From heaven you came (The Servant King)

Back in July, I commented about the fact that it had taken me several months to include a hymn by Charles Wesley in this blog. I find it equally difficult to understand that this is the first time I've mentioned Graham Kendrick! Whether you love Kendrick's songs or hate them (and I know people who fall into both those groups), it's impossible (in the contemporary church in the UK at least) to ignore someone whose "songs and hymns are sung by millions of people in numerous languages around the world" (last.fm).

Graham Kendrick is the son of a Baptist minister.  He was born in Northamptonshire in 1950, and grew up in Essex and Putney (south-west London).  Kendrick "took a step of faith at the age of 5", and taught himself to play the piano before he learned to read music.  He began composing songs when he was 15, although after he left school, he trained to be a teacher.  In his late teens, he was part of what Tony Cummings, in an article on Cross Rhythms, calls a "psych folk rock" group called Whispers of Truth.  According to Roger Pearse, they played in Christian coffee bars etc, but they were also in the line-up of "the first paid-for Christian music event in the UK," at Westminster Central Hall on 20 May 1967.  (You can read about it by following the Cross Rhythms link above).  Whispers of Truth contributed five tracks to an album called Alive!, released in 1969.  One review, whose author says he has usually "steered well clear of records that have had that 'Xian' label attached to them," calls Whispers of Truth "a fantastic British Invasion sounding Rock band," with each of their four tracks on Alive! being "of exceptional quality.  Loads of psychedelic effects, Zombies/Beatles like harmonies and melodies.  They are really a terrific band with great Pop/Psych songs."  All four of those songs were written by Graham Kendrick. 

In 1972, Kendrick completed his teacher training, and joined an evangelistic team touring schools and colleges.  He worked with various Christian youth organisations, while releasing solo albums, beginning with Footsteps on the Sea in 1972.  According to Wikipedia, he has become "probably the most influential Christian songwriter of his generation."  In 2009, Stuart Townend wrote of Graham Kendrick:

He was one of the pioneers of the modern worship song, and he set the standard that that those of us who have followed on have been trying to match. I have no doubt that in 100 years time the name of Kendrick will be alongside Watts and Wesley in the list of the UK’s greatest hymnwriters.

The depth of understanding in his lyrics, and the poetry, I think, is outstanding. And he writes about the whole gospel. If you’re looking for a song on a particular bible verse, the chances are Graham has written one.

I was fortunate enough to be in Graham’s band for a few years, and it was fascinating during that time to see how hard he worked at crafting his lyrics. It’s not unusual today to hear people slag off modern hymns as superficial rubbish – well, people who say that clearly haven’t looked at Graham Kendrick’s songs.

The Servant King was written to reflect the theme for Spring Harvest in 1984.  Kendrick researched the theme using concordances, commentaries and other biblical research tools, and found it very inspiring.  On his website, he's quoted as follows: 

It was a challenge to explore the vision of Christ as the servant who would wash the disciples' feet but who was also the Creator of the universe.

On Songfacts, he adds:

'Servant King' was the title for Spring Harvest and it was sent out to several writers . . . I just found that funny phrase inspiring . . . If you are a lyricist, opposites always kickstart ideas; those two words don't normally sit together.  So I just started to unpack that whole story.  The obvious part of the story is the incarnation, 'From heav'n You came, helpless Babe . . .' and it sort of unfolded from there.

I remember learning The Servant King as a student in the late 1980s, and being taught actions to go with it (I can no longer remember the actions!).  The song has remained popular - in fact, we included it in our online church service this last Sunday, and I commented to my son that I've been singing this song for over 30 years.  It's full of paradoxical truths about who Jesus is; about how he expects us to respond to him, enthroning him in our lives as we serve other people, and so to serve him.  I don't know whether it inspired the title of the Bible Society's book published for Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday in 2016, but I do know that we sang The Servant King in our church service to mark the event!  See The Servant Queen and the King she serves.

There's a lyric video here.

Fill your hearts with joy and gladness

 

When I wrote about Timothy Dudley-Smith's hymn, Name of all Majesty, I said that I would no doubt include a few more of his hymns in future posts.  It's taken four months to get there (!), and I've chosen Fill your hearts with joy and gladness.  

As its first line indicates, it's a joyful hymn.  So it demands a joyful tune!  According to his notes in A House of Praise (Oxford University Press, 2003,
pp 393-395), TDS suggested two possible tunes: Regent Square or Unser Herrscher (Neander).  Kevin Mayhew hymnbooks have a habit of setting it to Ode to Joy, which in my opinion doesn't work as a congregational tune - it needs a full choir and orchestra fully to express the joy of its title.  Another tune, which we often used for Fill your hearts in my previous church, is called Laus et Honor.  It worked particularly well with a saxophone playing the melody!  Sadly, the only recording of that tune I can find online is a sample verse here.

Fill your hearts with joy and gladness is based on Psalm 147.  As TDS notes (see reference above), "This is a psalm linking the wonders of creation with the glories of providence and grace."  Michael Wilcock (The Message of Psalms 73-150, IVP, 2001, p 277) points out that the psalm celebrates, "the Lord as both Creator and Redeemer, who cares alike for his world and for his people."  It's good to be reminded of these facts, and so to allow the Lord to encourage us, as we struggle with the problems of the world around us right now.  Fill your hearts with joy and gladness reflects all the themes of the psalm, and gives a vehicle to praise our Lord, who has created this universe and all that is in it, who provides abundantly for his people through the crops we harvest, and who also cares tenderly for his people on an individual level.    

You can hear a recording of this hymn here.

There's a lyric video here.

Calon Lân

I don't think I'd ever come across the Welsh song Calon Lân before moving here 10 years ago.  But I quickly discovered that as a Vicar, it's one song which I need to be able to sing in Welsh (the other being the National Anthem).  It's a common choice for funerals and, at least in my experience, Calon Lân is never sung in English.

Before going any further, here are the words, in Welsh with an English translation, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The words of Calon Lân were written by Daniel James (1848 - 1920).  He was born in Treboeth, a village which is now a suburb of Swansea.  His father died when he was 13, which forced Daniel to leave school and begin work as a labourer.  He studied Welsh poetry in his spare time, taught by D W Thomas of Mynyddbach Chapel.  He began to write poetry, and took the Bardic name Gwyrosydd (so he's generally referred to as Daniel James Gwyrosydd).  He published three books of his poetry: Caneuon Gwyrosydd (1885); Caniadau Gwyrosydd (1892); and Aeron Awen Gwyrodsydd (1898).   

Daniel had a hard life; having supported his mother and family after his father died, he married twice, and had a total of seven or eight children of his own.  In addition, he took on five step-children when he married his second wife.  He was widowed twice, and supported his large family by working in steel and tin works, and subsequently as a miner, until he was 68 years old.  He then worked as a cemetery caretaker, before retiring a couple of years before he died.   

The words of Calon Lân were published in Gwyrosydd's second book in 1892.  He was well known for spending much time in the pub.  There are descriptions of him sitting amongst friends and admirers, in an unusually high chair, composing verses which he would then exchange for drinks.  There's a strong tradition that Calon Lân was originally written at such time, on the back of a cigarette packet.

The tune which is synonymous with Gwyrosydd's words was written by John Hughes (1872 - 1914) - not to be confused with John Hughes (1873 - 1932), who wrote the tune Cwm Rhondda!  The tune Calon Lân was written for and inspired by the words, although it seems that it was sung to several other tunes before this became the standard.  John Hughes was born in Pembrokeshire, but spent most of his life in the Swansea area, and knew Gwyrosydd personally.  

As I've mentioned previously, the tune Calon Lân is very similar to the tune Dim ond Iesu (see previous post Dyma gariad fel y moroedd/Here is love vast as the ocean).  I once had an argument with my children, who insisted that the two tunes were actually one and the same.  It was only after I'd shown them the score of each that they accepted that they are two different tunes.  I can find no suggestion as to whether or not John Hughes was inspired by Dim ond Iesu, which was first published in America in 1877.

By the time of the Welsh Revival of 1904-05, Calon Lân had become a favourite with Welsh congregations, and it was one of the most popular hymns sung during the Revival.  Today, it's a popular choice for funerals here in Wales, and is also a rugby anthem, sung before almost every match played by the Welsh national Rugby Union team.  It's known as Wales' second national anthem.  My children were taught it at primary school, and I assume that almost every child who attends school in Wales will learn Calon Lân at some point.  The song is such an important part of Welsh culture that it has both a society dedicated to promoting and preserving its history and heritage, and its own centre at the Mynyddbach Chapel, where Gwyrosydd attended worship as a young man, and where he is buried.  

David writes in Psalm 24 (here quoted from the ESV):

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
     And who shall stand in his his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not lift up his soul to what is false
    and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Calon Lân could be a meditation on these words - what a song to be so deeply embedded in Welsh culture!

With my Liverpool connections, I couldn't resist sharing this recording by the Liverpool Welsh Choral!  

Picture: 'Proverbs 4:23' by Leonard J Matthew licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 (with frame and background added)

As well as the sites linked above, in preparing this post I have also consulted the following blog posts: Felin Fach, Resolven History Society, and Garw Valley Heritage Society.