December 19, 2024

Love!
 

Our Advent Season of awaiting draws to a close this Sunday with themes of love and the impending arrival of a Messiah in Bethlehem, as foretold in our reading from Micah.

Our Gospel reading from Luke tells the beautiful story of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth and those words which have been sung for centuries “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear.” Our Organ Voluntary is an evocative setting of the Gregorian Chant "Ave Maria" set by (then) Dallas-based composer Gerald Near. I have long loved Near’s works for the purity of their setting, and the delightful challenges he gives the organist. This setting paints the text in a touchingly reverent yet dramatic way.

The Choir’s Anthem was written by English composer Benjamin Britten when he was just 17 years old, and it sets a mixed English & Latin (“macaronic”) text in praise of the 14 year old Jewish girl who said “yes” to God’s out-sized and seemingly outrageous request to bear the Son of God into humanity. “A Hymn to the Virgin” extolls the virtues of Mary in a 13th-century text with English Phrases followed immediately by Latin words or phrases which complete or amplify what preceded them:

Of one that is so fair and bright, Velut Maris stella [as the star of the sea]
Brighter than the day is light, Parens et puella [mother and maiden]
I cry to thee, thou see to me, Lady, pray thy Son for me Tam pia [so holy]
That I may come to thee, Maria. [Mary]
       All this world was forlorn, Eva peccatrice. [through Eve's sin]
       Till our Lord was yborn, De te genetrice. [of you, his mother]
       With Ave [Hail] it went away, Darkest night and comes the day Salutis; [of           salvation]
       The well springeth out of thee. Virtutis. [of virtue]
                 Lady, flow'r of ev'rything, Rosa sine spina, [rose without thorn]
                 Thou bare Jesu, Heaven's King, Gratia divina: [by divine grace]
                 Of all thou bear'st the prize, Lady, queen of paradise. Electa:                               [chosen]
                 Maid mild, Mother, Es effecta. [you are made].              
                                                                                 13th-Century English

Britten envisioned the English text to be sung by a larger choir at the front of the space and a quartet of voices singing the Latin text from the back. Since my Church Choirs have not always been large enough to master that layout, I arranged the work to be sung by one group at the front of the Church. You can view the original score layout in this video.   .  

Our music at Communion will be Johannes Brahms setting of our Opening Hymn “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.”  Brahms very ingeniously ornaments the melody, making it almost impossible to recognize, but the video linked above includes the text at the appropriate notes in the melody to help identify the tune that we know so well. This work has become a staple of Christmas programs around the world, and it has been a delight registering it on our Kimball/Garland organ at Grace.

It is my prayer that your Christmas celebrations are made even more meaningful by the season of Advent we have all shared. Truly “Love came down at Christmas, and the Savior who loved us enough to become a helpless babe at Bethlehem fills each of our hearts with love for all those who Christ came to save.

With a Grateful Heart,

Kenton Kravig