Kommst du, Licht der Heiden?
An Advent cantata by
Dieterich 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 weekends before Christmas, for which he composed much of his most remarkable music for voices.
The short Advent cantata, Kommst du, Licht der Heiden (“Do you come, O light of the nations?”), dates from around 1681. The work begins with an instrumental “Sonata,” followed by five stanzas from a poem by Ernst Christoph Homburg (1605-1681), a lawyer who wrote poetry with sacred themes for the sake of deepening his own devotional life, rather than for use in worship. The text (presented below the embedded video) is an impassioned plea for the Light that is coming/has come into the world to ignite a warm and intense love in the heart of the believer. As is the case in other Advent poems, the coming of the Savior is a coming into the inner life of believers as well as into space and time.
This is a simple and modest work with only three vocal parts, sung here by soprano Miriam Feuersinger, countertenor Maarten Engeltjes, and bass Klaus Mertens, with members of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Ton Koopman.
Kommst du, Licht der Heiden?
Do you come, O light of the nations?
Ja, du kommst und säumest nicht,
Yes, you come, delaying not,
weil du weißt, was uns gebricht,
since you know what we lack,
o du starker Trost um Leiden.
O powerful comforter in sorrow.
Jesu, Jesu, meines Herzens Tür
Jesus, the portal of my heart
steht dir offen, komm zu mir.
stands open for you; come to me.
Ja, ja, du bist bereits zugegen,
Yes, yes, you have already arrived,
du Welt Heiland, Jungfrau Sohn;
Savior of the world, son of the Virgin;
meine Sinnen spüren schon
my senses have already felt
deiner Gnade vollen Segen,
the full blessing of your grace,
deiner Wunder Seelenkraft,
the miracle of your soul’s strength,
deiner Frucht und Herzenssaft.
your fruit and the sap of your heart.
Adle mich durch deine Liebe,
Ennoble me through your love,
Jesu, nimm mein Flehen hin,
Jesus, hear my pleas,
schaffe, daß mein Geist und Sinn
make it so that my mind and spirit
sich in deinem Liebe übe!
is active in your love!
Sonst zu lieben dich, mein Licht,
To do anything but love you, my light,
steht in meinen Kräften nicht.
is beyond my powers.
Jesu, rege mein Gemüte,
Jesus, govern my thoughts,
Jesu, öffne mir den Mund,
Jesus, open my mouth,
daß dich meines Herzens Grund
so that from the depths of my heart
innig preise für die Güte,
I might praise you for the goodness
die du mir, o Seelengast,
which you, O my soul’s guest,
Lebens Zeit erwiesen hast.
have shown me all my life long.
Laß durch deines Geistes Gaben,
Through the gifts of your Spirit,
Liebe, Glauben und Geduld,
love, faith, and patience,
durch Bereuung meiner Schuld
through the repentance of my sins,
mich zu dir sein hoch erhoben.
let me be raised up to you.
Dann so will ich für und für
Then forever and ever I will
Hosianna singen dir.
sing Hosannah to you.
Amen, Amen.
Amen, amen.