Range: Moderate
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STLT#332, Perfect Singer
True fact: context matters. I mean, I know you know this, but in this case it’s not just the context of where the lyrics come from or when they were written or how they were used. In this case, it’s about the accompaniment – in other words, the context in which the melody sits. And… Continue reading
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STLT#331, Life Is the Greatest Gift of All
Welcome to Hymn By Hymn After Dark! Sorry, there’s no sexy R&B played by Venus Flytrap, or suggestive storylines, or anything anywhere near close to that. I’m in a tshirt and leggings, hair a mess, a Stuff You Should Know podcast on my phone. But it’s dark! And it has been a long day, since… Continue reading
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STLT#330, The Arching Sky of Morning Glows
Now this is an appreciation of beauty I can get behind. And no, I’m not just saying this because I know lyricist Mark Belletini is reading… honest. I simply love the connection he makes between the beauty of the earth and the beauty of our own creativity, that we are all a part of creation… Continue reading
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STLT#328, I Sought the Wood in Summer
Let’s not kid ourselves: Willa Cather could write. This lyric, from a longer poem “I Sought the World in Winter” is a graceful meditation on the beauty of nature: I sought the wood in summer when every twig was green; the rudest boughs were tender, and buds were pink between. Light-fingered aspens trembled in fitful… Continue reading
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STLT#327, Joy, Thou Goddess
When I say “Beethoven” I bet most of you think “da da da DUM” and the strikingly innovative opening to the Fifth Symphony. But for me, it’s this – Ode to Joy. I first waxed poetic about it on November 1st, noting the joy of the music and the lyrics by Henry Van Dyke. And… Continue reading
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STLT#326, Let All the Beauty We Have Known
Welcome to another edition of “Hymns Kimberley Would Use Too Often If Let Loose.” I love this one. I love its inspiration, I love the joy, I love the celebration. And, not surprisingly, I love the tune too – another Ralph Vaughan Williams setting (Danby). It is lush and sweet. Let all the beauty we… Continue reading
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STLT#325, Love Makes a Bridge
Another list song – must be Brian Wren. And so it is. Now this is not to say his list is bad, necessarily, but It can get tiring pretty quickly. And when it comes to Wren, there is always something – even in songs I like, like this one – that make me go “hmm” … Love… Continue reading
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STLT#324, Where My Free Spirit Onward Leads
One of the downsides of so many hymn tunes is that groups of them begin to sound alike. For instance, there’s a whole set of them in the O Waly Waly/Gift of Love milieu that I constantly confuse for one another. And now there is another set of them – including this English tune, called Kingsfold,… Continue reading
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STLT#323, Break Not the Circle
Just before I opened the hymnal, I saw a Facebook post from a dear friend who asked ‘But what if this world runs out of lovers? What then?” Then for me was opening the hymnal to this wonderful hymn, reminding us to draw the circle ever wider, because – as Susan Frederick Gray has reminded us, “no… Continue reading
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STLT#322, Thanks Be for These
One of the delights of being an active member and now religious professional in the Saint Lawrence District (upstate NY and part of Ontario) is getting to know Richard and Joyce Gilbert a little. They are so much a part of my story, in the way peanuts are a part of a Snickers bar –… Continue reading
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links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
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