Chant for the Seasons
Hymn composed by
Czech folk songContextual information
Mark Belletini says, "In college I studied Russian, and my professor got me involved in a Russian choir where I learned music I had not heard before. The Czech song that is the melody was one of them.
I wrote the text for my congregation [Starr King UU Church in Hayward, CA] because the seasonal hymns available were useless for us. No snow, no ice, just rain and flowers in January. Only the liquid amber trees turned red in the fall, and then in December not October. I realized that much of the country was warmer than the snow belt, too; it was one of my earliest forays into song-writing.
We sang it simply as a chant, not like it is in the book; I often had the people keep rhythm by tapping their hands on their thighs, since for many years we had no musician nor piano at Hayward. The congregation enjoyed the rhythm of singing it four times per year, just the appropriate verses."
This hymn appears as #73 in Singing the Living Tradition.
Mark Belletini says, "In college I studied Russian, and my professor got me involved in a Russian choir where I learned music I had not heard before. The Czech song that is the melody was one of them.
I wrote the text for my congregation [Starr King UU Church in Hayward, CA] because the seasonal hymns available were useless for us. No snow, no ice, just rain and flowers in January. Only the liquid amber trees turned red in the fall, and then in December not October. I realized that much of the country was warmer than the snow belt, too; it was one of my earliest forays into song-writing.
We sang it simply as a chant, not like it is in the book; I often had the people keep rhythm by tapping their hands on their thighs, since for many years we had no musician nor piano at Hayward. The congregation enjoyed the rhythm of singing it four times per year, just the appropriate verses."
This hymn appears as #73 in Singing the Living Tradition.
Tune Name
PRAHA
Tune Name
Text Meter
Irregular
10.9.10.9
Song Composer
Czech folk songHymn Arranger
Composer Background information
Spiritual tags
Other tags
Lyricist Background information
Arranger Background information
Lyrics
(Autumn)
Summertime has turned the starwheel,
autumn is upon us.
Sweet the angling sun,
sweet upon the air the smell of blue mist rising.
Summertime has turned the starwheel,
autumn is upon us.
Glorious the trees,
glorious the sight of rust leaves falling, falling.
Summertime has turned the starwheel,
autumn is upon us.
(Winter)
Autumn cold has turned the starwheel,
winter is upon us.
Grey the windy storms,
cold upon our cheeks the wet rain glistens, glistens.
Autumn cold has turned the starwheel,
winter is upon us.
Leaping is the fire,
golden in the glass the cider glows like amber.
Autumn cold has turned the starwheel,
winter is upon upon us.
(Spring)
Winter rains have turned the starwheel,
springtime is upon us.
Sharp the smell of loam,
bursting in our eyes the turrets of the tulip.
Winter rains have turned the starwheel,
springtime is upon us.
Greening is the grass;
soft upon our brows the sunlight warm caresses.
Winter rains have turned the starwheel,
springtime is upon us.
(Summer)
Vernal clouds have turned the starwheel,
summer is upon us.
Gliding are the hawks,
hovering above the hot and yellow hillside.
Vernal clouds have turned the starwheel,
summer is upon us.
Crickets in the night,
chirping in our ears the sound of moonlit music.
Vernal clouds have turned the starwheel,
summer is upon us.
Resources
Music XML and MEI and MIDI and Musescore files
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