Emmanuel

One of my favorite Advent carols is "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." Its Latin lyrics date to the 9th century, its melody to the 13th. The familiar English lyrics we sing today were composed by John M. Neale in 1850, and the tune adapted and harmonized by Thomas Helmore in 1854. Here it's sung by Loreena McKennitt:



O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lowly exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Chorus

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of hell thy people save
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave

Chorus

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight

Chorus

O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heav’nly home
Make safe the way that leads on high
and close the path to misery

Chorus

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height
In ancient times did’st give the law
In cloud and majesty and awe

Chorus

What impressions do you get from this, with its origins in plainchant? Start writing~~Fairweather

p.s.  My thanks to Fairweather for taking over this week as I have been semi out of commission until next week .... Jamie