End of 2024 Music

This blog is going to go on holiday for a few weeks, so before I preview some of what we will be singing through Epiphany, let me say thank you for reading. I hope my musings add some depth around the “why” in addition to the “what” we sing. I also want to say thank you to all of you who participated in our Advent 3 service of Lessons & Carols- and not just our fabulous soloist, Melissa Wease, the beautifully gifted Becca Longhenry from the Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra, the always amazing Dr. Theresa Steward, and the other choral and instrumental musicians who led from the chancel, but all of you! Congregational singing is about the whole group, and I hope you found some joy in singing some new and old hymns of Advent and peaking towards Christmas. Maybe Roger Pittard spoke for all of us, when he gave a resounding, “Again!” as we finished the final hymn.

This Thursday as we gather for our service of Comfort and Healing, as the longest night of the year begins, our music turns tender, as we care for each other. We begin by singing the Welsh folk hymn, All Through the Night. The final stanza, to my knowledge unattributed, stands out:

Star of Faith the dark adorning

All through the night;

Leads us fearless towards the morning,

All through the night.

Though our hearts be wrapt in sorrow,

From the hope of dawn we borrow

Promise of a glad tomorrow,

All through the night.

Hope can be borrowed. I’ll be pondering that for a while. Later in the service Theresa and I will sing together the hymn, Hope is Our Song, by Shirley Erena Murray and Jane Marshall. It has a refrain you may feel led to sing with us, that again feels right amidst the longest night:

Lastly we will sing a hymn that poses a question, a rhetorical device maybe more hymns should use. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette’s text pairs beautifully with the 12th century British hymn, WEXFORD CAROL.

This Sunday, Advent 4, we will finish our series I have unofficially called, O Come Emmanuel for a New Day, using imagery for God from Dr. Wilda Gafney. I hope these little threads have helped you weave something as you worship, or helped God weave something in you. We will begin by singing the rousing Lift Up Your Heads (Chalice Hymnal, 129). The service will conclude with the singing of 165, Once in Royal David’s City. I don’t have a child soprano singing the first stanza this year, but with this bumper crop of littles, maybe some time soon.

On Christmas Eve, we get a smorgasbord of the usual favorites, though it is hard to not sing all of them every year. O Come, All Ye Faithful; Away in a Manger; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; Angels We Have Heard on High; and, of course, Silent Night. Plus handbells with Sandy, Deb, Kim, Erica, and family, organ and piano with Lynn and Theresa, and the choir in a pear tree! If you are reading this on 12/18 or earlier, it’s not too late to join the choir. Come sing Handel’s O Thou That Tellest and Rutter’s Christmas Lullaby with us at rehearsal on 12/18, and then on Christmas Eve. Whew!

On 12/29 we will have a chillaxed brunch potluck and miniservice. We’ll take requests on what carols you want to sing. Then after brunch we will go out caroling to some homebound members and friends of the congregation who can use some Christmas cheer.

Which brings us up to Epiphany and a Happy New Year! The choir will reprise their performance of Rutter’s Christmas Lullaby. We will sing every tenor’s favorite carol, The First Noel (CH 151), the lesser-known, but also fun Down to Earth (CH 168), and finish with Joy to the World (CH 143)! Plus we will bring back singing a doxology after the offering, in this case Brian Wren’s Praise God the Whole Creation Sings using the tune to GREENSLEEVES (which is the same as What Child is This? but a little happier major 6th for us Music Theory geeks).

I’ve got an old blog post I may bring back for New Year’s Eve, if I think about it. Otherwise this space will remain dormant for a few weeks while my brain recharges, hah. In reality, I am already planning for Easter and beyond, but there will be some rest in there too. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happppeeeee Newwwwwww Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeearr!

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[1] Are we supposed to footnote cite viral memes? I’m going to say no. But if you’re curious about the history of Johnny Depp talking to a sad Freddie Highmore, you can go here! https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/finding-neverland

12-18-24 Music