"And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long..."

I'm sitting transfixed in my study listening to Christian Forshaw's utterly heartbreaking rendering of Come Down O Love Divine.  I wrote about this CD, "Sanctuary", some months ago, enthusing about this beautifully conceived and performed album.

One of the recurring, indeed pervasive and persuasive notes in Elizabeth Johnson's account of contemporary Christian thinking about God is that of a Love that is at once mystery and gift, transcendent and intimate, sovereign and self-giving. Forshaw's rendering of this late middle ages hymn, Come Down O Love Divine, accompanying Aimee Green's voice which is pure with devotional intensity and intent, simply raises my heart into another degree of spiritual awareness. The combination of human voice as embodied longing, and of the saxophone through which musical improvisation gives breath to unassuaged yearning, communicate degrees of spiritual desire that are breathtaking. And I mean breathtaking - the word is used with specific intent - the saxophone played by the controlled expulsion of breath, and the soul's longing similar to overworked lungs inhaling oxygen, combine in spiritual aspiration and a final devotional surrender to the grace that transforms moral personality, transfigures character and transmutes human longing into fellowship with the Love Divine.

And so the yearning strong

with which the soul will long,

shall far surpass the power of human telling;

for none can guess its grace,

till we become the place

wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Comments

[Geoff Colmer]

Jim, I purchased Sanctuary on your recommendation and haven't been disappointed. I played 'Let all mortal flesh keep silence' in small group worship with great effect just prior to Christmas. I'll go and listen again to 'Come down O Love Divine'.

I started blogging a few weeks ago at Wonder and Wondering http://geoffcolmer.blogspot.com - the inaugeral blog explains the reason for the title. Your blog has been an inspiration for a long time and at last I've taken the plunge - and I'm really enjoying it! Do pop by and leave a comment.

[Lynne Murray]

Interesting interpretation but it is a bit of a stretch to describe "Come down o love divine" as a Middle Ages hymn. The original words are indeed from the 15th century, but they were in Latin and translated into English in the 19th century. The tune was composed and the words set by Vaughan Williams in 1905.

[Jim Gordon]

Hi Lynne - thanks for your comment. It is indeed a late Middle Ages Hymn originally written by Bianco da Siena (1350-1454) I date it from its author, not its later translators or arrangers. The date of the English translation by Richard Littledale was part of a Victorian recovery of ancient hymns from the patrictic and medieval eras, the choices often inspired by the Anglo-Catholic Revival.You can check it out in Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology, or The Penguin Book of Hymns by Ian Bradley.