Advent is designated as a special time in the church calendar of many Christian denominations. Most of those that accept this as a season of preparation refer to the calendar as the liturgical calendar.
This designation causes pause among those raised in the more free and evangelical structures. However, by ignoring this time of year as being something to celebrate annually, the “baby is thrown out with the bath water.” I know because I was raised in one of those faith traditions. As I grew older and discovered Advent for myself, I came to realize there was nothing to fear. Instead, there was a lot to gain.
With this blog I present some personal aspects of the hymns of Advent as well as some of the things people do to celebrate this special time of year. For those wanting to ad more significance to the religious aspects of Christmas, participating in Advent activities broadens the base of one’s observance of the sure and certain belief that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
DEFINITION
I have to start somewhere so I’ll start with an attempt as defining Advent. Very literally, it is as follows.
- the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.“the advent of television”
- synonyms: arrival, appearance, emergence, materialization, occurrence, dawn, birth, rise, development; approach, coming such as in “the advent of a new school year”
- the first season of the Christian church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays.
- within the scope of Christian theology it can refer to the first or second coming of Christ with the first being the birth over 2,000 year ago (from which we mark the beginning of the Christian Era) and the second when, as Revelation puts it, the Christ shall return near the end of time.
ADVENT IN HISTORY
It appears that throughout history we as humans, regardless of the civilization from which we come, have always marked religious and secular events annually. So it should be no surprise that Jews, Christians, Muslims, Native Americans, Japanese, etc. observe “calendar-oriented” events. The historical aspects of Advent are quite interesting. In the 4th and 5th centuries, particularly in Gaul, it was a time to prepare for the baptism of new converts on Epiphany Sunday.
By the 6th century, Roman Christians had tied Advent to coming of Christ, especially the second coming (note that the celebration of Christ’s birth was of diminished importance when compared to His return). During the Middle Ages in Europe, Advent became explicitly linked to Christ’s birth at Christmas. Aligning the timing of the birth to a specific date was not an issue of historical accuracy but more of an opportunity to create a holy day to celebrate the significance of the event—a time to remember and reflect. Since Advent became closely related to the birth of Jesus, it became instructionally important as a part of catechism.
ADVENT TODAY
Advent begins on the Sunday between November 27th and December 3rd, the Sunday nearest November 30th. This yields four Sundays for the observance which ends on Christmas Day.
The feeling to be experiences is similar to that of Israel at the end of the Old Testament when the Jews were in exile, waiting and hoping in prayerful expectation for the coming of Messiah. Today, it provides contemporary Christians an opportunity to look back upon Christ’s coming in celebration while looking forward in eager anticipation to the coming of Christ’s kingdom when he returns for his people final victory over sin and death.
FIVE THEMES FOR THE SEASON
In contemporary America, the observation of Advent and Christmas is often linked to the lighting of candles. This is a carry-over from the Jewish tradition of lighting candles in the Menorah, which has more candles in a particular arrangement with other significant elements related to Hanukkah, a festival occurring at the same time of year. The first Sunday the “Hope” candle is light. On the second Sunday of Advent the first candle is lit and then the “Love” candle. This continues on until all five candles are light on Christmas.
Some may question the rationale for the colors. They are as follows. Purple is representative of royalty, as we anticipate the arrival of a King. Pink is the color assigned to the Joy candle. The color is related to purple and is lighter in tone (pink) to indicate the nearness of the birth event. It is always the third candle of the series. The Christ candle is white, signifying the purity of the Son of God who became Christ the King.
TERMS OF MUSICAL SIGNIFICANCE
- The “hymn” is the text itself which is intended to be sung or recited and is related to some element of religious intent.
- The melody or four-part voicing is the “tune” itself; also know as the “hymn tune”
- Hymns have authors or sources of text.
- Tunes have composers or sources of musical influence.
- Carol is to be sung during Advent/Christmas or Lent/Easter, of French derivation by way of the German “chorale.”
- Used in lieu of music relating to Ordinary in many liturgies (those parts of the service presented as a regular or ordinary (everyday) part of the service.
THREE ADVENT HYMNS
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come
And cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home:
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
The text was developed during the 9th century as part of the great “O” anthems which were sung daily the week before Christmas. Each line of the anthem (antiphon) began with “O” as does this text. The text was revised and put in metrical form in Latin during 12th century (metrical is the regular rhythm or meter of the text with a pattern of emphasis or strong/weak syllables – types of meter include iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic, etc.). The text was first published in the original Latin by German Catholics in 1710. It was included with other hymn texts suitable for use in worship or special days. John Mason Neale, an Anglican pastor who had an appreciation for the traditional form and structure of Roman Church, translated segments of the text and published the same in 1851. The four verses (above) are commonly published in today’s hymnals.
Neale was the son of an Anglican minister. During his education at Cambridge he came under the influence of the Oxford movement. Oddly, he opposed the work of Isaac Watts who is generally viewed of the Father of English Hymnody. While Watts primarily modernized the Psalms, often consider the only appropriate texts for worship, his updating process including providing a New Testament slant. Neale, however, preferred translating the older Latin or Greek texts of Catholicism. Today, however, both share positions of equal importance among church musicians of many denominations. Other hymns still in use and developed under the pen of Neale are: “Good Christian Men, Rejoice,” “Good King Wenceslas” and “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.”
The tune is of unknown composition. That is, we don’t know to whom to ascribe responsibility. Nevertheless, it has long been assumed that it was based on plainsong chant and probably developed around the 15th century. It sounds as though it was developed through the traditions of some monasteries in France. The tune was first published with a Latin text in 1844 to be closely followed with an English text in 1851. The tune, VENI EMMANUEL, is very syllabic except though providing on one melismatic emphasis per line, the point where more than one note is used to voice one syllable.
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.
From the pen of Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, comes this familiar text. Written in 1744, it was first published in Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord, a collection of 18 texts by Charles. That collection was followed a few years later with his famous and more extensive work of 455 hymns, Hymns and Sacred Songs. Of his many hymns, approximately a dozen are still in use today in a variety of Christian denominations.
John, who was more fervent in his approach to the practice of his faith, is credited as the leading founder of Methodism. Charles, by contrast, never resigned his ordination as an Anglican preferring not to pull away from the established institution.
As to tunes, two seem to find use with this text. The more traditional (older) used with this is STUTTGART which was written in 1715 by Christian Witt. Of late, the more popular tune is HYFRYDOL which was written by Rowland Prichard in 1830.
Hail, To the Lord’s Anointed
Hail to the Lord's Anointed, great David's greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed, his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free;
To take away transgression, and rule in equity.
He comes with succor speedy to those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying, are precious in his sight.
He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
Love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in his path to birth.
Before him on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go,
And righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow.
To him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end.
The tide of time shall never his covenant remove;
His name shall stand forever; that name to us is love.
A less familiar but still import a Carol for Advent is “Hail, to the Lord’s Anointed” by James Montgomery, aScottish-born poet, hymn writer and
editor. Montgomery was the son of Moravian minister (as you may recall, Moravians had a positive effect on John Wesley on his first trip by ship to America from England). Montgomery was engaged in support of the abolishment of slavery and in ending of exploitation
of children working as chimney sweeps. One of his publications was Christian Psalmist, an 1825 publication featuring 100 of his
hymns. Montgomery also published Original Hymns which first appeared in 1853. It contained 355 hymns and five doxologies of original works.
Some of Montgomery’s hymns still in use today include “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire,” as well as “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed” which is Psalm 72 revised in a metrical and rhyming
format. Montgomery said that his “hand trembled to touch the harp of Zion” when preparing this text.
The most common tune used with this text is the tune ELLACOMBE, named after a village in Devonshire, England. The tune was first published in a chapel hymnal for the Duke of Würtemberg in1784 though the composer is unknown.
HYMNALS AND ADVENT
Most hymnals devote a ten-fold emphasis on texts and tunes specifically geared for Christmas when compared to hymns directed at Advent. In fact, until the last forty year, hymnals had few advent hymns and many still don’t. The current United Methodist Hymnal leads in focusing on attention on Advent in that at least a dozen numbers refer to the time of preparation for the coming of Christ. The number of hymns and tunes undergirds an emphasis that competes against commercialization of Christmas allowing churches an opportunity for instruction or musical content for corporate worship.
A PRAYER FOR ADVENT
Merciful God,
you sent your messengers, the prophets, to preach
repentance and prepare the way for our salvation.
Give us grace to heed their warning and forsake our sins,
that we may celebrate aright the commemoration of
the nativity, and may await with joy the coming
in glory of Jesus Christ our Redeemer;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever. Amen.
from the Book of Common Prayer, altered by Byron Songer
