No hymn requests having come in overnight, I offer this today, one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Wedding String Quartet.
Don’t forget the Christmas Carol Contest! Currently there are two carols tied for the lead with 18 views each.
It’s not too often that anyone requests this, but I’m in the mood for another Christmas carol and this is the first one that popped into my head: Masters in This Hall, written around 1860 by William Morris and set to an old French dance tune.
And now I have to get that Newswithviews column written! Deadline draws near.
We know these words, don’t we? For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder… (Isaiah 9:6) And we also find them here, in Handel’s Messiah.
Requested by Thewhiterabbit, For Unto Us a Child Is Born, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Phoebe asked for this one, and indeed it just wouldn’t seem right to have Christmas without the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. And let’s go first-class, with the Royal Choral Society at the Albert Hall.
And how they manage to put all these elements together into a flawless work of art… well, I can only stand in awe.
I’m ready for another Christmas carol now!
Requested by Erlene–Christmas Is Believin’, by Carroll Roberson.
Oops. I seem to have accidentally erased a nooze story…
Another Advent hymn, this one requested by our friend SlimJim: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, by Charles Wesley, sung by the Truro Cathedral Choir.
Attention, all readers! Our annual Christmas Carol Contest is under way, and we’d like to see a lot, yes, a lot, of entries!
We enter this hymn in the Christmas Carol Contest because, after all, you can’t have Christmas without Advent.
Requested by Phoebe, On Jordan’s Bank, perfomed by the St. Edmondsbury Cathedral Choir and Orchestra.
I wonder if that beautiful river in the video really is the Jordan. What I wouldn’t give to be floating on it in my little rowboat!
Requested by Tessa, O Come, All You Unfaithful, by Sovereign Grace Music. I had my doubts about that title until I heard the song. As Our Lord Jesus Christ once said, it’s the sick who need the physician, not the healthy (Matthew 9: 9-17).
Meanwhile, the Christmas Carol Contest is open all day! Let more entries follow this one.
My first thought was to limit the number of carols any reader, in one day, could enter into the Christmas Carol Contest. My second thought was, “Why should I do that?” The question having no answer, I’m going with unbridled liberty–enter as many times as you like! We’re not going to run out of Christmas carols!
So we have another entry by Erlene–Emmanuel, performed by Michael W. Smith.
Ooh, look at this… I don’t seem to have any space for nooze today.
Here’s a contest entry from Erlene–O Little Town of Bethlehem, by the Gaither Vocal Band. (The Vocal Bank is another story!)
Hey, we’re doing Christmas cheer all day! Come on in! And tell your friends about it.
No nooze here today–we follow the example of Judah the Maccabee, who didn’t lead his army forth on the Sabbath unless he absolutely had to.