Armistice Week II: Tuneful Tuesday - Songs of the Great War

Continuing this week’s theme, here are some songs from and about World War I that I think everyone should hear.

It may seem odd that two of the greatest songs about this long-ago war were written many years after it ended. Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle’s songs, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda and No Man’s Land (Green Fields of France) have been recorded by many other people. In the first video he sings And the Band…, which was written to commemorate the Australian troops who died at Gallipoli – NOT Winston Churchill’s finest hour. It’s often forgotten that the Ottoman Empire was allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary in WWI (hence Lawrence of Arabia). Note, however, that the number of Australians who died is vastly inflated in this video – it was more like 8,000, which was plenty.

This version of No Man’s Land is unusual in that it’s sung in both English and German by Bogle and another singer named Wachol, about whom I couldn’t find any information. No embedding, click the title for a link. You can try one of the other videos for the complete English song.

If you are not familiar with the tunes mentioned in this song, The Flowers of the Forest and Last Post, here they are. Don’t play the first one if you hate bagpipes, though.

And I guess if you don’t like bugle calls, don’t listen to this one.

Well. That was really sad. But, going off to war, marching, and so forth, people often sing much more cheerful songs. One of the favorites of British troops in WWI was It’s a Long Way to Tipperary. Here’s the famous Irish tenor John McCormack, singing a song written by a British music-hall entertainer, Jack Judge. (You’ll see though, his grandparents did come from Tipperary.)

It seems to me I spent many happy hours as a child watching the James Cagney film Yankee Doodle Dandy, the biopic of George M. Cohan. One of Cohan’s most famous songs was Over There, celebrating America’s entrance into the war in April 1917. “Lafayette, nous sommes arrivé!”

And now, strictly for fun, one of the songs the soldiers really sang. As the singer notes, the many verses have “various degrees of suitability for family listening.” In other words, there’s something here to offend almost everybody. I love this Australian guy who has a lot of songs on YouTube.

I hope you have enjoyed these songs. Comments welcome, and do you have any favorite songs from or about the Great War?

Tuneful Tuesday: All I Know about Math and Science I Learned from Songs

Well, that’s not quite true. But it did occur to me that there are some fun songs dealing with math and science, two subjects about which I actually know fairly little. I’d be happy to hear suggestions about some more songs in this vein.

As young teenagers, my friends and I often listened to Tom Lehrer records. My friend The Decorator’s claim to fame was that Lehrer had been her father’s math TA at Harvard. (In the second clip, Lehrer speaks amusingly about his job.) He must have been a good instructor, since said father had a successful banking career. The first Tom Lehrer song, however, deals with chemistry, in fact, the Periodic Table. (Click on link to go to YouTube.)

Tom Lehrer: The Elements

I actually did study a form of New Math, the subject of the next song. In 9th grade, we learned algebra from Mr. Spencer and the SMSG (School Mathematics Study Group) from Yale. (Yes, kids, even though we were so much smarter in other ways, we didn’t get algebra till 9th grade.) In 10th grade, it was geometry from Ball State in Muncie, Indiana, with Mr. Swett. But in 11th grade I was in a different school and had a “normal” Algebra II text, and Mr. Reisinger, who came from Pocatello, Idaho to teach in Germany. My experience with college math is one I would rather not discuss.  Here’s Lehrer on

New Math

Back to chemistry, here is a great song about what happens when two elements combine. I believe the late Kate McGarrigle wrote this song, and sings it here.

NaCl

I couldn’t think of any songs about biology or physics or geology, but there are two fine songs about astronomy.  Why Does the Sun Shine? was written by Tom Glazer (who also wrote On Top of Spaghetti). This rather better-known recording is by They Might Be Giants, who have also issued an update song with more current scientific information, The Sun Is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma.  And now for something completely different (well, not that different really) -- The Galaxy Song  by Eric Idle of Monty Python, but done here with some fine scientific photos by Dave Hardy and Colin Farrow (about whom I know nothing else.)  I hope someone enjoys this Tuneful Tuesday.

Tuneful Tuesdays: Where Are the Comfort Songs?

(To the right, the best photo I could find to illustrate comfort....)

So, today I was transferring some old cassette tapes to the computer (since who knows how much longer the cassette player will last) and came upon Willie Nelson singing Bridge Over Troubled Water.  That made me think of some other comforting songs and realize that most of them (if not all) were written in what I'd call "my day" -- the late 60s and early 70s.  (Well, OK. I just remembered one that was written 20 years ago, more about that later). Right now, I'm doing fine. But a lot of people aren't -- most recently victims of Hurricane Ike, for instance. We all need some comfort songs sometimes.

I wonder what are the comfort songs of today? Minnesota Public Radio's Morning Program put out a CD a few years ago called Comfort Keepers, which has some great songs on it, but for the most part they are what I'd call "buck up" songs, like The Mary Ellen Carter ( a great song, by the way).  I Will Survive and the Chumbawamba song I Get Knocked Down But I Get Up Again are a couple more examples.  But that's not what I'm talking about right now.

My criteria for a "comfort song" are that it should be comforting not only in words but in music, and should be usable as a lullabye if you're so inclined.  To show you what I mean, here are a few. I'm using links instead of embedding this time, for a specific reason:

Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. I remember this song as coming out during my last semester in college, the semester of Kent State, Jackson State, daily casualty lists from Vietnam -- and of course, our own little worries about life after college. We really needed that song. At the Maine Veterans' Cemetery Chapel in Augusta, there's a carillon that plays before and after funeral services. People can donate money to have specific songs put on it. At my father's funeral, I remember hearing Bridge over Troubled Water. I imagine it was requested by someone who was burying a Vietnam veteran there.  It still comforts me.

You've Got a Friend by Carole King. I associate this song with a time when I was far from home, among mostly strangers, and King's album Tapestry came out. I like her own version best.

Sweet Baby James by James Taylor -- to make up for slighting his version of You've Got a Friend.  Another one from my college years, this one seems to say that sometimes you have to comfort yourself, even if it's by singing your own lullabye.

Lean on Me by Bill Withers.  This song came out in 1972, which was a year of great happiness for me but also great loneliness.  It's a great song because it points out that in a moment, we can change from being the leaner to the leaned-on -- or vice versa.

Warning: the only video on YouTube for the following song is, shall we say, rated R.  View at your own risk.

Lullabye by Cris Williamson.  This 1978 song was introduced to me through the Christmas album Snow Angel; Cris Williamson's music in general I learned about from Cordeliaknits.  It's the most recent of the songs except for the next one.

How Could Anyone Ever Tell You by Libby Roderick (this video has it sung by Shaina Noll).  This year is the twentieth anniversary of this song, and Libby Roderick had a video contest for videos to go with it. There were several of them on YouTube, but oddly enough, this one, which doesn't appear to have been part of the contest, seemed to me to capture the spirit of the song best of all.

I hope some of my younger and/or hipper readers will comment about comfort songs written more recently!

Tuneful Tuesdays: School Days

School starts today here in Uppity College Town, and the college students are back as well. Possibly one of these days even Onkel Hankie Pants will be heading off to school, since he got on the substitute teacher list. Thoughts of songs about school have been running through my head, aided somewhat by YouTube.

I couldn't really find any good elementary school songs. The first one I thought of was "School days, school days, good old Golden Rule days, Readin' and writin' and 'rithmetic, Taught to the tune of a hick'ry stick...." (I must add that in the 5 elementary schools I attended I cannot recall witnessing any corporal punishment, even at the two in Texas.)

The second one that came to mind was John McCutcheon's "Kindergarten Wall," based on the essay by Robert Fulghum, "All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." The only YouTube presentations were by actual kindergarteners -- cute, but not very good sound.

But as I was looking for pictures of the first two elementary schools I attended, in El Paso, Texas, (see above) I remembered this:

This was the first song I learned in school, in first grade at either Burnet School (on left above) or Coldwell School (on right above). I learned today that it's played at UT Longhorn football games and was also played at the end of Lady Bird Johnson's funeral -- if you look up that version I think you will see at least some of the presiding ministers making the Longhorn "Hook 'em Horns" sign. A bit strange.

So, songs that evoke high school. The classic Chuck Berry song comes to mind first:

Some things never change, unfortunately, or perhaps even for the worse; I think it's still true in most high schools that "You're fortunate if you have time to eat" with 20-minute lunch periods.

I truly, truly hated pep rallies in high school. One reason was that I was much more self-conscious then than now. But this is still a great song:


College songs, ah, college songs. Here's Tom Lehrer's generic and satirical college "alma mater:"

(Lehrer, of course, is a Harvard man, thus his slighting reference to the Whiffenpoof Song.)

A Host at Last University, being only my own age, may perhaps have an alma mater; it may even have a fight song, but when I was there it did not have a football team. Onkel Hankie Pants used to sing the kids to sleep with one of the two songs he remembers easily, the Carleton Fight Song (to the tune of Give My Regards to Broadway). However, no recordings available. So for the football fans among you, here's the song from the University that the most members of the Pants family have attended one way or another, the University of Minnesota. Two versions, one "real," and one that's even more truly Minnesotan.



And to close, the international student song, sung by some nice Norwegians; the first syllable is truncated but it is, of course, Gaudeamus Igitur. This was my favorite of all the many renditions.

Five years ago this week, I got to sing along to this at the opening exercises when Cordeliaknits began her studies at Smith College. Good times!

Tuneful Tuesday: Vegetables!

To the right is a photo of "ratatouille-to-be" that I took a couple of weeks ago after a visit to the Farmer's Market. Now we've eaten the ratatouille (it was a "roasted" version that I got from Allrecipes.com). Last week, I went a little crazy on cucumbers (3 for a buck) so I need to start serving a dish of cucumbers with each meal before they go bad. So of course, I began thinking of this song, and thereafter of other songs involving vegetables. Sadly, I wasn't able to find a good recording of one of my favorites, "If you're anxious for to shine" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, or, Bunthorne's Bride, where the advice to the would-be aesthete is to form "an attachment á la Plato for a bashful young potato, or a not-too-French French bean." Try your local library. But here are a few more vegetable songs:
1. Call Any Vegetable, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, in a more recent version by Frank's son Dweezil.


2. I think the real name of this song may be "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," but it's known to many for the line "You like tomaytoes, I like tomahtoes" -- or is it the other way around?


3. I used some basil, rosemary and oregano from my little container garden in my ratatouille, but thinking of herbs made me think of this song, and I found a somewhat different version of it:


4. And this, although not exactly a catchy tune, is a very interesting example of what one can do with vegetables:


I hope you enjoy these vegetable songs and that they inspire you to go to your farmer's market (or your garden) and get some more vegetables! And at least I've posted something that wasn't a Friday Five!

Tuneful Tuesday: Holy Week

Just when you thought it was safe, here is another Tuneful Tuesday. Other RevGalBlogPals have been posting about favorite Holy Week music. Most of it has been classical in nature, and that's fine. But I like a lot of kinds of music, and I've found a few songs for the rest of Holy Week, some of which you may not necessarily hear in church. I was able to find good versions of some of them on YouTube, but for others I'm just linking to the CyberHymnal for anyone who doesn't already know them.

Tuesday (today): Although the story about Jesus weeping for Jerusalem precedes Palm Sunday, I'm putting When Jesus Wept, by the early American composer William Billings, on this day. I wish I could link to a performance of it by the Women's Quartet from my old church -- they had a beautiful a cappella arrangement. Failing that, the best I could come up with was this one which is the accompaniment to a dance. I lack the dance gene, both in performing it and watching it, but maybe some of you will be able to appreciate it. This version mixes "When Jesus Wept" with Lewis Allen's "Strange Fruit" ( the Billie Holiday song about lynching). It's very powerful. The words for "When Jesus Wept" are:

When Jesus wept, the falling tear in mercy flowed beyond all bound.
When Jesus groaned, a trembling fear seized all the guilty world around.

Wednesday: Did you know that Wednesday in Holy Week is sometimes called "Spy Wednesday" because it is thought that that was the day Judas Iscariot conspired to betray Jesus? Now, I'm a Trinitarian Universalist. (I don't think that's an official denomination at this point, but I could be wrong). So, I think that somehow, Judas found redemption too. Thus for today I choose the old altar call hymn, Just As I Am, which reminds us that we don't have to perfect ourselves -- "Just as I am, thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve."

Maundy Thursday: When I was in college I used to go to Hillel dinners on occasion. I was interested in Judaism and also, the food was great! During and after dinner, zemirot were sung: special hymns that are typically sung at table. Matthew's Gospel makes reference to Jesus and the disciples singing a hymn before they went out to the Mount of Olives. Kate Campbell has written and performed The Last Song, which imagines Jesus leading a song in which the disciples join. Listen and imagine.

Good Friday: Well, given that I've purposely eliminated classical music, there are still two pretty obvious choices for this day. One is called "Crucifixion" on the Marian Anderson recording I have, although it's more often referred to as "He Never Said a Mumbalin' Word." However, I couldn't find a rendition to link to. Seek out that CD, Marian Anderson Spirituals -- it is beautiful.
So, then there is the spiritual without which many people I know cannot imagine Holy Week. Whether it's sung on Thursday by churches with no Good Friday service, on Friday, or, as at Up the Hill UMC, by women climbing Tower Hill for the Easter Sunrise Service, we need to hear or sing "Were You There?" In this video, a young and tortured-seeming Johnny Cash sings it with the Carter Family.


Holy Saturday: I don't really associate any particular song with this day, but as I imagine the disciples and how they were feeling, I think they needed balm for their souls. So here is one of my favorites, "There Is a Balm in Gilead," sung by the immortal Paul Robeson.


Easter Vigil: I have never done this. It's not really in the Congregational tradition! But I found this while looking for hymns -- part of the Easter Vigil at St. Gregory of Nyssa, a unique (as far as I know) Episcopal church in San Francisco. Cordeliaknits is taking a confirmation class there as part of their exploration of other faiths and denominations. This is very different from anything I'm used to, and I'm not sure if I could do it regularly, but it is plainly worship.

Easter Sunrise: Supposedly, when The New Century Hymnal was being prepared, this gospel song (not a hymn, as it is not addressed to God) received the most votes both for and against its inclusion. Wisely, the committee included it and added the story behind it; it is meant to convey the feelings of Mary Magdalene on the morning of the Resurrection. Yes, by now you may have guessed, it's "In the Garden." The version I most often sing along to is by Tennessee Ernie Ford, bless his little pea-pickin' heart, but that one has a rather annoying chorus singing backup. Mahalia Jackson needed no backup singers.

The Big Easter Service: Well, there are three hymns that I would always want to sing at this service. Now and again I get my wish, and I can usually depend on at least one. Also, since Easter lasts till Pentecost, there are several more opportunities to sing The Day of Resurrection and Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain. And, if you attend a mainline Protestant church that doesn't sing Christ the Lord Is Risen Today on Easter Sunday, I'd like to know about it, and I'd be very surprised!

I would like to hear your thoughts on my selections, and to wish all those who observe it a blessed Holy Week and a joyous Easter.

Tuneful Tuesday: It Came to Me in a Dream

This morning I woke up with a song running through my head:

...For dreams are just like wine
And I am drunk with mine.
I'm aware
My heart is a sad affair,
There's much disillusion there,
But I can dream, can't I?
Can't I adore you
Although we are oceans apart,
I can't make you open your heart,
But I can dream, can't I?

Although I have three recordings of this song, I hadn't listened to it for quite a while. I puzzled for a while about why it should have come into my head. Finally I decided that it was because, when I went to bed last night, I was in the middle of A False Mirror by Charles Todd. It's one of a mystery series set just after World War I, featuring a police detective who is haunted, literally, by his experiences in the trenches. In this book, there is a major character whose life is complicated by an unrequited love as in the song.

At any rate, that got me thinking about songs featuring dreams, so here are a few favorites in different genres.

1. I Can Dream, Can't I? -- Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal -- 1938.
Fain and Kahal wrote several songs for a musical called Right This Way which ran for only 10 days in early 1938. But two of the songs from that musical became classic standards -- "I'll Be Seeing You" and this one. Tommy Dorsey recorded it for a hit in 1938, and in 1946, the Gordon Jenkins Orchestra, with the Andrews Sisters, had an even bigger hit. In 1969 it was recorded by Mama Cass Elliott and in 1975, by the Carpenters. My personal favorite recording is by Bobby Short and appears on his album Late Night at the Cafe Carlyle.

2. All I Have to Do Is Dream -- Felice and Boudleaux Bryant -- 1958.
There were plenty of songs about dreams in the 1950s rock'n'roll scene, but the quintessential one, appearing on several Best Songs of All Time lists, is this one, a hit for the Everly Brothers in 1959. "Only trouble is, Gee whiz, I'm dreamin' my life away." Several other people have recorded this song, and who can blame them, as I can't resist singing along whenever I hear it -- but I don't know who could possibly do better than Don and Phil's rendition. You can find lots of videos of them on YouTube, but seriously, you need to have their Greatest Hits CD.

3. Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart -- George Croly (words) and Frederick C. Atkinson (music) -- 1854/1870.
Did you think you were going to get out of here without a Sacred Song? Think again! The Cyberhymnal lets you search hymns by keyword but I didn't need to search for this one. We sang it quite a bit at my old church and I've always loved this verse:

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
No sudden rending of the veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no opening skies;
But take the dimness of my soul away.

George Croly, the Anglican clergyman who wrote this, doesn't really sound like my kind of guy according to some of the biographies out there (he was firmly opposed to any form of liberalism, for example). But this verse has always touched me. Recently the RevGalBlogPals read and discussed the book Listening for God by Renita Weems. Rev. Weems was brought up in a Pentecostal tradition, where ecstatic experiences are sought and expected. The book tells of how she deals with a period of spiritual dryness. I had a hard time relating to her concerns, mostly because I've never had the kind of mountaintop experience she seemed to be missing (and probably wouldn't know what to do with it if I did have one!) About the most I hope for is just what Croly asks: Take the dimness of my soul away. I couldn't actually find a recording I liked that had the verse I wanted. But it's in both the New Century Hymnal and the Pilgrim Hymnal, and probably quite a few more. The tune is called Morecambe.

4. Devil's Dream -- Traditional -- Date unknown.
And now for something completely different, both in musical genre and perhaps in spiritual connotation! Most sources agree that this is an Irish reel, and you will probably recognize it when you hear it even if you didn't know its name. Like the classical piece, Devil's Trill Sonata by Tartini, this piece appears to be technically demanding for both the fiddler and banjo player (it's often done by bluegrass groups). I downloaded two versions, one by Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys with banjo and other instruments as well as the fiddle, and one by the French-Canadian fiddler Jean Carignan. But here's a fiddler/guitarist on YouTube doing a very nice job with it.

5. When I Grow Too Old to Dream -- Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II -- 1934.
A few years ago, Sisterknits had the opportunity to hear Dave Brubeck at the University of Minnesota. She brought me back a souvenir in the form of a CD called Private Brubeck Remembers. In it, Brubeck takes us on a musical journey through his experience of World War II by playing songs that had meaning for him then and now. One of them is this one:

So kiss me, my sweet,
And then let us part.
And when I grow too old to dream,
That kiss will live in my heart.

The song was written in 1934 for the film The Night Is Young, an operetta set in Vienna. It's a beautiful, wistful waltz, evoking a time when lovers were too often parted. Do try to get hold of Brubeck's version, but if you can't, here is one that's a bit different. Look beyond the guitarist's unfortunate choice of attire and just enjoy the music:

6. Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream -- Ed McCurdy -- 1950.
In 1950, just a few years after World War II, just as the United Nations was getting going, Ed McCurdy wrote this song. I don't know whether he wrote it before or after June 25, when hostilities broke out in Korea. As the years went on, more and more people sang and recorded this song, but the dream sometimes seems further away than ever. My recording of this is by The Weavers, but I found a nice video of a man playing and singing it in his living room.
If you want something really interesting, check the "related videos" box for the one with Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel, and Palestinian poet Rashid Hussain. Mr. Hussain doesn't seem to be much of a musician, but I think he really is singing along.

What are your favorite songs about dreams? Leave a comment if you have one.

Tuneful Tuesday: Love Songs

Today is Onkel Hankie Pants's birthday! So while he's off at rehearsal I will post a few happy love songs in his honor, and for Valentine's Day coming in just two days. The songs come from several decades but none of them is exactly "Our Song." Um, that would be Morning Has Broken...the Cat Stevens version was popular during our brief engagement. So we often get to sing it in church, which not many people can say, I bet.

1. Always -- Irving Berlin -- 1925. Irving Berlin wrote this as a wedding gift to his wife Ellin Mackay, and it really was a gift -- he assigned the rights to her and it brought her a nice income. I have three recordings, one by Gordon Macrae, one by a British orchestra, and my favorite of the three is by Willie Nelson. For anyone who has never heard it, here's a nice young man doing a very creditable job of it:

2. Exactly Like You -- Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields -- 1930. "I know why my mama Taught me to be true She meant me for someone Exactly like you!" I really like the version by Tony Bennett and k.d. lang about the best of all, but here's an instrumental version made only seven years after the song was written, by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.

3. As Time Goes By -- Herman Hupfeld -- 1931. Ah, Casablanca, Bogart, Bergman -- what could be more romantic? Oddly enough the two recordings I have are by Peggy Lee and Guy Van Duser; Rudy Vallee had a big hit with it and then, of course, Dooley Wilson played and sang it in the film. If you have 15 minutes, you can go here and scroll down to hear the NPR 100 piece about it, which ends with what Susan Stamberg considers the "definitive" version -- by Barbra Streisand. Well, it's pretty good. But I'll go with this one:
Some people might say this was a sad song because of the context of the film, but I'd say it's more philosophical.

4. Two Sleepy People -- Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser -- 1938. You can't go wrong with Carmichael or Loesser -- the latter being OHP's favorite Broadway lyricist. I've always loved this song, in spite of the cigarettes, and my favorite version is by Fats Waller. But I also found this one which is different, but quite good:


5. Twilight Time -- Ram, Nevens, Nevens and Dunn -- 1944. It seems incredible that this great song was apparently written by a committee! This would be the first of the songs that OHP and I can actually remember from our childhood, or at least I can -- it was a hit for the Platters about the time I got my first radio. Although the beginning of the song is truncated, here they are performing it in France that year:

6. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face -- Ewan McColl -- 1957. Well, if we had another song besides Morning Has Broken, this might be it. Although Ewan McColl wrote it (for Peggy Seeger, his wife and Pete's sister) in 1957, and Roberta Flack recorded it in 1969, it was not until 1972, the year we met and were married, that it was released as a single and became a big hit, after being used in Clint Eastwood's movie Play Misty for Me (filmed on the Monterey Peninsula where we met). And here is Roberta Flack, so amazing, just as powerful as the first time I heard it.

7. In My Life -- John Lennon and Paul McCartney -- 1965. This song speaks to how, when you find that one special person, you still love your other friends, but there will always be one you love more. Someone has made a nice montage to go with the song.

Well, I could go on, but I won't, This is enough for one night!

Tuneful Tuesday: Haunted Ballads

I haven't blogged much for a while (until today, when I'm going crazy blogging), and have missed a couple of Tuesdays. I'm not sure why, perhaps it's just that my hands get cold at the computer (with oil at #3.19 a gallon on our last fill, we are not keeping the thermostat set very high); perhaps a little seasonal depression (nothing serious, just lack of energy); or perhaps it's just because I've been spending a lot of time reading.

I recently read the last (alas!) two books in Deborah Grabien's Haunted Ballad series. There are only five books in all; Ms. Grabien, apparently partly because of publisher problems, has moved on now to a series with a rock'n'roll musician as the protagonist. But back to the Haunted Ballads....

The protagonists are Ringan Laine, a folk guitarist and vocalist with a successful band, but who also has another career as a restoration consultant for old buildings. The series is set in England so both the buildings and the folk songs are seriously old. Most of the music Ringan's band does are Child ballads and the like. His long-time companion, Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes, is an actor, director, and founder of the Tamburlaine Players, a theatre group which does a lot of Shakespeare and such around Britain and Europe. Ringan and Penny are fully committed to each other, but maintain separate residences, and their peripatetic lifestyles lead to many joyous reunions.

Each book centers around one of the Child ballads. I won't describe each of the plots, but the basic premise is that a ghost appears, usually in or near an old house or other building, causing a lot of trouble for Penny, Ringan, and anyone else who happens to be around. They realize that the ghost has something to do with one of the ballads and the story behind it. Through investigating the facts underlying the ballad (which the folk process has often garbled), Ringan and Penny are able to resolve matters, but not before many thrilling episodes take place. If you like Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins books, you'll probably enjoy these books as well.

Apart from the stories, which are well-plotted and gripping with engaging characters, one of the things I appreciated most about this series was Ms. Grabien's ability to write about music. Many times in each book, Ringan's band or some other musician plays, and the description almost makes you hear the music. And it's better, in her description, than the best music you've ever heard. It's sort of the way Rex Stout wrote about food in the Nero Wolfe books.

A fun thing as I've read the books was finding recordings of the songs they're built around. Unfortunately for me, the last, The New-Slain Knight (Child 263) doesn't appear to have been recorded as far as I can tell. But here are the books, with links to some recordings that are available, and some YouTube videos where possible.

1. The Weaver and the Factory Maid (This is an old ballad, but is not one of the Child ballads, dealing as it does with the Industrial Revolution): The apparently definitive recording of this song is by Steeleye Span, from their album Parcel of Rogues, and also included on various "greatest hits" albums. It's also available as a Digital Download ; look under Steeleye Span with the title simply given as "The Weaver." (By the way, if you are going to do any of these things with Amazon.com, you can go to RevGalBlogPals website and surf to Amazon from there, and RGBP will get a little money.)

2. The Famous Flower of Serving Men (Child 106) Here's the song as done by Martin Carthy:

This song is available on his album Waiting for Angels, and it's also available, as a Digital Download, from the late Ewan McColl combined with another ballad, Sweet William.

3. Matty Groves (Child 81) I was more familiar with Joan Baez's version, but the version Deborah Grabien had in mind was, I'm sure, Fairport Convention's. There are a number of versions available for Digital Download, and don't forget the variant, Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard. Here is a fairly recent live performance by Fairport Convention
but for a rendition by a lesser-known band that perhaps has more youthful energy, try this one:


4. Cruel Sister (Child #10 as "The Twa Sisters") has many versions. The Armstrong Family have recorded it as "Lay the Bent" on their CD The Wheel of the Year, but it is a version that combines elements of "Cruel Sister" with the riddles that you may recall from "Scarborough Fair" as sung by Simon and Garfunkel. Deborah Grabien references the Pentangle version (available from iTunes) in her book, and it's available on iTunes.
The Dutch duo Yggdrasil does a lovely, though truncated, a cappella version here:

For a solo version with all the words, very scary, try this one:

Now, speaking of haunted ballads, there is another, longer series of mysteries set in the Smoky Mountains area which also takes its titles from old ballads. Sharyn McCrumb's series begins with If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O. The connection with the songs, and the "woo-woo" element, are both more subtle in these police procedurals, but I discovered that the author actually does "Words and Music" events where she reads from the book and a folksinger performs the songs. (Check out "Words and Music" on her website.) Although I tend to think of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan when I think of the song "Pretty Peggy-O" or "Fennario," apparently it was also a Grateful Dead favorite and has inspired a lot of people to post videos of themselves doing it. This was a nice one:

Tuneful Tuesday: Songs for Dr. King

Although the official holiday isn't until next Monday, today is the 78th birthday anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I well remember watching on television as he gave his "I have a dream" speech at the March on Washington, and Onkel Hankie Pants won a high school oratory contest by repeating that speech. I also remember the sadness, the outrage, and the fear that gripped my campus when Dr. King was assassinated. It's a time for remembering him and his work, but also a time to assess how far we have come on the road he led us on. There are certainly many changes that still need to happen, but one little vignette from my experiences last year gives me hope that change will continue. On the way back from the beach to Atlanta, The Decorator, The Accountant and I stopped at a chain chicken restaurant (I can't remember the name but I think they are known for their chicken salad). As we were eating our lunch, a pickup truck bearing the name of some small business pulled up outside and two men got out. One was black, one was white; they were co-workers and they came in to eat lunch together. Not only could they do that legally in a state where, throughout my childhood, eating places were segregated; but they ate together with every appearance of cordiality and as if it were something they did every workday. It may be a small kind of progress, but progress it is.

Some of the songs I've selected are ones you might sing in church next Sunday or at a special service or commemoration; others are associated with the Civil Rights Movement. They are in a rough chronological order, too.
1. Go Down Moses -- Marian Anderson -- Spirituals.
I'm sure everyone knows the story of Marian Anderson being refused permission to sing at the DAR's Constitution Hall, and how Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR and Harold Ickes intervened to reschedule her concert for the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This was not one of the songs she sang at that concert (she did sing four spirituals including "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen") but this spiritual recounting the events of the Exodus has long been identified with the African-American struggle for freedom. If you can't get hold of the Marian Anderson version, try Paul Robeson:


2. Lift Every Voice and Sing -- Boys Choir of Harlem -- We Shall Overcome.
Long known as "The Negro National Anthem," this beautiful song, with lyrics by the poet James Weldon Johnson and music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, is the official anthem of the NAACP. The version I have is by the Boys Choir of Harlem. You can listen to a story about the writing of the song, with links to several different arrangements, here. I hope we can sing it in church this Sunday. My 5th great-grandfather, Black Ben Darling, was African-American and, even living in Maine, his descendants faced discrimination for several generations, so I have some small right to join in. But in a larger sense, as with Dr. King's vision, the victory the song speaks of is for all of us.

3. We Shall Overcome -- Boys Choir of Harlem -- We Shall Overcome. In my Pilgrim Fellowship group, in then lily-white Fairfield, Connecticut*, we frequently, at the end of the Sunday night meetings, joined hands and sang this (we also sang Kumbaya, and I don't think either exercise was pointless). We were interested in the Civil Rights Movement, not yet, at 14 or 15 years old, sure what we could or would do about it. But we could sing the songs, and I think that in singing the songs, the ideas they represented became part of our worldview. The origins of this song are cloudy; the most reasonable description I've found is here (you will have to scroll down a bit to find We Shall Overcome, but it's worth it, and do click on the link to the Smithsonian recording). Note the identification of the tune with O Sanctissima -- mentioned in a previous post and here it is again!
*In our school of about 1000 kids, there were 2 black girls, I think. The boast of those who wanted to believe we were a liberal community was that Meadowlark Lemon lived in Fairfield. This turns out to be true, although he has since moved to Arizona.

4. Freedom Trilogy (Oh Freedom/Come and Go with Me/I'm on My Way) -- Odetta -- Gonna Let It Shine.
I was looking for a recording of Oh Freedom, another song I associate with the movement, and the one I liked best was in this medley by Odetta. In looking for some information on the song (it's probably a post-Civil War freedom song, adapted for the Civil Rights Movement), I came upon this hour-long report with music on Freedom Summer, 1964. It's well worth listening to, particularly if you can't remember 1964 because you are too young.

5. Hold On (Keep Your Eyes on the Prize) -- Pete Seeger -- WNEW's Story of Selma.
One more freedom song -- with a long introduction by Pete Seeger about how all these freedom songs came to be. There is more information as well as music and words here, giving some credit to Guy and Candie Carawan of the Highlander Folk School. And you should know, the Highlander Folk School was much influenced by the Danish folk school movement begun by N. F. S. Grundtvig! It's fitting that this song should appear on an album called "Story of Selma." The events in Selma, Alabama on Bloody Sunday made it hard, but even more necessary, for the civil rights workers to hold on and keep their eyes on the prize.

6. Deep River -- Paul Robeson -- Spirituals.
I said these songs would be chronological, and at this point I am thinking about Dr. King's life. Many forget that in the last years of his ministry he was not only a civil rights activist, but a peace activist, speaking out against the war in Viet Nam. I imagine that he may often have thought of the words of this old spiritual,

Oh, don't you want to go
To that gospel feast
That Promised Land
Where all is peace?

Paul Robeson had one of the most beautiful voices of all time. I found this on YouTube:


7. Precious Lord -- The Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama -- The Sermon.
Written by gospel pioneer Thomas A. Dorsey, this was Dr. King's favorite song and one he often asked Mahalia Jackson to sing at events. She sang it at his funeral. I had picked out the Original Five Blind Boys version since I don't have the Jackson one, but then I found this:

There's a little "blip" at the beginning but otherwise it's a good recording.

8. Siyahamba (We Are Marching in the Light of God) -- Tapiola Choir -- Joy!
When Dr. King died, apartheid still held sway in South Africa and Nelson Mandela was still in prison. But people in South Africa were already singing this song, which has become a favorite of children's choirs and is included in many American hymnals. There is some information about it here. I include it because the desire for freedom and the will to attain it are worldwide. The Finnish children's choir does a lovely job, but I also found this on YouTube, a slightly older mixed choir from Croatia:


Wow! That's a lot of clicking for you to do, but I think you will enjoy and learn from it. Let's all try to make next Monday more than a day off or an occasion for store-wide sales.

Tuneful Tuesday: Epiphany Mix

With one hour and 5 minutes to go before it's Wednesday, here are my Epiphany season choices (really more of Epiphany itself, for the most part). Many of the songs are available as digital downloads from amazon.com.

1. Breakin' Up Christmas -- Mike Seeger, Penny Seeger, and other family members -- American Folk Songs for Christmas.
Maybe tomorrow I'll start breaking up Christmas -- i.e. taking down the tree. "Breakin' up Christmas" actually refers to the Appalachian mountain custom of having two weeks of house dance parties after Christmas. You can read a bit about it here and if you don't have the album cited above, you can watch this:


2. Beautiful Star of Bethlehem -- The Judds, or Emmylou Harris -- Christmas Time with the Judds, or Light of the Stable.
Emmylou Harris's version of this is available as a digital download, but really I like the Judds' version best, because of their harmonies. I think Cordeliaknits, Sisterknits and I have probably bought 4 or 5 copies of that Judds CD because it is a car favorite and keeps getting lost, and we just can't do without it at Christmas. Beautiful Star of Bethlehem is a bluegrass/gospel song, but almost no one seems to agree on who wrote it -- I have credits on various albums for Adger Pace, A. L. Phipps, R. Fisher Boyce, and James D. Vaughn. It has an interesting conceit of equating Jesus with the Star: "Jesus is now the star divine, Brighter and brighter he will shine."

3. Brightest and Best -- Jean Ritchie -- Carols for All Seasons.
The words, for the most part, were written by Reginald Heber, and the tune Morning Star by James Harding; the words have also been set to several other tunes, according to the Cyberhymnal. Jean Ritchie, and most folksingers, sing this to the Southern Harmony tune Star in the East, and add a first verse (Hail the blest morn, See the great mediator...) which doesn't appear to be by Heber. Both tunes are beautiful in their own way, but in fact I only have recordings of Star in the East.

4. The Magi (The Heart of Man's a Palace) -- Peter, Paul and Mary -- A Holiday Celebration.
A slightly more modern take on the magi and what they have to teach us. Available as digital download from Amazon.com for about 99 cents. According to one website, it was written by Peter Yarrow and Joe Henry.

5. We Three Kings -- The Roches -- We Three Kings.
This is not my favorite Christmas carol to sing in church if there is a lessons and carols-type Christmas Eve service. It's a great temptation to use it with the Matthew reading about the magi. But it's just too long and draggy at that point. However, I do like the version by The Roches and especially the instrumental parts. We Three Kings was written by Rev. John Henry Hopkins, Jr. for a Christmas pageant at the General Theological Seminary in New York. Although not printed until 1863, it is said to have been written in 1857, thus this past Christmas was its 150th anniversary. I have to wonder whether those high-achieving Episcopal divinity students at GTS still put on a Christmas pageant? I can just see each of the magi coming in, wearing the finest dressing gowns they could muster, each carrying his "gift" as the song reaches the proper verse.

6. 'Twas on a Night Like This (also known as The Star Carol) -- Cathy Barton, Dave Para, The Paton Family et al. -- 'Twas on a Night Like This.
The tune is the carol of the Italian bagpipers, a traditional tune played by shepherds from the Abruzzi Mountains who came to some of the villages and cities of Italy in December to play their pipes and get a few coins. There are several versions with words in Italian or English, but I like this one by Pete Seeger. He called it The Star Carol, but as there are also two other well-known Star Carols (one by the ubiquitous John Rutter and the other by Alfred Burt and Wihla Hutton), this recording uses its first line. You can download Pete Seeger's own version (for the usual 99c) by going here. There are many other musical treasures to be found on that site as well.

7. Marche des Rois -- The Taverner Consort -- The Carol Album.
This tune and song have quite a different view of the Three Kings, much more majestic. The song is said to be from 13th century Provence, and the tune was used by Bizet in his L'Arlesienne suite. Here's a very nice rendition:

8. Peace Round -- Cathy Barton, Dave Para et al. -- 'Twas on a Night Like This.
The tune is an old English canon, and the words are by Jean Ritchie, who must surely have been thinking of Psalm 133 when she wrote them. Another version is the Israeli folkdance Hineh Mah Tov, which is a more direct quotation from the psalm, and which I used to dance to rather clumsily in my folkdance class (it was part of my gym requirement) at A Host at Last University. You can hear Hineh Mah Tov here -- and I'm excited to have discovered this site!

9. Quaker Benediction -- Gordon Bok -- 'Twas on a Night Like This.
This isn't a song, although I have seen a hymn based on this quotation. It's from the work of Howard Thurman, an African-American theologian and activist who died in 1981. Thurman was an ecumenical kind of guy -- he was ordained a Baptist minister, studied with Quakers and I believe is claimed as a Quaker, and was Dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, a fine old Methodist institution. May we all carry on the work of Christmas through the short season of Epiphany, and throughout the year.

Songs to Celebrate Winter

So, I skipped a few Tuneful Tuesdays, I was too busy having fun with Sisterknits and others. Next week I'll try to have a few ideas for Epiphany season music, but today in keeping with the previous post here are a few songs for celebrating winter (or daydreaming about it, if you live in a place with no snow).

1. A-Roving on a Winter's Night -- Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, Priscilla Herdman -- Voices of Winter.
This is the most mournful of the songs, but it's so pretty. And winter does give us time to reflect and remember. It's by Doc Watson, but owes a lot to Robert Burns's My Luve Is Like a Red, Red Rose.

2. Bleak Midwinter Polka -- Trailer Trash -- Hell, It's X-Mas.
Trailer Trash is a Minneapolis bar band that I've never heard in person. In this song, written by their fiddle player "Razz" Russell, they have a good suggestion for what to do if and when winter gets you down (as it sometimes does in Minneapolis, that's why they say the polka "makes living in this hell worthwhile.")

3. Walkin' in My Winter Underwear -- Trailer Trash -- Hell, It's X-Mas.
Trailer Trash's almost unintelligible version of the song made famous by Yogi Yorgesson, Stan and Doug, and Casey the Railroad Engineer (a favorite of Twin Cities children's TV). I caught something about Lake Street and got the idea that the singer is quite positive about his winter underwear, unlike the earlier singers, who had the old, scratchy version. For one of the original versions by Casey,

4. Snow Day -- Trout Fishing in America -- Merry Fishes to All.
The duo Trout Fishing in America has a childlike point of view with some very grown-up abilities at songwriting. This song is about the joy of waking up to a snow day, with all normal activities put on hold and an unexpected chance to play.

5. Frosty the Snowman -- The Roches -- We Three Kings.
This classic is given a fresh interpretation by the three New Jersey sisters and some of their young relatives. It's lots of fun. Frosty was written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, who also wrote Peter Cottontail; and Jack Rollins wrote Smokey the Bear. It was, of course, first recorded by Gene Autry (when I was little, I wanted to marry him. I'd be a lot richer if I had!)

6. Bob and Bob -- Trout Fishing in America -- Merry Fishes to All.
The conceit in this song is that there are identical twin snowflakes named Bob and Bob, when of course we all know that no two snowflakes are alike. There's also some interesting information about snow here and there.

7. Hot Buttered Rum -- Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, Priscilla Herdman -- Voices of Winter.
A winter love song, with a somewhat jaundiced view of winter redeemed by the presence of a loved one. It was written by the late Tommy Thompson, founding member of the Red Clay Ramblers. You can go here to see some great illustrations of the song done by kids.

8. Winter Weather/I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm -- Tony Bennett -- Snowfall.
There are several other great winter songs on this album, too. These two, sung in a medley, both speak to the joys of snuggling in the cold weather. Winter Weather was written by Tin Pan Alley songwriter Ted Shapiro, who was active in the 1920s and wrote a lot of songs for Sophie Tucker, the Red Hot Mama. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm was introduced in the film On the Avenue in 1937 and was written by Irving Berlin. Tony Bennett is a national treasure.

9. The Frozen Logger/Proper Cup of Coffee -- Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, Priscilla Herdman -- Voices of Winter.
The Frozen Logger was written in the 1920s by Jim Stevens, who also wrote (or wrote down) a lot of the Paul Bunyan stories. The Weavers found it and had a hit with it in 1951, and it's been recorded by Odetta and several others. Proper Cup of Coffee was originally (as far as I can tell) recorded by the Andrews Sisters (also from Minneapolis!) in the late 1950s, and has also been recorded by Trout Fishing in America. Although written by Emanuele Pellegrini and Aaron Gershunoff, it has become somewhat of a folk song with different singers coming up with new verses, as Hills, Mangsen and Herdman have done here. The tune is slightly different now too, or at least jazzed up quite a bit.

You may have noticed that three out of the nine tracks above are from the same album -- I highly recommend Voices of Winter as well as all the other discs these three women have recorded both together and individually.

Tuneful Tuesday: Nine Songs for Chanukah

Tonight is the last night of Chanukah, and I've been making and eating potato latkes (actually, sweet potato and potato latkes). Since I'm not, after all, Jewish, I don't light candles or sing the blessings, but I do like to listen to some Chanukah songs and eat latkes at this time of year. So, here are nine Chanukah songs: one for each night of the holiday and one for the shammes, the candle that lights the others.

1. Chanukah, Oy Chanukah -- Traditional -- Western Wind. This was the first Chanukah song I ever learned, and probably the first I ever heard of Chanukah. It was in fifth grade at Point Beach School in Milford, CT, and in those days we learned Christmas songs in public school, and Chanukah songs too, at least in my school. So we learned an English version of this song, and probably sang it at some kind of program. Many years later, Onkel Hankie Pants got to sing it on stage, when he played the role of Mr. Dussell in a production of The Diary of Anne Frank at the Minneapolis Jewish Community Center. I like this Yiddish version better than any of the English translations.

2. Hanukkah Blessings -- Steven Page -- Barenaked Ladies. This is a relatively new song, by the guitarist and founding member of the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies. I find it almost too heart-warming. It also addresses the difficulties of maintaining a Jewish identity in the midst of "the jingle bells and the toys, and the TV shows and the noise" of the cultural Christmas celebration.

3. Light One Candle -- Peter Yarrow -- Peter, Paul and Mary and the New York Choral Society. From the quintessential 60s folk group, a quintessential 60s Chanukah song that exhorts us, "Don't let the light go out!" As an old 60s person myself, I think we need songs like this more than ever.

4. Maoz Tzur -- Traditional -- Western Wind. This is a Chanukah hymn:

Rock of Ages, let our song
Praise Thy saving power.
Thou, amidst the raging throng
Wast our shelt'ring tower.
Furious they assailed us
But Thine arm availed us
And Thy word
Broke their sword
When our own strength failed us.

5. Al Hanissim -- Traditional -- Zamir Chorale of Boston. A prayer of thanksgiving for deliverance, said on Purim and, with additional words about the Maccabees, on Chanukah. It's mentioned in the earlier song, Chanukah, Oy Chanukah when they sing "singt Alhanissim".

6. Hanerot Hallelu -- Traditional -- Priscilla Herdman, Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen. This traditional chant, mentioned in the Talmud, explains that the sole purpose of the Chanukah lights is to remember and publicize the miracle of Chanukah, and therefore they are not to be used for any purpose other than to be looked at and enjoyed. The trio of Herdman, Hills and Mangsen is one of my favorites for their beautiful harmonies.

7. Chanukah Chase -- Unknown -- Magpie. I suspect this may be a contemporary song. The duo who recorded it here say only that they learned it from their good friends The Short Sisters. It doesn't have a lot of substance, but it's a very pretty tune and I like the image of the candlelight on the snow.

8. I Have a Little Dreydel -- Attr. to Michael Gelbart -- Zamir Chorale of Boston. Here's the one all our kids learned in nursery school. This version will put nursery school right out of your head! According to the liner notes, the band Tayku was the first to do this rock'n'roll version.

9. Bashanah Haba'ah -- Nurit Hirsh -- Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus. This isn't specifically a Chanukah song. The Hebrew words talk of "next year" when we will sit on the porch, grapes will ripen, everything will be peaceful. They remind me of the prophecy of Micah: "They shall sit every man under his own vine and his own fig tree, and none shall make them afraid." In recent years, new English words have become popular, which seem to look to a time of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. May it be so!

Tuneful Tuesday: Advent Songs

Now we really are in the season of Advent. And, although there may still be pressure from congregations and even choirs and music staff to jump into Christmas music, more and more clergy seem to be holding the line and keeping to Advent songs for at least the first two Sundays. By the third week, they usually have to give up, as they are running into either Major Choir Performance or Children's Christmas Pageant. Hard to argue with those 600-lb. gorillas.

I, as so often, can sympathize with both sides. There is so much good sacred Christmas music that a Christmas Eve service and one or two Sundays in Christmastide really aren't enough to sing a reasonable number of them. Add to that the certainty that one must include the usual favorites on Christmas Eve for those who come only once or twice a year. Go to a concert that includes audience participation and you get the same old chestnuts. It's no wonder we are tempted to begin early.

On the other hand, not only are the longing and meditative aspects of Advent important for our full understanding of Incarnation, but speaking purely musically, there are many treasures which too often remain unsung. Here's my list of favorite songs for Advent, most of which would be appropriately sung in church. I've tried to arrange them roughly chronologically as to date of musical composition, just because. See sidebar for where to get albums or, in some cases, downloads of individual songs.

1. Conditor Alme Siderum (Creator of the Stars of Night) -- Gregorian Chant -- Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chant Choir
The text of this piece is said to date to the 7th century. Pope Urban VIII, in a wholesale rewriting of texts to conform with "classical Latin poetry" in 1632, changed all but one line of the original and it was retitled Creator Alme Siderum. (For those of you who, like me, had only two years of Latin, or less, conditor means creator; creator means creator and/or founder, hence the occasional translation "O blessed founder of the stars".) The tune is the same. However, at some point since 1632, the original text was restored and is the one usually translated now, as far as I can tell. I find Gregorian chant puts me in as meditative a state as it's possible for someone with terminal monkey-mind to reach, and of course, in Latin. The group singing this version is not a group of nuns, but a few women who are involved with the Community Music Center of Santa Cruz, California.

2. Veni, Veni Emmanuel (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel) -- Probably 15th century -- The King's Singers
So, is there anyone who went to church last Sunday and didn't sing or hear this? (Unitarians and Orthodox excepted, for different reasons.) I suspect it's the most-sung Advent hymn of all and with good reason. Although I've heard some pretty poor renditions, the tune remains one that induces a spirit of reverence. The words, based on the traditional "O Antiphons" which were sung in the week before Christmas, give us many ways to think about Jesus. According to The New Oxford Book of Carols, the "O Antiphons" date to at least the 8th century. This metrical rendering was in use as early as the 13th century, and was translated into English in the 19th century by J. M. Neale and T. Helmore. The origins of the tune which Neale published with it were mysteriously lost until its rediscovery in 1966 in a 15th-century French manuscript. There are many, many recordings of this hymn, often in English, but I prefer the King's Singers' Latin rendition.

3/ The Cherry Tree Carol -- Kentucky Traditional -- John Langstaff, baritone, Carol Duveneck, Appalachian dulcimer, and Susan Robbins, psaltery
Here's one you're not so likely to hear in church, based as it is on a tale from the apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew which later turned up (with a change from date palm to cherry tree) in the 15th century Coventry Play. Still, it seems appropriate to me in this season of waiting to have a song about a pregnant Mary who has food cravings! Many, many versions of this song have been collected both in the United Kingdom and in the United States, and The New Oxford Book of Carols (hereafter TNOBC) actually presents it as a sort of song cycle with three very different segments. The version presented here by the late John Langstaff, founder of the Christmas Revels, uses a tune colelcted in Kentucky. It also includes one of my favorite phrases, which some other versions leave out (TNOBC has it in the third segment):

"the stars and the elements will tremble with glee"

at Jesus' birth. By the way, the song also says that the birth will be on the sixth of January -- "Old Christmas" was celebrated in parts of Appalachia for quite some time after the calendar change of 1752.

4. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence -- Picardy Carol, 17th century -- The Miserable Offenders
These may be the second-oldest set of lyrics in this group of songs, dating as they are said to do to the 4th century. (For the oldest, see the next entry.) The tune, known as Picardy from the French region where it is said to have originated, is probably 17th century. The hymn is often used as a communion hymn and is suggested for various other uses during the church year, but it is also well-suited to Advent as we await the time when

"Christ our God to earth descendeth".

Another verse says:

At His feet the six-winged seraphs,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the Presence
As with ceaseless voice they cry
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia, God most high!

When I sing this I like to remember the old St. John's Abbey Church at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. The new church, designed by Marcel Breuer, is a masterpiece of modern architecture. The former church, deconsecrated and now, I believe, the place where you go to buy St. John's Bread, has huge pictures which seem perfectly to illustrate the verse above.
The Miserable Offenders are two Episcopalian laywomen who sang together for a time and made a couple of recordings. Their music is perhaps not for everyone, but I like it immensely. On this piece they are accompanying themselves with a tongue drum and synthesizer.

5. Magnificat cum Alleluia -- Gregorian Chant -- Nóirín Ní Riain
Of course the Magnificat, Mary's song of praise at the Annunciation, is the oldest text in this group (Luke 1:46-55). The tune is also old, but the liner notes say only that it was found in Cantus Selecti published at Solesmes in 1949. The Irish singer Nóirín Ní Riain's voice lends an unearthly beauty to the chant.
Both this song and "Let All Mortal Flesh..." include multiple alleluias. Not being of a liturgical tradition, I thought I'd better make sure "alleluia" was not forbidden during Advent as it is during Lent (something I didn't know about until a few years ago). So I performed a Google(tm) search. Roman Catholics and Anglicans were clear that, as Advent is more a season of hope than of penitence, alleluia may be said or sung during it. (Not so with "Gloria in excelsis deo," at least as a response during the service, which is, quite properly, reserved until Christmas.) However, I did find one blog entry by a guy who said he was a Lutheran, and that Alleluia should not be sung during Advent. I returned to the entry just now and figured out he was probably either a Missouri or Wisconsin Synod Lutheran, as he referred to his worship book/hymnal as the LSB rather than the LBW or the "cranberry hymnal". Some people had commented and suggested that the prohibition on Alleluia during Advent had somehow crept in while no one was looking. I wonder if these Lutherans prohibit Bach's great Lutheran cantata "Wachet auf" or any of its translations in hymn form? Any Lutheran readers are invited to comment!

6. Zion hört die Wächter singen -- Chorale from Cantata "Wachet auf" BWV 140, J. S. Bach -- Francisco Araiza, tenor

And, speaking of "Wachet auf," here is the second verse of Philipp Nicolai's hymn, set by J. S. Bach as part of a cantata. I don't know why I chose this chorale above the somewhat better known "Wachet auf," except that it's a very rare thing -- a Christmas/Advent hymn whose first line begins with Z. It's very useful -- nay, indispensable -- if you are trying to get to sleep by singing Christmas songs in your head, in reverse alphabetical order! (Yes, there are a few more. One in Czech, one in Polish, one in Russian, and one in German where the Z is for Zu. I don't really know the tunes for them, though.) You can read the words and translation of Nicolai's whole hymn here. Mexican tenor Francisco Araiza does a lovely job singing this, I think.

7. People, Look East -- Besançon carol, 17th century -- Marty Haugen and friends

This is an Advent hymn (it's in the United Methodist Hymnal, at least) set to an upbeat tune -- a carol from northeastern France, near the Swiss border, which may well be 17th century, as it was published in 1717 as "more than a century old." The older text to this tune is "Shepherds, shake off your drowsy sleep" or, in French, "Berger, Secoue Ton Sommeil Profond." The newer text, which speaks to our Advent preparations, is by the English poet and children's writer Eleanor Farjeon, who also wrote the lyric for Morning Has Broken. (No rude comments, please. It's Our Song.) I think it's an excellent marriage of text and tune, and could well cheer up a congregation that might think some Advent tunes too gloomy. Marty Haugen is a Minnesota composer and musician best known for liturgical settings, but who also does some performing and recording.

8. O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf --German chorale melody, arranged by Johannes Brahms -- Wilhelmshavener Vokalensemble
This rather old piece of music is new to me since last Advent. It is included in a CD that Cordeliaknits' first seminary roommate, now back in Germany, sent me as a Christmas present last year. Each piece of music on it is performed twice, once on organ by Albert Behrends and once vocally by the Wilhelmshavener Vokalensemble. An interesting recording since, in addition to older music, it includes two hymns written by World War II - era German pastors, one of whom was a member of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Confessing Church, and the other -- was not. Reconciliation is still going on. The text (you'll need to scroll down to find it) "O Savior, rend the heavens" speaks not only of Jesus' breaking of the barrier between God and man, but also brings in the longing for spring and the return of light which is even more desirable in Germany than here in Maine at this time of year. (Stuttgart, where this friend lives when she's not at seminary in Tübingen, is rather far south in Germany; its latitude lies between those of Bismarck, ND and Calgary, Alberta.) The music reminded me that I should listen to some more Brahms after Christmas is over.

9. Sankta Lucia -- Neapolitan Traditional -- Anne-Sofie von Otter
Here is another song you aren't likely to hear in church, unless your church is called something like Augustana Lutheran, and even then, it will likely be at a special event. December 13, the Feast of St. Lucy aka Sankta Lucia, falls about midway through Advent. Most people probably have heard of the Swedish custom of having the eldest daughter dress in a white gown, with a lighted crown, and bring breakfast rolls to the rest of the family. Many Swedish-American churches and other groups have Luciadag ceremonies elsewhere than in homes, as well. There are several songs traditional to this activity, but probably the best-known is this one, which is set to a traditional Neapolitan tune of the same name (in Italian), first transcribed in the early 19th century. I picture a visiting Swede hearing it (the Italian words are more of a travelogue about a place called Santa Lucia) and realizing it was just the thing for Luciadag singing. Anne-Sofie von Otter is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. For a more humorous take on the song, see the Garrison Keillor album noted in the sidebar. His version makes the story into something resembling Babette's Feast.

10. Prepare the Way, O Zion/Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus -- Swedish Melody before 1560/Psalmodia Sacra, 1715, attr. to Christian Witt -- The Miserable Offenders

Here are the Miserable Offenders again, this time mixing two Advent hymns and accompanying them with tongue drum, djembe, and synthesizer. Prepare the Way, O Zion was written by Frans M. Franzen, who was born in Finland and later became a bishop in Sweden. Its setting is a Swedish folk tune, given the name Bereden Väg för Herran after the hymn text. The tune as played in the Cyberhymnal's MIDI is speeded up quite a bit by the Miserable Offenders, so that one can imagine it as a sort of Swedish dance. (Only former Danish folkdancers will really get this.)
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus was written by Charles Wesley (December 18 is the 300th anniversary of his birth). The Cyberhymnal and most recordings I could find set it to Hyfrydol. Hyfrydol is a lovely tune and one of my favorites, but I just don't see it as an Advent hymn and evidently The Miserable Offenders agreed. The tune Stuttgart, attributed to Christian Witt, seems much more suitable to me, and besides, it's what I'm used to, being in both the Pilgrim Hymnal and New Century Hymnal for this text.

11. Blomstre som en Rosengard -- J. P. E. Hartmann -- Musica Ficta
This one will not be familiar to most readers who are not related to me. I married into a family of Danish Grundtvigians, Lutherans who adhered to the theology and, even more, to the poetry of the Danish Bishop N. F. S. Grundtvig. This Advent hymn was one of my mother-in-law's favorites. Unless you have access to a copy of the Hymnal for Church and Home, published in 1938 by the two Danish-American Lutheran Synods then active (the "Happy Danes" and the "Holy Danes"), you may look for it in vain (although it is apparently still extant in Denmark where several groups have put it on their Christmas albums). The words were written by N. F. S. Grundtvig himself and show his love of nature imagery. The first two verses essentially paraphrase Isaiah 35:1-6; the last two relate that prophecy to Christ's coming. Cordeliaknits tells me that this is no longer theologically correct, but we continue to read this prophecy -- Third Sunday in Advent, this year -- so why not sing the song too? The music is by J. P. E. Hartmann, a Danish composer who seems, from some of the other things he wrote, to have had many of the same interests as Grundtvig in folklore. The English translation, of which I quote the first two verses below, is by Rev. S. D. Rodholm, as are many of the English translations of songs we have sung over the years at West Denmark Family Camp. He was the President of Grand View College during the years my father-in-law was a student there, and his daughter and granddaughter are family friends to this day.

Blossom as a rose shall here
All the desert places,
Blossom when the golden year
Shines on saddened faces.
Glory crowns proud Lebanon,
Carmel's height has splendor won,
Flowers bloom in Sharon.

Sight is given to the blind
And their eyes shall glisten,
Ev'ry mute his voice shall find,
All the deaf shall listen;
Like the hart the lame shall leap,
Zion nevermore shall weep,
Peace shall reign forever.

Musica Ficta is a Danish group. Until I can have a recording of Sisterknits singing this song, I'll be satisfied with them.

12. What Is the Crying at Jordan? -- Traditional Irish Tune, given the name St. Mark, Berkeley -- The Miserable Offenders
Can you tell I really, really like The Miserable Offenders? Of course, they also put several Advent songs on their Advent/Christmas album. In this one they use a Tibetan singing bowl as their only accompaniment. This relatively contemporary hymn (it's found in the Episcopal Hymnal 1982) seems to inspire strong feelings. Its words are frequently quoted in priestly columns in parish newsletters, and I've read comments from choir directors who either love it or hate it. I quite like to listen to the song, but I'm not sure about trying to sing it as an average congregant with below-average vocal skills. I must mention a bit of synchronicity. I had never heard of St. Mark's Church, Berkeley, California until a few weeks ago when OHP mentioned that our church organist, during his sabbatical, would be playing a recital at "St. Mark's Cathedral in Berkeley." Having visited Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, on my trip to Berkeley last spring, I doubted there would be another Episcopal cathedral so near. So I looked it up and discovered that, no, it isn't a cathedral, but its organ is as good as a cathedral organ. It's not far from where Cordeliaknits goes to seminary. Then, in researching this hymn, I learned (through an old newsletter from Cathy's church) about the reason the tune was called St. Mark's, Berkeley -- Carol Christopher Drake, the hymnwriter, was or is a member there. Such occurrences always amaze me a little.

13. Koppången -- Pereric Moraeus -- Anne-Sofie von Otter
This is the newest of the songs, written by a Swedish folk musician who sometimes performs with Benny Anderson of ABBA. He writes of passing a lighted church in a frozen Swedish valley, hearing the choir singing, and knowing that "those who have left us here had the same thoughts as I." In the beginning of the song, he seems to be outside the church, but by the last two verses he has joined the congregation and can sing and believe "a hymn of grace and glory," and "that's why I'm lighting a candle each Sunday in Advent."
We here in the States hear a lot about how Christian, church-going believers are an infinitesimally small percentage of the population in Scandinavia, Germany and the United Kingdom. Yet, I've "met" through RevGalBlogPals and elsewhere several clergy and laypeople from these places who don't seem to be despairing nor think their efforts are futile. If people can still write songs like Koppången, maybe there is hope for the church -- yes, even in Sweden.