In the final act of the film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), the students of St. Francis High School in San Francisco, under the tutelage of Las Vegas headliner-turned-music teacher Sister Mary Clarence, burst onto the stage at a music competition with a rendition of the song ‘Joyful, Joyful’.
The students have discarded their choir robes and are donned in a plethora of colours, in t-shirts and overalls and jeans. They dance, sing, rap, and do flips. While set to a familiar tune and lyrics, the film’s arrangement of the song infused it not only with gospel elements, but also hip hop and contemporary rhythm and blues, helping to inaugurate a new era of gospel music, one more accessible to a larger audience of listeners.
At Christmas Service, the CCMC Gospel Choir and the Hallelujah Chorus of CCMC’s Japanese Fellowship will come together to present a rendition of ‘Joyful, Joyful’ as an act of praise and worship with an arrangement by Roger Emerson.
It will join the many carols that have already been sung in CCMC in this season of Advent, a period of anticipating the arrival of Jesus Christ in human flesh, looking to a divine hope that would make itself incarnate, coming proximate to earthly sorrows and joys. Christmas Day, then, is a day of rejoicing of the arrival of the Saviour, a joy to which carols and songs are sung in adulation and celebration.
‘Joyful, Joyful’ begins with a declarative statement:
Joyful, Joyful
Lord, we adore Thee
God of glory
Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Hail Thee as the sun above
The poem proceeds from a place of adoration. It is a recognition of the glory and majesty of the Lord that leads to an experience of joy. The metaphor is evocative: the heart is a flower that unfurls and blooms in the presence of a divine love. ‘Sun’ is a pun, a reference not only to the sun that shares warmth and light in its beams, coating a flower, but also to the Son who sits at the right hand of the Father.
It is this light that stands at the beginning of Creation, as recounted in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness he called “night”. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.
It is light that helps to bring life into Creation, though the darkness is not banished entirely. Rather, it is the presence of light that helps to bring warmth and brightness in addition to a darkness that cradles prayer and contemplation, a light that can help the flower of a heart unfurl.
It is a world that was created with the intention of humanity living in perfect communion with God, a world shattered by the entry of sin. For the chasm of sin to be crossed during the times of the Old Testament, an unblemished lamb was sacrificed and offered to God as humanity sought the forgiveness of sin. Yet, these ritual offerings would not be able to bring eternal separation to a conclusion.
‘Joyful, Joyful’ continues:
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive the clouds of doubt away
Giver of immortal gladness
Fill us with the light of day
The sunlight of Christ that enters the world dispels the clouds of sin, sadness, and doubt. The gladness of the Lord is immortal and permanent. The light that the song describes can be understood as the light of the world, described in the first chapter of the Book of John:
In the beginning was the WORD, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made, In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Christ is the Logos, that which gives order to Creation and whom the world was created, and also the giver of light. Christ, as described in Hebrews, is appointed heir and ruler over all. And it is from this position of divine authority that Christ chose to enter the squalor of humanity as an infant, born to one day bear the sins of all on the cross. As the Book of John also describes:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world though him.
It is only through the sacrifice and death of Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, that we have been saved from eternal separation, and are returned to the loving arms of our heavenly Father. They are the God of glory, the Lord of love, and the Giver of immortal gladness that are praised in the song ‘Joyful, Joyful’.
The story of this present arrangement of ‘Joyful, Joyful’ is one told through the lives of 5 men: Friedrich Schiller, Ludwig van Beethoven, Henry Dyke, Mervyn Edwin Warren, and Roger Emerson.
In the summer of 1785, while staying in Gohlis, Leipzig, the German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller wrote a poem titled ‘An die Freude’, or ‘Ode to Joy’. It was published in 1786 in the German magazine Thalia. Schiller wrote of ‘Joy, though shining spark of God’ in his poem.
Schiller was born to a devout Protestant family and initially had aspirations of entering the priesthood before turning to a life in medicine and in writing. Schiller would revise the poem later in life, but would come to regard the poem as a failure. A revised version of the poem was published posthumously in 1808.
The poem concludes with the images of ‘a loving Father’ and feeling ‘the Creator’s presence’, seeking ‘Him beyond the stars’. Despite Schiller’s own reservations toward the poem, it would form the basis of inspiration of a subsequent composition by Ludwig van Beethoven.
The Symphony No. 9 was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1822 and 1824 and first performed in Vienna in May 1824. A choral symphony, the symphony was the last complete symphony to be composed by Beethoven.
While baptised and raised in a German Catholic family, Beethoven’s life was not determined extensively by Catholicism though he did compose for the church. Beethoven received intensive instruction from his father as a child. Beethoven’s life was afflicted by difficulty later on: he found himself growing deaf in 1800, affecting his ability to hear as he composed his music and the income he received from his compositional work. Beethoven was caught between family feuds, the death of his brother, and romantic rejection.
After a year of suffering an illness with terrible headaches, in 1822, Beethoven went for a walk, so deep in thought that he got lost. A famous account recalls he was reported to the police as a suspicious tramp wandering, leading him to fly into a rage, being unable to communicate with the police.
Thinking incessantly for months about how to bring Friedrich Schiller’s poem to life in music, and already deaf, Beethoven was able to complete ‘Ode to Joy’ as the choral finale of his ninth and final symphony. As Maria Popova writes, ‘Ode to Joy’ would ‘distill the transcendent torment of his creative life: how to integrate rage and redemption, the solace of poetry with the drama of music; how to channel his own poetic fury as a force of beauty, of vitality, of meaning’.[1] It is vitality that is divine in its inspiration and has allowed this melody to reappear across history: blared by student protestors at Tiananmen Square in 1989, performed at the Konzerthaus Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and still performed at the end of every year in Japan.
In 1907, the American Presbyterian clergyman, author, and diplomat Henry Van Dyke composed a poem titled ‘The Hymn of Joy’. Intended to be set to the melody of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the poem was composed while Van Dyke was staying at the home of Williams College president Harry Augustus Garfield and inspired by the nearby Berkshire Mountains.
As Van Dyke described, ‘These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age’. It is a hymn of ‘trust and joy and hope’, and has endured as a hymn sung in congregations around the world, joyous in its expression of adulation to God.
In 1992, the composer, arranger, conductor and musician Mervyn Edwin Warren had successfully arranged and produced an interpretation of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. Incorporating the sounds and traditions of African American music, it would culminate in Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration (1991), incorporating elements of spirituals, rhythm and blues, gospel, and hip hop and receive a Grammy Award.
Warren was approached by the film executives Matt Waler and Mark Schaimer to prepare an arrangement for the film Sister Act 2. ‘I think they gave me the idea of ‘Joyful, Joyful’, Warren recalls. Composed in three months and interpolating rap lyrics written by Ryan Toby and a bridge adapted from Janet Jackson’s single ‘What Have You Done for Me Lately’, the song has helped Sister Act 2 to endure in the popular imagination globally.
In Japan, in particular, the film inspired the creation of nearly thirty choirs in the years after it came out, with community centres rather than churches starting gospel choirs. The film has helped gospel music to endure in its popularity in Japan.
Born in 1950 in Downey, California, Roger Emerson is a musician and composer. His mother was an arranger of live radio and part of a vocal jazz quartet. His musical career began as an electric bass player in a rock band before he moved into musical composition and choral arrangement. Emerson continues to compose or arrange 20 to 30 pieces per year. It is Emerson’s arrangement of ‘Joyful, Joyful’ that the CCMC Gospel Choir will present, without the rap and bridge from the original in Sister Act 2.
One can see through the history of ‘Joyful, Joyful’ the many spiritual, literary, and musical influences that have shaped its evolution. The song endures in its popularity and in the affection many continue to hold toward it, as evidenced by a recent 30 year reunion performance by the original cast of Sister Act 2.
Gospel music, through its joy and exuberance, continues to draw the attention of those who are not Christians. The seeds that are sown through the presentation of these songs, the fruit born by creativity, art, and music, may not be immediately visible, but may flourish in ways unforeseen decades later.
Through one song, we see the hand of God working, nurturing the growth and continued flowering of a song of praise for over two centuries. We recognise that it is the Creator that inspires, and deserves all glory and praise. It is for this reason, that we sing:
Come and join the chorus
The mighty, mighty chorus
Which the morning stars begun
The Father of love is reigning over us
It is an echo of the verses in Zechariah and Colossians:
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. - Zechariah 2:10-11, NIV
And you will joyfully give thanks to the Father who has made you able to have a share in all that he has prepared for his people in the kingdom of light.” - Col. 1:12, New Century Bible
And as the song concludes:
Fill us with the light of day
As we gather to sing on Christmas Day, we welcome the congregation to reflect on the joy of Christ coming into our world, of the joy that can thaw a numbed heart, of the joy that brings love and light.
Fill us with Your light, Lord, that we may shine for you!
References:
‘Artist Bio’, The Music of Roger Emerson, https://www.rogeremerson.com/artist-bio/
Chris Fenner, ‘Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee’, Hymnology Archive, https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/joyful-joyful-we-adore-thee
Dan Wooding, ‘Music: How Sister Act inspired the formation of 30 Gospel choirs in Japan’, Sight, 17 July 2009, https://sightmagazine.com.au/features/music-how-sister-act-inspired-the-formation-of-30-gospel-choirs-in-japan-2/
David Dennis Jr., ‘How did ‘Sister Act 2’ become a classic musical?’, Andscape, 26 November 2019, https://andscape.com/features/how-did-sister-act-2-become-a-classic-musical/
Maria Popova, ‘Trial, Triumph, and the Art of the Possible: The Remarkable Story Behind Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”’, The Marginalian, 17 May 2022, https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/05/17/beethoven-ode-to-joy/
‘Ode to Joy and Beethoven’s Deafness’, The Music Class, https://themusicclass.com/blog/ode-joy-and-beethovens-deafness
Raymond L. Knapp and Julian Medforth Budden, ‘Approaching deafness’ in ‘Ludwig van Beethoven’, Britannica, 13 December 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ludwig-van-Beethoven/Approaching-deafness
Robert Morgan, ‘Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee: The Story Behind the Song’, FaithGateway, https://faithgateway.com/blogs/christian-books/joyful-joyful-we-adore-thee-the-story-behind-the-song
‘Roger Emerson’, Hal Leonard, https://www.halleonard.com/biography/108/roger-emerson
‘Sister Act 2 featuring Ryan Toby & Mervyn Warren’, Movielife Crisis, 27 March 2023, https://www.movielifecrisis.com/sister-act-2
Sophia Alexandra Hall, ‘Monumental sound as 10,000-strong Japanese megachoir sings Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’’, Classic FM, 17 May 2024, https://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/japanese-mega-choir-sings-ode-to-joy/
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