Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: https://read.jwpepper.com/i/1399477
'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime is a tribute to North American first nations, including the Cherokee tribe of Appalachia. Many names of towns and rivers throughout Appalachia are derived from the Cherokee language, including Tenasi, the root of the name of the state of Tennessee. The text references "Gitchi Manitou" which means "Great Spirit" in several Algonquian languages, including Wyandot/Huron. Christian missionaries, like the original author, Jean de Brebeuf, have often translated God as "Gitchi Manitou" in scriptures and prayers. References of "birds, hunters, lodge, bark, rabbit skin, beaver pelt, forest" serve to transport the universal story from Bethlehem's stable to an Appalachian lodge. The hymn tune LAND OF REST from the shape-note Sacred Harp hymnal carries the words of Edmund H. Sears' It Came Upon the Midnight Clear announcing the Angel's song of peace and goodwill to a weary world. Sears offers the image of the Angels' song floating on a clear night like clouds above a land of noise and "Babel sounds". At a distance, Sears' lyrics of 1849 seem to be joining the "prophet bards" of which he writes, as the United States was hastening to Civil War in only a few years. But the Angels are singing that a new "age of gold" would come in which the world would join the angels in the song they are bringing to humankind this night of clarity. The reason we know about the Angel Band of the gospel and their song of peace and goodwill is because we are told there were shepherds in the field that clear midnight, tending their sheep. Whilst Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night conveys the awe, the mystery, and the fear the shepherds experienced as they bore witness to the angel band and recorded the angelic words of "Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus." The words to their song, the instructions where Messiah would be found, and the description of the child are precise and unmistakable as reported by these non-theologian shepherds. The Swedish folk song DE TVĂ… KONUNGABARNEN captures the rustic shepherd's sense of awe and mystery, and is reminiscent of the ballad tradition of Appalachia. Droned pitches, bagpipe sounds, hammered two-note musical phrases, and the modal character of this tune evoke the image of shepherds and this mysterious encounter. As we approach the manger scene, Mary's story unfolds. Mary, the mother of Jesus, has her own hymn of praise which has anchored the Christian liturgy of prayer for centuries. My soul magnifies the Lord is known as the Magnificat, and is found in the first chapter of Luke's gospel, verses 46-55. In Angel Band, Mary's song is a joyful expression, set in the exciting style of American bluegrass, and service as a prelude to a lullaby in the manger itself. Appalachian vernacular is used in this song of celebration and praise to paraphrase the historic text, using words such as "tend" and "shoo", as well as call and response phrases "Praise the Lord" and "Glory, Glory". Slumber, My Darling is a lullaby by Stephen Collins Foster, the best-known song composer in the United States prior to the American Civil War. Born on the Fourth of July, 1826, by the time of his mature compositions Foster was displaying the melodic dignity associated with German Romanticism in songs such as Wilt Thou Be Gone, Love, Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, Beautiful Dreamer, Gentle Annie, and Slumber, My Darling.