Advent Calendar – 8th December, 2021 – Jesus Christ the Apple tree
Merry Christmas!
Danielle and Dave’s Advent Calendar, 2021
8th December, 2021
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
Elizabeth Poston 1905 – 1987
This carol is a favourite for me from the radio and TV transmissions of Carols from Kings. It may seem an odd choice as something to play on solo harp but I think the distilled textures and clarity speak eloquently on the harp as they do in the choral version but in a very different way. I love the space around the sounds. Although Elizabeth Poston composed this setting in 1967, the words date back to the 18th century.
In a way I find it strange that this has achieved a niche at Christmas as the words could apply at any time of year but is likely that the connection came because there was a tradition of Wassailing apples trees on Christmas Eve.
Wassailing is wishing (by toasting) the good health of somebody or else something like a tree in the hope that this will bring a good harvest in the coming year.
Jesus is likened to and in places represented as an apple tree in the Bible, such as in the Songs of Solomon 2:3, and in Genesis in the midst of the Garden of Eden. He is also seen as the Tree of Life in Revelations 22:1-2 and Luke 13: 18-19.
The first time the words of this song appeared in print was in August 1761 in London’s ‘Spiritual Magazine’ and the likely author is deemed to have been a Calvinist Baptist minister called Rev Richard Hutchins from Northamptonshire although only his initials RH were given.
Elizabeth Poston was an inspirational figure for me, carving a prominent career at the heart of British musical and cultural life in the 20th century across many areas: like Ralph Vaughan Williams and Holst etc she collected folksongs and helped to preserve our people’s cultural heritage, she was a pianist who performed in the renowned lunchtime National Gallery concerts organised by Dame Myra Hess and also became director of music for the BBC’s European Service at the start of WWII. It is even said that she sent coded messages through the gramophone records which she broadcast to allies in Europe.
As Poston’s career with the BBC developed so did her composition for radio and TV programmes and much of her work is still largely unknown, deserving wider acclaim if the immediacy and honed down precision of this carol are anything to go by.
NB Verses 5 & 6 below are omitted in the version by Elizabeth Poston.
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green;
The trees of nature fruitless be,
Compared with Christ the Apple Tree.
His beauty doth all things excel,
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see,
In Jesus Christ the Appletree.
For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought;
I missed of all but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the Appletree.
I’m weary with my former toil –
Here I will sit and rest awhile,
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the Appletree.
With great delight I’ll make my stay,
There’s none shall fright my soul away;
Among the sons of men I see
There’s none like Christ the Appletree.
I’ll sit and eat this fruit divine,
It cheers my heart like spirit’al wine;
And now this fruit is sweet to me,
That grows on Christ the Appletree.
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the Appletree.
Recorded on David Concert Harp (2000)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ_the_Apple_Tree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Poston