AVE, AVE, THE ANGEL SANG
Mark Alan Filbert, Hymnology Consultant2023-11-03T16:05:44-04:00The month of December we continue our Hymn of the Month series in which one or more hymns drawn from collections published by Leupold Editions will be posted on the opening page of the website for consideration by pastors and musicians who may wish to introduce the hymn to their congregations the following month. The Hymn of the Month will often be thematically appropriate for a particular season of the church year or it may be related to a more general theme about the church’s mission in contemporary society. Thus, pastors and/or musicians may wish to have the choir introduce the hymn on the first Sunday of the month or season and then invite the congregation to join with the choir in singing the hymn on each of the remaining Sundays. Additional hymns will occasionally be suggested for a particular Sunday in the church year or for annual commemorations, such as the liturgies of Holy Week; such hymns may only be appropriate on the designated day, or they might be used as a Hymn of the Month in anticipation of or in response to the particular day observed on the church calendar.
As we begin a new church year, the Hymn of the Month might more aptly be called a Hymn of the Season for Advent. The Hymn for Advent in 2023 is Ave, Ave, the Angel Sang, with a text and tune by Robert Lau (b 1943). The text, based on Luke 1.26-38, is the appointed Gospel for the Fourth Sunday in Advent in Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary. However, it could appropriately be sung on all four Sundays in Advent in anticipation of the fourth Sunday. The tune is well crafted and lyrical, perfectly suited for the text.
Lau holds degrees from Lebanon Valley College, the Eastman School of Music, and the Catholic University of America. He has taught in public schools in Pennsylvania and New York and was a professor at his undergraduate alma mater from 1978-1989. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at Penn State Harrisburg and serves as Organist/Choirmaster at Mount Calvary Episcopal Church in Camp Hill, PA, and as music director of the Harrisburg Choral Society.

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