Today
is the Third Sunday in Advent and past time to share a true
Advent Carol. As you might recall churches that honor the liturgical
calendar traditionally did not sing Christmas
hymns and carols until Christmas Eve
and continued singing them until the Feast
of the Epiphany. The Advent season
had its own songs, the best known of which is O Come O Come Emanuel. In practice many American churches blur the distinction these days.
Each
Christian denomination has its own selection of Advent carols in their hymnals, some widely shared with others, some unique and tailored to
the sect’s particular Christology or
theology.
Among
the loveliest is People
Look East. The lyrics were written by London poet/writer Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) best known for her
text to the Irish tune Bunessan,
and Morning
Has Broken which became a pop
hit for Cat Stevens as well as children’s poems. Originally
titled Carol of Advent, it appeared in the Oxford Book of Carols in 1928
as a “Modern text written or adapted to a traditional tune. The tune
was Besançon, a spritely French carol or dance melody from the Franche-Comté
region. Its popularity grew when it
was included in the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
at King's College, Cambridge which was broadcast nationally by the BBC.
It
took a while to catch on in the U.S. Neither the 1948 or 1981 editions of the Episcopal Hymnal included it. It
has since become a favorite of choir directors especially among High Church Anglicans and Lutherans but has also made it into the
Unitarian Universalist Singing
the Living Tradition.
Today’s
version was featured by the impressive Houston
Chamber Choir under the direction of Robert
Simpson in their 2013 Christmas
concert.
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