This Sunday, we will experience some extraordinary music to celebrate the first Sunday of Advent. I thought it might be useful to explain a few of the selections so that they can be more fully enjoyed.
At the 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist this Sunday, Trinity's staff singers, alongside musicians from the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, will present Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata on the hymn "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" ("Come now, savior of the nations"). This hymn was typically sung on the first Sunday of Advent in Baroque German Lutheran churches (Bach's context), and as a result, there is a wealth of deeply meaningful musical settings of it written through the succeeding centuries. We will intersperse the various movements of this throughout the service, with each verse in a context in which its text pairs well with the readings and prayers of the day.
The opening choral movement, set in the style of a French overture, bids Jesus come and reminds us that his coming has been prophesied. These words will be the formal opening of our season of Advent, and remind us all of the focus of these weeks.
The processional hymn may surprise some: "All glory, laud and honor." In my research of Bach's musical selections for the first Sunday of Advent at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, I found a fascinating pattern. Bach often selected musical settings of the text "Hosanna to the Son of David" for the offertory motet for this day. This is a text traditionally associated with Palm Sunday. By using it for the first Sunday of Advent, Bach drew a liturgical line between the various entries of Christ into the world. This, of course, pairs very effectively with the text of "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland," a hymn he programmed for that day and on which he wrote several cantatas for the same occasion. To emphasize this connection, we will sing "All glory, laud, and honor," which we typically sing as the processional hymn on Palm Sunday.
At the offertory on Sunday, we will hear a recitativo and aria from Bach's cantata that explore Christ's suffering and once again invite him to us. The communion music will be the recitativo "Siehe, ich stehe vor de Tür und klopfe an" ("Look, I stand before the door and knock"). This is a fascinating piece of music, where pizzicato strings create the effect of Christ knocking on the door of the church. The aria "Öffne dich, mein ganzes Herze" ("Open yourself, my whole heart") follows with sweeping melodic lines, speaking of God's graciousness to us.
We will close the 10:30 service by singing the hymn on which the cantata was based as the recessional hymn. The prelude and postlude will also be organ settings by Bach of the same hymn melody. My hope is that this will be an enthusiastic and deeply meaningful way to contemplate Christ's coming into our midst!
I hope you will also consider joining us on Sunday evening for our service of Advent Lessons & Carols at 5:00 p.m. This annual service presents hymns and choral offerings interspersed with readings that prophecy about the coming of Jesus. This year's musical selections include some perennial favorites (Paul Manz's "E'en so, Lord Jesus," Charles Wood's "O thou the central orb," and more). But we will also feature music with a close connection to Trinity Church. Richard Webster, who for years directed the brass ensemble at our annual service of Christmas Lessons & Carols and has a long relationship with this church, will be represented in his setting of "Adam lay ybounden." And we will have music by several living women composers: a setting of "A tender shoot" by Kerensa Briggs and "Earth grown old" by Ghislaine Reece-Trapp. This service is a great opportunity to invite friends who don't already attend Trinity Church to come, enjoy some great music, and participate in a meaningful introduction to the season of Advent!
All my best,
Meg