The Song of Simeon: Nunc Dimittis

One of the joyous difficulties of this season is finding a way to include in the service all the wonderful hymns and carols that we only get to sing during this time of year. Of course, this is an impossible task—in just four weeks, we can only scratch the surface of the rich tradition of Advent and Christmas hymnody. This week, I’d like to draw your attention to several pieces that you may be less familiar with. O Savior Dear, Thy Manger Here was written by Paul Gerhardt, one of the most beloved hymn-writers in the Lutheran tradition. The gentle, lullaby-like hymn is a study in contrasts: the humble manger is a paradise of glory; He who calms the winds and seas is given to us as an infant. Similarly, David Johnson’s arrangement of the American folk carol Lovely Child, Holy Child marvels at the image of Jesus as a baby, capturing a sense of child-like wonder with a simple rhyme scheme and glorious “blue” note in the refrain. Gentle Mary Laid Her Child completes our trio of unfamiliar infancy related carols (not to mention the better-known ones like What Child Is This and Infant Holy, Infant Lowly). The twentieth century text is given an old-world flavor by setting it to the melody TEMPUS ADEST FLORIDUM, a sixteenth century tune from the Finnish collection Piae Cantiones—you probably know it better as the tune for John Mason Neale’s “Good King Wenceslas.” Originally a melody used by a cathedral school in Finland, this stately melody has been bringing Christmas cheer for centuries. —Henry C. Haffner