The Old Old Songs

I have written here many times about music. It tells our stories, motivates our works and memorializes our dead. The history behind hymns in particular fascinate me.

As I was looking at Easter music this week, I noticed the date of one hymn , The Day of Resurrection. The Praise for the Lord hymnal (Praise Press, 1997) credits these lyrics to John of Damascus c. 750. While that may not be the oldest hymn in the book, it’s the earliest date I have ever noticed. So that drove me to research both the song and the author.

Hymnary.org (St. John of Damascus | Hymnary.org) tells me John was from Jerusalem where he was born into a wealthy family that served the Muslim caliph. After his father’s death, John assumed the duties until he was about 50 years old. Then, he dissolved his household and joined a monastery where he would spend the rest of his life writing both poetry and prose.

Christianity Today (John of Damascus | Christian History | Christianity Today) further details his work in the Greek Orthodox Church where he fought to keep religious icons in their services despite the Byzantine Emperor’s quest to remove them. John of Damascus convinced at least the people, if not the bishops, and icons are “an integral part of Orthodox worship to this day.”

The lyrics of this song are stirring, “The Lord in rays eternal, of resurrection light; and listening to His accents, May hear so calm and plain, His own “all hail!” and hearing, may raise the victor strain.” And “Let all things seen and unseen their notes in gladness blend, For Christ the Lord hath risen, Our joy that hath no end.”

While I don’t particularly enjoy the tune Henry Smart associated with John of Damascus’ lyrics in 1836, this is certainly a song that I will return to.