Category Archives: Music

Music

Sunday Singing: Eternal Father! Strong to Save

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“Eternal Father! Strong to Save” sung by a congregation in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London

With this being a Fourth of July weekend, I remembered the strong hymn the Navy claims for its own. Hymnist William Whiting (1825-1878) was born in the London area and served for many years as the Master of the Winchester College Choristers’ School. This is the one hymn of Whiting’s that has won everyone over. The tune was composed by Englishman John Bacchus Dykes in 1861.

1. Eternal Father, strong to save,
whose arm doth bind the restless wave,
who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.

2. O Savior, whose almighty word
the winds and waves submissive heard,
who walkedst on the foaming deep
and calm amid its rage didst sleep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.

3. O sacred Spirit, who didst brood
upon the chaos dark and rude,
who badd’st its angry tumult cease,
and gavest light and life and peace:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.

4. O Trinity of love and pow’r,
our brethren shield in danger’s hour;
from rock and tempest, fire and foe,
protect them wheresoe’er they go;
and ever let there rise to thee
glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Music

Sunday Singing: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

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“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” was written by the Isaac Watts of Wales, William Williams (1717-1791). He studied medicine, took up theology instead, became an Anglican Deacon and eventually a Calvinistic Methodist. He wrote in Welsh, so the Welsh translator Peter Williams (no relation) brought it into English. (Today, Williams is the third most common surname in Wales.)

The recording above is a modern arrangement, written by Jeremy Casella (guitar/vocals) and performed with Sandra McCracken (vocals), Paul Nelson (cello), Tim Nicholson (piano). This arrangement has held me over the years, driving home my need to release my fears to the Almighty.

1. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy pow’rful hand;
Bread of heaven,
Bread of heaven,
feed me ’til I want no more,
feed me ’til I want no more.

2. Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through;
strong Deliv’rer,
strong Deliv’rer,
be thou still my strength and shield,
be thou still my strength and shield.

3. When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death, and hell’s Destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side;
songs of praises,
songs of praises
I will ever give to thee,
I will ever give to thee.

Oh, to finally say goodbye
Bid my anxious fears, bid my anxious fears
Land me safe on Canaan’s side
Bid my anxious fears, bid my anxious fears, goodbye

Music

Sunday Singing: This Is My Father’s World

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“This Is My Father’s World” performed by Keith and Kristyn Getty

This marvelous testimony to God’s sovereignty and creation of all things comes to us from Presbyterian Maltbie D. Babcock of New York (1858-1901). It was published after his death in 1901 to a traditional English folk tune arranged by Franklin L. Sheppard.

1 This is my Father’s world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas–
His hand the wonders wrought.

2 This is my Father’s world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world:
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.

3 This is my Father’s world:
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let earth be glad!

Music

Sunday Singing: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

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This marvelous hymn from the Scottish minister Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) has a beautiful grandeur in this recording, but I’ve sung the song at a ripping pace, time and a half this pace, almost like a sea shanty. It’s stirring. I don’t know if the Free Church of Scotland would have approved of it, but I think it still keeps the spirit of worship.

1 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto me and rest;
lay down, O weary one, lay down
your head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
weary and worn and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
and he has made me glad.

2 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in him.

3 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
look unto me, your morn shall rise,
and all your days be bright.”
I looked to Jesus and I found
in him my Star, my Sun;
and in that light of life I’ll walk,
’til trav’ling days are done.

Continue reading Sunday Singing: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say →
Music

Sunday Singing: Victory Through Grace

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“Victory Through Grace” performed by the choir of Cornerstone Church

“I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer” (Revelation 6:2 KJV).

Franny Crosby is that familiar, Methodist Episcopal hymn writer whose hymns are lodged in my head so neatly I can’t remember which ones are hers or when I last sung one. I don’t think this hymn has come up in our church in a long time, but it could be that I just can’t remember it.

I think the theme of this hymn is out of fashion today, and believers need it as much as they ever did. The battle is not to the strong; the race will not be won by the swift. Victory will be given by the Master to his own on his own terms.

1.Conquering now and still to conquer, rideth a King in His might;
Leading the host of all the faithful into the midst of the fight;
See them with courage advancing, clad in their brilliant array,
Shouting the Name of their Leader, hear them exultingly say:

Refrain:
Not to the strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race,
Yet to the true and the faithful vict’ry is promised thro’ grace.

2. Conquering now and still to conquer, who is this wonderful King?
Whence are the armies which He leadeth, while of His glory they sing?
He is our Lord and Redeemer, Savior and Monarch divine;
They are the stars that forever bright in His kingdom shall shine.

3. Conquering now and still to conquer, Jesus, Thou Ruler of all,
Thrones and their scepters all shall perish, crowns and their splendor shall fall,
Yet shall the armies Thou leadest, faithful and true to the last,
Find in Thy mansions eternal rest, when their warfare is past.

Music, Reviews

Streaming review: ‘Runestone! A Rock Musical’

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I went together with a friend to stream the Minnesota Historical Society’s production of Runestone! A Rock Musical on Saturday. This review will be entirely useless to you, because the show’s run is now finished, but I figured I’d report on it anyway, for the benefit of future generations. And also to fill blog space.

The production is a fairly low-budget affair, presented on a circular stage (but not theater in the round – the audience sat in front). A screen behind the actors, for most of the program, concealed the band members. Costumes and staging were minimal – the men tended to wear suspenders or vests, to suggest 19th Century clothing, and a few props were set up to suggest settings – including, oddly, a tractor to indicate the farm, though the main character died well before such vehicles became common. A small cast filled the roles, most of them playing more than one (this was exaggerated in the performance that was streamed, as a couple actors were missing. Other actors filled their parts “on book,” sometimes crossing gender lines).

The production opened with a mealy-mouthed statement from the director or somebody, which included a groveling declaration of their profound awareness of the fact that they were standing on stolen land, and declaring their commitment to the goal of “decolonization.” I’m not entirely sure what decolonization means in real life. I’m inclined to think it means genocide.

The drama goes on to portray Swedish-American farmer Olaf Ohman and his son in 1898, as they discover a carved stone buried in the roots of a tree on their farm near Kensington, Minnesota. The local banker persuades Olaf to display the stone in the bank window, and rhapsodizes about the possibility of making Kensington a tourist destination. Preliminary statements from Minnesota historians tend to support the stone’s authenticity, and spirits are high, until a Norwegian scholar dismisses the whole thing as a hoax.

At this point the actors switch to an alternate narrative, describing how Ohman, the banker, and a neighbor could have colluded to create the stone simply as an exercise in “rural humor,” meant to trick the city folks and have a laugh at their expense.

Now Ohman becomes a pariah, a subject of ridicule. He takes the stone back home with him and tries to forget it all until he’s approached by the writer Hjalmar Holand (they pronounce “Hjalmar” wrong), who takes possession of the stone (there’s some disagreement about whether Ohman sold it to him or not), and turns it into his own meal ticket, giving many lectures and writing several popular books. This leads to a final break between Ohman and Holand.

The production seems to lack any interest in making a judgment on the question of authenticity. This is fair, I suppose, and certainly prudent in a state where feelings still run high on both sides in some circles. But it’s also kind of cowardly, and makes the production more a documentary than a work of art. I might mention that the “flashback” scenes depicting the voyage of the Norsemen who may have carved the stone feature very tacky costumes including crude horned helmets. This obscures the important fact that these men (if they ever existed) were 14th Century Scandinavian Christians who’d probably have been offended to be called Vikings. If Vikings ever wore horned helmets. WHICH THEY DID NOT!

I’ve always been touchy about urban productions portraying country people (I hated the Andy Griffith Show and Green Acres back in the day). So it may mean nothing that I found the portrayals here arch and sometimes borderline insulting.

The music was not memorable. This was no Tommy or Jesus Christ, Superstar. None of the songs lingered in the mind. Sasha Andrews did a pretty good job portraying Ohman. But all in all, I found Runestone! A Rock Musical unimpressive.

Music

Sunday Singing: I Know that My Redeemer Lives

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This hymn comes to us from the Englishman Samuel Medley (1738-99), set to a tune by Englishman John Hatton (1710-93).

1 I know that my Redeemer lives!
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, he lives, who once was dead;
he lives, my everliving head!

2 He lives triumphant from the grave;
he lives eternally to save;
he lives all-glorious in the sky;
he lives exalted there on high.

3 He lives to grant me rich supply;
he lives to guide me with his eye;
he lives to comfort me when faint;
he lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

Continue reading Sunday Singing: I Know that My Redeemer Lives →
Music

Sunday Singing: Holy God, We Praise Thy Name

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“Holy God, We Praise Thy Name,” performed by Stephen Tharp

Today hymn is believed to have been originally written by Ignaz Franz (1719-1790), chaplain at Gross-Glogau and vicar of Glogau in Silesia, Poland, during the 1740s. Clarence A. Walworth (1820-1900) translated it from German.

1 Holy God, we praise thy name.
God of all, we bow before thee.
All on earth your scepter claim;
all in heav’n above adore thee.
Infinite thy vast domain,
everlasting is thy reign.

2 Hark, the loud celestial hymn,
angel choirs above are raising.
Cherubim and seraphim,
in unceasing chorus praising,
fill the heav’ns with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy Lord.

3 Lo! the apostolic train
join thy sacred name to hallow.
Prophets swell the glad refrain,
and the blessed martyrs follow,
and, from morn till set of sun,
through the church the song goes on.

4 Holy Author, Holy Word,
Holy Spirit, three we name thee;
still, one holy voice is heard:
undivided God, we claim thee,
and adoring bend the knee,
while we own the mystery.

Blogs, Socials, Music, Reading, The Press

Verse-picking, Lying, Singing in Cherokee, and Fiction as Discipleship

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I’ve been doing these Saturday blogroll posts for a while now, and I’m always happy to see a kind of theme emerge from the articles to which I link. This post will be more random. Sorry.

What do Red Letter Christians who disparage Paul’s words in favor of Jesus’s quotations do with the fact that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote the gospels, not Jesus himself? Jesus didn’t write anything. If you say the biblical authors may have gotten their letters wrong, it applies throughout. Or are we saying that only the parts I dislike and challenge my modern sensibilities are the parts that probably are not inspired Scripture?

Music: “There are all these different metal bands out there from Scandinavia who incorporate Viking and pagan culture into their art. I always wondered why no one that I knew of had done that with Native American culture.” Album Offers Today’s Hits — Sung in Cherokee (nextcity.org)

That’s cool in a sense, but I don’t listen to metal. Here’s a new musician singing songs I do listen to: Colm R. McGuinness sings The Rocky Road to Dublin

And I don’t know who needs to hear this, but, uh, God’s gonna cut you down.

Thrillers: 10 Best Adaptations of Legal Books to Film of All Time

Ombudsman: Media Mistakes in the Biden Era: the Definitive List | Sharyl Attkisson

Reading Fiction: Should we read fiction as part of our discipleship?

We who belong to the church, who have cognitively accepted the Unseen Reality, as Evelyn Underhill described it, also suffer from constricted imaginations. The disenchantment we have all undergone as products of the modern world has critically stunted our spiritual development, our knowledge of ourselves, our hopes and dreams for God in the world.

Photo: I-84 near Hammett, Idaho. 2004. John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive (1972-2008), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Music

Sunday Singing: O Be Joyful in the Lord

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This song differs from the usual congregational singing I share on Sundays. It’s a gorgeous arrangement of Psalm 100 with a few benedictory words at the end.

Here is the lyric as rendered in a 1982 Episcopal hymnal. I’ve always found the last verse to be marvelously triumphant music that should fill the earth.

O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song. [Ant.]

2. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God;
it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. [Ant.]

3. O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving
and into his courts with praise;
be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name. [Ant.]

4. For the Lord is gracious;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth from generation to generation. [Ant.]

5. Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning, is now, and
will be for ever. Amen.