Nature's Easter Music

Nature's Easter Music

by Lucy Larcom

The flowers from the earth have arisen,

They are singing their Easter-song;

Up the valleys and over the hillsides

They come, an unnumbered throng.

Oh, listen ! The wild-flowers are singing

Their beautiful songs without words!

They are pouring the soul of their music

Through the voices of happy birds.

Every flower to a bird has confided

The joy of its blossoming birth --

The wonder of its resurrection

From its grave in the frozen earth.

For you chirp the wren and the sparrow,

Little Eyebright, Anemone pale!

Gay Columbine, orioles are chanting

Their trumpet-note loud on the gale.

The buttercup's thanks for the sunshine

The goldfinch's twitter reveals;

And the violet trills, through the bluebird,

Of the heaven that within her she feels.

The song-sparrow's exquisite warble

Is born in the heart of the rose --

Of the wild-rose, shut in its calyx,

Afraid of belated snows.

And the melody of the wood-thrush

Floats up from the nameless and shy

White blossoms that stay in the cloister

Of pine-forests, dim and high.

The dust of the roadside is vocal;

There is music from every clod;

Bird and breeze are the wild-flowers' angels,

Their messages bearing to God.

"We arise and we praise Him together!"

With a flutter of petal and wings,

The anthem of spirits immortal

Rings back from created things.

And nothing is left wholly speechless;

For the dumbest life that we know

May utter itself through another,

And double its gladness so!

The trees have the winds to sing for them;

The rock and the hill have the streams;

And the mountain and thunderous torrents

That waken old Earth from her dreams.

She awakes to the Easter-music;

Her bosom with praise overflows;

The forest breaks forth into singing,

For the desert has bloomed as the rose.

And whether in trances of silence

We think of our Lord arisen,

Or whether we carol with angels

At the open door of His prison,

He will give us an equal welcome

Whatever the tribute we bring;

For to Him who can read the heart's music

To blossom with love is to sing.

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Song of Easter

Song of Easter

by Celia Thaxter

Sing, children, sing!

And the lily censers swing;

Sing that life and joy are waking and that Death no

more is king.

Sing the happy, happy tumult of the slowly brighten-

ing spring;

Sing, children, sing!

Sing, children, sing!

Winter wild has taken wing.

Fill the air with the sweet tidings till the frosty echoes

ring!

Along the eaves the icicles no longer glittering cling;

And the crocus in the garden lifts its bright face to the

Sun,

And in the meadows softly the brooks begin to run;

And the golden catkins swing

In the warm airs of the spring;

Sing, little children, sing!

Sing, little children, sing!

The lilies white you bring

In the joyous Easter morning for hope are blossoming;

And as the earth her shroud of snow from off her

breast doth fling,

So may we cast our fetters off in God's eternal spring.

So may we find release at last from sorrow and from

pain,

So may we find our childhood's calm, delicious dawn

again.

Sweet are your eyes, O little ones, that look with smil-

ing grace,

Without a shade of doubt or fear into the Future's

face !

Sing, sing in happy chorus, with joyful voices tell

That death is life, and God is good, and all things

shall be well;

That bitter days shall cease

In warmth and light and peace, --

That winter yields to spring, --

Sing, little children, sing!

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Easter Organ Music

Easter Organ Music

by Harvey B. Gaul

       There is one difficulty that Easter brings, and that is the exceeding worry of finding appropriate Easter organ music. Organ music for Christmas is comparatively easy to find --composers have left us a vast heritage relative to the Nativity -- but for the Resurrection there seems to be little available literature.

       The following compendium of Easter organ music is not all-inclusive. Nor is it intended to include every organ piece with the title or suggestion that Christus resurrectus est. It is compiled with the desire -- Baedeker fashion -- to lighten the search and point out the advantageous works. Also to encourage organists in the belief that there are other works more appropriate for Easter than Mendelssohn's Spring Song and Grieg's To Spring, even if Easter is the sapping, budding printemps.
       In preparing this list it was deemed advisable to catalogue the pieces in four sections, starting with preludes. 

      The Prelude to The Resurrection, Bullard, offers a splendid opportunity for opening the service. In the same capacity the Prologue to Christ, the Victor, by Dudley Buck, may be placed. Mozart's Resurrexit, also has excellent preludial effects, and with it may be included Springer's Easter Alleluia. For melody Parkhurst's In the Gloom of Easter Morn is to be recommended.

       In the matter of Interludes or Offertories the following pieces are good: Anthem for the Sunday after Easter, Guilmant; Offertoire pour la fete de paques, Orison; Easter Hymn, Oliver; Air de la Pentecote, from Easter cantata. Bach; Gloria in excelsis, Burger. These works will supply the needs for Interludes; some of them may be used for Preludes. For the purpose of concluding the service Easter Recessional, Flagler; March on Easter Themes, Mark Andrews; Easter March, Merkl, are all strong virile works, with the march rhythm firmly announced. Also in the class of Postludes may be included, Hosannah Chorus Magnus, Dubois; Hosanna, Wachs; Hosanna, Granier; Hosannah, Lemmens. For organ recital pieces -- and Easter Is a very good time for organ recitals on account of the vast congregations to be seated -- the following works will be found suitable; they are not only more ambitious, and of larger caliber, but offer passages for telling solo effects: Easter Morning, Mailing; Old Easter Melody, John West; Easter Morn (a meditation), West; and Resurrection Morn, Johnston; commended not only for melodic work, but for varied and interesting structure and passage opportunity.

       Also for concert work: Alleluia! O Mii et iiliae, Loret; and O filii et iiliae, Lizst, and Paques Henries, Mailly. For display purposes requiring full organ effects these works should be considered: Fantasia on Jesus Christ is Risen To-day, Peter Lutkin; Fantasia on an Easter Plain Song, Wilan; and Fantasia on a Carol, West.

       For the person who was educated in the English School of church music and who firmly believes no better or more fitting works were ever written than the oratorio choruses, the following transcriptions are advisable. They may be used for Preludes, Interludes, Postludes ad libitum, or even da capo: Achieved is the glorious work, Haydn ; the Hallelujah Chorus, Handel; the Hallelujah Chorus from Mount of Olives, Beethoven; Gloria in excelsis, Mozart; and All glory to the Lamb that died, from Last Judgment, Spohr. Really good transcriptions may be found or made, from the following oratorio solos: The trumpet shall sound; I know that my Redeemer liveth, and Thou didst not leave His soul in hell, from Handel's Messiah. The last two have the charm of being unhackneyed and if good solo stops are employed they are most acceptable pieces. 

 Introducing the organ to a new generation.

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Mary's Easter

Mary's Easter

by Marie Mason

 

Easter lilies freshly bloom

O'er the open, conquered tomb;

Cups of incense, pure and fair,

Pour oblations on the air.

Easter-glory sudden flows

Through the portal none may close;

Death and darkness flee away,

Christ the Lord is risen to-day !

Shining forms are sitting by

Where the folded garments lie;

Loving Mary knows no fear

While the waiting angels hear

" They have taken my Lord away,

Know ye where he lies to-day ? "

Sweet they answer to her cry,

As their pinions pass her by.

See the Master stand to greet

Her that weepeth at His feet.

" Mary!" At the tender word

Well she knows her risen Lord!

All her love and passion breaks

In the single word she speaks:--

Hear the sweet "Rabboni!" tell

All her woman-heart so well!

"Quickly go and tell it out

Unto others round about.

Thou hast been forgiven much;

Tell it, Mary unto such.

By thy love within thy heart,

This my word to them impart;

Death shall touch thy soul no more,

Christ thy Lord hath gone before!"

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Medieval Easter Plays

Medieval Easter Plays

By Henry Barrett Hinckley

 

       The modern drama had its origin in the Easter services of the mediaeval church. Readers of the New Testament are well acquainted with the supreme importance which Saint Paul attached to the Resurrection. To him it was the demonstration, not merely of the immortality of the soul, but of the truth of the entire Christian religion. Furthermore, the narrative element in the gospels, is nowhere so conspicuous and so sustained as in the account of events from the entry into Jerusalem. Even the story of the birth of Jesus, is comparatively meager, and appears moreover in but two of the canonical gospels. Nor has it so fully developed the element of contest so necessary to effective drama. In this respect the persecution of Herod and the flight into Egypt is less adequate, than the repeated efforts of the Jews to entrap Jesus, his arrest, his trial or examination first by the Jews and then by Pilate, the effort of Pilate to save him, his crucifixion, death and burial, the setting of a watch, and the victorious resurrection. To these tradition added a descent into hell. Everywhere we find Christ opposed by all the hostile forces of the world.

       At least as early as the fourth century we find, as the most important form of public worship, the mass which is essentially a commemoration of the last acts of Christ. Later it was believed that these events were actually repeated as often as the mass was celebrated. During the ninth century began a process of liturgical elaboration. The desire for more singing was strongly felt. At first there were added melodies without words, simple vowel sounds being uttered. Then texts were written. And the responsive chanting of the two halves of the quire gave the words of scripture. Already there was something in the nature of an oratorio. In a manuscript belonging to the Abbey of Saint Gall, in Switzerland, we find arranged for chanting the dialogue between the three Maries and the angel, at the tomb:

"Whom seek ye at the sepulcher, O worshippers of Christ?"

"Jesus of Nazareth the crucified, O habitants of heaven."

"He is not here, he has arisen, as he predicted.

Go, proclaim that he has risen from the sepulcher."

" I have risen."

       The dialogue was later accompanied by appropriate action. We find in the church something that served for a sepulcher, in which on Good Friday a cross was solemnly buried, and very early on Easter morning one of the priests would privately remove it. Then at the mass, one personating the angel would remove a cloth to show that the sepulcher was empty, and the other priests with spices, personating the Maries, would approach to look in and see. The dialogue and action both grew. The running of John and Peter to the sepulcher was an early addition. And the supper at Emmaus and the conviction of Thomas appear before the drama has yet ceased to be a part of the liturgy.

       Once the parts in the ritual were taken by individuals, rather than chanted by portions of the choir, we find the costuming and acting more and more developed. The angel bears an ear of grain, as a symbol of the resurrection; the Maries wear veils; the angel has wings. Account books survive in England, France and Germany, from which details may be gathered. But as a church service " the office of the sepulcher," as the ceremony was called, always remained imperfectly dramatic. As late as 1593 when Shakespeare's plays were already seen at the Globe Theater, we find a detailed description of " the office of the sepulcher " as performed at the Abbey Church of Durham (where, to be sure, the people were more conservative than in the south of England), which shows that the play is still a ritual, an act of worship. On the continent the "office of the Sepulcher " was performed in certain churches as late as the eighteenth century.

       Meanwhile similar ceremonies had developed in celebration of the birth of Christ. When these had become too large for representation in the church they were acted outside of it, in the churchyard or in the public squares. The representations then ceased to be ritualistic and became frankly spectacular. The whole Biblical history was enacted at public festivities. But even so the plays still remained an important source of religious instruction, and there survive the words of a mediaeval preacher who refers to them for corroboration of his sermon. The resurrection was now but a detail, and its dramatic possibilities were far less worked out than those of various other parts of the Bible story, for the two most striking figures in these miracle plays or mysteries were Noah's Wife, to whom Chaucer refers, and King Herod who is mentioned even by Hamlet.

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Easter Singers in The Vorarlburg

Easter Singer In The Vorarlburg

From Chamber's Book of Days

       About a league from Lake Constance the mountains assume a wild and savage character ; a narrow defile leads to a high hill which must be crossed to reach the valley of Schwartzenberg. I gained the summit of the peak at sunset; the rosy vapor which surrounded it hid the line of the horizon, and gave to the lake the appearance of a sea ; the Rhine flowed through the bottom of the valley and emptied itself into the lake, to recommence its course twelve leagues farther on. On one side were the Swiss mountains; and opposite was Landau, built on an island; on the other side the dark forests of Wurtemberg, and over the side of the hill the chain of the Vorarlburg mountains. The last rays of the setting sun gilded the crests of the glaciers, whilst the valleys were already bathed in the soft moonlight. From this high point the sounds of the bells ringing in the numerous villages scattered over the mountains were distinctly heard, the flocks were being brought home to be housed for the night, and everywhere were sounds of rejoicing.

       "It is the evening of Holy Saturday," said our guide; "the Tyrolese keep the festival with every ceremony." And so it was; civilization has passed that land by and not left a trace of its unbelieving touch; the resurrection of Christ is still for them the tangible proof of revelation, and they honor the season accordingly. Bands of musicians, for which the Tyrolese have always been noted, traverse every valley, singing the beautiful Easter hymns to their guitars; calling out the people to their doors, who join them in the choruses and together rejoice on this glad anniversary. Their wide-brimmed hats are decorated with bouquets of flowers; crowds of children accompany them, and when the darkness of night comes on, bear lighted torches of the pine wood, which throw grotesque shadows over the spectators and picturesque wooden huts. The Pasch or Paschal eggs, which have formed a necessary part of all Easter offerings for centuries past, are not forgotten; some are dyed in the brightest colors and boiled hard; others have suitable mottoes written on the shells, and made ineffaceable by a rustic process of chemistry. The good wife has these ready prepared, and when the children bring their baskets they are freely given; at the higher class of the farmers' houses wine is brought out as well as eggs, and the singers are refreshed and regaled in return for their Easter carols.

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The Fourth of July

The Fourth of July 

by Charles Leonard Moore

Let be the herds and what the harvest brings ;
Give to oblivion all that's sold and bought,
The count of unrememberable things; --
Our better birthright is this day's report!
Live our sires in us? Keep we their old skill
To know Occasion's whisper and be great?
Can our proud blood in one contagious thrill
Put admiration in the eyes of Fate?
Wide is our realm, and twin seas feel our yoke,
Aye, and the oarless ocean of the North; --
Are we then mightier than that scattered folk,
That fringe of dingers by the sea-beach froth
Whose loins begat us? Let to-morrow show
If their stern arts hereditary grow.

The Birthday of The Nation

The Birthday of The Nation

by Daniel Webster

(From address delivered July 4, 1851, at laying 

the cornerstone of the new wing of the Capitol.)

       This is that day of the year which announced to mankind the great fact of American Independence! This fresh and brilliant morning blesses our vision with another beholding of the birthday of our Nation; and we see that Nation, of recent origin, now among the most considerable and powerful, and spreading from sea to sea over the continent.

       On the fourth day of July, 1776, the representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, declared that these Colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent States. This declaration, made by most patriotic and resolute men, trusting in the justice of their cause and the protection of Heaven, -- and yet not without deep solicitude and anxiety -- has now stood for seventy-five years. It was sealed in blood. It has met dangers and overcome them. It has had detractors, and abashed them all. It has had enemies, and conquered them. It has had doubting friends, but it has cleared all doubts away; and now, to-day, raising its august form higher than the clouds, twenty millions of people contemplate it with hallowed love, and the world beholds it, and the consequences that have followed from it, with profound admiration.

       This anniversary animates and gladdens all American hearts. On other days of the year we may be party men, indulging in controversies more or less important to the public good. We may have likes and dislikes, and we may maintain our political differences, often with warm, and sometimes with angry feelings. But to-day we are Americans all ; nothing but Americans.

       As the great luminary over our heads, dissipating fogs and mist, now cheers the whole atmosphere, so do the associations connected with this day disperse all sullen and cloudy weather in the minds and feelings of true Americans. Every man's heart swells within him. Every man's port and bearing becomes somewhat more proud and lofty as he remembers that seventy-five years have rolled away, and that the great inheritance of Liberty is still his, -- his, undiminished and unimpaired; his, in all its original glory; his to enjoy; his to protect; his to transmit to future generations.

• Who Was Daniel Webster?
• A Featured Biography
• Daniel Webster Memorial

England and America

England and America

by James Bryce

       This is a memorable day to Englishmen as well as to Americans. It is to us a day both of regret and of rejoicing: of regret at the severance of the political connection which bound the two branches of our race together, and of regret even more for the unhappy errors which brought that severance about, and the unhappy strife by which the memory of it was embittered. But it is also a day of rejoicing, for it is the birthday of the eldest daughter of England -- the day when a new nation, sprung from our own, first took its independent place in the world. And now with the progress of time, rejoicing has prevailed over regret, and we in England can at length join heartily with you in celebrating the beginning of your national life. All sense of bitterness has passed away, and been replaced by sympathy with all which this anniversary means to an American heart.

       England and America now understand one another far better than they ever did before. In 1776 there was on one side a monarch and a small ruling caste, on the other side a people. Now our government can no longer misrepresent the nation, and across the ocean a people speaks to a people. We have both come, and that most notably within recent months, to perceive that all over the world the interests of America and of England are substantially the same.

        The sense of our underlying unity over against the other races and forms of civilization has been a potent force in drawing us together. It is said that the Fourth of July is a day of happy augury for mankind. This is true because on that day America entered on a course and proclaimed principles of government which have been of profound significance for mankind. Many nations have had a career of conquest and of civilizing dominion: but to make an immense people prosperous, happy, and free is a nobler and grander achievement than the most brilliant conquests and the widest dominion.

• Who Was James Bryce, Viscount Bryce?
• More About Viscount James Bryce

The Stone of The Sepulcher

The Stone of The Sepulcher

by Susan Coolidge

"How shall the stone be rolled away?"

Thus questioned they, the women three,

Who at dim dawn went forth to see

The sealed and closely guarded cell

Where slept the Lord they loved so well.

First of all Easter sacrifice,

The linen and the burial spice,

They carried, as with anxious speech

They sadly questioned, each to each:

Still, as they near and nearer drew

The puzzle and the terror grew,

And none had word of cheer to say 

But lo, the stone was rolled away!

" How shall the stone be rolled away?"

So, like the Marys, question we.

As looking on we dimly see

Some mighty barrier raise its head

To bar the path we needs must tread.

Our little strength seems weakness made,

Our hearts are faint and sore afraid;

Drooping we journey on alone. 

We only mark the heavy stone,
We do not see the helping Love
Which moves before us as we move,
Which chides our faithless, vain dismay,
And rolls for us the stone away.

"How shall the stone be rolled away?"

Ah, many a heart, with terrors pent.

Has breathed the question as it went,

With faltering feet and failing breath.

In the chill company of death,

Adown the narrow path and straight,

Which all must traverse soon or late.

And nearing thus the dreaded tomb.

Just in the thickest, deepest gloom,

Has heard the stir of angel wings,

Dear voices, sweetest welcomings,

And, as on that first Easter day,

Has found the dread stone rolled away! 

 

 

Below is a vase of lovely Easter jonquils for you to color.

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Easter Dawn

Easter Dawn

by Frances Ridley Havergal

It is too calm to be a dream.

Too gravely sweet, too full of power.

Prayer changed to praise this very hour.

Yes, heard and answered ! though it seem

Beyond the hope of yesterday,

Beyond the faith that dared to pray.

Yet not beyond the love that heard,

And not beyond the faithful word

On which each trembling prayer may rest

And win the answer truly best. 

Yes, heard and answered ! sought and found !

I breathe a golden atmosphere

Of solemn joy, and seem to hear

Within, above, and all around,

The chime of deep cathedral bells,

An early herald peal that tells

A glorious Easter tide begun;

While yet are sparkling in the sun

Large raindrops of the night storm passed.

And days of Lent are gone at last.

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At Easter Time

At Easter Time

by Laura E. Richards

The little flowers came through the ground,

At Easter time, at Easter time :

They raised their heads and looked around.

At happy Easter time.

And every pretty bud did say,

"Good people, bless this holy day,

For Christ is risen, the angels say

At happy Easter time!"

The pure white lily raised its cup

At Easter time, at Easter time.

The crocus to the sky looked up

At happy Easter time.

"We'll hear the song of Heaven ! " they say,

"It's glory shines on us to-day.

Oh ! may it shine on us alway

At holy Easter time!"

'Twas long and long and long ago,

That Easter time, that Easter time;

But still the pure white lilies blow

At happy Easter time.

And still each little flower doth say,

"Good Christians, bless this holy day,

For Christ is risen, the angels say

At blessed Easter time!" 

 

 

To color Easter eggs for you,
The bunnies work the whole day through.
 

Color this vintage Easter bunny egg dye from the 1950s.

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