Please turn to number 52 and join with the clarinets in “As With Gladness”.
First Line: As With Gladness Men of Old
Name: DIX (Treuer Heiland).
Meter: 7 7, 7 7, 7 7.
Tempo: In moderate time
Music: Conrad Kocher, 1786-1872
Text: William Chatterton Dix, 1837-98
Regarding William Chatterton Dix, from the Wikipedia Article:
William Chatterton Dix (14 June 1837 – 9 September 1898) was an English writer of hymns and carols. He was born in Bristol, the son of John Dix, a local surgeon, who wrote The Life of Chatterton the poet, a book of Pen Pictures of Popular English Preachers and other works….Few modern writers have shown so signal a gift as his for the difficult art of hymn-writing. His original hymns are found in most modern hymn-books…At the age of 29 he was struck with a near fatal illness and consequently suffered months confined to his bed. During this time he became severely depressed. Yet it is from this period that many of his hymns date. He died at Cheddar, Somerset, England, and was buried at his parish church.
Here’s the text from this hymn, named after Mr Dix.
As with gladness men of old
Did the guiding star behold;
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onward beaming bright;
So, most gracious God, may we
Evermore be led to thee.As with joyful steps they sped
To that lowly manger bed,
There to bend the knee before
Him whom heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek thy mercy seat.As they offered gifts most rare
At that manger rude and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sins alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to thee, our heavenly King.Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds thy glory hide.In the heavenly country bright
Need they no created light;
Thou its light, its job, its crown
Thou its sun which goes not down;
There for ever may we sing
Alleluias to our King. Amen.
There are some important turns of phrase in there, that will, in fact, echo down the years and into gospel and other musics!
Here is the clarinet arrangement: 052-aswithgladness
Speaking of Gospel, the phrasing of this one ends up being a sort of call and response form, which is kind of cool. The usual procedure: double each part, three times through, audacity “Medium Room” Reverb Effect.
