Hymn of the Day: “Let Streams of Living Justice” ELW 710
Text: William Whitla (1934)
Tune: THAXTED, Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
William Whitla wrote this hymn text in 1989. It was published in Sing Justice! Do Justice! (1998), a collection of hymns that "grew out of a formal search for hymns on justice sponsored by the organizations Alternative for Simple Living and The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. It had four stanzas.
Evangelical Lutheran Worship, not the only hymnal to do so, prints three of the four by omitting the second. Whitla is "not very keen" on this move, which he views as "cutting out both the too incarnational and the too feminine images." Here is what he says about the hymn:
"I wrote the hymn in 1989 just after the events in Tiananmen Square, and when the Mothers of the Disappeared in Argentina were bringing their campaign to the conscience of the world. At the same time, the religious and racial disputes in Ireland, Israel-Palestine, the Congo and other parts of Africa, and in Canada and many other countries over First Nation or Aboriginal rights all seemed impossible to solve. Unfortunately, similar events are still replayed, and only too-similar images in the Near East, Irag, Afghanistan, and now Somalia- not to mention the school shootings at home-recur and are now extended well beyond those earlier sad happenings. So I used some images from those events, especially in verse two, seen through echoes of the holocaust, to tell of the bad news before the Good News of verses three and four. Subsequent events only sharpened those images, alas. To me all of these parts are needed for a full expression of the biblical promises of hope and justice so long awaited, including the too-common images of both the child with the gun and the old ones dreaming for peace."
Here is stanza 2:
The dreaded disappearance of family and friend;
the torture and the silence- the fear that knows no end;
the mother with her candle, the child who holds a gun,
the old one nursing hatred- all seek release to come.
Each candle burns for freedom; each lights a tyrant's fall;
each flower placed for martyrs gives tongue to silenced call.
The tune, THAXTED, was originally set to the text "I vow to thee, my country" and then used for others. That it is a splendid melody is clear. Whether it is a congregational one is less clear. Like Parry's JERUSALEM (#711-for which Whitla has written "O dream of peace,") is the melody more orchestral than congregational, with problems of length, range and Anglophilia?
Offertory: “King Jesus Hath a Garden” Richard Shephard.
A historically significant sacred text often sung at Christmas, springing from a traditional Dutch carol, "Heer Jesus heeft een Hofken" from Geestlijcke Harmonie, Emmerich, 1633. It is translated by Rev. George R. Woodward, and in this setting by Richard Shephard, the accompaniment echos the flowers quoted in the text with some great musical references!
1. King Jesus hath a garden, full of divers flowers, Where I rejoice with great delight, all times and hours.
Refrain:
There naught is heard but Paradise bird, Harp, dulcimer, lute,
With cymbal, trump and tymbal, And the tender, soothing flute.
2. The Lily, white in blossom fair, is Chastity: The Violet, with sweet perfume, Humility.
3. The bonny Damask-rose is known as Patience: The blithe and thrifty Marygold, Obedience.
4. The Crown Imperial bloometh too in yonder place, Tis Charity, of stock divine, the flower of grace.
5. Yet, 'mid the brave, the bravest prize may claim The Star of Bethlehem — Jesus — bless'd be his Name!
6. Ah! Jesu Lord, my heal and weal, my bliss complete, Make thou my heart thy garden-plot, fair, trim and neat.
Opening Voluntary: “In dir ist Freude” J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
The earliest record of this text is found in Johannes Lindemann’s 1594 collection of 20 Christmas carols appearing as the German sacred text replacing Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi’s Italian secular text from a collection of vocal dance songs. No wonder this chorale invites one to dance!
Bach sets the chorale melody accompanied by motivic accompaniment and an almost ostinato pedal, creating a web of thematic allusion in which the whole melody only gradually becomes audible. The main melody is presented first in the soprano and is followed by the other voices, sometimes even in pairs as a support and answer to the presentation of the chorale melody. This setting of “In dir its Freude” is more than its parts: its varying but unified texture, its momentum, its irrepressible gusto, even its repetitions, are found nowhere else.
Closing Voluntary: “Psalm XIX, The Heavens Declare the Glory of God”, Benedetto Marcello (1686 - 1739)
Benedetto Marcello's “Psalm XIX, The Heavens Declare the Glory of God”, is a triumphant and majestic composition. Benedetto Marcello was a Venetian composer, writer, magistrate, teacher, and nobleman. He is known for his concertos in the style of Vivaldi and his sacred vocal and instrumental works, among them his Estro poetico-armonico, a musical setting of the first fifty Psalms for voices, figured bass and occasional solo instruments.