Kemper Crabb Downe In Yon Forest
Bookend Media sent me Kemper Crabb’s Downe In Yon Forrest: Christmas From the Middle Ages. Downe In Yon Forrest is a collection of medieval Christmas songs and hymns that were captured live for broadcast on PBS. The PBS broadcast drew in over 106 million viewers during its 2008 airing. Nationally, over 44 million homes viewed the Christmas special as well as 104,000 viewers in Crabb’s hometown of Houston, TX. This unique musical gathering will be aired again nationally through the PBS system throughout the 2009 holiday season. If you are a connoisseur of fine holiday music then watch for the PBS special this season.
Downe In Yon Forrest transports the listener to the Middle Ages where ancient instruments are brought to life and long lost carols are presented as one would have experienced them in medieval Europe. Though most of the songs featured on the album were unearthed from the 1500’s, Crabb bestows an album that is as fresh and relevant as the songs have been throughout the centuries. Though some of the songs featured on Downe In Yon Forrest are considered modern Christmas favorites, these ancient songs take on a new tone as Crabb play them with authentic medieval instruments as they were first intended to be heard.
Kemper Crabb is as fascinating as are his musical persuits and artistic tastes. The following is an introduction to the artist, as presented in the press kit bio that accomapnied the Downe In Yon Forrest CD/DVD combo package sent to me for review.
No one would mistake Kemper Crabb for a modern man, and this is to his credit. You might mistake him for a medieval man born 700 years too late. His musical stylings are enough to evidence that fact. You might also mistake him for a Renaissance man. His breadth of knowledge and variety of skills are enough to evidence that fact. You might also mistake him for a postmodern Christian. His distaste for the philosophical errors of the modern era is enough to evidence that fact. He fits all of these categories and none of them at the same time. He is, in fact, a Christian man whose theological perspective is at once historical and contemporary.
His musical career has been varied and impressive. He has been a member of bands such as ArkAngel, RadioHalo and, for a short while, Caedmon’s Call. His 1982 solo album The Vigil is still a sensation amongst those in the know. It is an album inspired by battle preparation rituals for knights during the Middle Ages and is a favorite for musicians such as Kerry Livgren (Kansas) and Rick Wakeman (Yes). In fact, Stevie Ray Vaughn during his appearance on MTV Unplugged disclosed that The Vigil was his favorite album. More recently in 1995 Kemper recorded A Medieval Christmas, a collection of medieval Christmas songs and hymns. The popularity of this album has spawned many invitations for Kemper and his friends to perform Christmas concerts. Currently he is a member of the band Atomic Opera (Gospel Cola) and works on solo projects as well. He travels widely across Europe, Asia and America to perform.
Not only has Kemper dedicated his life to the pursuit of God’s glory through his music he also heeds the call to teach God’s word to the flock. In a style reminiscent of ages past Kemper teaches with conviction and intensity, and he refuses to tickle ears. He is one of a rare breed of teachers whose teachings are uncompromising and thoroughly biblical. Whether he is talking about the Church, apologetics or expounding on a book of the Bible, Kemper’s teachings are sure never to waste your time.
Kemper was ordained to the priesthood in the Reformed Episcopal Church and is currently is a priest in the Community of Evangelical Episcopal Churches (CEEC). He helped pastor Christ Church in Houston with the likes of George Grant for several years. Though he is ordained in the CEEC, consistent with his belief that the Church is catholic he lends his talents to whatever local community of believers is in need of a teacher and musician. He currently lends his support to St. John the Divine Episcopal Church (ECUSA) which is located in the heart of Houston, TX. He leads the worship music at the eleven o’clock contemporary service and teaches a Wednesday night Bible Study.
Kemper is a native Texan who was raised in San Antonio and currently resides in the Houston area with his wife Shanna. He is a proud father of one and a grandfather of three beautiful grandchildren. He has also nurtured many spiritual children with whom he has shared his wisdom and insight.
Kemper is an artist-priest whose demeanor is warm and engaging; his presence sage-like, his teaching profound, his love of God and the Church staggering; and his dedication to the aesthetic life zealous. He is truly an extraordinary man, and those whose lives are touched by his will never be the same.
There is no other Christmas album that come close to comparing with Kemper Crabb’s Down In Yon Forrest. Josh Groban’s Noel comes close, but not even Noel compares to the modern artistry and ancient experience that is Downe In Yon Forrest. The Holiday Season was made for this music.
Downe in Yon Forrest CD Information
1. Greensleeves
This song from the 1500’s is reputed to have been written by King Henry VIII of England and was first utilized as the melody of “Geensleeves” before being rewritten as a Christmas carol.
2. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
This Advent carol comes from the ancient Liturgy of St. James, which was a Greek-language liturgy that took shape in the Fourth Century A.D., and was thus chanted by monks for centuries before it was translated and became a popularly-sung carol in the last few centuries.
3. Es Kommt Ein Schiff (The Song of the Ship)
A rollicking Twelfth Century Christmas carol sung in both its original German and in English, this profoundly mystical song is an example of the “ship-carols” beloved of the Middle Ages, in which Mary is likened to a ship carrying the precious cargo of the Infant Christ.
4. Divinum Mysterium (Of the Father’s Love Begotten)
This plainsong chant, which was widely used across the Middle Ages, is an adaptation of verses written by the Romano-Spanish lawyer, Prudentius, in the late Fourth Century A.D.
5. Downe In Yon Forrest
An eerily beautiful carol from the 1400’s England which marries Romantic literature’s Holy Graal imagery to the event of the Incarnation of Christ.
6. The Coventry Carol
This acappela rendition of this plaintive carol comes from the 1400s cycle of Mystery Plays of Coventry’s “Pageant of the Shearmen and the Tailors,”sponsored yearly by the guild to recapitulate the Christmas story dramatically and musically.
7. The Sussex Carol
This driving instrumental version of this traditional English carol of the 1600s illustrates the reason for its great popularity in subsequent centuries.
8. Personent Hodie
This is a Fifteenth Century carol lauding the joy of the benefits of the Incarnation to humanity which is based on the Fourteenth Century melody of a carol concerning the wondrous exploits of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus).
9. The Christ Child Lullabye
This Gaelic Christmas carol (sung in both Gaelic and English), which was written from the perspective of Mary considering her newly-born Son, though relatively modern in composition, nevertheless richly illustrates the continuing influence of Medieval carol-forms on modern musical Christmas expressions.
10. I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
This raucous crowd pleaser of a carol is another “ship-carol,”celebrating Christ’s coming as cargo in Mary, as this 14th Century melody is utilized with a 15th Century text which displaces an earlier text concerning the translation of relics of the supposed three wise men to cologne, Germany’s cathedral during the Middle Ages. The three kings are replaced by images of the Trinity as three ships bringing the Virgin and her Son.
11. Veni, Veni, Emanuel (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)
These Advent Vespers Antiphons date back in their composition to at least the reign of Charlemagne (771-814 A. D.). The melody to which the text is sung dates to no later (and probably much earlier) than the 13th Century. This plainsong chant revisits the anticipatory Scriptural prophecies concerning Christ’s birth.
12. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Kemper and his group use this rather late traditional British carol to illustrate how the medieval musical blend of the cultural influences of both Islamic East and Christian West might still affect modern Christmas music in an extended instrumental extemporaneous rendition.
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The Blind Begger
Daniel Klotz
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Where may I get a cd of the music that you played in
“Downe in Yon Forest” on KPBS tv? thanks
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