A Hymn for Pentecost

 

Once the Season of Easter ends, the very long Season of Pentecost begins, a season of the church year which focuses on The Word of the Lord. Pentecost lasts until the Season of Advent, which is where I originally began this hymn series half of a year ago.

The actual Day of Pentecost marks the time when The Spirit of the Lord descends upon the Apostles of Jesus, arming them with The Gospel of The Lord in order to preach abroad. The Spirit descending has been depicted musically for an age-and-a-half, primarily in the Benedictus portion of the choral Mass. Here, composers would use the flute or another woodwind to musically depict the descent of the Holy Spirit into The Tabernacle for its Transubstantiation, often visually represented as a dove, thus the flute sound.

However, there is another metaphor on the Day of Pentecost, besides the dove, which confused me as a youth. Often, The Spirit of The Lord is spread as a mighty rush of wind or as tongues of fire. I didn't understand how flame and tongues came together, for tongues were wet. Apparently, I hadn't spent a lot of time around bonfires, where little flamelets spark out of the main fire.

Either way, it is the tongues of flame which has stuck with me as a visualization for the Day of Pentecost most strongly. Thus, for the next hymn in this series, I thought I would choose one which uses such imagery: O Spirit of the Living God.


When I think of this hymn text, I usually refer to the tune FOREST GREEN. The tune Forest Green is often paired with a whole league of different texts, as the Metrical Index of 8.6.8.6 is common, but I thought I would use the two here for Pentecost. 

The hymn tune is named Forest Green after the place where Ralph Vaughan Williams heard the melody sung in 1903, there in its secular garb as The Poughboy's Dream. Vaughan Williams arranged the folk song as a hymn, where in the UK this one is probably known best as O Little Town of Bethlehem, although that is not the case in the US. Thus, as a self-admitted Yank, I don't mind the dual allegiance of lyrics and melody.

Before I get on with the hymn, let me spend a few lines regarding the text. Henry Hallam Tweedy was a New England minister, thus the words from 1935 were not originally meant for the tune. I enjoy the lyrics' Pentecost imagery, such as the opening line 'O Spirit of the Living God, thou Light and Fire Divine, descend upon the church once more, and make it truly thine'. Already, the visual of fire is mentioned, as well as the aforementioned descent amongst a group of people.

The second verse opens with 'Blow, Wind of God! Wisdom blow until our minds are free', embracing the wind metaphor, as well as a passing of understanding between God and His church. The second verse continues the imagery with 'Burn, winged fire! Inspire our lips with flaming love and zeal'. This is potent imagery, as if the Word of Lord burns the very lips they are spoken from.

The further verses continue to drive home the idea through use of words and phrases such as speaking, language, gaining truth and wisdom, as if through acceptance of The Spirit, a secret knowledge is imparted to each individual. The tongue metaphor is then mixed up in it all as a Speaking in Many Tongues in order to spread The Word of The Lord as gospel.

 

The first line of melody in O Spirit of the Living God begins on a pick-up note, with a solid V - I to begin the singing part, and the repeated notes which follow are a bit of respite from what continues thence. Eventually, the melody makes its way upwards using tiny melismatic quavers to reach the top of the phrase, only to do something similar again to make its way back down again. The second line of the melody repeats exactly, although the text continues on without repetition.

The third phrase of the melody contrasts as more wavelike, requiring the congregation some flexibility in their singing ability, as the melody moves scalularly up and down in rapid succession. Later on in this third phrase, the melody leaps down an octave, and surprisingly ends on a low middle C, thus showcasing quite a range for the congregation as well. With the fourth and last phrase, the original melody returns and lands neatly on the tonic, as it had played previously in phrase 1 & 2.

So all in all, the melodic phrases repeat except for one contrasting phrase. That contrasting phrase also leads the harmonies the furthest afield as well, moving immediately through A minor and finally landing on the dominant, the only phrase to do so. The harmonic motion is pretty fast too, generally changing chords on every syllable, and not just in a I - IV - V rhythm, but rather exploring a host of colorful major and minor chords across a variety of inversions.

Most notably, if you are a bass singer, the bass line moves all over the place across the staff, making for one of the more mobile of such in a hymn. This makes for great singing fun as a bass! Otherwise, the alto and tenor lines receive the occasional passing tones, but generally have a more contained range, especially the altos.

I most commonly see Forest Green in the key of F Major, which makes the upper range easily attainable. You can also find the hymn in E-flat Major, which makes the big leap down in the third phrase pretty low in tessitura, as well as in G Major, which seems unnecessary. The triumphant nature of the music, with its melismatic movement upwards, makes it great for brass as well as organ. This is music which moves very quickly, almost in an unsettled manner, thus singers have to be on their toes if they are singing in parts and the tempo is spry.


So, what think you? Is this tune too married to O Little Town of Bethlehem, or does the Pentecost theme add tot he richness of the music?

I don't know if these words, O Spirit of the Living God, are often married to the tune Forest Green, but it works for me. I believe I first came across their pairing playing as a supply organist for a Methodist church, although I can't remember if I have ever encountered it elsewhere. Either way, this hymn, with a crackerjack tune, is a good excuse to compound the message of the Day of Pentecost, whose church season is the longest of the year.

Find more Hymns HERE!