Description
Download the Album tracks and the artwork
This is Steve’s first all-instrumental, dulcimer-focused recording. It was used by National Public Radio (NPR) for buttons in its broadcasts.
The season of Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas. This recording is perfect for setting the stage with anticipation, contemplation and longing. Gathering a multi-cultural selection of Advent hymns, played by mountain dulcimer ensembles, backed by hammered dulcimer, guitar, recorders and percussion, this instrumental soundscape is a must-have for your seasonal music collection.
A companion book, Dulcimer-Friendly Worship, Vol 1: the season of Advent, with musical notation, tablature for mountain dulcimer and chord symbols for guitar and historical research is also available.
Prefer to hold it in your hands? Purchase this recording as a physical CD now.
Listen to all the tracks below:
1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel VENI, EMMANUEL (5:03)
2. My Lord, What a Morning BURLEIGH (3:33)
3. Hark, the Glad Sound! CHESTERFIELD/RICHMOND (2:33)
4. Comfort, Comfort Now My People FREU DICH SEHR (4:33)
5. The King Shall Come CONSOLATION/MORNING SONG (2:38)
6. Prepare the Royal Highway BEREDAN VÄG FÖR HERRAN (2:01)
7. Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers HAF TRONIS LAMPA FÄRDIG (2:04)
8. Savior of the Nations, Come NUN KOMM, DER HEIDEN HEILAND (2:20)
9. Stir Up Your Power, O Lord STIR UP (2:26)
10. Soon and Very Soon VERY SOON (3:55)
11. Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus JEFFERSON (5:06)
12. Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus Medley ST. HILARY/HYFRYDOL/STUTTGART (4:57)
13. O Savior Rend the Heavens Wide O HEILAND, REISS DIE HIMMEL AUF (2:16)
14. Fling Wide the Door MACH HOCH DIE TÜR (2:27)
15. Who Will Set Us Free? ST. ANDREW’S (2:48)
16. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC (4:01)
REVIEWS:
Rambles.net (on the web)
Muse’s Music Music Reviews (on the Web)
Dirty Linen Review (#85, December ’99/January ’00)
Steven Eulberg is both an acclaimed mountain dulcimer player and an ordained Lutheran pastor. This collection presents Advent hymns in stunning arrangements, performed on mountain dulcimer with varying accompaniment on African percussion, guitar, recorders, and hammered dulcimer. The results sound occasionally like early music ensembles and sometimes much more modern in world influences. The contemplative and anticipatory nature of the Advent season is highlighted on these selections, and inclusion of a modern Filipino tune along with the more traditional Wesleyan, Swedish, and German tunes keeps the mix interesting. Notes include information about instrumentation, tuning, arrangements and sources. An enchanting and mellifluous recording
Larry Conger 1998 National Mountain Dulcimer Champion, Tennessee:
Steven Eulberg has woven a wonderful tapestry of familiar and not-so-familiar tunes into a truly worshipful experience on his new CD, Hark, the Glad Sound. One can’t help but be caught up in the spirit of the music, and, at the same time be reminded of the spirit of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ through these Advent hymns and spiritual songs.
His mountain dulcimers are tastefully intertwined with other instruments such as flute, bodhran, recorder and hammered dulcimer so as not to cover up the beauty of any of the instruments.
From the hauntingly beautiful O Come, O Come Emmanuel and The King Shall Come to the spirited Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers the variety of tunes contained on this CD is sure to hold the interest of the listener. I welcome its addition to my library of acoustic music.
Lily Wu New York City:
Mountain dulcimer music [on this recording] can amazingly transform even an urban living room into a beautiful rural setting. Like magic! of the best kind, of course. It is also healing.
Bob Hutchison Frankfort, KY:
I’m glad you’ve done an Advent album and have filled a major gap in religious-folk-acoustic music available. I love the blending of the instruments. The mix allows all instruments to be heard and does NOT drown out the dulcimer….I found it a delightful listening experience and one I will repeat often. Hark is about to become a tradition at our house.
Paul Sadler III, Guitarist & Hammered Dulcimer for Michael Martin Murphey:
The new Steven Eulberg release, Hark, the Glad Sound! is a delightful seasonal offering that conveys the spirit of the coming celebration of that singular event in Bethlehem with a subtlety, simplicity and sonic purity that is, in all probability, the way instrumental music was presented in those times.
This collection is not the predictable array of Christmas tunes that we see, year after year from the music machine but, rather, a thoughtful and well researched suite of lesser known melodies that convey the mood, spirit and emotion of the season, not only the conscious level, but also on the subconcious level so strongly that one, without any effort, begins to visualize the pure, crystalline, silent landscapes of Winter with all the mystery, wonder and magic that we experienced as children. Through this music, we can access this innocence again.
Mr. Eulberg has somehow managed to tap these archetypes and present them in such a way that one is not bludgeoned with the experience but, rather, guided to know that one is a true part of it in every way.
The use of all acoustic instrumentation; mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, recorders, various ethnic percussion pieces, guitar, bass and especially the bowed psaltry all contribute to the purity and sincerity of this music’s almost hypnotic quality.
The bowed psaltery used in ‘Who Will Set Us Free?’ sounds almost like a sitar and the vivid, winterland trance-like state induced is actually visual. In music, this is a very good sign and Hark, this is a very Glad Sound!
Scott Freeman 1999 National Hammered Dulcimer Champion, Indiana:
I loved this CD!
Rosamond Campbell Illinois:
I enjoyed [Hark, the Glad Sound!] enormously. You and Steve and Steve and Steve play beautifully together, and the arrangements are lovely.
Michael Shull 3rd Place 1999 National Mountain Dulcimer Contest, South Carolina:
Steve Eulberg’s masterfully done CD, Hark, the Glad Sound! should be a welcome addition to your Christmas music collection. A great resource and reference for his well received book, Dulcimer-Friendly Worship, Vol. I: the season of ADVENT. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” was my personal favorite. Highly recommended!
Pr. Ron Drury Nebraska DJ:
I just keep listening to it! It is fantastic, the recording quality really reflects the soul of the dulcimer. It is amazing how so much can come from so few strings! This recording is going to do very well.
Dennis DenHartog dulcimer builder, teacher & player, Folknotes Dulcimers, Indiana:
This album takes the mountain dulcimer into a realm not frequently ventured into by most ‘dulcimists’. The album takes you through the centuries and a number of countries and traditions in it’s exploration and interpretation of Advent Season songs. It is great listening no matter what the time of year, beginning with a hauntingly beautiful rendition of ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ done by a mountain dulcimer in Aeolian tuning, a bowed baritone dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, recorders, ashiko, and tambourine. An African-American Spiritual, songs from England, France, Sweden, Germany, Wales, and southern Appalachian shape note tradition collections are included. Steve has effectively blended mountain dulcimers with different voices, tunings, and modes with a number of other instruments for the unique sounds in this album.
From the very upbeat ‘Soon and Very Soon’ featuring a quartet of mountain dulcimers, ashiko, shekere, tambourine, and handclaps, to the mystical, eerie sounding ‘Who Will Set Us Free’, from the Phillipines, featuring two bowed mountain dulcimer tuned aeolian, bowed baritone mountain dulcimer, and a bell, this album is great listening, all 16 tracks.
B. B. Wisconsin:
Hark, the Glad Sound is spectacularly good! The sound quality is sparkling, the arrangements fresh and subtle, the musicianship outstanding. Let us know when you issur your next release!
A. D. Ohio pastor:
[Hark, the Glad Sound] has been a wonderful help for me as Advent begins. I’m in such need of strength and encouragement these days…and this muisc brings a message of hope.
Jim Babcock Kansas dulcimer player:
Hark, the Glad Sound has already become a hit in our town!
Rev. Walter Schoedel LCMS, Webster Groves, Missouri:
An excellent way to journey through the Advent season by listening to Advent hymns with Mountain Dulcimer Ensembles – a good time for reflecting, reviewing and rehearsing the Christian Faith.
Bruce Cameron Australian DJ, “Come All Ye” Radio 2MCE-FM:
You have produced a truly delightful album–beautiful arrangements, well played and with every track offering another reason to bring that old mountain dulcimer down off the wall and dust it off. I’ll be pleased to include tracks from “Hark, the Glad Sound!” in my playlist.
This is the second in Steve’s all-instrumental, dulcimer-focused recordings and follows in the path blazed by Hark, the Glad Sound! (1999). Good for all seasons of the winter moon.
“I like it so much, I still have it in my CD player…and it is now March!” —unsolicited comment from a listener.
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