Easter Brass
FOR BRASS QUINTET, TIMP, AND ORGAN
Thaxted
FOR STRINGS, OBOE, HORN, TIMP, AND ORGAN
Text by Michael Perry
Toulon
FOR BRASS QUINTET, TIMP, AND ORGAN
For ordinations and church anniversaries, with updated text
Not given to self-promotion, Percy Edwin Burnham Coller (1892-1955) submitted ST JOAN to The Hymnal 1940 anonymously, named for his wife; it his only published work. Coller is a product of the maritime industrial culture he grew up in, his education and musical ability acquired outside the cathedral, academic, and choir school culture. He was the son of an established Liverpool-area organist and apprenticed to the business, a child chorister at a church used as a pro-cathedral of the nascent diocese, then student at a grammar school (p.37; two of the Beatles also attended this school). Without the benefit of a degree, by age twenty he emerged as the organist for, and at twenty-two conductor of, an annual performance of The Messiah staged by an area orchestral society. A four year enlistment for WW1 was followed by marriage and children, 1½ years of incomplete study at the University of Liverpool, an extended missionary trip, and in 1925 a Canadian business magnate facilitated a move to Montréal, where Coller became organist and choirmaster of St. Peter's Anglican Church. Throughout his working life, besides professional musician, he also held jobs such as schoolteacher, clerk, accountant, farmer, and ship's crew. His sister and mother joined him in Montréal in 1934 and then, as yet another world war darkened the horizon he produced this stirring composition, signaling that beyond the gloom a dawn will surely follow. This account corrects persistently-repeated errors, the reason for the length of this bio and the extended discussion below.
The hymn Christ is the world's true light was written by George Wallace Briggs (1875-1959) whose priestly ministry concluded as canon at Worcester cathedral, and prior to that, canon at Leicester. He was cited by no less an authority than Erik Routley as a hymnologist "who succeeded excellently in writing simple and persuasive material for our time." Among his revered hymns is the communion hymn, Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest. Frequently cited as G.W. Briggs, he is not to be confused with the other G.W. Briggs, Unitarian abolitionist and hymn editor, George Ware Briggs, who in any event would never have written such a paean to the Second Person of the Trinity. The second hymn below, O God eternal source of love beyond all knowing, is a composite drawn from the well-known hymn O Gott, du frommer Gott by Johann Heerman, with the doxology by Martin Rinkart, from Nun danket. This fine combination is uncommon, appearing in only three U.S. hymnals according to the Hymnary website.
The content here is © David Maurand. CC-BY-SA 4.0 Attribution to hymndescants.org permitted.
George Wallace Briggs (1931) © Oxford University Press. (Click protected)
1 Christ is the world’s true light,
Its Captain of salvation,
The Day-star clear and bright
Of every race and nation;
New life, new hope awakes,
For all who own his sway;
Freedom her bondage breaks,
And night is turned to day.
2 In Christ all races meet,
Their ancient feuds forgetting,
The whole round world complete,
From sunrise to its setting:
When Christ is throned as Lord,
All shall forsake their fear,
To ploughshare beat the sword,
To pruning-hook the spear.
3 One Lord, in one great Name
Unite us all who own thee;
Cast out our pride and shame
That hinder to enthrone thee;
The world has waited long,
Has travailed long in pain;
To heal its ancient wrong,
Come, Prince of Peace, and reign.
Johann Heermann (1585-1647), Martin Rinkart (1586 - 1649); tr. Edward Horn, Catherine Winkworth, alt.
1 O God, eternal source
Of love beyond our knowing,
Who gives us every gift,
And boundless grace bestowing:
Grant soundness to our minds
And wholeness to our frame,
Thy pardon to our souls,
That we may praise thy Name.
2 O help us to fulfill
On earth our holy calling;
O make us hear thy voice,
And keep our feet from falling.
So may we serve thee here
With all our strength and might,
And may our every deed
Be righteous in thy sight.
Factchecks: Inaccuracies regarding Coller's early life have multiplied wildly, burrowing deep into the rabbit warrens of the internet. They have as their common source a usually reliable reference, displayed below. The errors possibly result from the misinterpretation of original records, many handwritten, which list several contemporaneous individuals named Percy (not E.B.) Coller or Collen. TL;DR - This tune comes from a musician who labored against many obstacles and disruptions, then made made the most of a providential midlife opportunity - ST JOAN is a singular message of hope and gratitude.
Birth was recorded in Toxteth Park in 1892. (Incorporated into Liverpool 1895.)
His death was recorded in Montréal, 1955.
Verification:
References
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