A Hymn of Expectation

 

A Hymn of Expectation

Since I started this series of highlighting hymns of the Church Year from a musical point of view, first with a Hymn from Thanksgiving, I thought I would immediately follow up with one from the Sunday immediately following. That is, the First Sunday of Advent.

Advent makes up the four weeks leading to the Season of Christmas and the Birth of Jesus in many Christian and Protestant calendars. Common words and phrases throughout the Advent season include expect, prepare, keep alert, wait and watch, as just a few examples. Such anticipatory arrival themes center not only on the impending Birth of Christ, but also His Second Coming, so there is a modern-day lesson involved too.

Symbols of the Advent Season include the Star in the Sky, of which I am rather fond of the Moravian Star as a decoration, all of which can represent the travels of The Three Wise Men towards the Christmas Star in the North. Often four candles are lit on each of the four Sunday's before Christmas, ones representing Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace, although there are many variations, including a fifth candle for Christmas Eve. Sometimes these candles are included in an Advent Wreath as well. Last but not least, the Advent Calendar has taken on a life of its own recently, and as with many other pre-Christmas traditions, has become rather pop-culture centered.

There are a wealth of fine hymns centered around the Advent season, although many of them have since been purloined as Christmas carols. As my first entry of Advent, how could I not speak of O Come, O Come Emmanuel? 

The words come from Medieval-Era Latin, brought into the English language around the mid-19th Century. Thus, this hymn's tune name honors its distant Latin past as VENI EMMANUEL in hymn books.

The tune most likely comes from 1400s France, a melody which boldly retains its plainchant beginnings still today. Along with J.M. Neale's English translation, Thomas Helmore harmonized the chant around the same time. These particular words married with this particular tune is certainly the most popular version of the hymn, one which has become iconic through many arrangements and uses.

The metrical index of VENI EMMANUEL is listed as 8.8.8.8.8.8 or 88 88 88. This simply means the tune and the words can be switched to other hymns with this same metrical designation. I would imagine upon doing so, though, most congregations would be confused separating the words or tune with something else, so strongly are they associated with one another.

As with the Advent themes mentioned earlier, this hymn opens each verse to begin with a repeated call 'O Come, O Come', placing the topic around a message of anticipated arrival. Thank goodness, Neale's original 'Draw Nigh, Draw Nigh' was replaced, for I think it works somewhat better. Memorably, each verse changes the name with which the congregation is beckoning through song. The expectation of 'Emmanuel' is followed by 'DaySpring', 'Rod of Jesse', 'Key of David', 'Lord of Might', and in some instances, 'Wisdom from on High' and 'Desire of Nations'.

Personally, I am particularly fond of singing the words 'Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death's dark shadows put to flight'. If it is included in the hymnal, I also enjoy 'Free Thine own from Satan's tyranny, From depths of Hell Thy people save, And give them victory o'er the grave', this final phrase bringing to mind Easter. Again, words which are unusual to sing aloud or are unusually pictorial in their description are ones I gravitate to, ones which I find make the hymns memorable.

 

The hymnic harmonization by Helmore has centered the hymn around an awe-inspiring modal E minor. This is great for a bone-rattling pipe organ pedal, especially juiced up in one of the refrains. The chant-like flavor is retained in its steady, crotchet-heavy rhythms, while the longer tones are reserved for the end of line phrases, much like it would work out for chanting. The two proclamations of 'Rejoice' are a wonderful arrival point musically, the first decidedly major-key friendly, while the second 'Rejoice' comes in a more ambivalent minor, of which the hymn eventually ends on.

The melodic motion is mostly syllabic in its English form and the intervals from note to note are mainly conjunct, with any note skips fairly minimal in range. Like plainchant often could be, the contour of the melody is generally arched, although the few times it veers makes those moments all the more interesting. While I prefer the print music to use 4/4 crotchets, I have seen it in a more confusingly quavered 2/4 meter. More compelling, but also more difficult as a music leader, I have seen the hymn printed senza misura for the verses, leaving only a little breath mark to note the pause in phrases.

I often find the four-part voice writing in the four to seven verses to be too dense, with overly fast vocal motion, and generally note heavy. This aspect sort-of bogs down the fluid motion of the chant-like feel of the music, although at a slower tempo can be quite effective. Often, I prefer the verses to be sung in unison and have the refrain burst out in harmony, sometimes with a descant, and then use a more contemplative organ registration for other verses to be sung in parts. Of course, there are many ways to vary the hymn across the verses, both vocally and instrumentally, so there are many options for variety.

As a last thought, I would like to separate the idea of O Come, O Come Emmanuel as a Christmas performing piece opposed to a congregational Advent hymn. I must say, it is easier to come across the former, but unless you are a regular church goer, the latter is rather hard to come by. Sometimes the simplicity of a hymn is waylaid by interpretatively fancy arrangements; both have their place, but as a group of people, it is sometimes nice to share an Advent hymn together as an amateur community.