Category: Music

Away In a Manger

Hymn Story:

The first two verses of “Away In A Manger” are anonymous. They have been attributed to Martin Luther, but this is not clear. An extensive article, Not So Far Away In A Manger: Forty One Settings of an American Carol, gives reasons that this might not be the case. These verses first appeared in Little Children’s Book for Schools and Families, by J. C. File (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, 1885).

In Dainty songs for little lads and lasses, for use in the kindergarten, school and home, by James R. Murray, (Cincinnati, The John Church Co., 1887), “Away in a Manger” is entitled “Luthers’ Cradle Hymn (Composed by Martin Luther for his children and still sung by German mothers to their little ones).” However Luther is not listed as the composer, instead are the initials J.R.M. The hymn in this publication is set to the tune we know as MUELLER. Later publications attribute this hymn tune to Carl Mueller, of which nothing is known.

Stanza 3, not originally part of the hymn, first was included in Gabriel”s Vineyard Songs, (Louisville, 1892) published by Charles H. Gabriel, with no author given. However, Robert Guy McCutchan, in Our Hymnody: a manual of the Methodist hymnal (New York, etc., The Methodist Book Concern, 1937, p. 436) includes this statement from Bishop William F. Anderson of the writing of the third stanza:

When I was Secretary of the Board of Education, 1904-08, I wanted to use “Away in a manger,” which I found with the designation “Martin Luther’s Cradle Song,” in the Children’s Day program one year. It had but two stanzas, 1 and 2. Dr. John T. McFarland, then Secretary of our Board of Sunday Schools, was my near neighbor in his office at 150 Fifth Avenue (New York). I asked him to write a third stanza. He went to his office and within an hour brought me the third stanza beginning, “Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay.”

As the stanza had been published in 1892, it seems likely that McFarland copied the stanza from a source known to him but Bishop Anderson, seeing it in McFarland’s hand, assumed it to be written by him.

Devotional:

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will ever enter it. And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

The following is a first person account told by Chaplain Gerald Oosterveen. The story describes his young son who died at age 9 as a result of cancer.

At times he was rebellious, or cried, “Why do I have to die now?”

I did not know either. But he kept fighting, even though there was always the pain. At times the massive quantities of medicine made him a bit delirious. But most of the time he was alert, thinking about the future. As the illness progressed, he became a philosopher, wise beyond young years. “Dad, when I was a kid, I never realized that kids can die too.”

Drawing on what he had learned in church and Sunday School, he became a theologian: “Isn’t it amazing that Jesus should be preparing a place for me in His Father’s house. He loves me!”

When I wished we had more money to pay his mounting medical bills, he functioned as my teacher and gently rebuked me: “Don’t say we’re poor dad. Christians are never poor. When you have faith, you’re rich!” The words of Jesus came to my mind and somehow they were speaking to me:

Unless you become like one of these little ones, you shall not enter the Kingdom of God.

Some days I reflect that I too must die and will see my little son again. But when my time comes, will I have conquered fear and go out, as he did, in faith? Can I ever hope to become so trusting, believing as this child? My child.

Bless all the dear children in thy tender care And fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

Facts:

Lyricist: Anonymous
Tune Name: MUELLER
Composer: James R. Murray
Music Date: 1887
Sheet Music
Key: F
Theme: Jesus Christ, His Birth
Lyrics Date: 1885
Tune Name: CRADLE SONG
Composer: William J. Kirkpatrick
Music Date: 1895
Sheet Music
Meter: 8.7.
Scripture: Luke 2:7

Copyright © 2011 Center for Church Music

Dev Anand lent a certain earnestness to his every song, and made it his own, as if it was written keeping him in mind. Playful of wistful, he could kill with a smile, liberate with his detachment, and pull you in with his melancholy. A few mentions here

 

 

Angels We Have Heard on High

Hymn Story:

The French carol “Les anges dans nos campagnes,” now known as “Angels We Have Heard on High,” is completely anonymous. It has always been printed with no known lyricist or composer. The beautiful carol tells the story of Christ’s birth, when the angel choir told the good news to nearby shepherds. The chorus, “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” reflects the chorus of the angel choir that long-ago Christmas night.

Many years ago shepherds in the hills of southern France had a Christmas Eve custom of calling to one another, singing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” each from his own hillside. The traditional tune that the shepherds used may have been from a late Medieval Latin chorale. It became the magnificent chorus of “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

The carol seems to be of eighteenth-century origin, since it was known in England by 1816. At that time James Montgomery wrote his carol “Angels From the Realms of Glory”, originally basing it on the tune of “Les anges dans nos campagnes.” “Angels From the Realms of Glory” was sung to the French tune until Henry Tomas Smart wrote a new tune for it in 1967.

“Angels We Have Heard on High” was first published in France in 1855. The English translation came seven years later, in Henri Frederick’s Crown of Jesus Music. This 1862 translation differed from the form we use now. The version we use today was first printed in a 1916 American carol collection entitled Carols Old and Carols New.

Devotional:

Sheep scattered around, the shepherds settled in for another quiet night, probably swapping stories as they watched the flocks. Then, in a divine moment, God burst into the night. Angels appeared, singing songs and speaking of the Savior’s birth. And suddenly, the shepherds’ ordinary lives were transformed-becoming part of a story that’s lived for thousands of years.

Angels We Have Heard on High” reminds us of this amazing night. In the beautiful strains of its chorus, this carol helps us experience a taste of what that angel chorus might have sounded like as it proclaimed the “good news.”

Christ’s birth certainly was good news to those simple shepherds. The Savior changed their lives forever. And God still loves to speak to ordinary people and transform their lives into something extraordinary through his grace.

As we sing of the angels’ great announcement, let’s remember that God still wants to announce the “good news” today, using people like you and me. Helping a family in need, sharing the gospel story with a prisoner, encouraging a friend who’s going through tough times-in these and countless other ways we can announce Jesus’ birth to the “shepherds” of our day.

Through our words and actions, we can show that Jesus still lives in the hearts of man. So in this Christmas season, and all through the coming year, let’s continue the angel song. Let’s tell the world all about Jesus, and how he’s changed our lives forever.

Facts:

Lyrics: Traditional French Carol
Lyrics Date: 18th Century
Translator: James Chadwick, Crown of Jesus Music
Translation Date: 1862
Theme: Christmas
Music: Traditional French Melody
Music Date: 18th Century
Tune Name: GLORIA
Arranger: Edward S. Barnes
Arranged Date: 1937
Key: F
Meter: 7.7.7.7.REF.
Scripture: Luke 2:14

Copyright © 2011 Center for Church Music

Mid-week mental health break.

Video shot during the recording of the song with the music composer Anirudh, Dhanush, Shruti Hassan, Aishwarya and Sound Engineer Sivakumar.

Cultural note: Kolaveri= Murderous rage

by Ann Powers November 12, 2011

Audio for this story from Weekend Edition Saturday will be available at approx. 12:00 p.m. ET

   Heart’s Nancy Wilson onstage in 1983, looking very Jimmy Page.

“Stairway to Heaven.” Those three little words have come to mean so much. Led Zeppelin‘s eight-minute classic turns 40 this week, and it still sets the bar for headbanging chutzpah, if not sophisticated songcraft.

Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were woodshedding in Wales when they devised their faery-strewn folk-metal psychedelia masterwork. Bassist/arranger John Paul Jones added mood-setting recorders and drummer John Bonham brought his protean thwunk to the game. The song may or may not have borrowed key elements from an instrumental by the American band Spirit, with whom they once toured. But nobody but Zep could have molded those chord progressions into such a masterpiece of excess.

“Stairway to Heaven” set the template for the power ballad and made unwitting J.R.R. Tolkien experts out of listeners who merely intended to get their rocks off. Depending on your view, the song is the greatest achievement of one of history’s most important groups … or rock’s ultimate nightmare, incessantly resurrected by awful cover bands, shrieking karaoke singers and your very drunk uncle who grabbed the microphone at your sister’s wedding reception.

There have been many torturous and/or hilarious versions of “Stairway to Heaven.” But at The Record, we prefer to immerse you in music that could prove pleasurable, if you let down your guard. To that end we’ve sought out what some might consider very hard to find: reworkings of this epic that actually reward the time spent winding on down their roads.

YouTube

1. Mary J. Blige

R&B’s Golden Gloves belter recorded “Stairway” with an all-star backing band, including Steve Vai and Orianthi on snarly dueling guitars, after successfully dipping her toe into arena rock with the help of U2 in 2005. The first verse sounds oddly like a Christmas carol, but then Mary sinks in her manicured nails and just takes off.

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2. Rodrigo y Gabriela

The Mexican couple responsible for bringing flamenco-flavored guitar into the 21^st century (or at least to the jam-band scene) have long used “Stairway” as a set piece. A multi-phase guitar ramble, it’s a natural for these fleet-fingered showboats. It’s on their first studio album, but the live versions are worth checking out, just to hear the roar of the crowd whenever Rodrigo pulls off one of his gravity-defying runs.

3. Elkie Brooks

Robert Plant has acknowledged that he owes a debt to female vocalists like Janis Joplin and his occasional duet partner Sandy Denny. It’s definitely true that women fare better when they tackle his technique. This take by British hitmaker Elkie Brooks, who was playing in the killer blues band Vinegar Joe when Zep was getting huge (yes, that’s Robert Palmer in the band with her), has all the grit and grandiosity a lighter-waving fan could want.

4. Motohiko Hino

A thorough exploration of the myriad “Stairway” reinterpretations reveals that this song has more jumping-off points than you might think. Not every artist felt the urge to push toward the original’s climax. This spare, cool reading by the late Japanese jazz drummer and his stellar ensemble (Steve Swallow on bass, Mike Stern and John Scofield on guitars) seems more inspired by Miles Davis than by Page and Plant. Hino’s brother Terumasa leads with his trumpet, which is as calm and inquisitive as Plant’s voice was commandeering.

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5. Heart

If you’re craving the particularly raucous “Stairway to Heaven” performed by a band in a bar as a drunk crowd yells for them to take it up to 11, don’t settle for some no-name bunch of dudes in red pants. Here’s Heart, one of hard rock’s greatest bands, getting loose at the divey Aquarius Tavern in Ann and Nancy Wilson’s hometown of Seattle in 1976. “Here’s a song I always like to dedicate to the people who are in looooove with one another,” drawls Ann before Nancy kicks into the guitar arpeggios. “Or who think they might be in looove with one another pretty soon!” Things just get wilder from there.

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6. Stanley Jordan

Sure, Jimmy Page knows some tricks. He has that bow and the double-kneck signature Gibson. But when it comes to the delicate art of touch technique, jazz fusion ace Stanley Jordan is the master. The ethereal sound he gets from his instrument by playing in the style he developed using what he’d learned from his first instrument, the piano, takes “Stairway to Heaven” to stratosperic new heights.

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7. The O’Jays

Okay, this isn’t a cover of the Led Zeppelin song. It has no sturm, no drang and no woodland creatures. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s bubble bath-worthy slow jam, recorded in 1975 by the Ohio Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, is long, though, and it contains the phrase “climbing a stairway to heaven.” So you might as well just relax and enjoy it.

‘Stairway To Heaven’ Turns 40: Celebrate With 7 Covers

Bach for a Thursday… actually, Bach for any day!