Music of Advent

NICK EICHER, HOST: Up next, our Music of Advent series. This week, we head to three different African countries to hear the sounds of Advent in different languages. WORLD correspondent Onize Ohikere starts us in her home of Nigeria.

MUSIC: DAYSTAR CAROL by Daystar Christian Center

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: December feels different in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. For one, the dry, hot, weather that’s synonymous with Christmas sets in. Schools close out for the term, and billboards on the streets display carol invitations to prepare for Christ’s coming.

These music festivities often include some hymns that point to that longing.

MUSIC: OLUSEGUN-ALASEGUN by The Apostolic Church of Nigeria student choir

A student choir at The Apostolic Church of Nigeria in Ibadan, a city in southwest Oyo state, sings a live rendition of “Olusegun-Alasegun.” That’s Yoruba language for “The Great Conqueror.”

Godwin Adedayo Dedeke composed the song in 1963 - first published in one of his popular books. Dedeke is the son of an accomplished choirmaster who introduced him to music.

He later wrote the popular “Keresimesi Odun De” - or “Christmas is Here” - one of Nigeria’s first indigenous carols.

MUSIC: OLUSEGUN-ALASEGUN by The Apostolic Church of Nigeria student choir

The lyrics here echo a lament for the Savior, saying: “Our world is steeped in sin and suffering. Please come quickly.”

MUSIC: ALINKUDZA WASONI MUNTHU by Evangelical Lutheran Church, Malawi

In Malawi, the praise and worship team of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the capital city of Lilongwe sings “Alinkudza Wasoni Munthu,” or “He is Coming, Man of Sorrows.”

The hymn was originally composed by Fanny Crosby, an American missionary. Blind from six weeks old, she composed more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs.

MUSIC: ALINKUDZA WASONI MUNTHU by Evangelical Lutheran Church, Malawi

The hymn points to a joyful expectation, longing for the arrival of Jesus. The final verse reads: “The ransomed of every nation, For His own He shall claim.”

MUSIC: OH COME, O COME EMMANUEL by The Joyous Celebration Choir

The Joyous Celebration choir in Johannesburg, South Africa, sings the Advent classic, “O Come Emmanuel.”

The original Latin chant called “Veni Emmanuel” first sprung from the antiphons—or chants—used on the last seven days before Christmas Eve in the medieval Roman Catholic Vespers.

In 1851, John Mason Neale, an English Anglican priest and hymn writer, published the first documented English translation. A later version is now popular in hymnals across the world.

Each stanza refers to a title of the coming Messiah: Key of David, Root of Jesse, Lord of Might. The lyrics call on the Key of David to open the heavenly home for saints from all over the world to dwell.

MUSIC: OH COME, O COME EMMANUEL by The Joyous Celebration Choir

I’m Onize Ohikere, celebrating Advent in Abuja, Nigeria.

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