Music for January 3, 2020 + The Second Sunday after Christmas

Instrumental Music

• How Brightly Shines the Morning Star (BuxWV 223) – Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
• Meditation on “Dix”
• Prelude on “Puer Nobis” - Rudy Davenport
• Praise God, All Ye Christians - Dietrich Buxtehude

For this Sunday, I am playing a mix of Chorales and hymn tunes which are appropriate to the Second Sunday after Christmas. We are still in the season after Christmas, but the alternate Gospel for today is the story of the visit of the Magi, so I'm leaning heavily on that theme.

Before the Gospel, you'll hear an improvisation on the hymn-tune DIX, which we often use to sing the words of hymn 119, "As with gladness men of old did the guiding star behold; as with joy they hailed its light, leading onward, beaming bright..." This hymn is a prayer for God's presence in our lives as we draw closer to Him. The Magi showed faith in God and eagerness, as well as sacrifice, in their journey to see the Christ-child. So may we live as though we really believe and eagerly look forward to the day when we shall one day see Him. In the third stanza, the gifts of the Magi are not even named. The Magi took the trouble to bring “gifts most rare” on a long journey. So may we “All our costliest treasures bring, Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.” This pilgrimage is not easy, so we sing, “Holy Jesus, every day keep us in the narrow way,” remembering that Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14, ESV).

Puer natus est nobis  

 At communion I'll play a piano improvisation of the German Chorale PUER NOBIS, a 15th century choral which gets its tune name from the incipit of the original Latin Christmas text, which was translated into German by the mid-sixteenth century as "Uns ist geborn ein Kindelein," and later in English as "Unto Us a Boy Is Born." But I am using it not for its connection to the Christmas season, but because our hymnal uses it with the Epiphany text found at hymn 124, "What star is this, with beam so bright, More lovely than the noonday light? ’Tis sent to announce a newborn king, Glad tidings of our God to bring."

The opening voluntary is an extended chorale fantasia on the German chorale Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern by Dieterich Buxtehude. Buxtehude composed a fantasy in several long sections, characterized by the use of different means, such as the use of rhetorical figures and the abundant use of repetitions and echo effects. The first section begins with the melody of the hymn played in the bass, with a subsequent shift to the soprano. A section in stylus phantasticus follows, with rapid succession of thirty-second notes and triplets .

After a very short richly decorated largo, the composition continues with a jig in 6/8, followed by an episode in fugue style. The work ends with exhibitions of new thematic material, in the form of fantasy. In the last four bars the score includes the use of the pedal board for the very first time.

The Morgenstern mentioned in the first line (How bright appears the Morning Star, with mercy beaming from afar; the host of heav'en rejoices) may refer to the star of Bethlehem, but I think it points to Jesus, the Light of the world. Either way, it's entirely appropriate for the season.

The closing voluntary is another of Buxtehude's chorale settings, though much shorter than the fantasy on Wie schön leuchtet. "Lobt Gott, ihr Christen alle gleich" is a German Christmas carol from the 16th century.