Notes on the Program – Praetorius CHRISTMAS VESPERS

Christmas in 17th-century Germany

by Jeannette Sorrell

Music is a precious gift of God. When I hear music, joy bubbles up inside of me. Anyone who does not respond to this gift is a Clod, and not fit to be called a man. —Martin Luther, 16th century

Martin Luther was a man of strong opinions. He did not like the Pope. Specifically, he did not like 95 things that the Pope was doing, so he nailed a list of his 95 complaints to the door of a church in 16th-century Germany. And thus was born the Reformation.

Luther’s agenda was to empower each man and woman to think for themselves, to study the Bible on their own, to talk directly to God rather than through the intermediary of a priest, and to participate actively in the worship service. Though it is well known that Luther translated the Bible from Latin into German so that the common people could read it, it is less well known that he adapted both Gregorian plainchant and popular German tavern songs and brought them into the church. Luther was passionate about music, and was responsible for making congregational singing an important part of the Lutheran service. He composed many chorale (hymn) melodies that are still part of the Protestant musical tradition today, such as “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” as well as several of the chorale melodies heard in tonight’s concert.

Martin Luther had many students and disciples. One of them was named Praetorius, and that student had a son named Michael. Michael became – along with J.S. Bach – one of the two greatest composers in the history of Protestant church music. Michael Praetorius left us an enormous quantity of sacred music for children’s choir, adult choir, strings, brass, lutes, and soloists. He was also acclaimed as an organist and theorist. His monumental music treatise, Syntagma musicum (1619), is considered the most important work of music theory in the early Baroque, and provides musicians with a wealth of practical information.

Living at the same time as Monteverdi, the great revolutionary composer of Italy, Praetorius was aware of the new and virtuosic elements of Monteverdi’s music; however, he firmly upheld Luther’s ideal that the common people should be able to participate in the music-making in some way. Therefore, while Monteverdi’s music requires an entirely professional ensemble of virtuoso singers, such as existed at St. Mark’s in Venice, Praetorius channeled his imaginative flair toward writing music that brought together professional singers, humble village choirs, children’s voices, and even congregational singing.

Thus, Praetorius’ music combines the drama and virtuosity of something like the Monteverdi Vespers with the simple and accessible traditions of Lutheran hymn-tunes that many Protestants know by heart. Praetorius wanted
children to participate, and thus many of his pieces are scored for children’s voices singing a familiar chorale tune, while professional soloists and instrumentalists weave more virtuosic variations around them.

Though Praetorius produced a vast quantity of sacred music in every form imaginable – from simple duets to large and complex polychoral works – he did not write a work called the Christmas Vespers. “Christmas Vespers” is the title of the program I have compiled, selecting from amongst the many dozens of Christmas pieces that Praetorius left us. Unlike some early music conductors before me, I am not striving to recreate a complete and authentic 17th-century Vespers service, exactly as it would have been done in Wolfenbüttel on Christmas Day in 1618. Rather, my primary goal has been to create a vivid and compelling concert experience. With that in mind, I set out to shape a program that presents highlights from typical 17th-century Lutheran Advent and Christmas Vespers services.

The first half of the concert evokes an Advent service – i.e., one of the four weeks preceding Christmas, when the liturgical focus is on thoughtful preparation of the soul, attentive watching and waiting, and longing for the birth of the Messiah. We open with Luther’s famous Advent chorale, Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland (Come, thou Savior of the Nations). In keeping with Praetorius’ tradition of sprinkling a bit of Latin with mostly the common tongue, we sing the first verse in its original German, and then repeat it in our common tongue, English. The simple plainchant version of the chorale melody is followed by Praetorius’ elaborate polyphonic setting of the tune, scored for soloists, choir and orchestra, as published in his final and most forward-looking collection, Polyhymnia caduceatrix. The pieces in this collection feature more virtuosic vocal and instrumental writing than his previous works, and show the influence of Monteverdi and other Italians.

Perhaps the most famous Lutheran Advent hymn is Wachet Auf (Wake, for Night is Flying), which calls the faithful to make themselves ready and watchful for the coming Messiah. Longtime Apollo’s Fire audiences may remember Bach’s splendid setting of this chorale, which we performed in 2000. Tonight we present the simple chorale setting as an introduction to Praetorius’ Monteverdi-esque setting of the first verse, complete with four soloists, choir, and virtuoso violins and cornettos.

We know from surviving church and municipal records that the typical Sunday schedule in Praetorius’ Germany involved a Communion service in the morning and classes for children in the afternoon, where they would learn such things as the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. This was followed by a Vespers service in early evening. In the Vespers service, children performed material they had studied in class. Thus we are delighted to be joined by four youthful soloists, who will instruct and admonish us to observe the Ten Commandments.

The spirit of Advent is more penitential than celebratory, and for the Offertory one might have a dark and repentant piece such as Ach, Mein Herre. This extraordinary work for three sopranos is one of the most moving and dramatic pieces in the Polyhymnia caduceatrix collection. Making use of the echo effects that were popular in Italy, this piece seems closely modelled on the Duo Seraphim in Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, where three tenors call dramatically to each other. Though Praetorius never met Monteverdi and never traveled to Italy, scholars believe that he knew Monteverdi’s great Vespers of 1610 – likely through contact with Italian musicians during a two-year stay in Dresden.

In the second half, we present highlights from a typical Vespers (evening) service on Christmas Day. Following the Gospel narration about shepherds and angels, the children take up that theme with a Latin hymn, Quem Pastores. This piece comes from Praetorius’ collection Puericinium – works scored specifically for children’s voices. Quem Pastores was traditionally performed with four boys placed in four different balcony areas of the church, where they represent the heavenly host of angels.

The central and essential element of a Vespers service was a performance of the Magnificat, that is, Mary’s song of thanks upon learning that she will be the mother of the Messiah. In 17th-century Germany, it was typical to intersperse a lighter carol or two between portions of the typically complex Magnificat setting. So, we perform Praetorius’ beautiful and intricate Magnificat from Polyhymnia alongside his more accessible carol settings: the ever-popular O Morning Star and Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. Praetorius set these hymns in the common tongue of his congregation – German – and thus we perform them in English.

The great carol In Dulci Jubilo dates back to the 14th century, and has been set by virtually every baroque composer, including J.S. Bach. Protestant listeners today will recognize the tune as “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice!” Praetorius’ spectacular setting of the carol features four choirs or groups of soloists, as well as a dramatic “intrada” (processional or fanfare) for trumpets and drums, preceding the final verse. Praetorius does not provide the fanfare; he merely instructs the trumpets to play something for about eight measures. Following the fanfare, I have chosen to perform the final verse in English, since Praetorius’ version was already half-Latin and half-German, and the overwhelming Lutheran philosophy was to use the common tongue of the congregation.

Praetorius’ vagueness about the fanfare is typical of early 17th-century composers: they left vast and fundamental performance decisions up to the conductor. Monteverdi almost never indicated instrumentation or tempo in his sacred music – it is up to the conductor to orchestrate his works, and also to decide whether a piece is fast, slow, lively or lyrical. Praetorius gave many helpful suggestions about orchestration and tempo – each piece is preceded by a paragraph of text laying out possibilities: this line might be played by a violin or cornetto, or just a singer; this passage can be given to a trombone if you have one, otherwise, a gamba will do; it is recommended to place the trumpets at great distance, or even outside the church; and finally, my favorite: the passages with trumpets should be performed faster than the rest, because trumpets always rush and it’s best to go along with them in order not to have chaos.

We believe that our trumpeters may be a bit more orderly than the Town Criers with whom Praetorius worked. (At least we pay them in money rather than barrels of wine…) I hope that my orchestration and tempo decisions live up to Praetorius’ great passion for experimentation and variety of instrumental colors. And finally, we trust that our audience will bubble up with joy upon hearing this music, as we know that Martin Luther would. Alleluja, Christus natus est!

©2015 Jeannette Sorrell | Cleveland, OH
Performing edition by Jeannette Sorrell.
Score and part preparation by Margi Griebling-Haigh, Musicalligraphics.