SOUNDS OF HOLY WEEK: THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER
EDITOR’S NOTE: As someone who continues to be fed by the richness of the Anglican Choral Tradition, one of the biggest losses for me through this whole Coronavirus situation is that of singing some of my favorite hymns and anthems during Holy Week. As such, we here at Earth & Altar are pleased to offer Sounds of Holy Week, a set of articles that will come out five times (including today) over the next week, with thoughts from us and some of our friends about our favorite hymns and anthems of this time, alongside a YouTube playlist you can listen and sing to as you read.
A Repeating Alleluia by Calvin Hampton
I am not the only one whose favorite part of Holy Week is its beautiful culmination at the liturgy of Easter Vigil. I love it all - the flowers, the smells and bells, the great collective sigh of relief of moving from the darkness of Lent into the new life of Easter. During this time in the liturgical season, it seems to me that the Kingdom is close at hand, and we can catch glimpses of what’s to come. A highlight of Easter at my parish is the anthem “A Repeating Alleluia” by Episcopalian composer and organist Calvin Hampton. Listen to it here. This beautifully simple piece reminds me of the significance of corporate worship, particularly lifting our voices in song. The melody is repeated throughout the piece but is traded around between the different voice parts while the others embellish it with soaring melodies. There is something immensely comforting in offering our “alleluias” with one voice, and this particular arrangement to me feels like a much-needed meditation during this time. Try listening with headphones, sit in a comfortable position, and close your eyes. Focus on the central melody, singing along if you wish.
- Sabrina Hartsfield
Gloria in Excelsis from Keble Missa Brevis by Philip Stopford
I was in my early twenties when I attended my first Easter Vigil service. When I’ve described it to people in the subsequent years, the only way I’ve found to explain the experience is to say that the Vigil helped me understand the glory of the Resurrection in a new way, in a way I felt deep in my bones. It was moving to sit in darkness broken only by candles blazing with the New Fire and listen to the stories of our faith, but it was the music that truly communicated the essence of why we were gathered. As the celebrant proclaimed “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!” and the congregation responded “The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!” the lights in the church came on, the organ pealed and the choir broke into song: the Gloria from Philip Stopford’s Keble Missa Brevis. As the music crescendod to a cascade of Amens, it was palpable that our collective joy could not be contained, just as the tomb could not contain Christ. Years later, I continue to listen to this piece of music each year during my Easter celebrations or just when I need something to remind me of the hope and joy I experienced so viscerally during my first Easter Vigil.
- Jordan Trumble
Easter Anthem from The Sacred Harp
“The Lord is ris’n indeed! Hallelujah!”
The bold proclamation from the basses and the full chorus’ jubilant response immediately draw me into Easter Anthem with a mix of joy and familiarity. If you’re lucky enough to hear or sing Easter Anthem in your parish some Easter morning, I’m sorry to say that, in my estimation, you’ve only half experienced it. The best possible way to enjoy Easter Anthem is literally surrounded on all four sides by friends who are loudly belting the tune out along with you. Though Billings didn’t write Easter Anthem for this context, the tune now belongs to a uniquely American musical tradition known as shape-note singing, and is found in that tradition’s most widely used hymnal, The Sacred Harp.
What I love most about singing from The Sacred Harp, is that it is truly community singing. There is no rehearsal, no performance, no audience, only singers singing for each other and for God. If quarantine is making you itch to make music with other people, I encourage you, when this is all over, to find the nearest Sacred Harp singing and join them for a couple hours. When it’s your turn to call a tune, choose Easter Anthem—we’re always ready and willing to sing it, even if it’s not Easter. None of us ever need an excuse to joyfully shout: “The Lord is ris’n indeed! Hallelujah!”
- Corey Sees
Today’s Authors
Sabrina Hartsfield (she/her) is a board-certified music therapist and a recent graduate of Florida State University. Next year, she will serve in the Episcopal Service Corps as a member of the New York Service and Justice Collaborative.
Jordan Trumble is the Priest-in-Charge of Christ Church in Fairmont, WV and a co-managing editor of Earth & Altar.
Corey Sees is a parishioner at Church of Our Saviour in Akron, Ohio. He is an avid shape-note singer and bakes a mean rhubarb pie.
