I was having a conversation the other day about Advent hymns, and we realized that most of the music we sing during Advent technically falls under the "Christmas" label in hymnals, not Advent.
I wondered, then, how many reasonably-well-known specifically Advent hymns exist.
After polling my Facebook friends and a variety of hymnals, here's our list. (Ones that I'm less convinced of their well-known-ness are further down the list.)
Comment below if you can think of any more!
- Joy to the World
- O Come, O Come Emmanuel
- People Look East
- Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
- Soon and Very Soon
- My Lord, What a Morning
- Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
- Watchmen, Tell Us of the Night
- Light One Candle to Watch for the Messiah
- Prepare the Royal Highway
- Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning
- Freedom is Coming
- Kum Ba Yah
- Wake Awake
- Sleepers, Wake!
- Savior of the Nations Come
- Rejoice, Rejoice Believers
- Christ Be Our Light
- The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came
- On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry
- Comfort, Comfort Ye My People
- Hark the Glad Sound
- Come, Thou Precious Ransom, Come
I'd place "Joy to the World" firmly as a Christmas carol! And we usually sing "On Jordan's Bank" for the baptism of the Lord, at the end of the Christmas season; but I can see it as Advent.
ReplyDeleteCreator of the Stars of Night (either with, or without, the non-chant refrain as included in the Gather hymnal) is a classic for Catholics.
For Francophones, "Venez Divin Messie"/ O Come, Divine Messiah - was a favorite when I was growing up in a town with French-Canadian heritage.
For non-hymnody, "My Soul in Stillness Waits" is based on the O Antiphons; "God of Day and God of Darkness" and "Each Winter as the Year Grows Older" both have good social justice Advent themes.
And, although not Advent-specific, any setting or paraphrase of the Magnificat also works. :)
Probably not actually wellknown, but two of my favorites are two separate settings of "Rise Up, Jerusalem" from the Glory & Praise songbook: musically, one is very solemn, and one is a joyful shout of praise (and a lot of fun to play!).
Thanks for your thoughts and perspective, Victoria!
ReplyDeleteI guess I could go both ways on "Joy to the World". I've had it explained to me that because of the line "let every heart prepare him room," it could reasonably go with Advent, and in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW, or cranberry) hymnal, it happens to fall in the Advent section. On the flip side, the blue Presbyterian Church (USA) hymnal I grew up with has it in the Christmas section.
Hm, I see your point. I always parsed "The Lord Is Come" as "The Lord *has* come", but I suppose it could be "is coming", at that. :)
DeleteSome other additions to the list, from my mom:
ReplyDelete"Creator of the Stars of Night"
tune: Conditor alme siderum
"To a Maid Whose Name was Mary/ To a Maid Engaged to Joseph"
tune: Annunciation
"Lift Up the Gates Eternal/ King of Glory/Psalm 24"
tune: Gilu Hagalilim
"My Soul Cries Out With a Joyful Shout/Canticle of the Turning"-the Magnificat
tune: Star of the County Down