Christmas in September - Warren Anderson

by Warren Anderson

"Christmastime is here, bringing hope and cheer."  OK, we're a little early, but worship leaders know that summertime is the best time to begin preparing for the Advent and Christmas seasons of ministry.  Here are some of the best of this year's choral offerings.

Gift of Love
David M. Edwards (Consuming Worship)
Worship leader David Edwards teams up with three-time Dove Award-winning singer/songwriter Margaret Becker in this collection of bright, punchy pop, tunes that can be tied together with the accompanying sparse narration to form a cohesive whole or used separately as stand-alone pieces throughout Advent and Christmas.  Eight of the songs are Edwards/Becker collaborations, each featuring the kinds of stylistic touches that made Becker one of the more interesting ccm artists back in the day.  Familiar fare includes nicely updated arrangements of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, the Kirkpatrick setting of "Away in the Manger," and "O Come, Let Us Adore Him."  The SAT (with very occasional and optional B) vocal score and instrumentation for electric instruments (guitar, bass, keyboard) point toward use by contemporary praise choirs with a small, tight ensemble for accompaniment.  (consumingworship.com)

The Mystery and the Majesty
Joseph Martin (Harold Flammer)
Joe Martin writes with what has been described in these pages as a modern-day Broadway sensibility.  His style is generally contemporary enough, but there is a sophistication about his harmonic structure that is not often found in music written for the contemporary church.  In The Mystery and the Majesty we find a number of Martin trademarks.  We hear familiar melodies that span both geography and chronology (the lovely "Carol of Longing," which echoes "Carol of the Birds": France, 1600).  We are introduced to new music that often incorporates interesting multi-ethnic touches ("Advent Jubilation": a stereotypically Jewish minor-key up-tempo piece).  And we follow a sustained theme over the course of the musical (the title sentiment, which highlights the dichotomous nature of the Incarnation in much the same way that Graham Kendrick's classic chorus, "Meekness and Majesty," does in shorter form).  Consider purchasing the Digital Resource Kit for a complete composer's commentary on the musical.  (shawneepress.com).

A Night of Hope
Geron Davis and Bradley Knight (Lillenas)
If you're a fan of big, urban-choir gospel, consider A Night of Hope, crafted by two of choral praise and worship music's top blue-eyed-soul songsmiths, Geron Davis and Bradley Knight.  Subtitled "A Christmas Worship Celebration," this musical can serve in many capacities.  Excerpt individual songs throughout Advent as stand-alone anthems.  Do the entire piece as a Christmas concert.  Or sing it through while utilizing the optional narration for more of a cantata feel.    A Night of Hope features songs from the likes of Babbie Mason, Randy Phillips, Dan Dean, and Dave Clark.  (lillenas.com)

Only Love
Randy Vader and Jay Rouse (PraiseGathering)
In the midst of a season that seems to get more commercial every year (Recession?  What  recession?), it is good to be reminded that only love, the divine love of God, can satisfy us.  Randy Vader and Jay Rouse have been writing musicals together for a long time, and, of late, like Bach and other great composers before them, they are reaping the benefits of having a canon of excellent songs at their disposal.  Only about half of Only Love is new for this musical, but the recycled songs are some of their best-"Gloria in Excelsis Deo!" from A Midnight Clear; "Wise Men from the East," from The Wonders of His Love-but for fans of Vader and Rouse, the familiarity breeds not contempt but comfort.  And the new songs-the gently funky "You Better Get Ready" and the stirring power ballad "Infant Heart of God," in particular-are winners.  Consider ordering the DVD video collection to add a visual component to the presentation.  (praisegathering.com)

The Ornament
Phillip Keveren (LifeWay Worship)
Churches with full-blown drama ministries will wish to consider The Ornament, the story of Harry Keagan, who approaches Christmas this year, for the first time, without his wife of many years.  The poignant story line-at times serious, at times humorous-is augmented by a score that encompasses a similar diversity of moods, from the big-band swing of "Christmas Is Anything but Normal" to the hushed piano-and-chamber-orchestra feel of "In the Bleak Midwinter."  Harry discovers that "What Makes Christmas" is that "The Story Never Changes," a message fit for all to hear.  An interesting side note:  In what has to be a first for church Christmas musicals, interested parties can become a fan of The Ornament on Facebook.  (lifeway.com)

The Promise of Light
Joel Raney (Hope)
Have a good-but-small choir, with not a lot of options for orchestration?  The Promise of Light is for you.  In the past, Joel Raney, one of Hope Publishing's best arrangers, has written several sweeping, majestic concertato-anthem hymn arrangements, many for several different instruments.  Here he limits himself, however, to synth, bass, percussion, and optional handbells-and yet the results sound equally grand, thanks to his deft arranging.  In addition to standard keyboard accompaniment, there is also an optional four-hand piano score (speaking of firsts for church Christmas musicals).  And churches without live-music options of any kind can sing to the accompaniment CD.  Raney enhances the use of a light motif as a leitmotif by supplying optional stage directions for candles that, well, bring to light the themes of the texts, most set to familiar Christmas melodies.  (hopepublishing.com)

Advent and Christmas Wonder, Set 3
Rudy Davenport (MorningStar)
This third set of Advent and Christmas arrangements from the folks at MorningStar offers another welcome batch of carols from all around the world, with a host of styles and colors.  For example, "Go Tell It on the Mountain" features joyous, rollicking, Vince Guaraldi-like phrasings on the chorus and a veritable chromatic fantasy on the verses.  "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" takes the ethereality inherent in this plainsong chant and adds shimmering right-hand figures on top of an arpeggiated left-hand foundation.  And "It Came upon the Midnight Clear" echoes the quiet pulsations of a George Winston.  Your pianist will love this collection, ten songs that will serve wonderfully for preludes, offertories, or postludes.  (morningstarmusic.com)

Candles & Carols
Mark Hayes (Lorenz) 
Here's a perfect and relatively short (25 minutes) Advent service, complete with options for congregational participation at a number of levels.  Using the traditional connotations of the five Advent candles (hope, peace, joy, love, Christ), Hayes utilizes familiar fare ("Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus," "Silent Night") for maximum audience-participation potential.  Always-poignant Pamela Martin provides the optional narration.  As with many of these types of services, the songs can be sung individually, over the four weeks of Advent and Christmas Eve, if preferred.  (lorenz.com) 

Holly & Ivy: A Service for Hanging of the Green
arr. John Purifoy (Brookfield Press)
If you're part of a mainline denomination, chances are that you sometimes have a hanging-of-the-green celebration early in Advent as a way to welcome in the Yuletide season.  If so, here is a terrific and easily learned work written specifically for just such a service.  Veteran arranger Purifoy has taken classic Christmas songs and woven them together thematically around the unchanging nature of God, symbolically represented by the titular evergreen (i.e., unchanging) plants.  Use the choirtrax CD or, if your personnel allows, purchase the chamber orchestra parts.  (halleonard.com)

How Great Our Joy!: Choral and Instrumental Introductions to 12 Best-Known Christmas Carols
arr. David T. Clydesdale (Clydesdale & Clydesdale)
Here's a really handy collection that can be used on a number of levels.  Take any of the 12 carols (all the faves are here) and use the introduction and one verse as a segue into the first song in your worship set.  Or use one of the songs here as a short transition between numbers.  (The fact that each short arrangement comes in a standard and an alternate key is helpful here.)  Or use an entire arrangement (all the verses are here) as a call to worship or closing hymn.  Purchase the enhanced CD to get printable PDF files and printable, transposable Finale files, so that if you really want to do "Joy to the World" in B major, you can go right ahead and do so.  This is a resource you will come back to year after year.  (wordmusic.com)

Rejoice!: A Soulful Celebration of the Season
Bradley Knight, Geron Davis, and Luke Gambill (Jubilation!) 
If you've never laid ears on any of the offerings in Brentwood-Benson's Jubilation series, let this be your Christmas present to yourself this season.  A collection of old standards and newer songs done in funky, urban-gospel style, Rejoice! will just dare that Scrooge in your congregation not to break forth into a hearty "God bless us, everyone!"  Old standards include "Joy to the World" (the McElroy/Joubert arrangement from a few years back) and the "Angel Praise Medley" (with "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" and "Angels We Have Heard on High").  Newer songs include Davis' title cut, Tommy Walker's "I Vow to Worship You," and Andraé Crouch's "Take Me to Jesus."  Davis' narrations are short and to the point, leaving the emphasis on the music, which more than speaks for itself.  And if you find yourself needing a little more of this rejoicing, check out past collections Joy! and Glory!, both arranged by Dave Williamson.  (brentwoodbenson.com) 

SSA Howard Helvey Christmas
Howard Helvey (Beckenhorst)
Howard Helvey is one of the most creative arrangers of sacred music writing today, and this assortment of five ladies' Christmas anthems will appeal to churches pursuing blended or traditional worship.  Helvey arranges with a deft ear for smooth-flowing vocal lines and unexpected harmonic structure, which makes the arrangements here both fairly easy to sing and very pleasing to hear.  Included are "Glory of Christmas," "Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine," "Love Came Down at Christmas," "Sing We Now of Christmas," and "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day."  (beckenhorstpress.com)  

 

 

 

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