On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love…
The Nativity Scene used on Christmas Eve.
Gave to you the text for Westminster's favorite carols!
Follow along as I describe Westminster's favorite carols from our carol sing, December 18th, 2011.
First, some quick stats about your 2011 vote: I received a total of one hundred and forty one ballots, and four absentee ballots. Two and a half ballots had to be discarded because of voter error, and 1.2 percent of the total ballots were discarded due to perceived voter fraud.
The Carols “I Saw Three Ships”, “O Holy Night” and “See Amid the Winter’s Snow” Each received more than five votes, but did not quite make the cut. “Joy to the world” tied with our first carol of the morning, but It was decided to place it at the end of our service today, instead. Other write in candidates included “The Huron Carol”, “The Little Drummer Boy”, and three votes from some of our youngest congregants for “Jingle Bells”.
Let’s get started with our number six favorite carol! This carol is shrouded in mystery. Both the tune and text are anonymous, and date from eighteenth century France. The refrain, a melismatic sequence on the word Gloria is this carols most famous feature. Please remain seated as we sing hymn number thirty eight, “Angels We Have Heard on High”.
Our next carol is one of my favorites! The text for this carol was written by Cecil Frances Alexander, a very successful hymn writer of the nineteenth century. Her hymns were featured in a collection called “Hymns for Little Children”. This particular carol serves to teach children how to live their lives, “mild, obedient, good as He.” Good Victorian morals which, if you know Luke two: forty one to fifty, makes perfect sense. Please stand as we sing hymn number sixty two, “Once in Royal David’s City”.
Please be seated.
Our fourth favorite carol was a shock to me, as I was outlining this service, I had chosen this hymn as the most likely “favorite” of the congregation. The text for this carol may be the oldest we sing today. Originally in Latin, this hymn had four verses, and has had verses added and taken away to suit a particular denomination or congregation in the history of the church. One of the additional verses to this hymn tells of the wisemen, and their star led journey to the baby Jesus. I could never imagine waiting until after Christmas though, to sing this carol! Please remain seated as we sing hymn number sixty, “O Come, All Ye Faithful”.
Coming in at number three is another of my favorites. This tune was written by Felix Mendelssohn, on the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of the printing press! Before Mendelssohn got his hands on the text, Charles Wesley-the author of the text had imagined this being sung to the beloved tune for “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”. Try singing it at home- It works! Please stand as we sing hymn number forty eight, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”.
Please stay standing.
Our next carol was aranged in 1865, by John Wesley Work. John W. Work grew up in Tennessee, and attended Fisk University, where he directed various choral groups. After obtaining his Masters degree at Fisk, he studied at Harvard- eventually ending up back at Fisk, as professor of ancient history, Latin and Greek. Naturally, the African American spiritual was his other passion. Please stay standing as we sing hymn number forty three, “Go Tell it On the Mountain”.
Please be seated.
We are down to our last hymn, perhaps the most famous carol in the world. The story behind it is simple enough. Thanks to some hungry church mice, the organ at the village church was out of order so a new carol was written, for guitar and voice. German in origin, its verses describe the peaceful scene at the Nativity. Originally, the tune was a little more bouncy than we know it today, but over the past two hundred years, it has mellowed to the lullaby we now love. I had several write in votes for the German words for this carol, so if you want, please feel free to sing the German verses printed in your hymnal. Please remain seated as we sing hymn number sixty seven, “Silent Night”.
Christmas Eve 2011
Winnipeg is not having any luck with snow this year! Earlier I posted about a 
fresh layer of snow...now it's looking like we won't have a nice coating of the white stuff for Christmas. This is a good thing, as it means our highways will be clear for folks coming in for our Christmas Eve service from the country!
Those that have been to our service know that you have to be quite early for our service, our large sanctuary is packed.
You can download and print your own copy of our Christmas Eve service by clicking on the link below:
Choral Candlelight Service 2011
One of the carols we are singing is the famous "I Saw Three Ships". Like "Tomorrow Shall Be my Dancing Day", this is not the tune you will be expecting. Written by John Rutter, this tune is even more jaunty than the traditional setting!
The carol calls for orchestral accompaniment, but as we don't have an orchestra handy, Don Menzies has arranged it for four hands! His wife, Rita Menzies, is the extra pianist for this one. Rita is well known in the city of Winnipeg for her work with various arts groups- including the WSO, MCO, and the Agassiz Music Festival the last of which put on the spectacular International Cello Festival. Rita's additional hands makes this carol really shine! I can't wait to present it on Christmas Eve.
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
One of the carols the choir is presenting on Christmas Eve will be John Gardner's setting of "Tomorrow Shall Be my Dancing Day". This arrangement is not the tune you would expect!
This version really dances- and with the aid of a snare drum, tambourine, and insane tempo the text leaps off of the page.
I asked our minister, Robert Campbell, to give some insight to the highly metaphorical text at our last rehearsal. Here is what he had to say:
During the 2011 Choral Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve at 11:00 p.m., the choir will be singing John Gardner’s setting of the traditional carol, “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day”, which uses the first four verses of the poem:
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day;
I would my true love did so chance
To see the legend of my play,
To call my true love to my dance;
Sing, oh! my love, oh! my love, my love, my love,
This have I done for my true love.
Then was I born of a virgin pure,
Of her I took fleshly substance
Thus was I knit to man's nature
To call my true love to my dance.
Sing, oh! my love…
In a manger laid, and wrapped I was
So very poor, this was my chance
Betwixt an ox and a silly poor ass
To call my true love to my dance.
Sing, oh! my love…
Then afterwards baptized I was;
The Holy Ghost on me did glance,
My Father’s voice heard from above,
To call my true love to my dance.
Sing, oh! my love…
To get into this poem, think of the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament in which a lover addresses himself to his beloved in poetry. This carol is like that. The lover—Jesus—is addressing his beloved—us, the church, the people he came to save. He is telling us the story of his life and its meaning—the legend of my play —which is about saving us from sin and calling us to share his divine life.
This becomes clearer when you hear the entire poem. While Gardner’s setting takes us through Christ’s birth—his dancing day —to his Baptism, the remaining verses cover his ministry, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Here are the last three:
Then on the cross hanged I was,
Where a spear my heart did glance;
There issued forth both water and blood,
To call my true love to my dance.
Sing, oh! my love…
Then down to hell I took my way
For my true love's deliverance,
And rose again on the third day,
Up to my true love and the dance.
Sing, oh! my love…
Then up to heaven I did ascend,
Where now I dwell in sure substance
On the right hand of God, that man
May come unto the general dance.
Sing, oh! my love…
Note the words I dwell in sure substance which contrast with the words of her I took fleshly substance in verse two. Christ now has a resurrected imperishable body—sure substance—and not the mortal one—fleshly substance—of his Incarnation. This is what is in store for us—that man may come unto the general dance.
Now, to look at some of the phrases from the carol whose meaning may not be immediately obvious.
Thus was I knit to man's nature. Christ became connected forever with all of our sins and failings in order to bear the weight of them in his sacrificial death.
To call my true love to my dance. This is Christ’s invitation and call to us to share his divine life. Dance and dancing are common metaphors for life, particularly in the sense of abundant life, which Jesus speaks of in John’s gospel: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Or as St. Irenaeus put it: “The Glory of God is a human being fully alive!”
By the way, this carol was originally probably danced as well as sung. Carols written in ¾ time, as this one was before John Gardner got ahold of it, were sung by people as they danced around the Christmas creche.
Westminster will be presenting this carol and others at our Choral Candlelight service, Christmas Eve, 11:00 pm, preceded by a recital of carols on the organ, given by Don Menzies at 10:30 pm.
And the winner is…
Silent Night. This kind of surprised me, I was expecting the congregation to overwhelmingly vote for "O Come All Ye Faithfull".
"Westminster's Favorite Carols" turned out much better than I could have ever hoped for. Lots of people voted, including children and shut-ins from our congregation.
A complete edition of this Sunday's carol sing will be posted in the future.