Hymn Blog - December 20, 2009

December 20, 2009 – Fourth Sunday of Advent (Christmas Pageant)

VU 9 – People, Look East. Born into a literary family in London, England in 1881, author Eleanor Farjeon earned her living as a poet, journalist and broadcaster. Author of over eighty works, including “Nursery Rhymes of London Town,” she is probably best known for her hymn text, “Morning Has Broken”.  “People, Look East” was commissioned for the Oxford Book of Carols (1928) to make use of the old Besançon carol tune “Chantons, bargiés, Noué, Noué.”

VU 30 – Hail to God’s Own Anointed.  Author James Montgomery wrote this paraphrase of Psalm 72 for a Christmas day Moravian convocation in Fulneck, Yorkshire, 1821. Montgomery was one of the most striking figures in social reform and liberation in early nineteenth century England, and his passion for justice is seen clearly in the first two stanzas of the text. The tune, CRÜGER, was adapted by William Henry Monk for Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) from a tune composed by Johann Crüger, first published in 1640.

We Three Kings. – This carol was written and composed ca. 1857 by John Henry Hopkins Jr., American theologian, musician, artist and teacher. An Episcopalian priest, Hopkins, was a leader in mid-nineteenth century Episcopal church music, serving as the first instructor of church music at the General Theological Seminary in New York. This carol was regarded for many years by hymnal editors as the sole American contribution to the repertory of English language carols. Subsequently, many Appalachian and other folk carols have been discovered. Interestingly, this carol has not appeared in any of the three major United Church hymn books.

VU 73 – The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy. This folk carol comes from the West Indies. The refrain may be older than the verses, perhaps coming from an African folk song. This arrangement was made by John Barnard for “Hymns for Today’s Church” (1982).

VU 68 – All Poor Ones and Humble. The first verse was freely translated from a Welsh source in 1937 by Katherine Roberts, while the second verse was written in 1951 by William Davies. It is set to OLWEN, a traditional Welsh carol tune. The text takes us from the scene in a humble stable to view the exalted Christ, with a refrain that calls us to praise and service.

VU 64 – O Little Town of Bethlehem. The text was written in 1868 by Phillips Brooks, rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, as a gift to the children of the Sunday School. The text had been inspired by his previous Christmas week journey on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. At Brooks’ invitation, the parish organist, Lewis H. Redner, composed a simple Victorian tune, ST. LOUIS, as the setting.