Star, Rose and also the Bird, added as an extra stanza between the two. The tune for this song is a French carol tune and is said to have originated in eastern France. You may also know it as the English carol, “Shepherd Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep.”
By contrast, “Comfort, Comfort Now My People” is a very old hymn dating back to the sixteenth century. This is a very old German tune from the 1500s called “Freu’ Dich Sehr” = basically, “rejoice greatly,” This tune can be traced back to a French melody that may go back to the year 1505. In 1541, this psalm tune was brought to Geneva, which, under John Calvin, did not have choral music or even instrumental music in worship at that time. Mary, Queen of Scots, is purported to have heard it sung and this is part of how Psalm singing was brought back to England and eventually led to the creation of the Genevan Psalter. The words are from Johann Olearius, who lived in the early 17th Century. It begins on verse 1 of Isaiah 40 and goes to verse 5.
Next, we have something a bit more unusual. “Come Now, O Prince of Peace” is a Korean hymn. Written by a Taiwanese composer, I-to Loh, it was published in 1990 and is based on 2 Corinthians 5:17-20. It was written for the opening worship service of the world conference for the peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula held in Inchon on April 1988, so it is fairly recent. IN this tune, Eastern and Western elements come together. By itself this tune easily stands alone and is among the most accessible to Westerners, who often find Asian tunes difficult because they lack a driving beat and do not presume a Western harmonic syntax (explain pentatonic scale).
Unlike the hymn we just sang, this next song has been written far more recently. Susan Palo Cherwien is one of our contemporaries and has written volumes of contemporary hymns and this is one of her best known songs. She is from Ohio, her husband is a renowned church musician, and together they have two sons. For “As the Dark Awaits the Dawn,” (261), Susan has collatorated with Carl Schalk, who is perhaps best known as host of the radio program, “The Lutheran Hour.” Just the list of all of his musical compositions, books, and articles takes up 30 pages! Some of you have sung this song with us in God’s Grace Choir. You can really hear the level of light moving from darkness to dawn in this beautiful, relaxing piece. What a lovely way to begin your Advent devotional time.
We go back to Isaiah 40 in “Prepare the Royal Highway,” which has its origins in Scandinavia. A highways for he King of Kings is made straight, we sing of palms strewn in Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, and peace, freedom, justice, truth, and love with sounding praise reflect Isaiah 40 and the chapters that follow. The tune is a pretty old one (1694-95), the words about 100 years later. It has that Scandinavian “flavor!”
“The Angel Gabriel” is based on a Basque carol — in the Euskara language - which is apparently a language like no other — there isn’t another language associated with this. Bring that up because i learned that their word for Gabriel is “Birijina” which might be a cute alternative name for my daughter Gabi, which is short for Gabriela. Anyway, this song was made famous in a beautiful version performed by Sting. It has a compound background beat (3 pulses to a beat) which makes it especially interesting. This song depicts the passage from Luke 1 and summarizes Mary’s song in verses 46-55. The “Gloria” at the end of each stanza gives us a peek at the angels’ song in Luke 2.
Finally, we end with “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness” which is , of course, Mary’s response to the angel Gabriel’s message. This was crafted by Martin Seltz and Frank W. Stoldt, both contemporary composers and musicians. Martin Seltz is publisher for worship and music at Augsburg Fortress and one of the editors of this hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Book of Worship.
I thank you all for joining me through this whirlwind flight of Advent music, and it is my hope and prayer that you will all have a very blessed and meaningful season of preparetion. Let us pray….
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