Using Easter Wings - for Easter Service

Discussions relating to performance, interpretation, score preparation, musica ficta etc.
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ebykm
Posts: 44
Joined: 16 Oct 2005 14:31

Using Easter Wings - for Easter Service

Post by ebykm »

From - https://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/Easterwings.html

Code: Select all

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
   Though foolishly he lost the same,
      Decaying more and more,
         Till he became
            Most poore:
            With thee
         O let me rise
      As larks, harmoniously,
   And sing this day thy victories:
Then shall the fall further the flight in me.

My  tender  age  in  sorrow  did   beginne
   And still with sicknesses and shame.
       Thou didst so punish sinne,
          That I became
             Most thinne.
             With thee
          Let me combine,
       And feel thy victorie:
   For, if I imp my wing on thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me.
Need your thoughts on including this as special music for Easter service in a Protestant church.
I'm concerned about how the congregation would react the text that do not contain the usual words such as God, Jesus, risen, resurrection, etc... Have any of you used this ?. If so, how well it was received ?.

Thanks,
cjshawcj
Posts: 76
Joined: 04 Jan 2011 00:21
Location: Bath, England

Re: Using Easter Wings - for Easter Service

Post by cjshawcj »

George Herbert was one of the best of English devotional metaphysical poets. He was vicar of Bemerton (from which parish, incidentally, he had a view of the spire of Salisbury Cathedral: tourists come from as far as Russia to view all 123 metres of that). There can be no question as to the propriety of including this piece in a protestant Easter service.
However, the quality of many congregations leaves much to be desired and you might find resistance to something of better quality than the trite and theologically unsound "Lord of the Dance".
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