Hymn Blog - December 6, 2009

December 6, 2009 – Second Sunday of Advent

VU 23 – Joy Shall Come. This is an Israeli traditional folk song, with an arrangement made in 1987 for Songs for a Gospel People, by Darryl Nixon, currently Minister of Music at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Vancouver.

VU 7 – Hope Is a Star.  see last week’s blog.

VU 477 – I Come with Joy. This communion hymn text is one of Brian Wren’s most widely published works. It was written in 1968 for the Congregational church in Hockley, Essex, where he was minister. The tune, DOVE OF PEACE, is an American folk tune from Southern Harmony (1835). The arrangement is by distinguished American hymnologist, musician and teacher Austin C. Lovelace, who is still an active member of the Hymn Society at age 90.

VU 34 – Come Now, O God of Peace. The tune, O-SO-SO, and Korean text are by Geonyong Lee, Korean theologian and composer. It was published in Sound the Bamboo (1990), the hymn book of the Christian Council of Asia. The English translation is by our own Marion Pope.

VU 884 – You Shall Go Out with Joy. This paraphrase of Isaiah 55:12 comes to us from the Psalter Hymnal (1987) of the Christian Reformed Church. The text was written in 1975 by Steffi G. Rubin, a New Yorker who received her B.A. degree in English from Simpson College in San Francisco, California. At one time an artist she has been self-employed in the graphic arts field since 1980. The song's popularity is no doubt due to the Jewish-style music by Stuart Dauermann (b. Brooklyn, NY, 1944). It was first published in Scriptures to Sing (Lillenas, 1975). The infectious tune with its syncopations and hand clapping makes it a winner among contemporary Scripture choruses. Educated in music theory (BA) and music education (M.M.) at the Manhattan School of Music, Dauermann also completed a master's degree in missiology at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1992.

VU 10 – see last week’s blog.