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When I Survey​-​God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Medley

from Servant King by wade baynham

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The hurdy gurdy is an old instrument that apparently originated before the violin. If you aren’t familiar with one, it is a stringed instrument where a rosin wheel rubs the strings instead of a bow, and the notes are changed on the string by pressing small wooden hammers inside a box where the melody strings are, rather than by touching them with your hands. There are also drone strings, and a chien string (or strings) that can ‘bark like a dog’ and provide rhythmic sounds to the whole endeavor. Some hurdy gurdys are extremely elaborate, and some like the one I’ve been playing are simpler, and yet still beautiful pieces of art in themselves.

Because of the drone and melody strings, and the way they are usually tuned, they are ideal for playing the folk music of a number of different countries and people groups, and were historically well-known in Europe. I am most familiar with hearing them in Baltic and Celtic music and particularly in the music of Loreena McKennitt, who uses musical influences from all over the world. So, in looking for music to play with the hurdy gurdy that also might work as a meditation for Advent and the Servant King, I found an article that described “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” as a melody derived from a Gregorian chant. I began weaving that old melody together with the old English Christmas melody from ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,’ to come up with the recording you have here.

The song incorporates sounds from all over the globe from the choral vocalizing, to the Japanese dulcimer, to the middle eastern percussion, to the violins and cello, to the Spanish classical guitar, to the European hurdy gurdy. I hope that the interplay of these two beautiful old melodies will give you a chance to breathe deeply and reflect, to let the music wash over you, and give you space for rest, consideration and wonder this Advent season.

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from Servant King, released November 25, 2021

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wade baynham Durham, North Carolina

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