Music Review: This Winter’s Eve by Sarah Hart

November 1, 2011

This Winter’s Eve by Sarah Hart (2011)

The Christmas season is my favorite time of the year. It’s the season where San Francisco’s skyline is lit up in millions of tiny bulbs, our church’s altar is decorated with poinsettias, and a time where I can bring out my Christmas music collection and sing along to familiar carols and the occasional new tune. I love the sounds of Christmas, but rarely find new songs that add anything more to such a blessed season. Cute songs of elves and Santa Claus can do much to put a smile on my face, but this music lover needs more. Christmas is about so much more than commercialism, nice displays, pictures with Santa, mistletoe and my occasional splurge on an eggnog latte (don’t judge!). Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus—the birth of our Savior and the beginning of our redemption. In these times when Christmas displays appear in August and the meaning of Christmas seems lost amid the seasonal sales and product launches, it is refreshing to hear words that bring us back to what should be at the top of our minds and in the center of our hearts.

Sarah Hart has once again given birth to songs that touch the heart and lift the spirit. In her first Christmas album, This Winter’s Eve, Hart has again gifted her listeners with a work that comes from the heart and explores the deep beauty and mystery of Christmas without compromise. To say that this is another fine work from a deeply reflective singer-songwriter is to be saying very little. Hart can do what few artists out there can do these days: write meaningful lyrics and sing them in such a way that the emotions of the listener are moved towards prayer, contemplation, authentic joy, and new or revisited understandings. It is no surprise, then, that Hart is a well-recognized songwriter in the Christian music industry.

This Winter’s Eve begins with “Prayer for this House,” a song based on a poem by Louis Untermeyer (1885-1977). For those of you not familiar with Untermeyer, he was a well-known American poet, critic, and anthologist. In fact, he’s responsible for creating many of the anthologies that have introduced students to poetry since the early 20th century. Hart beautifully sets the poem to music and sets the tone of the album. I think of “Prayer for this House” not only as a prayer offered for the listener, but as a preparation for our homes and hearts to receive anew the hope, peace, and love of the Christmas season: Strengthened by faith the rafters will/Withstand the battering of the storm/This hearth, though all the world/grow chill, Will keep you warm. Taken metaphorically, we are reminded that with Christ at the center, lighting our way, we can withstand even the cruelest of storms.

“On A Night Like This,” co-written with Chris Lockwood, is a beautiful song that reminds us that the son of God was born into the most humble of beginnings and into the chaos of a darkened world. In doing so, the world and our lives were changed forever. As Hart sings:

On a night like this,

under the same dark sky

Into a quiet world of slumber

From a mother’s womb

into the breath of life

Came the cry of heaven’s wonder

On a night like this

With no welcoming,

no one to notice you

Only the arms that held you closely

Oh King of Kings,

you took upon our flesh

Touched the earth to make it holy

More importantly, the song recalls that Christ did not come to us in the most perfect of times, but came to us in our most pressing hours of need—no different from today: “This is a troubled day,/ours is a desperate hour/Just as it was when/you walked among us/You knew our deepest need, took on our poverty/Beautiful mercy born to save us.” If that isn’t one of the clearest expressions of faith and deep theological understanding of what Christmas truly is, then I’m not sure what is. And, in one of the most beautiful lyrics (and images) of the entire album is the expression of what we should be longing for at Christmastime and always; “On a night like this,/under the same dark sky/Into a world that needs a savior/Jesus, come and be born/in the heart of me/And let me be your manger/Oh, let us be your manger.”

Co-written with Jonathan Lee, “This Winter’s Eve” made me long for snow during Christmas. For a minute or so, I pined for snow hitting my windows and the stillness and silence of snowy winters to envelope San Francisco. Then I realized that I was completely forgetting to listen to more than the first few lyrics (although, this writer still wants a white Christmas in San Francisco). One of Hart’s strengths is creating beautiful images in her songs—images that almost always pave the way to some deeper meditation. In “This Winter’s Eve,” much like in “On A Night Like This,” images of silence and stillness, of snow blankets and beauty lead to images of the true and intangible. In the first few lines the listener can picture snow softly falling and changing the earth below in only a matter of hours. A world once bare is now covered with snow and suddenly everything about the earth has changed; the ground and trees and even we are changed. There is silence, there is stillness, and a blanket of white covers the landscape and it is beautiful. These images are juxtaposed with images of what we can only see and experience through the eyes of faith. Much like snow changes the landscape forever, so did perfect love change us: “Love came quietly into the noise/Of us, the ruin and the dust/And in the wee small hours/covered everything/In a stable as he slept/The world was wakened into life again/And in a few small hours, everything has changed. […] Beautiful, so beautiful/The quiet of this falling love.” Indeed, God’s divinity chose to enter our humanity and our relationship with Him was forever changed. God entered into our humanity with all its noise, despair, and chaos and transformed it in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. As another of the album’s tracks, “All Is Well,” so beautifully states, “All is well and ere shall be/Here in Love’s eternity/Son of God and son of man/Has come to dwell, and all is well.”

One of my favorite tracks on this album is “Let It Be So.” I have often reflected on Mary’s experience as a young girl being asked to welcome the son of God into her womb and to give Him to the world. How extraordinarily courageous and faith-filled was her “yes” and how different would we be if she had doubted. Hart, and collaborator Kate York, capture this moment perfectly. It is a gentle and reflective song with Hart’s beautifully soothing vocal and equally lovely accompanying background vocals. As I heard this song, I thought of how the words could be Mary’s, but they could (and should) be our words as well: ”But if you ask, let it be so,/let it be so/And if you will, let it be so.”

Last year, Hart was nominated for “Better Than A Hallelujah” which garnered the attention of the Christian music industry when Amy Grant recorded the song for her most recent album. This time around, Grant lends her voice to backing vocals on Hart’s “What Love Has Done”—a gorgeous song, co-written with Kate York, that speaks of the joy and wonder of the birth of our redemption: “Chains are breaking; burdens are/lifted/By this son the Father has gifted/Come, oh come/Sings the Song of Redemption/Come, oh come/And see what love has done.” Listeners will appreciate the nod to a popular Christmas tune and the overall feeling this song exudes.

I love a well-told story and Hart knows how to tell a story beautifully—not only in the lyrics and music, but also within the track placement of her albums. In this case, the album begins with songs of expectation, move into songs about the birth our Savior and its effects on humanity then and now, and then moves us to what it should all mean to the individual. In other words, how we should react. “Peace Be,” co-written with frequent Hart collaborators, Marc Byrd and Jeremy Bose, urges us to allow peace and love in to our hearts and to let peace flow back outward. Isn’t that the very message we need today? In the midst of chaos and hard times, the message of peace and love is one that we need to hear and heed today. And what better way to express love than to write songs for and about the ones you love? “Bethlehem,” co-written with Joe Pangello for Hart’s husband, is a song about people gathering together in the love of God and rejoicing in the joy of Christmas. “Snow Angels” recalls the joy of just being in the moment and enjoying life, love, and laughter. I’ll take a wild guess and say the song was written for her daughters. It definitely made me want to make snow angels (something I’ve never done)!

The album began with a prayer of preparation and ends with a song of realization, “Epiphany (I Will Not Forget),” that reminds and challenges us not to forget the gift of Christmas. On one night, so long ago, a child was born to light the world and so: “I will not forget you love/And how you saved my heart one night.” But, The album does not stray completely from traditional Christmas songs. “The Light of Christmas of Morn” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” are two traditional Christmas songs that make a welcomed appearance on This Winter’s Eve. “The Light of Christmas Morn” is based on “Light of Darkness” by Irish-born Scotsman Norval Clyne (1817-1890), a 19th century poet and lawyer. With Sarah’s added lyrics and its early-bluegrass/Appalachian feel this song leaves the listener with the same calmness and peace that the lyrics convey. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is one of my favorite Christmas carols and the first that I recall singing in my grammar school choir. While I’m a big fan of leaving what is as is, I’m also a fan of adding a bit of oneself to every artistic endeavor no matter how many times its been done before. After all, isn’t that the experiential conversation we should be having with all we encounter? There’s a bit of Sarah Hart in her rendition of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman”—that bit of an artist taking an old tune and making it new and uniquely beautiful again.

There is an authenticity in Sarah Hart’s music that is a rare gift for listeners today and of which I have long been an admirer. Whether she is writing a worship song, songs for her husband and daughters, songs for a musical, or Christmas songs, it is clear that the music and the lyrics flow from the heart of an artist that prayerfully and reflectively lives out her gift. This Winter’s Eve is yet another beautiful collection of songs that touch the heart and feed the soul. From start to finish, this album is pure Christmas.

If there is one Christmas album that you pick up this Christmas season, make it This Winter’s Eve by Sarah Hart. The songs are great for worship, for reading by the fire, listening while watching the snow fall outside (if you’re lucky enough to have some snow), or while enjoying lovely gatherings with those you love. Most importantly, if you’re looking for a Christmas album that captures the essence of the Christmas season and does so in more than just a surface-level way then this album is for you. I highly recommend it.

The album is now available for pre-order from www.sarahhartmusic.com and will be available on iTunes on November 8th.

If you’re interested in learning more about Sarah Hart, please visit her website at www.sarahhartmusic.com or find her artist page at Spirit and Song: www.spiritandsong.com/artists/3453.

Check out Sarah’s album promo: