Yeshua, Our Dedication
Lynn Job
About this work:
Publisher: Buckthorn Music Press
Registered: ASCAP
Duration: 5:00 min.
Text: English, original, 3 stanzas plus refrain and amens. Poetic meter of "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
Purpose: Christmas and Hanukkah
NOTES: Initially written in 2 days in response to a request by the American Composers Forum,
VocalEssence, and Minnesota Public Radio, this is a very Millennial hymn - tuneful but
dramatic. "Yeshua, Our Dedication" blends lovely traditional harmonies with modal gestures
mixing cultural references in a text for Messianic Congregations, or anyone with an interest in
the First Century Church. Yeshua (Jesus) did of course celebrate The Feast of Dedication
(Festival of Lights, Hanukkah), mentioned in John 10: 22-23. December’s winter solstice
(Christmas) is also held to be the time King Solomon dedicated the First Temple, a temple story
even older than the celebrated Maccabee miracle (166 B.C.) which instituted the Feast of
Dedication. While Christmas tends toward emphasis of the birth, it’s also a time for discussion
of Messiah’s whole life story both then and now and to come. The composer used the poetic
meter of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” to inspire her lyrics, and the music was written after the
text. This is the first carol by this composer.
Version: SATB with Sop. Recorder/Flute
Year composed: 2004
Duration: 00:05:00
Ensemble type: Chorus, with or without Solo Voices:Chorus with One Non-Keyboard Instrument
Instrumentation: ,1 Flute soloist(s), 1 S, 1 A, 1 T, 1 B
Instrumentation notes: for soprano (treble) recorder - substitute modern C flute or wood flute if preferred (high D top note)