Miles away

Today’s seasonal piece was written for the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis. The movie takes the Smith family through various holidays from summer through year’s end in the eponymous city, just before the 1904 World’s Fair. The family is brought to a crisis at Christmas when the father announces they’re all going to have to move to New York City because he’s got a big promotion.

No one wants to go, not even him (really), but the one who seems most traumatized by the prospect is Tootie (Margaret O’Brien), the youngest daughter. Her older sister Esther (Judy Garland) sings “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to try to console Tootie, but it’s so sad that the kid rushes out and beats her snowman family in the yard to death. That jolts dad into declaring there will be no move, and the next scene is everyone next Spring at the fair.

Well, the song does express emotions that would have been common throughout the world in 1944—tens of millions of families split up, with a good proportion of them actively fighting or closely affected by World War II. There would have been a lot of wistfulness and maybe put-on-a-good-face hope as they prayed for an end to the conflict that was in its sixth winter, just in Western Europe. Therefore, it seems to me an appropriate piece for us this year.

There are a lot of really sappy covers of this, but I’m giving you James Taylor.

May all those who are separated from loved ones—whether by war or other conditions—be reunited soon. And may their hearts be truly light.

 

 

Angels sing

“What Child Is This?” is no doubt familiar to pretty much everyone, sung to the melody of “Greensleeves”. But here’s a different version, from the Cleveland baroque group Apollo’s Fire.

This solo, by soprano Meredith Hall, accompanied by Sylvain Bergeron on the archlute (a new one to me) and Robin Grenon on the harp, is a bit of an outlier for Apollo’s Fire, which gives stunning choral performances. But this reminds me that it’s good to step out of our comfort zone.

As you listen, consider the Ukrainians who are stepping in by the thousand to fill needs whether comfortable or not.

May they and everyone who’s stretched find respite and beauty in this season.

 

 

Three feasts

Today’s Advent carol comes from Ukraine, where it actually…Well, wait; let me back up.

In Ukraine, the Christmas season begins on Christmas Day, which—depending on whether you use the Julian or Gregorian calendar, is celebrated on either 25 December or 7 January. (This is a thing, because the Russian Orthodox church, of which Ukrainian orthodoxy is a branch, considers the Gregorian calendar heretical, used by Roman Catholics and Protestants.) It (the season) also celebrates the Feast of Saint Basil (1/14 January)—old New Year—and Theophany/Epiphany (6/19 January)—the Baptism of Jesus.

The carol “Dobryi vechir tobi” gets all three holidays into the mix. The title translates to “Good evening to you”, and it’s traditionally sung by carolers going from house to house.

The lyrics roughly translate to greeting the master of the house (“hospitable master”) and exhorting all to rejoice at the birth of Christ. Then the host is enjoined to set a table and serve bread made from spring wheat because there are three feast days coming. The chorus is all about rejoicing.

The group singing “Dobryi vechir tobi” is Pikkardiyska Tertsiya, which literally means “Picardy Third”, the musical feature of yesterday’s “Coventry Carol”. They’re a Ukrainian acapella group that’s celebrating 30 years of performing. They focus on Ukrainian music, including folk songs and liturgical pieces. Their song “Plyve Kacha” was played at the funeral of Ukrainian fighters killed in the February 2014 revolution against the Putin puppet Viktor Yanukovych, which culminated in another Russian invasion.

May all who celebrate these holidays be greeted with generous hospitality wherever they travel, be it far or near, and may it be free from fear.

 

 

All children young

From the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine, the invading forces have targeted civilian institutions: apartment blocks, schools, hospitals. One of the earliest stories I read was about a maternity hospital in Kyiv that had been hit by Russian missiles; all those mothers, babies, doctors and nurses carrying on in darkness and rubble.

I think about that in this season, which—after all—is preparation for the birth of a child. Mary was far from home and the support of family, when her time came. Not only that, she wasn’t even in a house after days or weeks of traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem—she and Joseph pitched up at a stable. First pregnancy: unfamiliar surroundings, no relatives nearby; just animals and some random strangers.

That must have been incredibly weird, no?

So today we’re having a lullaby—a rather dark lullaby, because it’s about the Slaughter of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered the murder of all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem. Vladimir Putin and Herod would have got along great; they have a common approach to maintaining power at any cost.

Because it’s a lullaby, I think “The Coventry Carol” is best sung by women, and the Irish group Anúna’s rendering fits that bill.

May mothers and babies around the would be spared the raging of madmen with weapons.

 

 

 

Need a little angel

Today’s, uh, Advent offering is from the musical “Mame”. I’m sharing it to change up the music a bit—the last two days have been solemn. And in Advent we’re allowed to anticipate joy.

If you're unfamiliar with the Auntie Mame story, a freewheeling Manhattan socialite finds her life changed when the orphaned son of her tight-assed brother shows up on her doorstep. Mame’s motto is “Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death.” There’s a turn-up when she loses her fortune post-1929 stock crash; she cycles through several unsuccessful attempts at earning a living, culminating in a disastrous stint in the Macy’s toy department at Christmas.

So when the cast sings “We Need a Little Christmas”, it’s about shedding fear and seizing the spirit of the season. This is certainly applicable for a lot of people who may not have lost fortunes but are worried about any number of things. Finances, hunger, healthcare, missile strikes, power outages, freezing weather…

This recording features Angela Lansbury, who originated the role on Broadway. Since we lost her this year, seems appropriate to have her voice ring out loud.

May all who are in need feel Christmas before our spirit falls again.

 

 

It is well

Gratitude Monday in Advent and I’m grateful for friends who stand by me and with me as I make this journey. Where would anyone be without them?

The same is true for countries—we none of us can afford to turn away from the comity of humanity; such a thing on an individual or national level is exorbitantly costly, not just to the rogues but to everyone.

I’ve been thinking about peace a lot, and listening to this recording as solace for the discord I see around me. “It Is Well with my Soul” was written in 1873, by a lawyer-hymnist named Horatio Spafford. Spafford had experienced multiple losses—death of his four-year-old son, financial collapse following the Great Chicago Fire and then the deaths of all four of his daughters when the ship they were sailing on to England sank.

That’s a lot of grief for anyone to carry. Although this is not specific to Advent, consider that as you listen to Jehovah Shalom Acapella sing it. This is a gospel group of Seventh-Day Adventists from Kampala, Uganda; I'm guessing they know grief and discord in Uganda. If they can sing of peace, there's hope for us.

May the souls of those who are bowed under with loss this year find peace and be well.

 

 

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

Well, looky here—it’s Advent again, right on schedule. That period before Christmas where Christians are meant to snuggle into the season and prepare for the birth of Christ. It’s a long one this year: four Sundays and six days to get our act together, to gather our thoughts, count our blessings, assess how we’ve done during the previous months and what we might do better in the coming year.

Oh, and maybe let in a little joy. And hope.

You can do this whether you’re religious or not, whether you’re Christian or not.

IMHO, it’s a good thing indeed to press pause—especially at year’s end and when the nights are long and cold in the Northern Hemisphere—and reflect. Reflect on whatever it is you’ve got that needs reflecting.

And I believe that this year in particular, it’s appropriate to consider people around the world who may find it hard to see either joy or hope, but particularly those in Ukraine, where they’ve been under attack for going on 10 months now by Putin’s aggressive and illegal invasion.

First Sunday in Advent is in fact about hope. The prophesy of Isaiah looms large, and we open our hearts to the hope of the redeemer’s birth—in whatever form that might take. So we’ll start out with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, which is as clear an invitation as you’re going to get.

Floriani is a quartet of men whose common ground seems to be having attended Thomas Aquinas College, a small liberal arts school in Santa Paula, Calif., that teaches using the Great Books method. The group is focused on sacred music.

 

May the light of the season warm and strengthen all who struggle against darkness (literally) and those who suffer in captivity.