Populus Sion, ecce Dóminus véniet ad salvándas gentes: et audítam fáciet Dóminus glóriam vocis suæ, in lætítia cordis vestri.
This was a big Sunday at All Saints Ainslie. In the morning a small group of us sang Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring:
| Jesu, joy of man's desiring, |
| Holy wisdom, love most bright; |
| Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring |
Soar to uncreated light.
|
| Word of God, our flesh that fashioned, |
| With the fire of life impassioned, |
| Striving still to truth unknown, |
Soaring, dying round Thy throne.
|
| Through the way where hope is guiding, |
| Hark, what peaceful music rings; |
| Where the flock, in Thee confiding, |
Drink of joy from deathless springs.
|
| Theirs is beauty's fairest pleasure; |
| Theirs is wisdom's holiest treasure. |
| Thou dost ever lead Thine own |
| In the love of joys unknown. |
But, more significantly, we had our annual Lessons and Carols service. I cantored for the initial Matin Responsory based on a Nunc Dimittis by Palestrina (despite the fact the Carols for Choirs edition says it's based on a Magnificat):
| I look from afar, |
| And lo, I see the power of God coming, and a cloud covering the whole Earth. |
| Go ye out to meet him and say: |
| Tell us, art thou he that should come to reign over thy people Israel? |
| High and low, rich and poor, one with another, |
| Go ye out to meet him and say: |
| Hear, O thou Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep, |
| Tell us, art thou he that should come? |
| Stir up thy strength, O Lord, and come |
| To reign over thy people, Israel. |
| Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. |
| I look from afar, |
| And lo, I see the power of God coming, and a cloud covering the whole Earth. |
| Go ye out to meet him and say: |
| Tell us, art thou he that should come to reign over thy people Israel? |
We had several guest singers join us including Rachel Mink and Dan Walker from Luminescence. Rachel sang the initial verse of Once In Royal David's City, after which we processed to the remaining verses. After the first lesson from yours truly, we performed Ord's Adam Lay Ybounden:
| Adam lay ybounden, bounden in a bond. |
| Four thousand winter thought he not too long. |
| And all was for an apple, an apple that he took, |
| As clerkes finden written in their book. |
| Ne had the apple taken been, the apple taken been, |
| Ne had never our ladye a been heavené queen. |
| Blessed be the time that apple taken was, |
| Therefore we moun singen Deo Gracias. |
Following another reading, we had one of my favourite Christmas classics, Prätorius' Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen.
| Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, |
There is a rose up-springing, |
| aus einer Wurzel zart, |
from a tender root, |
| wie uns die Alten sungen, |
as the ancients have sung, |
| von Jesse kam die Art |
it comes from Jesse's branch. |
| und hat ein Blümlein bracht |
Its blossom flowering bright, |
| mitten im kalten Winter, |
amidst the cold winter, |
| wohl zu der halben Nacht. |
when half the night remains. |
|
|
| Das Röslein, das ich meine, |
This little rose of which I sing, |
| davon Jesaja sagt, |
of which Isaiah spoke, |
| hat uns gebracht alleine |
was brought to us solely by |
| Marie, die reine Magd. |
Mary, the pure maiden. |
| Aus Gottes ew'gem Rat |
By God's eternal plan, |
| hat sie ein Kind geboren |
a child was born to her |
| und blieb doch reine Magd. |
but she remained a pure Maiden. |
|
|
| Das Blümelein so kleine, |
That little blossom, so tiny, |
| das duftet uns so süß, |
that to us smells so sweet, |
| mit seinem hellen Scheine |
with its bright shining |
| Vertreibt's die Finsternis. |
drives away the darkness. |
| Wahr' Mensch und wahrer Gott, |
True man and truer God, |
| hilft uns aus allem Leide, |
He aids us from all suffering, |
| rettet von Sünd und Tod. |
and saves us from sin and death. |
After the next reading was the original traditonal arrangement of the Coventry Carol with the crunchy false relation in the cadence.
| Lully, lullay, þow littell tyne childe, |
| by, by, lully, lullay. |
| þow littell tyne childe: |
| by, by, lully, lullay. |
|
| O! Sisters too, how may we do |
| for to preserve this day |
| this pore yongling for whom we do singe: |
| by, by, lully, lullay? |
|
| Herod, the king, in his raging, |
| chargid he hath this day, |
| his men of might in his owne sight, |
| all yonge children to slay. |
|
| That wo is me, pore childe, for Thee |
| and ever morne and day |
| for thi parting nether say nor singe: |
| by, by, lully, lullay. |
The next reading was followed by O little town of Bethlehem with the Willcocks descant. Then, after the next reading we sang the significantly less common arrangement of the Basque carol Gabriel's Message, also known as the Angel Gabriel or the Most Highly Flavoured Gravy.
| The Angel Gabriel from heaven came, |
| his wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame; |
| 'All hail', said he, 'thou lowly maiden Mary |
| Most highly favoured lady, Gloria.' |
|
| 'For known a blesséd Mother thou shalt be, |
| all generations laud and honour thee, |
| thy Son shall be Immanuel by seers foretold; |
| Most highly favoured lady, Gloria.' |
|
| Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head, |
| 'To me be as it pleaseth God', she said, |
| 'My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name': |
| most highly favoured lady, Gloria. |
|
| Of her, Immanuel, the Christ was born |
| in Bethlehem all on a Christmas morn, |
| and Christian folk throughout the world will ever say: |
| 'most highly favoured lady, Gloria.' |
After one more reading, we performed what I think was a highlight of the whole service, and one of our best performances, Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium:
| O mágnum mystérium |
O great mystery, |
| et admirábile sacraméntum, |
and wondrous sacrament, |
| ut animália vidérent Dóminum nátum, |
that animals should see the newborn Lord, |
| jacéntem in præsépio. |
lying in a manger. |
| Beáta virgo, cújus víscera meruérunt |
Blessed virgin, whose womb was worthy |
| portáre Dóminum Chrístum. Alleluia |
to bear the Lord Christ. Alleluia |
Then we processed out while shepherds washed their socks and ascended to the organ loft for the remainder of the service, where we performed Warlock's Bethlehem Down. I heard that anthem was written on a napkin by an alcoholic and antitheist Peter Warlock in exchange for beer money, and that he died a few years after writing it. But the anthem itself is quite special.
| When He is King we will give him the King's gifts, |
| Myrrh for its sweetness, and gold for a crown, |
| "Beautiful robes", said the young girl to Joseph |
| Fair with her first-born on Bethlehem Down. |
|
| Bethlehem Down is full of the starlight |
| Winds for the spices, and stars for the gold, |
| Mary for sleep, and for lullaby music |
| Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold. |
|
| When He is King they will clothe Him in grave-sheets, |
| Myrrh for embalming, and wood for a crown, |
| He that lies now in the white arms of Mary |
| Sleeping so lightly on Bethlehem Down. |
|
| Here He has peace and a short while for dreaming, |
| Close-huddled oxen to keep Him from cold, |
| Mary for love, and for lullaby music |
| Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold. |
This was followed by another congregational carol with Willcocks descant, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and our last anthem of the evening, Wood's Hey you! The Middle Ball.
| O thou the central orb of righteous love, |
| Pure beam of the Most High, |
| Eternal Light of this our wintry world, |
| Thy radiance bright awakes new joy in faith, |
| Hope soars above. |
|
| Come, quickly come and let thy glory shine, |
| Gilding our darksome heav'n with rays divine. |
| Thy saints with holy lustre round thee move, |
| As stars about thy throne, set in the height |
| Of God's ordaining counsel, |
| As thy sight gives measured grace to each. |
| Thy power to prove. |
|
| Let thy bright beams disperse the gloom of sin, |
| Our nature all shall feel eternal day, |
| In fellowship with thee, |
| Transforming day to souls erewhile unclean, |
| now pure within. |
|
| Amen. |
Of course, it wouldn't be a Christmas Carols service without the "Word of the Father" chord, so we finished up with Willcocks' arrangement of O Come, All Ye Faithful.
