Priest, composer, and organist Jean Titelouze (c. 1563–1633) is credited with being a (perhaps the) founder of the French organ school, an approach to composition which continued to influence composers into the 20th century (e.g., Louis Vierne, Maurice Duruflé, Marie-Claire Alain, Olivier Messiaen, and others). In 1588 Titelouze became organist at Rouen Cathedral, where he supervised the rebuilding of the organ. In the early 17th century, Rouen’s organ was regarded as the greatest in France (which was really saying something), establishing a standard both for instruments and the compositional possibilities they presented. In 1623, Titelouze published Hymnes de l’Eglise, a collection of musical explorations of a number of plainchant tunes…
-
Jean Titelouze:
-
“O Antiphons,” III
Arvo Pärt
O sproß aus Isais WurzelWhile the second of Arvo Pärt’s Magnificat antiphons employed low voices to proclaim the power and authority of Yahweh, the third — O Sproß aus Isais Wurzel — uses dissonant upper voices to express the crisis precipitated among the nations by the prophesied Messiah. Here is the Latin of the original antiphon: O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;super quem continebunt reges os suum,before you kings will shut their mouths,quem Gentes deprecabuntur:to you the nations will make their prayer:veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.Come and deliver us, and delay no longer. The Messiah is addressed in this text…
-
Michael Praetorius:
Wachet aufOne of our parish’s favorite Advent hymns is “Wake, awake, for night is flying.” We sang it this past Sunday (Advent 3), and last week I shared a couple settings of the tune and text that explored its musical possibilities. Michael Praetorius (1571-1621, about whose music for Christmas I recently wrote elsewhere) composed an extended piece based on this melody. His grand setting of Wachet auf was part of a collection of music published in 1619 called Polyhymnia Caduceatrix et Panegyrica. the subtitle of which was “Festive Concert of Peace and Joy.” Polyhymnia contained 40 concerto-cantatas for voices and instruments written in the expansive Venetian style (if you have no…
-
“O Antiphons,” II
Arvo Pärt
O AdonaiThe “O antiphon” for December 18th is O Adonai. “Adonai” is a Hebrew word based on the word adon, which means “Lord.” “Adon” in turn comes from a root that means to make firm, to determine, to command, or to rule. “Adonai” is plural, so literally, the word means “lords,” which some have suggested may hint at a Trinitarian allusion. But in Hebrew, a plural can be used as an intensifier — “superlord,” the Lord with a uniquely concentrated repository of lordliness. “Adonai” is used about 450 times in the Old Testament to refer to Yahweh, but sometimes the word refers to human masters. O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,O Adonai,…
-
Michael Praetorius:
Conditor alme siderumMusicologist Walter Blankenburg has observed that Praetorius (1571-1621) was “the most versatile and wide-ranging German composer of his generation and one of the most prolific, especially of works based on Protestant hymns.” But Praetorius also wrote settings of pre-Reformation melodies, including the chant tune we know as Conditor alme siderum, and which we have been singing during Advent as our Sequence hymn, “Creator of the stars of night.” The hymn originally included six stanzas; here is the first stanza sung with Praetorius’s harmonization by Ensemble Nobiles, a group of singers who met while singing in the St. Thomas Boys Choir in Leipzig. This is the opening track of their Advent/Christmas/Epiphany…
-
“O Antiphons,” I
Arvo Pärt
O WeisheitIt has long been common for Vespers or Evening Prayer services to include the singing, chanting, or reciting of the Magnificat, the Virgin Mary’s grateful song of joyful praise. And in many liturgies, the Magnificat is framed by the singing, chanting, or reciting of an antiphon, a short text that amplifies or complements the Psalm or canticle that it introduces and concludes. During the final week in Advent, beginning on December 17th and continuing for seven nights, the “O Antiphons” have been part of many liturgies. Each of these texts begins with the word “O,” and addresses the Messiah with a biblical name, and invokes him to come. The O…
-
“O earth, bring forth this little flower”
O Heiland, reiß die Himmel aufAdvent motetJohannes Brahms (1833-1897) In 1879, Brahms published two motets for unaccompanied chorus. They were dedicated to the great Bach scholar, Philipp Spitta (1841-1894) , and both works demonstrate how much Bach influenced Brahms. The first of these, Warum ist das Licht gegeben, is a dramatic meditation on hope, opening with a text from Job: “Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery.” The second motet, O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf, is based on an Advent hymn attributed to Friedrich Spee (1591-1635), a German Jesuit priest. The poem seems to be inspired by the ancient Rorate caeli, or Advent Prose, sung in…
-
“We stand and swell the voice of thunder”
Wake, awake, for night is flyingAdvent hymn arrangementF. Melius Christiansen (1871-1955) Norweigian-born F. Melius Christiansen was for over thirty years the choral director of the choir at St. Olaf’s College, one of the most accomplished college choirs in the U.S. His robust arrangements of hymns remain a staple for many Christian college choirs, especially those Lutheran schools whose choral tradition he influenced. Christiansen’s vigorous arrangement of “Wake, awake, for night is flying” is sung here by one of those groups, the Luther College Nordic Choir, conducted by Allen Hightower.
-
“We all follow to the hall of joy”
Wachet auf, ruft uns die StimmeAdvent music byFranz Tunder (1614–1667) At root, an apocalypse is an uncovering. We tend to think that apocalyptic events belong in horror movies, not in romantic comedies. But the culmination of the drama in the Apocalypse of John is a wedding feast, the happy ending of all good comedies. What is revealed in Revelation’s narrative is the end of history as the Bridegroom comes for his Bride. No Advent text conveys that happily-ever-after ending better than Philipp Nicolai’s hymn “Wake, awake for night is flying.” The title Nicolai originally gave to this three-stanza poem was “Of the voice at midnight and the wise Virgins who…
-
“Do you come, O light of the nations?”
Kommst du, Licht der Heiden?An Advent cantata byDieterich Buxtehude (1637–1708) Dieterich Buxtehude was born half a century after Heinrich Schütz, the “father of German musicians,” and a little less than half a century before Johann Sebastian Bach. Employed his whole life as an organist, his compositional skills were long under-appreciated. Schütz and Bach both held positions in which they were expected to compose vocal music, but Buxtehude seems to have produced a sizable catalog of music for voices motivated by sheer enthusiasm. During his long tenure as organist of the Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church) in Lübeck, Buxtehude maintained a Sunday afternoon concert series called Abendmusiken, held on the five successive…