Author Topic: Add Come Away To The Skies

Jon Freeman

 Posted - 19 Aug 03 - 11:23 am
Come Away to the Skies
1. Come away to the skies, by beloved, arise
And rejoice in the day thou wast born;
On this festival day come exulting away,
And with singing to Zion retun.

2. Now with singing and praise let us spend all our days
By our heavenly Father bestowed;
While his grace we receive from his bounty, and live
To the honor and glory of God.

Source: The Second Penguin Book of Christmas Carols, ed. Elizabeth Poston

Notes:
From The Second Penguin Book of Christmas Carols, p. 22.
Come Away to the Skies. From The Southern Harmony, compiled by William Walker. [Tune name in Southern Harmony, "Exultation."] The words are a slightly altered version of a poem by Charles Wesley, first published in his Hymns for Families, 1767 (165), subsequently in 1780 in the Wesleyan Hymn Book (478). In their original form Wesley wrote them on 12 October 1755, his wife's anniversary, under the title of 'On the twenty-ninth birthday of a Friend'.

Database entry is here




masato sakurai

 Posted - 19 Aug 03 - 05:04 pm
"Come away to the skies" was set to three tunes in The Southern Harmony.
Rapture (M. L. Swan; no. 333)

Exultation (Humphreys; no. 88)

Middlebury (no. 17)
Poston says her source is The Southern Harmony, but the original tune (key is Am) is a little different, with 7 stanzas.
zB,/B,/ | EE/E/ | (c/B/)A/A/ |
w:Come a way to the skies,_ my be
BA/G/ | EB,/B,/ |EE/E/ | (c/B/)A/A/ |
w:lov ed, a rise, And re joice in the day_ thou wast
B2 | zG/G/ | AA/B/ | dB/A/
w:born; On this fes ti val day come ex

1. Come away to the skies. My beloved, arise,
And rejoice in the day thou wast born;
On this festival day, come exulting away,
And with singing to Zion return.

2. We have laid up our love and our treasure above,
Though our bodies continue below,
The redeemed of the Lord will remember his word,
And with singing to paradise go.

3. Now with singing and praise, let us spend all the days,
By our heavenly Father bestowed,
While his grace we receive from his bounty, and live
To the honor and glory of God.

4. For the glory we were first created to share,
Both the nature and kingdom divine!
Now created again that our souls may remain,
Throughout time and eternity thine.

5. We with thanks to approve, the design of that love
Which hath joined us to Jesus's name;
So united in heart, let us never more part,
Till we meet at the feast of the Lamb.

6. There, O! there at his feet, we shall all likewise meet,
And be parted in body no more;
We shall sing to our lyres, with the heavenly choirs,
And our Savior in glory adore.

7. Hallelujah we sing, to our Father and King,
And his rapturous praises repeat:
To the Lamb that was slain, Hallelujah again,
Sing, all heaven and fall at his feet.
"The hexatonic tune EXULTATION ... first appeared in print in the first edition of Ananias Davisson's Supplement to the Kentucky Harmony (Harrisburg, Va., 1820)." (Marion J. Hatchett, A Companion to The New Harp of Columbia, University of Tennessee Press, 2003, p. 244). The tune MIDDLEBURY is better known for this set of words (see, for example, The Hymnal 1982, no. 213; and The Cyber Hymnal - COME AWAY TO THE SKIES).


Edited By masato sakurai - 24-Aug-2003 02:36:58 PM






masato sakurai

 Posted - 20 Aug 03 - 06:36 am
A related tune:

X:1
T:FELLOWSHIP
M:6/8
L:1/8
S:The Christian Harmony (by J. Ingalls, 1805) 95
B:George Pullen Jackson, Down-East Spirituals and Others, 1943; Da Capo, 1975, no. 75
N:Aeolian, but "The compiler of the Christian Harmony has minorized the tune."
K:C
c/ d/|e c e d2c/ B/|c B (A/G/)E2E/ E/|
w:Come a-way to the skies, my be-lov-ed a - rise, And re-
A A A f e d|e3c2d|e c ed2c/ B/|
w:joice in the day thou wast born. On this fes-ti-val day, come ex-
c d (e/f/)g2e/ e/|
w:ult-ing a - way, And with
M:9/8
(a2ga) e d e c B|
w:sing_-ing to Si-on re-
(A3/2B/c/A/ d3)c2d|
w:turn___, And with
M:6/8
e e d e c B|(A3A2)|]
w:sing-ing to Si-on re-turn._

"The tune is a variant of the one used today by the Primitive Baptists with 'Exultation'. But the 134 years of singing, between the two recorded variants, have made their relationship hard to recognize at first sight." (Jackson, p. 97)

Edited By masato sakurai - 20-Aug-2003 06:38:48 AM






masato sakurai

 Posted - 20 Aug 03 - 09:25 am
The tune name (EXULTATION) for "Come away to the skies" is the same in The Harmonia Sacra, 25th ed. (Good Books, 1993, p. 219), but the version has a different melody.

X:2
T:EXULTATION
M:2/2
L:1/4
B:The Harmonia Sacra, 25th ed. (Good Books, 1993, p. 219)
K:C
E G|A2A ^G|A2||B d|c2B A|E2||
w:Come a-way to the skies! My be-lov-ed a-rise,
E^G|A2A ^G|(AB) c d|He2||
w:And re-joice in the day_ thou wast born;
c d|e2 ed|e2||B d|c2 B A|E2||
w:On the fest-tiv-al day Come ex-ult-ing a-way,
E ^G|A2B d|c2B A|A4|]
w:And with sing-ing, to Zi-on re-turn.






Mary in Kentucky

 Posted - 20 Aug 03 - 02:11 pm
Those are beautiful tunes!






masato sakurai

 Posted - 22 Aug 03 - 08:25 am
From The Hymnal 1982 Companion, Vol. III A (1994, pp. 429-31):
This text was written by Charles Wesley on the anniversary of the birth of his wife, October 12, 1755, and first published in his Hymns for the Use of Families (London, 1767), under the title "On the birth-day of a friend." The original version consisted of eight stanzas [differences underlined--MS]:
1. Come away to the skies,
My beloved, arise,
And rejoice in the day thou wast born,
On the festival day
Come exulting away,
To thy heavenly country return.

2. We have laid up our love
And [...] treasure above,
Though our bodies continue below,
The redeem'd of the Lord
We remember his word,
And with singing to Sion we go.

3. [...] With singing we praise
The original grace
By our heavenly Father bestow'd,
Our being receive
From his bounty, and live
To the honour and glory of God.

4. For thy glory we Are
Created again,
Both the nature and kingdom divine:
[...] Created again,
That our souls may remain
In time and eternity thine.

5. [..] With thanks to approve
The design of thy love
Which hath joined us, in Jesus his name,
So united in heart,
That we never can part,
Till we meet at the feast of the Lamb.

6. There, [...] there at his seat
We shall suddenly meet,
And be parted in body no more.
We shall sing to our lyres
With the heavenly quires,
And our Saviour in glory adore.

7. Hallelujah we sing
To our Father and King,
And his rapturous praises repeat;
To the Lamb that was slain
Hallelujah again
Sing all heaven, and fall at his feet!

8. In assurance of hope
We to Jesus look up,
Till his banner unfurl'd in the air
From our grave we doth see,
And cry out IT IS HE.
And fly up to acknowledge him there!




Edited By masato sakurai - 22-Aug-2003 08:32:09 AM






masato sakurai

 Posted - 24 Aug 03 - 02:29 pm
X:3
T:ROWLEY
M:3/4
L:1/8
B:The New Harp of Columbia (1867; facsimile edition, U. of Tennessee Pr., 2001, p. 144)
K:G
(G3/2 A/)|B2 A2 G2|d4 (B3/2 d/)|c2 B2 A2|B4 (d3/2 d/)|
w:Come a-way to the skies, My be-lov-ed a-rise, And re-
d2 B2 d2|d2 c2 B2|A4 (A3/2 A/)|A2 B2 c2|B4 (A3/2 A/)|
w:joice in the day thou wast born. On this fest-tiv-al day Come ex-
B2 B2 c2|d4 (d3/2 d/)|d2 B2 d2|d2 c2 B2|A4 (d3/2 d/)|
w:ult-ing a-way, And with sing-ing to Zi-on re-turn, And with
d2 B2 d2|c2 B2 A2|G4|]
w:sing-ing to Zi-on re-turn.





Browse Titles: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z