Jim Gordon has posted one of my favourite Advent hymns today. Others include 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel', the beautiful setting of the Great Advent 'O' Antiphons, and this one (if you can excuse the odd bit of military imagery): -
There’s a light upon the mountains,
And the day is at the spring,
When our eyes shall see the beauty
And the glory of our King;
Weary was our heart with waiting,
And the night had seemed so long,
But his triumph day is breaking,
And we hail him with a song.
There’s a hush of expectation,
And a quiet in the air;
And the breath of God is moving
In the fervent breath of prayer;
For the suffering, dying Jesus
Is the Christ upon the throne,
And the travail of our spirits
Is the travail of his own.
He is breaking down the barriers,
He is casting up the way;
He is calling for his angels
To build up the gates of day;
But his angels here are human,
Not the shining hosts above,
For the drum-beats of his army
Are the heart-beats of our love.
Hark! We hear a distant music,
And it comes with fuller swell;
It’s the triumph song of Jesus,
Of our king Immanuel;
Zion, go now forth to meet him,
And my soul, be swift to bring
All the sweetest and the dearest
For the triumph of our King.
Henry Burton (public domain so far as I can ascertain)
My musicians say they don't like Advent hymns, asserting they are 'too gloomy,' but I love the somewhat poignant, unresolved mood they set, as we wait in the dark and gloom for the coming of the light.
This Sunday I am indulging myself with several I love, including this simple offering from Taize: -
Wait for the Lord,
Whose day is near
Wait for the Lord,
Be strong, take heart.
Jacques Berthier © Presses de Taizé
Anyone else want to suggest their favourites?
Comments
I do love Advent hymns as well. I always choose the hymn below for Advent 1 - it's sung to the tune Stuttgart.
Hark! a herald voice is calling:
‘Christ is nigh,’ it seems to say;
‘Cast away the dreams of darkness,
O ye children of the day!’
Wakened by the solemn warning,
Let the earth-bound soul arise;
Christ, her Sun, all sloth dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.
Lo! the Power, so long expected,
Comes with pardon down from heaven;
Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,
One and all to be forgiven;
So when love comes forth in judgment,
Debts and doubts and wrongs to clear,
Faithful may he find his servants,
Watching till the dawn appear.
Honour, glory, might, and blessing
To the Father and the Son
And the eternal Spirit give we,
While unending ages run.
W H Monk, 1823-89.
I love advent hymns, especially O Come, O come Immanuel and the one you posted. But I always have to have Hills of the North Rejoice as it was sung at my christening ( I was 8 and an Anglican and didn't know any better before you all shout at me!) and at my baptism as both occurred in advent season
I like 'Of the Father's heart begotten' for its 'young and old' references in verse 4 and its lovely, light, meandering tune. Unfortunately, the old tend to meander a little too much as they only sing it once every 5 years or so, and the young generally join them in not really getting it. Especially as it tends to get played gloomily because it's an Advent hymn! I sing it quietly to myself once a year when choosing Advent hymns.
O come, O come is brilliant if you can get the right progression between the anticipation and mystery of the verses and the explosion of "Rejoice!" in the chorus. But the musician(s) has/have to leave the congregation in no uncertainty over what is required, or it can turn into an exercise in pre-Christmas irony (which always amused my non-poetic, trainee primary teacher, middle daughter).
As my old university chaplain in the 1980s once said, in his inimitable Eeyore voice, "And now, since this is the season of Easter, please would you make the responses particularly joyful!"
Myself I liked the 1960s Joan Baez rendition, solo voice and sparse reed (?) organ.
Mine is Hark the Glad Sound
O Come O Come - no question, no argument, end of.