What Child Is This? UM 219 - Baptism of the Lord
Our first
recording to day was by Chris Tomlin of “What Child Is This?” from his new
Christmas album, Christmas Songs of Worship. Welcome this is Parson Paul on the
hymns. I am a retired United Methodist pastor with a great love of church music
in general and the hymns in particular. I hope to help busy church
professionals, church musicians and just regular people in the pew to have a
great appreciation and understanding of the music of the church.
The Guinness Book
of World Records estimates one million hymns have been written in the past
2,000 years. I believe the hymns speak into our lives as well today as in the
day when they were first written. Please feel free to share this blog or
podcast with others you think might enjoy and drop us a line with suggestions
or any comments. Be sure and check out the links and notes I have placed at the
end of this blog and in the show notes of the podcast for full videos today’s
hymn selection and others I found interesting.
This today’s
hymn is, “What Child Is This?”. The lyrics were written by William Chatterton
Dix the son of an English surgeon. Dix worked as the manager of a marine
insurance company in Glasgow Scotland. One story has it that Dix wrote the poem
in 1865 after a serious illness that caused him to be bedridden and severely
depressed. His near-death experience brought about a spiritual renewal as he
was recovering.
The carol
was first published in 1871 in the United Kingdom. The poem was set to the tune
Greensleeves, a traditional English folk song. Dix went on to write between 40
and 50 hymns and poems, another of which is “As With Gladness Men of Old” as
still in use today. The first stanza asks a rhetorical question and answers
itself. The second stanza asks a second question and the final verse is an
appeal for all to accept Christ.
In the next few
weeks I will be receiving some new hardware that will allow me to take our
record interviews. I hope to interview other church musicians and folks who
love the hymns and hymnology perhaps I will be coming to interview you very
soon.
In closing
today I include 2 more selections the first by Andrea Bocelli and I believe
this is Mary Jane Blige on this recording and the final recording is a great
version with 3 guitars, Don Francisco,
Wendy Francisco, and Jerry Palmer and it is beautifully shot as well.
God Bless, till next time.
Official Lyric/Chord video
for “What Child Is This? (feat. All Sons & Daughters)" by Chris Tomlin
'ADORE: Christmas Songs of Worship', the brand new Christmas album from Chris
Tomlin, is available here: http://smarturl.it/ChrisTomlinAdore?I...
Music video by Andrea
Bocelli performing What Child Is This. (C) 2009 Sugar Srl
CD available at http://www.donfrancisco.com. A beautiful, astonishing rendition by 3
guitarists, Don Francisco, Wendy Francisco, and Jerry Palmer. From the album,
"Christmas Carols on Guitar". Film by Jacob Brooks.
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