Sunday, March 3, 2024

compline digital offering

"Now all the wood are sleeping," Heinrich Isaac (ed. J.E. Stromgren)

Now all the woods are sleeping,

Through fields the shadows creeping,

And cities sink to rest;

Let us as night is falling

On God our maker calling,

Give thanks to him who loves us best.

The radiant sun has vanished,

Its golden rays are banished

From dark'ning skies of night;

But Christ, the sun of gladness,

Dispelling all our sadness,

Shines down on us in warmest light.

Now all the heav'nly splendor

Breaks forth in starlight tender

From myriad worlds unknown;

And we, this marvel seeing,

Forget our selfish being

For joy of beauty not our own.

Though long God's lovingkindness

Was hidden by our blindness,

Which plunged us into strife;

One day, when life is over,

Shall death's fair night uncover

The fields of everlasting life.

Featuring members of the St. John's Parish Choir:

Jennifer M. Mulhern, Maggie O'Neill, soprano

Christina DeMaio, Terry McKinney, alto

Edward Hinson, Andrew Sokol, tenor

Joseph Harris, Olin Johannessen, bass

John Stromgren, director

Zuri Wemple, video

Olin Johannessen, technical direction and post-production

Recorded live in Roberts Hall at St. John's Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, NH, on January 31, 2024