One of the most dynamic Advent hymns in our Hymnal is “Wake, awake, for night is flying.” The choir had already begun recording this hymn to accompany our parking lot singing this weekend before we learned that the services were to be cancelled. I hope that you have a chance to sing it sometime during Advent.
Toward that end, here is the recording that the choir made:
This page provides some background to the hymn’s text, and some examples of a few of J. S. Bach’s settings of the tune, known as WACHET AUF (which translates as “Wake up”).
Last year I did some research on other treatments of this wonderful melody. Here is a list of pages that discuss three of those musical offerings:
Michael Praetorius (1571–1621), Wachet auf
Franz Tunder (1614–1667), Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
J. S. Bach (1685–1750), Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (“Sleepers, Awake”)