(no subject)

[tree_and_leaf]

1 O come, O come, Emmanuel!
Redeem thy captive Israel,
That into exile drear is gone
Far from the face of God's dear Son.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

2 O come, thou Branch of Jesse! draw
The quarry from the lion's claw;
From the dread caverns of the grave,
From nether hell thy people save.

3 O come, O come, thou Dayspring bright!
Pour on our souls thy healing light;
Dispel the long night's lingering gloom,
And pierce the shadows of the tomb.

4 O come, thou Lord of David's Key!
The royal door fling wide and free;
Safeguard for us the heavenward road,
And bar the way to death's abode.

5 O come, O come, Adonaï,
Who in thy glorious majesty
From that high mountain clothed with awe
Gavest thy folk the elder law.

(This is the 'Anglican' version by TA Lacey, as found in the English Hymnal and its successor the NEH, though that's a bit of a misnomer, as the other familiar translation - which I grew up singing in my Presbyterian days - is by JM Neale, who was very definitely Anglo-Catholic. I can't decide which I prefer (though I do think Neale's verse three is better, and his v 5 does contain the line 'in cloud and majesty and awe' - but he doesn't have good lions). I took these words primarily because that's what the choirboys are singing. If you're interested, there's a comparison of the versions here, which also links to the Advent Antiphons, on which the hymn is based.)

Comments

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite hymns, which I would request (if asked) in school assemblies (when we had them, so that's up to the age of thirteen) as soon as it was decently near December... thank you. (I'll look at the Neale version later!)

[tree_and_leaf]

Mine too (and this illustrates the fallacy that what children want from church - or whatever - is Shiny New Modern Stuff, when in fact it depends, like everything else, on the individual)

Of course, this might help explain where your relatives got the Abp of Cantaur idea from...

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Possibly...

Finally got round to looking at the other versions and think that I've been exposed to both the Neale and Watts versions before, under protest. I'd not come across the Great Advent Antiphon, though.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Another goodie! Thank you!

[tree_and_leaf]

Well, you can'd go wrong with Ancient Advent hymns. They're just good.

[wychwood]

Bizarrely, I appear to have mostly sung a freakish mixture of the two versions - I'm definitely used to the Watts/Neale chorus, but the *verses* I recognise are Watts (2 + 3) and Lacey (4 + 5)! No, I don't know either.

Either way around, it's still my favourite Advent hymn!

[tree_and_leaf]

It's certainly one of mine (I really like "Creator of the Starry Height", too).

Producing a hybrid translation seems a bit odd... I think Hymns Ancient and Modern (the old fashioned low/ broad Anglican hymnal, in distinction to the English Hymnal/ New English Hymnal, which is broad-to-high) uses JM Neale; the 'successor' volume, Common Praise, which came out a year or so ago uses Neale. I didn't know the Watts translation existed....

[wychwood]

Yeah; to be honest, I suspect that I've just sung both versions and mashed them together in my head. It's just which bits I remember... (I have something similar with "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear").

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

We sang a mixture of German and English carols at the Lutheran church's Weinachtsbasaar- this was one of the English ones. Sadly we didn't sing Kommet Ihr Hirten... but I love this one, especially when sung by a lot of people.

[tree_and_leaf]

Kommet Ihr Hirten's good too, although it does remind me strongly of recorder lessons as a kid, which may not be an association you want.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

My favourite Advent hymn - as long as it's sung at a decent pace! ;-) (which this one is, I hasten to add!)

[tree_and_leaf]

Glad it meets with your approval *g*