John Tavener and William Blake: Two Mystics Team Up to Produce a Masterpiece

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This image represents copy C, object 8 of Blake’s original poem, currently held by the Library of Congress, public domain.

I have been privileged to sing John Tavener’s “The Lamb” twice with the Cherry Creek Chorale here in the Denver area. It’s interesting for me to look back on that first performance in 2013 and to realize how little I understood the piece’s complexities. Our 2021 concert gave me a chance to dig a little deeper.

Let’s start with the author of the text, William Blake. If you remember your English literature class, you’ll know that he was an early Romantic mystic who claimed to have had visions starting in early childhood; he was actually more interested in his art than his poetry. He and his wife put out an illustrated edition of some of his poems, with a few initial copies including his own hand-colored engravings. “The Lamb” is from his poetry collection Songs of Innocence. It seems like a simple little ditty, almost a child’s poem, until you look at it closely, which I will now proceed to do. Here’s my own line-by-line analysis:

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Was the Singing of the Angels on Christmas Night “Soft,” “Sweet,” or “Faint”?

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Image by falco from Pixabay. Kind of a cool contemporary stained-glass depiction of the angels and shepherds.

Let me start out by questioning the very supposition in the above title: did the angels in the Christmas story actually do any singing at all?

Here’s the relevant text from the translation I know best, the King James Version:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, . . . And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:9-10, 13-14)

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Who were the Magi?

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Image accessed via Pixabay.

So, to begin, let me just say, once again, with feeling, that the Magi did not show up on Christmas night with the shepherds. The Gospel of Matthew 2:11 says, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” At this point it makes sense to think that it’s been at least a year since the Magi set out from their home. I know that those colorfully-bedecked camels (which are never mentioned in the biblical narrative) add quite a splash to the manger scenes we set up every year, but they weren’t there.

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What’s the Historical Background of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”?

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Note the nicety of the double question mark, please!

Okay. If you’ve ever thought about it at all, didn’t you assume that this Christmas carol was along the lines of an old folk song? I certainly did, at least partly because the words don’t make a lot of sense—to me, anyway. But when I googled “Do you hear what I hear meaning” I found something quite different, and rather surprising, about its source.

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Is the “Bell Carol” Only About . . . Bells? Not By a Long Shot!

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Yet another of my many posts that starts out with the words “I assumed,” as in “I assumed that the ‘Bell Carol’ was a traditional Christmas folk song.” Well, it’s always helpful to read the info on the sheet music itself. Over the title are the words “to D. V. W., seventy years young,” and at the bottom of the first page is the statement “This carol was commissioned by the Bach Choir in celebration of the seventieth birthday of Sir David Willcocks.” The composition date is 1989, and Willcocks would indeed have been 70 that year since he was born in 1919. Was Willcocks especially fond of Christmas music, or bells, or both? The answer to that question is lost to history, I’m afraid. The author of both words and music is William Mathias, who lived until 1992 and seems to have been composing right up until the end of his life.

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Dreidels and Other Hanukkah Traditions–What’s What?

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I’ve written quite a bit about Hanukkah in previous posts, specifically about the significance of latkes as traditional food during this holiday and about the meaning of the menorah as it relates to the eight days of miraculous oil, but I haven’t written anything about dreidels, so here goes:

As with anything to do with folk traditions, the origins of this item and the game you play with it are very murky, with several strands of meaning attached to them, and with some later interpretations being projected back onto the past. It is clear that games of chance such as this one, in which you win or lose depending on how an object lands after you spin it or throw it, are very ancient. Spinning tops specifically date all the way back to the ancient Babylonians, who played with clay versions as early as 3500 BC. And—get this—there was a wooden spinning top in King Tut’s tomb! Very, very cool.

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Mendelssohn’s Farewell–Three Sections from His “Christus”

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Image by marian anbu juwan from Pixabay

O-o-o-o-h man! Are there ever going to be some deep theological highways and byways in this post. So hang on and let’s get started with this wonderful choral piece which was tragically truncated by Mendelssohn’s early death in 1847 at the age of 38. He had apparently planned to write an entire oratorio, Christus, following the same trajectory as Handel’s Messiah, but left only a few finished sections and a number of fragments. A set of three excerpts dealing with the birth of Christ is well suited for use at Christmas, and consists of a soprano recitative, a male trio, and a chorus.

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What’s with the Twelve Days of Christmas?

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I remember back in elementary school being teased a bit by some Jewish classmates about the superiority of Hanukkah over Christmas: “You only have one day to get presents, but we have eight.” I’m sure I wasn’t quick-witted enough to mention the plethora of gift-giving in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with its extra days of celebration. So here’s the information I didn’t have back then.

But first, before you read any further, you must watch the absolutely definitive performance of this song by none other than John Denver and the Muppets. Here’s the link (sorry about the horrible low-res quality):

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Menorah Mysteries

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PictureFirst question:  Why is the pictured lamp stand more authentic and correct as a part of the Hanukkah celebration than the usual candelabra?

Answer:  Because the whole story of Hanukkah is about oil, not candles.

Second question:  Should there be seven or nine branches on a menorah?

Answer:  It depends. . . .

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We Are Altogether Unprofitable Servants . . .

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Image by Ana Krach from Pixabay

. . . We have done that which is our duty to do” (Luke 17:10).

Note: This post was originally written in April 2016 and has now been updated.

I’m not going to try to give the full Scriptural background for this verse since I’m applying it in a very specific way.  I will just say that this is something Jesus said to His disciples in a discussion about faith.  You can read the entire chapter at Bible Hub.

This verse originally came to mind as I was congratulating myself on how much work I was doing to prepare for an upcoming Cherry Creek Chorale concert, which included the Mozart Requiem.  (I’ve since finished a book on this wonderful work; you may purchase it here or here.)  I always struggle with learning new music, especially the difficult stuff (of course).

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