{"id":28038,"date":"2012-12-07T09:30:54","date_gmt":"2012-12-07T15:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=28038"},"modified":"2013-01-08T23:41:31","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T05:41:31","slug":"music-of-the-season-advent-volume-i-and-ii-ep-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/music-of-the-season-advent-volume-i-and-ii-ep-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Music of the Season &#8211; Advent Volume I and II [EP Review]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The majority of world is confused thinking it\u2019s Christmas already, but we\u2019re still in the season of Advent. In fact, we just started.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s not the same penitential season as lent, Advent provides a great opportunity for prayer, fasting, and preparation. In today\u2019s world, it take a lot of effort and intention to prepare fully before the full season of Christmas <strong>begins<\/strong> on December 25th.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_28040\" style=\"width: 312px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28040\" class=\" wp-image-28040  \" title=\"Brilliance-Advent\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Brilliance-Advent-630x630.jpg?resize=302%2C302\" width=\"302\" height=\"302\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-28040\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Advent Volume I<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Brilliance continues their music on the liturgical calendar with the release of <em>Advent Volume II<\/em>. Since I didn\u2019t discover this band until<a href=\"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/index.php\/2012\/03\/a-musical-reflection-on-lent-by-the-brilliance-ep-review\/\" target=\"_blank\"> this past Lent<\/a>, I will review both Volume I and II.<\/p>\n<p>Since I started following the band on social media, I\u2019ve been excited for this release for a few months when I heard they were finishing the recordings. The Brilliance produces some of the best contemporary Christian music today with their balance and combination of strings, piano, and rock. Then you add the brilliant lyrics, and I must admit that they have become one of my favorite bands.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Lyrics<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There aren&#8217;t many definitive guidelines about music for the season of Advent should be other than we prepare with joy without celebrating as if it\u2019s already Christmas. <em>Advent Volume I<\/em> does a terrific job of showing the longing and desire for our savior without the celebration of the coming season. The song &#8220;Christmastide&#8221;, number 2 on Vol. I, \u00a0is the only song that is in the wrong season, but the name of the song does mean Christmas season, so that one is obvious.<\/p>\n<p>Like the Lent EP, Vol. I and Vol. II both have a song about Mary. On <em>Advent Vol. I<\/em>, &#8220;Mother of God&#8221; is based off a part of the Hail Mary, and <em>Advent Vol. II<\/em>, &#8220;Mary\u2019s Lullaby&#8221; is a really beautiful song from her perspective as she treasures all these things and ponders them in her heart. Brilliant and beautiful enough to make you cry. None of the songs touch my heart as much as these.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/exdnKDZXi7E?rel=0\" height=\"375\" width=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There are several song that focus on the theme of light, and I believe this is the key the beauty of these songs. They drip with symbolism. Every song focuses on the desire\u00a0from the depths of our souls as we await our king.<\/p>\n<p>Half of<em> Advent Volume II<\/em> really is more in Christmas than Advent with songs like &#8220;Yule Carol&#8221;, &#8220;Christ the Lord is Born&#8221;, and &#8220;Joy to the World.&#8221; One of the best songs, &#8220;God in Flesh Our Hope Divine&#8221;\u00a0accurately\u00a0echoes the ideas of the Jesse Tree and the real spirit of Advent. This song does end with a preview of Gloria in Excelsis Deo, but it\u2019s a great model of how Advent naturally leads us to Christmas.<\/p>\n<h3><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i7H1C7vq3WQ?rel=0\" height=\"281\" width=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/h3>\n<h3><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-28041 alignleft\" title=\"brilliance-advent-2\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/brilliance-advent-2-630x630.jpg?resize=265%2C265\" width=\"265\" height=\"265\" \/><strong>The Music<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Listening to both of these EPs is a true joy. A piano, a string quartet, bells, and other instruments make a beautiful combination with rich, dynamic variance. My favorite part about this album is how it incorporates delicate, subtle styles that are familiar to the preparation of Christmas without it being the dominant sound.<\/p>\n<p>The music of these EPs brings a new meaning of rejoicing the spirit of the season of Advent.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the Lent EP that ends most phrases in unresolved minor notes, the Advent EPs have more spring in the step and are just outright merrier. The combination of solo and chorus voices is also very reminiscent of carolers. They feel very appropriate for the time, but more noteably speak to the depths of my heart.<\/p>\n<p>This collection of music is not haphazardly assembled in hopes of finding a common theme. Both Advent EPs tell the collective narrative of a people waiting for the return of their savior.<\/p>\n<p>I know they\u2019re not Catholic, but I still firmly believe that our contemporary musicians have a lot to learn from their musicality, and even more so from the courage of their bold lyrics and themes.<\/p>\n<p>I personally believe that The Brilliance\u2019s success as a band is in that they create art that is more concerned with spirituality than entertainment.\u00a0I cannot wait for the release of their Easter and Pentecost projects to be released. You can find Advent Volume I and Volume II on <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/album\/advent-vol.2\/id579396576\" target=\"_blank\">iTunes<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Advent-Vol-2\/dp\/B00A9BOZ10\" target=\"_blank\">Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-27566\" title=\"ACNM-Advent1\" alt=\"Advent\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ACNM-Advent1.jpg?resize=100%2C200\" width=\"100\" height=\"200\" \/><strong>Advent Challenge<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Hold of celebrating the season of Christmas with Christmas music until Christmas day. There&#8217;s plenty of great Advent music in the mean time.<\/p>\n<p>While others start to put up their trees at the end of the month, we will keep on singing out Christmas music until the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord a few weeks after. I understand it\u2019s difficult to avoid, but Advent has plenty to offer us in preparation of this beautiful season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The majority of world is confused thinking it\u2019s Christmas already, but we\u2019re still in the season of Advent. In fact, we just started. While it\u2019s not the same penitential season as lent, Advent provides a great opportunity for prayer, fasting, and preparation. In today\u2019s world, it take a lot of effort and intention to prepare&#8230;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/music-of-the-season-advent-volume-i-and-ii-ep-review\/\">[Read&nbsp;More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[87],"tags":[384,1124,1231,511,1230],"class_list":{"0":"post-28038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-reviews","7":"tag-advent","8":"tag-evangelical","9":"tag-liturgical-season","10":"tag-protestant","11":"tag-the-brilliance","12":"entry","13":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":179829,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/the-prayers-1st-sunday-of-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":28038,"position":0},"title":"The Prayers &#8211; 1st Sunday of Advent","author":"William Rooney","date":"November 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the guiding principles of the early church in formulating her doctrine was the phrase, lex orandi lex credenti, which translated means \u201cthe law of prayer [is] the law of believing.\u201d In that time, the Church Fathers, plagued as they were with heresies no less than we are and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACNM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Icon of the Last Judgement","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Icon-of-the-Last-Judgement.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":187810,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/prayers-4th-sunday-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":28038,"position":1},"title":"The Prayers &#8211; 4th Sunday of Advent","author":"William Rooney","date":"December 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we can learn much from what we pray day in and day out in our Liturgy it would be profitable for us to reflect more profoundly upon the prayers of each day. We should especially do this over the season of Advent which marks the end of one liturgical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Catarino_Veneziano_-_Madonna_and_Child,_the_Crucifixion,_and_Saints_-_Walters_37635","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Catarino_Veneziano_-_Madonna_and_Child_the_Crucifixion_and_Saints_-_Walters_37635-550x514.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Catarino_Veneziano_-_Madonna_and_Child_the_Crucifixion_and_Saints_-_Walters_37635-550x514.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Catarino_Veneziano_-_Madonna_and_Child_the_Crucifixion_and_Saints_-_Walters_37635-550x514.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":185388,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/185388\/","url_meta":{"origin":28038,"position":2},"title":"The Prayers &#8211; 3rd Sunday of Advent","author":"William Rooney","date":"December 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we can learn much from what we pray day in and day out in our Liturgy it would be profitable for us to reflect more profoundly upon the prayers of each day. We should especially do this over the season of Advent which marks the end of one liturgical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Column&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo by Lauren Gulde","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/advent-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":182741,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/the-prayers-2nd-sunday-of-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":28038,"position":3},"title":"The Prayers &#8211; 2nd Sunday of Advent","author":"William Rooney","date":"December 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we can learn much from what we pray day in and day out in our Liturgy it would be profitable for us to reflect more profoundly upon the prayers of each day. We should especially do this over the season of Advent which marks the end of one liturgical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Column&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Advent-CCFM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Advent-CCFM-285x190.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":181991,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/sunday-says-november-29-2015-mass-readings-and-reflection\/","url_meta":{"origin":28038,"position":4},"title":"Sunday Says &#8211; November 29, 2015 Mass Readings and Reflection","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"November 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunday, November 29, 2015 First Sunday of Advent Lectionary: 3 (NAB Translation) \u00a0 This is the first week of the season of Advent when the liturgical color is purple and we anticipate the season of Christmas that begins on December 25th. We also officially begin a new liturgical year. Reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sunday Says&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sunday Says","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/podcast\/sundaysays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":577215,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/spiritual-nourishment-for-the-last-week-of-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":28038,"position":5},"title":"Spiritual Nourishment for the Last Week of Advent","author":"Rachel","date":"December 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On the last leg of this Advent journey, I'd like to share with you two little bits of spiritual nourishment that I have found really helpful along the way. We are getting closer and closer to Bethlehem now, just one week away in this shortened Advent season. Can you feel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/800px-Meister_der_Kahriye-Cami-Kirche_in_Istanbul_004-550x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/800px-Meister_der_Kahriye-Cami-Kirche_in_Istanbul_004-550x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/800px-Meister_der_Kahriye-Cami-Kirche_in_Istanbul_004-550x400.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}