It was in 1868 that the renowned Episcopal rector of Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, Phillips Brooks, penned the words to “O Little Town of Bethlehem” for a Christmas children’s service. Brooks asked his church musician, Lewis Redner, to compose the tune, which he did at the last moment. Father Brooks visited Palestine in 1865 at the age of 30. On Christmas Eve he rode horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to worship at the Church of the Nativity. So inspired was he by this experience that he wrote one of the most famous Christmas carols about a city where God’s love was revealed. The pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem has said that if the baby Jesus were to be born this year, it would be under rubble. To underscore the point, the church’s manger scene is set in a pile of rocks. We ache for a lasting peace to return to Gaza and to Bethlehem, the city that God still loves, the city that inspired Father Phillips Brooks. When horrific acts of violence, indiscriminate bombings, mass shootings, and abuse take place anywhere in the world, Jesus is buried deeper and deeper under the rubble. In 2012 shortly after the tragic deaths of school children at Sandy Hook I composed a new setting of Phillips Brooks’ “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. It was first sung by the Lenoir-Rhyne College Singers for Christmas at Lenoir-Rhyne 2012 and was performed and recorded recently by the Chicago Choral Artists, under the direction of Michael Costello, on their Christmas program. I recently orchestrated my Christmas carol “In Bethlehem” for which my father-in-law, Gordon Jowers, wrote the text. It will be performed for the first time this Christmas, though I invite you to listen to a midi recording of the music. 

Our Father, based on a haunting Slovak chant of the Lord’s Prayer, memorializes all who have died from violence and tragedy, and includes a word of Jesus from the cross. As we pray for healing, there is no better place to begin than with this prayer.  The performance is by Yale vocal artists. 

The Beatitudes always bring comfort, reminding us that even in the darkest of times, we are blessed. The SATB anthem Blessed is available from MorningStar Music as well as in an a cappella version for SSAA, and an edition for unison treble voices with strings.   

When You Pass through the Waters depicts one of my favorite biblical passages of comfort from Isaiah 43.  It was composed in memory of a kind and caring music professor of mine. There are versions for unison, two-part, and SATB ensembles at MorningStar Music.