Most Sunday evenings I am privileged to sing the service of Compline at Christ Church in Savannah, GA. (Type in "final preces" on you-tube and you can see/hear us) Along with a lot of chant-like music, we insert the occasional shape note song, including Evening Shade, Hebron, Hallelujah (from the Sacred Harp) and Evening Hymn from the Northern Harmony (same text as Evening Shade but with tune by Elisha West.) Does anyone know of other songs, perhaps in other books, that would be appropriate for this service of "saying good-night to God"? Although songs with "sweet" harmonies are preferred, the 16-voice choir really enjoys the fugue-like Evening Hymn. (Now, if only I could get these people to come to our monthly Sacred Harp singings!)
> Most Sunday evenings I am privileged to sing the service of Compline at
> Christ Church in Savannah, GA. (Type in "final preces" on you-tube and you
> can see/hear us) Along with a lot of chant-like music, we insert the
> occasional shape note song, including Evening Shade, Hebron, Hallelujah
> (from the Sacred Harp) and Evening Hymn from the Northern Harmony (same text
> as Evening Shade but with tune by Elisha West.) Does anyone know of other
> songs, perhaps in other books, that would be appropriate for this service of
> "saying good-night to God"? Although songs with "sweet" harmonies are
> preferred, the 16-voice choir really enjoys the fugue-like Evening Hymn.
> (Now, if only I could get these people to come to our monthly Sacred Harp
> singings!)
Lyrics -- Mary Lathbury (Unitarian minister's daughter)
Day is dying in the west Heav'n is touching earth with rest Wait and watching, while the night, Sets her evening lamps alight though all the sky.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts Heav'n and earth are full of Thee Heav'n and earth are praising Thee O God Most High!
7-7-7-7-4; 6-4; 7-7-4.
(nice metrical challenge for composers) (6-4; 7-7-4 begging to be set as a fuge)
(fermata over "sky" because of transition from celestial imagery to mysterium tremendum et fascinans (slightly higher tessitura for that part of the song) (but basses going lower).
And this one too, should be look-uppable on WWW.
Now the day is over, night is drawing nigh shadows of the evening steal across the sky.
Nothing can replace a Sunday evening hymnsing, out of doors, preferably at the shore of a lake rimmed by mountains, singing these sunset hymns precisely at the time of sunset, a community in tune with the cosmos, the "Music of the Spheres" transcending everything imagined by Pythagoras and Plato and piratical wannabees busily downloading MP3 files over the Net.
The following is one I like (the 3rd verse might be a little stark for the purpose), but I know of no printed version set to music:
An Autumnal Prayer. By D. O. Parker We all do fade as a leaf, Isa. 64:6 8s. (6 lines) 1. What makes the leaves, so green today, Tomorrow, fall and fade away? The worm, the frost, the storm and age, Does each its chosen leaf engage, And in its own peculiar way; Remorseless, makes the leaf its prey. 2. The tender leaf upon the flower, Oft comes and fades within an hour; Some ripe with age the leaves do fade, And in their winter graves are laid; And hence it comes, God’s word so true, - The faded leaf to all is due. 3. The cradle yields its infant charms, Torn rudely from its mother’s arms, And no discharge has youth or age, The Jew or Gentile, saint or sage, And oh, the time is sadly brief! Probation for our faded leaf. 4. Great God, who makes all bud and bloom, Whose glory halos e’en the tomb, When come our fading leaves and breath, We lonely ford the stream of death; O grant us then as now, Thy grace, In Jesus’ love a resting place.
Songs of this meter in the Sacred Harp are: Cooper 197 Edwards 202 New Lebanon 402 Protection 416b Vernon 543 Consecration 548 The God of Love Denson 95 Vernon 202 New Lebanon 402 Protection 448t Consecration
Just thought I'd mention it. It would require putting together words and an appropriate tune before it could be used.
> From: Gene Pinion <g...@savannahmusicfestival.org> > Subject: [fasola-discussions] good-night music > To: fasola-discussions@googlegroups.com > Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 9:06 AM > Most Sunday > evenings I am privileged to sing the service of > Compline at Christ Church in Savannah, GA. (Type in > “final preces” > on you-tube and you can see/hear us) Along with a lot of > chant-like music, we insert > the occasional shape note song, including Evening Shade, > Hebron, Hallelujah (from > the Sacred Harp) and Evening Hymn from the Northern Harmony > (same text as Evening > Shade but with tune by Elisha West.) Does anyone know > of other songs, perhaps > in other books, that would be appropriate for this service > of “saying good-night > to God”? Although songs with > “sweet” harmonies > are preferred, the 16-voice choir really enjoys the > fugue-like Evening Hymn. (Now, > if only I could get these people to come to our monthly > Sacred Harp singings!)
It is nice to see "Now the day is over" getting a mention. (I am biassed because it is by my Great Uncle!). The tune in Hymns Ancient and Modern is Eudoxia, which was written by the poet, Sabine Baring Gould. Moody & Sankey give another tune as well (296 in the 1200 edition of Sacred Songs & Solos).
Also worth a look is the West Gallery tradition. The WGMA Red Book gives a nice version of Bishop Ken's 1694 Evening Hymn to the tune Gilgal by William Lonsdale of Bolton 1773-1833.
> Lyrics -- Mary Lathbury
> (Unitarian minister's daughter)
> Day is dying in the west
> Heav'n is touching earth with rest
> Wait and watching, while the night,
> Sets her evening lamps alight
> though all the sky.
> Holy, holy, holy,
> Lord God of Hosts
> Heav'n and earth are full of Thee
> Heav'n and earth are praising Thee
> O God Most High!
> 7-7-7-7-4; 6-4; 7-7-4.
> (nice metrical challenge for composers)
> (6-4; 7-7-4 begging to be set as a fuge)
> (fermata over "sky" because of transition
> from celestial imagery to
> mysterium tremendum et fascinans
> (slightly higher tessitura for that part of the song)
> (but basses going lower).
> And this one too, should be look-uppable on WWW.
> Now the day is over,
> night is drawing nigh
> shadows of the evening
> steal across the sky.
> Nothing can replace a Sunday evening hymnsing, out of doors, preferably at
> the shore of a lake rimmed by mountains, singing these sunset hymns
> precisely at the time of sunset, a community in tune with the cosmos, the
> "Music of the Spheres" transcending everything imagined by Pythagoras and
> Plato and piratical wannabees busily downloading MP3 files over the Net.
Here's some to look at and see if they'd be suitable...
from the NC Christian Harmony:
23-Evening Hymn (alt setting of The day is past and gone)
76b-Night
82b-Nightingale
167-Evening Chant (prob just v1, maybe v2)
186-Brentford(?)
203-Cumberland
225-Kenan
and from the JL White 1911 revision:
58-Pisgah (alt text)
70-Evening
147-Washington (still in the Cooper book)
389t-Harman
455-Vesper
480-Evan
508b-Loftin
550 -t-Heavenly Grace;b-Evening Hymn
Last page of music (ss Dept p 26)-Evening Song
Good luck,
John
On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 10:06 AM, Gene Pinion <g...@savannahmusicfestival.org
> wrote:
> Most Sunday evenings I am privileged to sing the service of Compline at
> Christ Church in Savannah, GA. (Type in “final preces” on you-tube and you
> can see/hear us) Along with a lot of chant-like music, we insert the
> occasional shape note song, including Evening Shade, Hebron, Hallelujah
> (from the Sacred Harp) and Evening Hymn from the Northern Harmony (same text
> as Evening Shade but with tune by Elisha West.) Does anyone know of other
> songs, perhaps in other books, that would be appropriate for this service of
> “saying good-night to God”? Although songs with “sweet” harmonies are
> preferred, the 16-voice choir really enjoys the fugue-like Evening Hymn.
> (Now, if only I could get these people to come to our monthly Sacred Harp
> singings!)
I especially like the "Evening Hymn" (Abide with me chant) that we
close the annual New Year's singing in Elkhart with, but there are
other fine tunes there too.
