Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Thanksgiving due to Handel

Pilgrims weren't so bad, but I'm glad I wasn't one

Bach Collegium members singing "O death, where is thy sting?"
Bach Collegium members singing "O death, where is thy sting?"

Thanksgiving is nigh, so how about two pieces by George Frederic Handel that give thanks? The first is “But Thanks be to God” from Handel’s Oratorio Messiah. The second is Dank sei dir Herr (Thanks be to Thee) which is traditionally attributed to Handel but may have been written in the late 19th Century as a Handel parody by a gentleman name Siegfried Ochs.

“But Thanks be to God” is from the Easter section of Messiah. The text is from 1 Corinthians and reads, “But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What victory are we giving thanks for? It could be any victory. I tend toward internalizing such concepts.

In this case, the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ could be the victory of not overeating at Thanksgiving dinner. It could be the victory of getting along with our entire family during Thanksgiving. It could be the dysfunctional Dallas Cowboys winning their football game on Thanksgiving but let’s not expect too much of Jesus.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

Bach Collegium San Diego | G.F. Handel: Messiah

O death where is thy sting & But thanks be to God

O death where is thy sting & But thanks be to God

It used to be so clear as to who and what we would give thanks to. We would give thanks to God for the food we were about to eat because food stability was hit and miss until about 60 years ago.

Who do we give thanks to now? Carl Bosch and Fritz Haber? Bosch perfected Haber’s method of pulling nitrogen out of the air in order to create fertilizer on an industrial scale. According to Science Heroes, these two men have saved over 2.7 billion lives by creating the foundations of modern food stability.

That victory didn’t necessarily come from our Lord Jesus Christ unless you believe that the Christian ideal of telling the truth led to the scientific revolution which led to the industrial revolution which created food stability.

Video:

Dank sei dir Herr

Thanks be to Thee (Georg Friedrich Händel)

Thanks be to Thee (Georg Friedrich Händel)

The second piece, Dank sei dir Herr has text that translates to”

  • Thanks be to Thee,
  • Lord God of Hosts:
  • Thou broughtest forth Your people
  • with Your mighty hand
  • Israel safe through the sea.
  • Lord, like a shepherd
  • Thou hast led us;
  • Lord, Thy hand protected us
  • in Thy goodness tenderly as in ages past.

This one clearly appeals to the Pilgrims making it safely, more or less, across the sea. Of course, cancel culture, with its tyrannical neglect of context, has taken aim at the Pilgrims this year. Crossing the sea was no big deal compared to what they did to the indigenous peoples.

Crossing the sea was a big deal, and had I been on the Mayflower, I would have thanked God to have made it across alive. I would have signed The Mayflower Compact which was the first document of self-government in North America.

What did the Pilgrims do to the indigenous peoples? They got along, for the most part until they involved themselves in a dispute between two tribes which led to the disruption of the fur trade that had been benefitting both sides.

This Thanksgiving I’m going to be thankful for the great music of Handel and Ochs. I’m going to be thankful that I wasn’t a Pilgrim on the Mayflower, and I’m going to be thankful for industrial-grade fertilizer that has been pulled out of thin air.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Bach Collegium members singing "O death, where is thy sting?"
Bach Collegium members singing "O death, where is thy sting?"

Thanksgiving is nigh, so how about two pieces by George Frederic Handel that give thanks? The first is “But Thanks be to God” from Handel’s Oratorio Messiah. The second is Dank sei dir Herr (Thanks be to Thee) which is traditionally attributed to Handel but may have been written in the late 19th Century as a Handel parody by a gentleman name Siegfried Ochs.

“But Thanks be to God” is from the Easter section of Messiah. The text is from 1 Corinthians and reads, “But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What victory are we giving thanks for? It could be any victory. I tend toward internalizing such concepts.

In this case, the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ could be the victory of not overeating at Thanksgiving dinner. It could be the victory of getting along with our entire family during Thanksgiving. It could be the dysfunctional Dallas Cowboys winning their football game on Thanksgiving but let’s not expect too much of Jesus.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

Bach Collegium San Diego | G.F. Handel: Messiah

O death where is thy sting & But thanks be to God

O death where is thy sting & But thanks be to God

It used to be so clear as to who and what we would give thanks to. We would give thanks to God for the food we were about to eat because food stability was hit and miss until about 60 years ago.

Who do we give thanks to now? Carl Bosch and Fritz Haber? Bosch perfected Haber’s method of pulling nitrogen out of the air in order to create fertilizer on an industrial scale. According to Science Heroes, these two men have saved over 2.7 billion lives by creating the foundations of modern food stability.

That victory didn’t necessarily come from our Lord Jesus Christ unless you believe that the Christian ideal of telling the truth led to the scientific revolution which led to the industrial revolution which created food stability.

Video:

Dank sei dir Herr

Thanks be to Thee (Georg Friedrich Händel)

Thanks be to Thee (Georg Friedrich Händel)

The second piece, Dank sei dir Herr has text that translates to”

  • Thanks be to Thee,
  • Lord God of Hosts:
  • Thou broughtest forth Your people
  • with Your mighty hand
  • Israel safe through the sea.
  • Lord, like a shepherd
  • Thou hast led us;
  • Lord, Thy hand protected us
  • in Thy goodness tenderly as in ages past.

This one clearly appeals to the Pilgrims making it safely, more or less, across the sea. Of course, cancel culture, with its tyrannical neglect of context, has taken aim at the Pilgrims this year. Crossing the sea was no big deal compared to what they did to the indigenous peoples.

Crossing the sea was a big deal, and had I been on the Mayflower, I would have thanked God to have made it across alive. I would have signed The Mayflower Compact which was the first document of self-government in North America.

What did the Pilgrims do to the indigenous peoples? They got along, for the most part until they involved themselves in a dispute between two tribes which led to the disruption of the fur trade that had been benefitting both sides.

This Thanksgiving I’m going to be thankful for the great music of Handel and Ochs. I’m going to be thankful that I wasn’t a Pilgrim on the Mayflower, and I’m going to be thankful for industrial-grade fertilizer that has been pulled out of thin air.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund

LGBT fights in common
Next Article

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader