‘Happy Easter’ is one of those sayings in the English language, along with ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ that we use in both secular and Christian traditions. You can (usually) safely wish someone one of these greetings here in Canada, and in many other countries, with little worry that someone with another system of beliefs (or non-beliefs) will take offence.
With Good Friday, through to Easter Monday being for many a time off of work or school, we often hear the phrase ‘Easter Weekend’, as in ‘Have an excellent Easter weekend’. Like the word ‘Christmas’, it’s not actually in the bible.
The word ‘Easter’, with roughly the same pronunciation as we have today, was originally used, with the spelling Eastre, going back to pre ninth century times. It referred to the name of an Anglo-Saxon (pagan) goddess of the dawn, who in ancient texts is also considered to be the goddess of heaven and in whose honour spring time festivities were often celebrated.
‘Pascha’ is how the celebration of the resurrection of Christ was initially referred to, as it still is called in many places and languages of current times. Its origins are in the word ‘Passover’, which is also celebrated in the early spring, with its timing also designating when Easter Sunday will occur, all coming from the timing of the moon cycle of spring.
Enter now, the influence of the Teutonic word ‘auferstehen’, which translated means ‘at first (ester)stand’ (stehen). This word, in modern German is auferstehen, literally meaning ‘resurrection’. This term, historically, was also used in ancient times in reference to our current Christian ‘Easter Sunday’, but still today, scholars are undecided as to whether this use is where our present ‘Easter’ word is derived from.
‘This Joyful Eastertide’, is a wonderful carol, whose tune comes from a Dutch carol dated back to pre 1624.
The word ‘carol’ comes from the French word ‘carole’, which designates a folk dance which is done in a wide circle, with dancers facing one another. This form of song and dance was quite popular through-out Europe, going back to at least 13th century times. It was a dance often done with the accompaniment of a flute instruments, and for which the dancers also frequently sang, both with secular and sacred lyrics.
In 1647, in a reaction to a puritan led initiative, the use of carols, which was basically the pop music of its time, was formerly banned by British parliament, being considered to ‘worldly’, or ‘sensual’, as we might say.
The use of sacred carols in Churches across Europe of virtually all denominations soon became forbidden, and this ban held fast until the late 19th century, a period encompassing over 300 years!
The reason that Oxford University, initially collected for many years, and then published its still famous and in print ‘Oxford Book of Carols’, in 1928, was to ensure that many carols that had not been heard or even know of, for over 300 years, would not be forgotten.
This leads us all in a circle, true to the word ‘carol’, at this specific time, to ‘This Joyful Eastertide’, the beautiful carol from the Netherlands which is one of the most well known carols of all time.
Carols make idea material for organ voluntaries (improvisations), and this carol in particular, has always been a favourite of mine to play. A simple motif, which the word ‘arisen’ follows, is repeated 3 times, with the last having the middle syllable spread across 8 notes and 8 full beats. This makes an ideal place for new interpretations and improvisations.
A number of years ago I wrote out a simple arrangement of this carol for both a combined adult and youth choir, which played a game with the ‘arisen’ part of the tune, repeating the phrase additional times. The tempo was pushed ahead of what is normally expected, and the rhythm of the harmonies shifts with accents on the 2nd and 4th beats, giving it a bit of o backbeat push.
With the inability of being able to have a choir sing, for the second Easter now in a row, Imogen Wasse was asked to be our designated soloist for taping the music for the ‘virtual Service’
We used the verses from the modern lyric adaptation ‘Because you live, O Christ’ this time around for the verses, while retaining the traditional chorus.
Another fun arrangment is the organ postlude, which is a one minute, highly condensed version of Handel’s ‘Hallelujah Chorus’. This Service was broadcast in the area on Rogers Cable TV and we need to keep the postludes at about a one minute length, in order to fit the timing of the closing credits. My kids tell me that I should post it on ‘TicToc’, where song lengths are a maximum of one minuet. Hopefully it will bring you a smile.
You can hear the carol at 16:46 and the postlude at 57:17, or if you’ve time, you can catch the whole Service.
Happy Easter!
https://player.vimeo.com/video