Advent begins
For some stores, the December Holiday season began before Halloween was over. For most people, “the Holidays” begins at Thanksgiving and ends at New Year’s Day. Whenever it officially began, we can agree that we’re pretty much in holiday mode now.
It’s this month that Christians celebrate Advent – which is far more than “getting ready for Christmas” – it is about preparing for the second, not the first, coming of Christ. For Johann Sebastian Bach, the hope for Christ’s second coming was deeply heartfelt. Baroque piety and emotion drip from his motet, “Komm, Jesu, Komm.” It is ornate and full of short motifs, woven into intricate patterns that are amazing and beautiful; the double-choir dialogue at 3:00 is simply gorgeous. Like many of his sacred compositions, it ends with a chorale (that’s just the German word for “hymn”) at 6:45.
Thanks for defining chorale! I had always mis-thought it was a movement rendered by a large vocal ensemble!
Some people say “chorale” because it sounds fancier than “hymn.” It’s not.
However, it’s worth mentioning that the word Chorale has taken on a number of connotations, mainly because of the way it was treated musically by the German Protestants, which was then copied by composers all over the world. It originated as a congregational hymn that listeners would have known and recognized; nowadays, you might hear it applied to a broader range of musical things, some of which have nothing to do with a hymn of faith. (Sibelius’ “Finlandia” comes to mind – here the composer writes a new “hymn” (er, “chorale”) to be the swelling, passionate end to a nationalistic work, not dissimilar to a Bach cantata ending with a chorale as a final, powerful statement. Since its composition, poets have written words to sing to this stirring tune.)
Just now saw this. Thanks!
Also thanks for another correction. It’s not “preparing for the birth of Jesus” but, as you say, for the Second Coming!
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