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About the Composer
Timothy C. Takach
Timothy C. Takach Publications
Every Heart Shall Open
This original Christmas carol from Takach is a quiet embracing of those who are strangers to us.
SATB a cappella, opt. S solo
This original carol from Takach is a quiet embracing of others, a way to be careful with those who are different from us, those who are strangers to us. The sinuous melody in the verses contains unexpected turns but fits well in the voice, navigating harmonic shifts with ease and natural voice leading. This gives way to a warm, soaring chorus that feels like Christmas.
Composer’s Notes
There are times when, as a composer, it feels fun to flex a bit, show off your composer-y muscles and break the mold. And there are other times when instinct and heart take over, and the piece you are writing shows up at your doorstep, not hiding, not elusive, but present and ready.
In writing a new song for True Concord’s Lessons and Carols, this poem of Farjeon’s volunteered itself to be a true carol with lines that scan rhythmically across stanzas and a refrain that when repeated helps embed her message in us. With help from the poetry, this music simply showed up for me.
I have included the option to use gender neutral 3rd person pronouns in this piece. Farjeon has used metaphors in her other poetry (Rose, Guest, Love) when she refers to Jesus, but here, when she references The Stranger, she may mean the Christ Child specifically, and she may mean a non-sacred instance of a stranger. Regardless of the poet’s intention, there is a passage in John 10:30 when Jesus says “I and the Father are one,” and so referring to the divine as a plural they feels very natural.
In the spirit of Christmas, I find the most joy in seeing the birth of Jesus as hope for humankind. Farjeon’s second stanza, for which this carol is titled, seems to me to be the heart of the text, asking us, no matter who we are in society, to be careful with each other, to let others approach our welcoming arms, and to open our hearts to those who are different than us, who are strangers to us.
– Timothy C. Takach, 2023
Text
When there dawns a certain Star
Comes a Stranger into the city;
The feet of prayer his dear feet are,
His hands they are the hands of pity.
Every houseplace rich and poor
Shall show for welcome a sprig of green,
And every heart shall open its door
To let the Stranger enter in.
I will set my door ajar
That he may enter if he please;
The eyes of love his dear eyes are,
His brow it is the brow of peace.
Through the heart of every child
And every person in the city
They shall pass, and all be filled
With love and peace and prayer and pity.
– Eleanor Farjeon, “A Child’s Carol,” adapt. TCT
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