Easter Music

For Easter, our Bishopric doesn't have the choir do the whole program, which is fine with me, since it's usually pretty close to Christmas, and we would be hard-pressed to prepare an entire program in the time between Christmas break, and Easter.  But we do prepare extra music.  This year we did three pieces, and here is a quick run-down of our Easter line-up for April 8, 2012

Risen Today, by Dan Forrest.

This is a very lively arrangement of the hymn Christ the Lord is Risen Today.  You really should go to Dan's website and listen to the recording.  (There is tamborine in the recording, which I LOVE, but of course, did not use.)  Some of my choir loved this piece and some  . . .  did not.  I loved it (obviously, or I wouldn't have chosen it).  I loved how joyful it made me feel, and if the resurrection is anything, it is an occasion to be JOYFUL about.  

**I actually went back and forth quite a lot about that song deciding whether or not it was appropriate for Sacrament meeting.  LDS Sacrament meetings tend to be very conservative, and for the most part I agree with that.  I'm not a fan of Christian Pop or anything like that.  I tend to stick to more traditional hymns.  But sometimes I feel like our congregations need a little "Hallelujah!" in them.  Sometimes, I feel like instead of the reverence we're aiming for, we're just getting complacence.  We're just singing along, not paying attention to the words or what they implicate in our lives, and sometimes a different setting of a hymn can help us understand the words in a new light.  I felt like this hymn did that for me and I hope it helped others feel a sense of pure joy and rejoicing in the Resurrection of our Savior.

There is a Green Hill Far Away, arr. by Christine Davis

This is a lovely arrangement of a beautifully simple hymn.  Lovely words, lovely melody.  This arrangement splits into 8 parts at the end and is just really gorgeous.  Loved it.

O Love That will not Let me Go, arr. by Joseph Martin

I won't delve into this piece because I already wrote an entire post about it.   Since this is not in our hymnal, I put the words in the program so the congregation could ponder the beautiful text.  The ward loved this song.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

George Matheson
Born: March 27, 1842, Glasgow, Scotland
Died: August 28, 1906, Edinburgh, Scotland

George Matheson was called "The Blind Preacher."  He used very powerful glasses in his youth but by the age of 20 he had completely lost his eyesight, and relied on his good sister who helped him study and prepare his sermons and who kept his house for him.  He had a wonderful memory and delivered his sermons from memory.  He was known for his optimism in life despite the loss of his sight and was a very famous preacher known throughout Scotland.  He traveled to England to preach to Queen Victoria by her own invitation.  She had his sermon on "The Patience of Job" published so more people would be able to receive it.  He wrote many sermons, articles and books, but perhaps his most enduring and widely influential literary contribution was this simple hymn.


George Matheson said the following regarding the words of this hymn:

"My hymn was com­posed in the manse of In­ne­lan [Ar­gyle­shire, Scot­land] on the ev­en­ing of the 6th of June, 1882, when I was 40 years of age. I was alone in the manse at that time. It was the night of my sister’s mar­ri­age, and the rest of the fam­i­ly were stay­ing over­night in Glas­gow. Some­thing hap­pened to me, which was known only to my­self, and which caused me the most se­vere men­tal suf­fer­ing. The hymn was the fruit of that suf­fer­ing. It was the quick­est bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the im­press­ion of hav­ing it dic­tat­ed to me by some in­ward voice ra­ther than of work­ing it out my­self. I am quite sure that the whole work was com­plet­ed in five min­utes, and equal­ly sure that it ne­ver re­ceived at my hands any re­touch­ing or cor­rect­ion. I have no na­tur­al gift of rhy­thm. All the other vers­es I have ever writ­ten are man­u­fact­ured ar­ti­cles; this came like a day­spring from on high." (101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck. Kregel Publications, 1982, emphasis added)

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

O Love that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;

I give thee back the life I owe,

That in thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.

I first encountered this hymn at the BYU Choral Academy Workshop.  It is not in our LDS hymnbook, but is a common hymn in many Christian churches.  The arrangement I heard at the Choral Academy (and therefore the one I am teaching the our ward choir) was composed by Joseph Martin.  To be honest, I did not fall in love with it instantly.  In fact, it wasn't until I heard a group of BYU students perform it for us, that I felt like I truly understood it, and was deeply moved by it.  As I listened I felt like every line was full of personal meaning just for me.  I believe the words of this hymn were truly inspired, and when one receives the message of this hymn through the spirit, the spirit will tailor the meaning of the words to each individual.

I have read and sung this text over and over, and it continues to speak to me.  There is so much exquisite, meaningful imagery throughout the piece.  I could go on and on about each line of text, but I'll just mention one.  The first line, "O Love that will not let me go" brings to my mind the image of Christ's hands pierced for us, and ever outstretched to receive us home, as the prodigal son returned home to the outstretched arms of his father.  No matter what our weaknesses, no matter how often we fail, His is a love that will not ever give up on us.  We are engraven upon His hands, and He will not let us go.  I cannot wait to share this hymn with our ward.