_Christmas and Easter Melodies_
These two great festivals of the Christian year fittingly celebrate the
Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ. Just as hope came with the
Saviour of the world, so hope was quickened when He won the signal
victory over death. He is indeed the unspeakable gift of God, and the
spirit of gratitude for this marvelous blessing is best celebrated in
song.
The greatest hymns of the Church are inspired by these two events, which
have liberated the human spirit and filled it with faith, joy,
enthusiasm, loyalty. All the greatest poets, artists, musicians, were
illuminated by the Christmas and Easter messages, and excelled
themselves in setting forth the jubilant truths of redemption and
eternal life through Christ the Lord of love and light. These
productions have enriched the thought, excited the imagination and
ennobled the lives of multitudes through all the Christian centuries.
This they will continue to do to the end of time.
The fount of poetic and artistic inspiration still flows, and from time
to time there are added new contributions to swell the jubilation of
these two seasons and to spread peace and goodwill among men.
Bishop F. W. Warne recalls
An Incarnation Hymn that Fires the Imagination
"The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ for two thousand years, on the
anniversary of the sinless Incarnation, has sung hymns of joy and
praise. Here is a part of the hymn that, when a child, fired my heart
and imagination, when I heard it sung on such anniversaries, and it
fires them still:
'Mortals, awake, with angels join,
And chant the solemn lay;
Joy, love, and gratitude combine,
To hail the auspicious day.
. . . . . . . . .
Hail, Prince of Life, forever hail!
Hail, Brother, Friend!
Though earth, and time, and life shall fail,
The praise shall never end.'"
Carols have invariably been sung on Christmas Eve, and the following
incident from the Syracuse _Post Standard_ illustrates
The Joy of Christmas
All members of the family were gathered in the cozy living room of a
south side home. The lights were out, but the mellow glow from a cheery
fireplace illuminated the room with the soft light which seems to
symbolize peace and quiet. Children romped on the floor; a playful puppy
bounded here and there, yipping joyously; the old cat blinked sleepily
and purred with contentment. Father was reading the paper and mother was
perusing a magazine.
In the windows hung red bells, and through the window the snow lay white
and sparkling under the street lamps. A playful wind whipped up little
swirling flurries of snow at intervals. Suddenly it came, clear through
the night. Soft music, then a burst of song--"It Came Upon the Midnight
Clear."
All within listened to the music in the night--Christmas music, carols.
Then as it came nearer all rushed to the windows and saw a band of boys
and men marching bravely by, blowing trumpets, horns--what not? The
spirit of Christmas.
Carols are also a part of the celebration on Christmas Day, and how they
cheered the patients in a hospital is described when
Nurses Sang Carols
The nurses enjoyed a breakfast served by candle light at 6:30 on
Christmas morning at the Faxton Hospital in Utica, New York, and then
exchanged greetings. After this, clad in their uniforms, including their
blue capes, attractively red-lined, they formed in a procession and
marched from floor to floor of the building singing the familiar
Christmas songs. Young mothers and their little babies, in the maternity
building, were not forgotten. The nurses marched from the main building
in the cold morning and sang as they walked along the sidewalk until
they reached the maternity department, where they continued their
carols.
This self-appointed task conveyed pleasure beyond the power of words to
express to the patients, some of whom were far away from loved ones. The
act was one of those beautiful touches which unites the whole Christian
world in a kindred feeling on Christmas Day.
The thoughtful hospitality of the Maier family in the village of
Oberndorf, Germany, led one of the guests, the young priest Joseph Mohr,
to write the well-known Christmas song,
"Silent Night"
At this party a festival play was performed in view of the approaching
Christmas. It so stirred the young priest that instead of returning home
he climbed the Totenberg, Mountain of the Dead, overlooking the village.
He stood there in quiet meditation. The silence of the night, the
blinking of the stars, the murmur of the Salzach River, all inspired
him. Quickly he returned to his parish house and late that night the
words of "Stille Nacht" were written. The next day he hastened to his
organist, Franz Gruber, and requested that he write the music for this
song. He composed the well-known tune. On Christmas Eve of 1818 the
priest and organist were ready to offer their contribution for the first
time. The organ proved to be out of commission but Gruber was ingenious.
He hurried home and brought his guitar and to its accompaniment he and
the priest sang "Stille Nacht" as a duet. It touched the congregation
deeply and after the service the two friends, with tears of joy in their
eyes, embraced on the steps of the church in gratitude for this
impressive rendition. Since that evening the song has become one of the
Christmas favorites all over the world.
Bishop Phillips Brooks was the friend of children as well as adults. His
popularity as rector of the Church of the Advent in Philadelphia was
unbounded and it continued when he went to Trinity Church, Boston. It
was during a year's vacation that he had an experience which later
resulted in his writing the well-known hymn,
"O Little Town of Bethlehem"
In the course of his travels during this vacation he went to the Holy
Land. On Christmas Eve he was in Bethlehem. He walked in the fields
where the shepherds had heard the angelic chorus. He listened to the
hymns of praise that kept ringing out upon the clear air. He saw the
children of Bethlehem getting ready for Christmas. Two years later when
he was back home his mind went back to his experiences in Bethlehem. He
recalled the dark streets, the clear blue sky with stars, the quiet
shepherds' fields; and under the spell of these memories, in 1868, he
wrote this Christmas hymn especially for the children of his Sunday
School. His organist, Lewis H. Render, wrote the music for this much
beloved song.
This graphic description by Annemarie Ewing in _The Christian Herald_
tells of
Carols Sung by Children
"I can't think of any holier sound for Christmas Eve than that of young
voices, clear and sweet in the cold, singing the simple, tuneful
melodies that can't grow old. Last year it was my pleasure and privilege
to know a small group of youngsters who wanted to go caroling Christmas
Eve. They didn't mind the cold or the long walk or the wind and snow.
They wanted to sing!
"I can see those bobbing little heads now, all sizes and shapes--from
Rose Marie's tall, smartly hatted elegance to Babe's roly-poly woolen
cap, just under my arm. How eager they were, and what stories I had to
tell them to keep them quiet till we got to each place! We planned to
sing under the windows of all our special friends.
"And how we did sing! I do not know whether it was sweeter to stand
there holding my hand before Babe's candle while her big blue eyes were
lifted up to see the book (she had to stand on her very tip-toes!), or
whether it would have been more exquisite pleasure to have been sitting
in my warm living-room, when the shrilly sweet voices of the children
began with their own enthusiasm:
'Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heav'n and Nature sing.
And Heav'n and Nature sing,
And Heav'n and Heav'n and Nature sing.'
"I know that there were tears in my own eyes when we reached 'Silent
Night,' and that from the tight closed window of old Mr. Simmons,
crotchety and bad-tempered, there fell a shower of walnuts and pecans!
In the big house across the way where a little child lay ill the windows
were softly raised, and I could not help but stoop and kiss chubby Babe,
who pulled my arm to whisper that 'she hoped Margaret-who-was-sick
heard.'
"Christmas Carols! Whether they are sung aloud or whether they buzz and
chime through your heart--it is the same. Let them ring out!"
One of the well-known celebrations is that on
Easter Morning in America's Bethlehem
The Moravians celebrate Easter with impressive ceremonies in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania. Early in the morning the trombonists walk through the
quiet streets of the city and awaken the people with their inspiring
anthem. Soon lights appear in the windows of the homes and the people
join the procession towards the old church, greeting each other with
gladsome salutations. The Easter service in the church continues till
sunrise when the congregation march out, led by the trombonists, to the
ancient burying-ground.
At this place of sacred memories the people stand in a large semicircle
looking towards the eastern hill, as a symbol of their devout faith. The
ministers and trombone choir stand apart, and the service proceeds with
song and responsive readings. The atmosphere of reverence and hope
pervades this company on the chilly morning of early spring, as they
confess their faith in the glorious resurrection and celebrate the
triumph of their loved ones in Christ. The appearance of the sun over
the hill is the signal for the outburst of a hymn of adoration and
praise, to the accompaniment of the trombones. This Easter service,
begun in the church and concluded in the cemetery, is a memorable
occasion, attended by thousands from all parts of the country, as has
been done for many years. It is a testimony to a virile and victorious
Christianity which sings, "Christ the Lord is risen today, Hallelujah!"
Here is a fine Easter anthology from a sermon by Dr. George Elliott in
_The Methodist Review_, which reminds us of what
Hymn Writers Tell of Heaven
"Listen to Cardinal Newman, the Roman Catholic, as in the delicately
beautiful poem, 'Lead, Kindly Light,' he dreams and speaks about the
time when:
'The night is gone
And in the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.'
"And then Isaac Watts, the Nonconformist, has no gloomy view when he
says:
'Give me the wings of faith to rise
Within the veil and see
The saints above, how great their joys,
How bright their glories be.'
"And John Fawcett, the Baptist, who has written the very finest hymn of
Christian fellowship, 'Blest Be the Tie That Binds,' sings for us:
'When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.
From sorrow, toil and pain,
And sin we shall be free;
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.'
"And Muhlenberg, the Episcopalian, joins in the chorus that the
poet-choir are singing, and lifts his gaze to that heavenly country, and
exultantly sings:
'Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet,
Their Saviour and brethren transported to greet;
While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll,
And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul.'
"And Bonar, the Presbyterian, will not be left behind as he sings of the
land
'Where none shall beckon us away,
Nor bid our festival be done;
Our meeting time the eternal day,
Our meeting place the eternal throne.
Then, hand in hand, firm linked at last,
And heart to heart enfolded all,
We'll smile upon the troubled past
And wonder why we wept at all.'
"And best of all, Charles Wesley, who doubtless has been appointed to
lead the choirs of heaven when the angel chorister is tired, sings for
us, and with us:
'Come, let us join our friends above
That have obtained the prize,
And on the eagle wings of love
To joys celestial rise:
. . . . . . . . .
One family we dwell in Him,
One church, above, beneath,
Though now divided by the stream,
The narrow stream, of death:
One army of the living God,
To His command we bow;
Part of His host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now.
. . . . . . . . .
O that we now might grasp our Guide!
O that the word were given!
Come, Lord of hosts, the waves divide,
And land us all in heaven!'"
It was a great open-air service when we were favored with
Salvation Army Music on Easter Morning
Brooklyn's Easter Dawn Service in 1930 found ten thousand people
assembled at Prospect Park Plaza for a community gathering under the
auspices of the Brooklyn Federation of Churches. The first in the order
of worship was a selection by the Salvation Army Band.
"Low in the grave He lay--
Jesus, my Saviour!
Waiting the coming day--
Jesus, my Lord!
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes;
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign:
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!"
It was so appealingly appropriate that every listener seemed to be
touched, and men quietly lifted their hats even though the morning was
cool.
The band led the various hymns, the closing one of which was--
"All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all."
What proved to be the climax of this exhilarating service was reached
when the Salvation Army band left the scene playing their favorite
marching song of conquest, "Onward, Christian Soldiers!"
How the good we do comes back to us is seen in a familiar hymn,
Sung by and for Sankey
When lying in weakness and the darkness of blindness the musical genius
of the evangelistic world, Ira D. Sankey, was visited by Dr. F. B.
Meyer, of London, a long-time friend. "Would you like me to sing
something for you?" asked Sankey as Meyer was about to leave. Then he
began: "There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes."
Though weak, he continued through all four stanzas, ending with
"There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes,
There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes;
And a joyful meeting when Jesus comes
To gather His loved ones home."
On an Easter morning a group of young people went to the home of Sankey
in Brooklyn, when he was in his last illness, and outside the window
amid the morning sunshine sang the hymn which he had sung to thousands
of others, and which he greatly cherished: "There'll Be No Dark Valley
When Jesus Comes."
The thoughtfulness of these young people was greatly appreciated by the
great evangelistic singer. It was an inspiringly appropriate message for
a sunrise song service on an Easter morning.[29]