Stories behind the Carols - Sunday Dec. 23, 2007

Merry Christmas from the Garners -

You've got to check out our elf song here

www.elfyourself.com/?id=1511856864

"Shout to the North"
Click here to read about Martin Smith http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Smith_(songwriter)
Click here to worship along with Delirious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BUe_8I4j54
Click here to worship along with Charlie Hall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBuakvHqE9E&mode=related&search=

"Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee"
The music for this hymn is by Ludwig van Beethoven . Taken from the fourth and final movement of his Ninth Symphony (completed in 1824), for four solo voices, chorus, and orchestra.
You can sing several different texts to this great hymn. We'll sing two Christmas verses this Sunday -

"Joyful, Joyful, we adore You,

God of glory, Lord of light;

Angels lifting praise before You

sing thoughout this holy night

In a manger lies a Baby,

child of Mary, son of God.

Voices joined in joyful chorus

praise you for Your gift of love."

All Your works declare Your glory;

All creation, joins to sing

Praise resounds as earth rejoices

in the birth of Christ, the King.

Shepherds kneel before the infant.

Trumpets sound and anthems raise

As with joy our hearts are lifted,

joined in wonder, love and praise"

*these verses were adapted by Linda Lee Johnson
Click here for Leonard Bernsteins' rendition of "Ode to Joy"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZJ1Tgf4JL8
Click here to listen to a hammered dulcimar
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VGhhxzP364
Click here to hear it on a clawhammer Banjo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPsnX4HWTCg
click here to hear it played on chimes
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h54Zn47OZ0g
Click here for a German choir - absolutely beautiful
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMGKPajKs08

"Hallelujah Chorus"
The worship choir will sing a newer arrangement of the "Hallelujah Chorus" by Handel, click here for more reading on the song and the oratorio "The Messiah"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_%28Handel%29#The_.22Hallelujah_Chorus.22
Click here for an article on whether you should stand when the song is sung or not - makes for interesting reading
www.lafolia.com/archive/skyley/skyley200412messiah.html
another article with several views on this
www.festival-singers.org.nz/haleluia.htm

Click here for the Robert Shaw version
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFXTJQY2SY4
Here is a fun youtube video that actually has the music where you can follow along
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnHksDFHTQI
Here is an interesting arrangement
www.youtube.com/watch?v=phhqYXTA5dA
Here is the arrangement that the choir will be singing Sunday with Anthony Berger playing the piano
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGG_Of0ccYM

"It came upon a midnight clear"
Click here to read more about this carol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Came_Upon_the_Midnight_Clear
Click here to listen to Josh Groban
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DottUe8PSk8
Click here for a great acapella arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuBI9mkWY
here is an arrangement from Perry Como that starts with Happy Holidays:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NnnmnY_TGo

"Here I am to Worship"
We're adding the lyrics from "Away in a Manger" to this song for the second vers:
Click here to listen to the story behind the song by Tim Hughes.www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-196-HereIAmtoWorship-Hughes.mp3
Click here to worship along with Darlene Zschech in Australia leading the song.www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2d10n1Cpcc&mode=related&search=
Click here to read more about the composer Tim Hugheswww.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/worship/1227531/

"Hark the Herald, Angels Sing"
Click here to read more about his carol by Charles Wesley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark!_The_Herald_Angels_Sing
Click here to hear Jewell sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUqtKJ13eH4
Click here for the Mariah Carey arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWQzmb3xjn8
Click here for an acapella arrangement from the Duke's Co-ed Acapella choir
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLZlWmpDMTY

"Angels we have heard on High"
Click here to read more about this French carol:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_We_Have_Heard_on_High
Click here for a guitar arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBGAPYHx9gs
Click here for the Westminster choir arrangment:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2hsQS79YS8
Click here if you want to see a guy play the song on a big piece of Brocolli
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14

Sermon Sunday is titled "Those who held our Lord"
Simeon Luke 2: 25-35

Offertory Sunday is Jennifer Reynolds singing "One Child"
click here to preview the song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND9uOzw-TZg

Stories behind the Carols - Sunday Dec. 16, 2007

"Joy To The World"
One of our most popular Christmas carols is the result of the efforts of Isaac Watts and Lowell Mason—and, some believe, George Frederick Handel. Watts was a frail, quiet man only five feet tall. Mason was an energetic publisher, choir director, and composer. Handel was a large, robust musical genius. Handel and Watts were contemporaries in London and one imagines they must have appreciated each other's talents. Mason lived 100 years later in Boston.
In 1719 Isaac Watts, already a notable scholar and author, sat down under a tree at the Abney Estate near London and began to compose poetry based on Psalm 98. Watts had begun writing verses as a small child. In his teen years he complained that the songs in church were hard to sing. His father said, "Well, you write some that are better." And so he did. For the next two years, young Isaac wrote a new hymn each week. (He would eventually write more than 600 of them, all based on Scripture.) Today, hymns like "Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed" and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" are hallmarks of the Christian church, and Watts is regarded as "the Father of English Hymnody."
In 1741 George Frederick Handel, who was already famous as the composer of several operas and oratorios, decided that he wanted to do a truly great work. After spending time in prayer, he arose from his knees and for 23 days labored almost continuously day and night. The immortal Messiah, now a Christmas tradition, was the fruit of that incessant struggle.
A nobleman once praised Handel for the "entertainment" he had furnished in one of his compositions. In no uncertain terms Handel let the nobleman know that his music was composed to make men better, not to entertain them.
Almost a century later, Lowell Mason set Watts's poem of "joy" to music. For years it was assumed that Mason used tunes from Handel's Messiah for portions of the arrangement, but the veracity of that claim is now debated among scholars. Listeners can judge for themselves. But this we know: It was Mason who ultimately brought the pieces together to give us "Joy to the world"
Click here to listen to the acapella group Take 6:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=evywpq32Oa0
Click here to listen to the Vienna Boys choir:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlhWQhtTfq4
Click here if you like Michael Bolton:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXY8Vtnrsxc
Click here to listen to a Mannheim Steamroller version: www.youtube.com/watch?v=inhQTvEhsiU
Click here for a solo guitar version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiVamM-Uk6A

"Go Tell It On The Mountain"
Go Tell It on the Mountain, was the product of the prayers and faith of an unknown slave, probably before the Civil War. He was probably unable to read the Bible, but gleaning from stories he had heard, he imagined the emotions of the shepherds and wise men, though he did not mention them specifically.
Click here to read about the story behind the song:
www.niu.edu/PubAffairs/RELEASES/2004/nov/carol04.shtml
Click here for a Bob Marley arrangement of the carol:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkUjtl3sH_k
Click here for the Aretha Franklin arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-HHh-pSkiA
Click here for the Dolly Parton arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpSGps6Uqco
Click here for the Peter, Paul & Mary arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0nAyWVp-hY&feature=related
Click here for an acapella arrangement by the Voices of Liberty:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=es4UglURN9k
Click here for a great jazz arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBh4Y2m6Vqc&feature=related

"Carol of the Bells"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_of_the_Bells
click here to listen to the George Winston arrangement
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JYrOMK1aDA
click here for a Celtic arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tNbsQ8eDbA
Click here for the Tucson Boys choir
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6TL1ll4nWo
Click here for the Bradford Barlow arrangement the choir will be singing:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E74x_mdblWg

"O Little Town Of Bethlehem"
Click here for the story behind the song:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Little_Town_of_Bethlehem
Click here for a traditional choir arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql0CnTY49mc
Click here if your a Nat King Cole enthusiast:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWq8HxloB6Q
Click here if Kenny Rodgers is your style:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIEVhgqMHso
Click here if you like Elvis:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLTUqVv6Klc
Click here for a contemporary arrangement of the song by First Call:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS7YK2CRfRs

"Untitled Hymn (Come To Jesus)"
"Untitled Hymn"This song by Chris Rice was on his recording "Run the earth and watch the sky". What a great name for a recording.
Click here to learn more about Chris
www.christianmusic.com/chrisrice/bio.html
Click here to worship along with the song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=39XD1ImxGWw&mode=related&search=
Click here to listen to worship along with song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_4g8_e16dc&mode=related&search=

"Away in a Manger"
Away in a manager is always the first carol that children are taught. Away in a Manger was originally published in 1885. The publication of Away in a Manger was in a Lutheran Sunday school book and this created the misconception that the lyrics of Away in a Manger were actually written by Martin Luther himself. The author is unknown. The music to Away in a Manger was composed by William J. Kirkpatrick in 1895.

Click here to read more about the Carol:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Away_in_a_Manger
Click here to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJO15vuC8g0
Click here to hear a great contemporary arrangement by Third Day
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s96m4Kk5BGU
Click here to listen to a Celtic arrangement
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOJb6uOF05Q

Stories behind the Carols - Sunday Dec. 9, 2007

"Glory to God in the Highest"
This gospel song was written by Daryl Williams. Click here to read more about his trio and Daryls' ministry:
http://darylwilliamstrio.net/index.php
Click here to listen to the Old Friends quartet sing the song on a Gaither video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tYaI7UL_NE
Click here to hear Ernie Hasses' quartet sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKMrhp5uS3g

"Everlasting"
Brenton Brown wrote this song after both he and his wife had being diagnosed with Chronic fatigue syndromeGreat song by Brenton Brown, check him out here. http://www.brentonbrownmusic.com/
Click here to listen to him share about how the song came about
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YePOcs88kqw
Click here to listen to Lincoln Brewsters' arrangement
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP2nz6PG8KM&mode=related&search=
Click here to listen to Brenton Brown & Paul Baloche
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bLWwnVBuF8

"Angels From the Realms of Glory"
James Montgomery was the son of Missionaries who went to the West Indies and left their son in a boarding school when he was only 6 years old. While his devout parents shared the gospel, their son was shuttled from home to home. He failed at school. He failed as a baker's apprentice. But, he could write poetry. In time, he worked for The Sheffield Register, a radical newspaper which he later bought out and renamed, The Iris. Because of addressing sensitive political issues in his paper, twice Mr. Montgomery was fined and imprisoned.On Christmas Eve, 1816, at the age of 45, James published his poem, "Angels from the realms of glory," in his paper.The stirring tune, Regent Square came from the pen of the blind musician composer, Henry Smart who was born in 1813 and lived until 1879. The name Regent Square was taken from the most prominent Presbyterian Church in London. Montgomery produced more than 400 hymns, surpassed only by Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts in the number of hymns now in general use throughout Christendom.
Click here to listen to an organ arrangement with Chimes
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-t7koyC9QE&feature=related

"This is Christmas"
These are great words set to the tune of "Silver Bells". I'm really not sure where I got the words, but because the tune is so familiar, it works well in worship. Here are the alternate christmas lyrics that can be sung to "Silver Bells".

"This is Christmas, This is Christmas
Every pure heart is filled,
with a song that is praising the Saviour
For the glory and the blessing
that has brightened our way,
Since Jesus was born on that day
Wonderful (echo) Counselor (echo)
Down from His throne to a manger
Mighty God (echo) Prince of Peace (echo) Soon he is coming again"

Click here to read more about the song "Silver Bells"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bells

Click here to listen to John Denver sing "Silver Bells"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=djfgoGAEU4E

"Good Christian men Rejoice"
This is a 14th Century Latin carol, translated by John M. Neale (1818-1866). The original Latin title of this song is "In Dulci Jubilo" meaning "in sweet shouting". This is known as a "macaronic carol" because it combines 2 or more languages. In this case, German and Latin.........with a 19th Century English rendering by Mr. Neale.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Dulci_Jubilo
Click here to hear a brass arrangement
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftdtocjj7i4

"One Day"
This is a new arrangement of an old hymn by Michael Bleaker worship pastor at the Village church in Flower Mound. The words were penned by J. Wilbur Chapman.Click here to play the song - scroll down to new worship songs
www.firsthurst.com/HURST_worship_resources.php
Michael on worship:
"At the Village church , we believe that worship is our response - both personal and corporate - to God for Who He is and what He has done, expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live."
One day when Heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my Example is He!
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He’s coming—O glorious day!
One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain,
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected:
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!
One day they left Him alone in the garden,
One day He rested, from suffering free;
Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil;
Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He!
One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door;
Then He arose, over death He had conquered;
Now is ascended, my Lord evermore!
One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,
One day the skies with His glories will shine;
Wonderful day, my belovèd ones bringing;
Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!

Offertory "Breath of Heaven"
Amy Grant wrote this song. In 1992 she produced her second studio Christmas album, Home For Christmas. The album was a smash success, going multi-platinum and earning acclaim for its large symphonic arrangements. "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)", a song which told the nativity story from Mary's perspective, was one of the album's biggest successes. Grant had been pregnant with her third child, Sarah Chapman, during the writing of the song and has said that she was inspired by her pregnancy to reflect on Mary's struggle.
click here to hear Amy Grant sing this song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2egKS4d1oI
Click here to see sign-language of the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrYVd5h5bro&feature=related