7QT: Great Christmas Music edition, 12/27/14

I enjoy singing in my parish choir on large feast days--the choir splits into parts and the instruments blend together with the voices to concoct a heavenly melody.  I sang in the midnight Mass choir this year, and it was a moving experience.  The musicians were incredible, and the vocal talent (myself aside) was impressive.  I felt like we were standing with the angels, singing the praises of the Lord around the heavenly throne.  

In honor of all those who have laid their musical talent down in service of the King of Kings, here are 7 quick takes on great Christmas songs.  Merry Christmas!!!!

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The Coventry Carol, by the singers of King's College, Cambridge.  Beautiful polyphony!  

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Gaudete, by the all-female group Medieval Baebes (bonus points for the funny name & spelling).  They're kind of new agey, but this is a nice offering from their Christmas album.  

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"O Holy Night" takes a big voice to get the most out of the composition... and Celine Dion has a big voice.

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"What Child Is This" is one of my favorites, and there are many, many good versions out there.  One I just discovered is by a trio of women, the Gardiner Sisters.  I love the harmony they do on the chorus!

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"Silent Night" was originally written for guitar, but that hasn't stopped musicians from around the world from translating it into their own language and into a gorgeous choral arrangement.  This version is performed by The King's Singer.

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Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

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Nat King Cole's Christmas album is a standard in our house every year.  One of those guys that makes singing sound effortless!  I haven't heard this carol, "A Cradle in Bethlehem," anywhere else other than this album.  It's too bad--a lovely, peaceful song that fits the season perfectly.  

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Preface of Praise: 2nd Advent Preface

This is the second of the two prefaces used in Advent.  For some thoughts on the first one, click here.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

For all the oracles of the prophets foretold Him, 

the Virgin Mother longed for Him 

with love beyond all telling, 

John the Baptist sang of His coming 

and proclaimed His presence when He came.

It is by His gift that already we rejoice at the mystery of His Nativity, 

so that He may find us watchful in prayer

and exultant in His praise.  

And so, with Angels and Archangels...

After the usual introduction, the preface mentions the oracles of the prophets twice.  Yes, the prophets foretold Him: Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi, and more prepared the way of the Lord in the Old Testament.  The preface then names two figures who were objects of some of the prophecies, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist.  In 1:23, Matthew directs us to Isaiah 7:14: "behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel."  Both Matthew and Luke cite the Old Testament prophet, saying that John the Baptist "is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"  The duo of Mary and John exemplify the Advent virtues of waiting, faithfulness, and preparing for the Messiah.

The inclusion of Mary in this preface is a good reminder to us that this is her special season.  She's the perfect model for us in any aspect of Christian living, but in Advent especially.  She displayed great trust in God to accept His plan of the Incarnation.  When her cousin Elizabeth exclaimed joy at Mary's coming, Mary's response was a song of praise to God: "my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord..."  She could have given any other response ("thanks, nice to see you too") and chose to praise God.  If

The final portion of the preface references Jesus' coming in a way that includes in three tenses.  We rejoice that He has come already, in the past tense.  He was born, grew up, engaged in His public ministry, was put to death, and rose from the dead.  Christ also comes to us in the present--entering the hearts of all of us, if we let Him.  Conversion is an ongoing process that we should be engaging in until our dying day.  The third and final coming is Christ's triumphant return at the end of time; all things will be revealed, and we'll see a new heaven and a new earth.

All that, encapsulated in one prayer!  In the prefaces, we pray with the entire Church, as she urges us along with the Lord, to "put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch" (Luke 5:4).  

7 Quick Takes: Advent edition, 12/13/14

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I realize this should probably start with a religious post, but... the teaser for the new Star Wars movie came out!!!  A couple weeks ago, but it was released since I last wrote.  Many serious SW fans are worried that the hiring of J.J. Abrams will destroy the integrity of the franchise.  I share their fears, although I don't have the same hatred for J.J.  First, the prequels sucked.  Bad.  Can J.J. do any worse than George Lucas?  At this point, I'm choosing to answer 'no.'  Second, even if Episode 7 isn't great, it has to be fun, at least.  Kind of like J.J.'s Star Trek movies.  

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Need good listening for Advent?  Try the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles.  In the glut of Christmas music, they made an album specifically for Advent, Advent at Ephesus.  It's on my iTunes.  Beautiful!  

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Also on the notes of Advent, and adding in some shameless self-promotion: I've written about prefaces before, and I've written on one of the two Advent prefaces.  By the way, the preface is the prayer that immediately precedes the "Holy, Holy, Holy" at Mass.  For a longer explanation (much longer), check this out.  The prayers cover lots of ground theologically; the mysteries of our faith are packed into this joyful prayer.  Advent has two prefaces, and here's my reflection on the first one.  

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There is something magical about the Christmas season!  The lights on the tree, all of the ornaments (some that have been with me my whole life), Christmas lights on the house, and the cheesy B-movies on Hallmark and Lifetime.

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As my book for Advent, I've picked up Pope Benedict's The Infancy Narratives, the third installment in his Jesus of Nazareth series.  He's very insightful, you'd think he'd been studying & reflecting on the Scriptures his whole life.  Whereas the first Jesus of Nazareth book was a little more of a thick read, this is easier without being any less substantial.   

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The Dodgers made a flurry of deals this week, and only time will tell how good they were.  Still, it looks like we're off to a great start in the offseason.  They signed a fourth starting pitcher, and traded for a better catcher, a new second baseman, and a better shortstop.  People around the league say that the Dodgers have a very gifted front office--I trust them more than previous regimes.  

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Yeah, can't think of anything to fill this last one, as usual.  

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