O Come Emmanuel by Gordon Giles
Review:
|
“If you’ve ever wondered about the origins of a favorite Christmas carol, you’ll enjoy this book, subtitled “A Musical Tour of Daily Readings for Advent and Christmas.” Like most devotionals, the book offers daily readings and meditations. It goes from the beginning of December to the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6. The centerpiece of each day’s reading, however, is an exploration of the history and spiritual significance of a beloved piece of Christmas music. Many songs will be familiar (“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “Good King Wenceslas”), but readers will also discover unfamiliar treasures, such as a translation of the words of the “Christus Vincit,” an 11th-century chant. The book also offers an explanation for “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” The pear tree may symbolize the cross, for example, and the partridge Christ’s sacrifice – the bird is known for protecting its young. The song, published in 1780, was primarily “a singing game in which anyone who forgot a verse had to pay some kind of forfeit, such as kissing someone or performing some absurd action.” |
| Mary A. Jacobs |
| Dallas Morning News |
|
December 2, 2006
O Clap Your Hands by Gordon Giles (complete with a CD by Gloriae Dei Cantores) – NEW in paperback!
Accompanied by a full length CD by the acclaimed choir Gloriae Dei Cantores, Gordon Giles unlocks thirty of the great anthems of the church to discover their hidden meanings, offering spiritual reflections and prayers, and enabling you to fully engage with the musical theology and history of beloved choral works.
Review:
“This superb collection is a gem. No musician working in a place where sacred music is taught and practiced will want to be without this collection.” – Gerre Hancock; Professor of Organ and Sacred Music, The School of Music, The University of Texas at Austin.
To order or ask questions, please contact:
Estelle Cole
Paraclete Press
1-800-451-5006, ext. 309
|
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.