Page 27 - Church Music Quarterly September 2018

though this, of course, depends upon the musicians you have available. For inspiration, listen to the folk sound of Kate Rusby’s ‘See amid the winter’s snow’, Passion Play Sound’s jazzy version of ‘In the bleak midwinter’, or the a cappella gospel/hip-hop of David Simmons’s ‘O come, O come Emmanuel’.
EXISTING SONGS WITH ADVENT THEMES
Advent itself is a rich period that often gets overlooked. If your church uses some contemporary material, it
is possible to find existing songs that fit the themes presented by the lectionary’s Advent readings. For example, the theme of ‘waiting’ suggested by James 5.7–10 (third Sunday of Advent, Year A) could be reflected by singing Kathryn Scott’s Hungry with its refrain ‘So I wait for you’. Isaiah’s prophecy of John the Baptist’s calling to ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’ (second Sunday of Advent, Year B) can be sung using Andy Piercy’s and Charlie Groves’ song ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’.
Alternatively, if you use any Taizé chants you can
find settings of both ‘Wait for the Lord, whose day is near’ and ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’. Or, if you are focusing during the first week of Advent on the second coming of Christ, take a look at Judy Gresham’s ‘Lift up your eyes and look for him’.
NEW SONGS FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS
It may be that during this season you want to learn
a few new pieces. The group Sam is part of, Resound Worship, once set themselves the challenge of writing a whole album of new Christmas and Advent songs without referencing any other carols (or jingling bells!). Joel Payne’s ‘In the beginning was the Word’ and
‘We worship a wonderful Saviour’, and Matt Osgood’s ‘See the star’ are all upbeat songs that work well with
a contemporary band. Three-part round ‘Wonderful Counsellor’ by Andy Irons is ideal for a choir, while ‘What kind of throne is a manger of hay’ (also by Joel Payne) is a tender, minor-key worship song at the feet of our humble king. Should you be interested, the Resound Worship website (www.resoundworship.org) carries backing tracks, choir parts, instrumental
parts and PowerPoints for all of the above songs.
Also worth checking out is York-based Belfrey Music’s ‘A light has dawned upon the earth, increasing joy’, a great contemporary-sounding Christmas worship song. If it is all-age Advent material you are after, take a look at Rain for Roots’ album Waiting Songs.
SEGUEING CAROLS AND WORSHIP SONGS
A commonly cited difference between hymns and choruses is to say that hymns often contain ‘revelation’ while worship songs offer the opportunity for ‘response’. Ideally, we need both – the ‘inhale’ of truth and information about God, followed by the ‘exhale’ of responding to what we’ve heard. With carols we might spend a lot of time ‘inhaling’, so another suggestion for developing your Christmas repertoire is to segue the carol into the ‘exhale’ of a contemporary chorus.
There are a number of examples of this: Chris Tomlin has added a chorus to Joy to the World, while Nick Herbert and Ben Cantelon wrote a chorus to Silent Night. Paul Baloche has combined some carols with his own worship songs, such as segueing ‘Hark! the herald angels sing’ with King of heaven, or ‘Angels from the realms of glory’ leading into an adapted version of
his Hosanna (‘Praise is rising’). You could listen to
these and try them, or maybe come up with your
own ideas based on songs you already sing.
REIMAGINING ADVENT 27