The Introit this morning is the central soprano aria from Bach’s grand Magnificat. Shameless promotion – Queens’ own Royal Voices, under my direction, will sing the entire work this Wednesday, November 13th, at 7:30 pm in Belk Chapel. Hope to see you there.
The Magnificat text comes from the Gospel according to Luke. It is Mary’s joyous response to her cousin Elizabeth after she greets Mary as the mother of God. The Magnificat is the most popular and best-known of all the Gospel canticles – Biblical songs of praise from somewhere other than the book of Psalms. From the earliest days, the Magnificat has been a part of Catholic Vespers services. During Bach’s time, however, Vespers were common on Sunday afternoons in the Lutheran churches of Leipzig. Normally, they would have been sung in German, except on Christmas Day, when it was sung in Latin. This Magnificat appears to have been written for Christmas 1723 in Leipzig – Bach’s first Christmas there, and his desire to impress his new bosses is evident in the extravagance and complexity of the work. In this aria, Mary contrasts her lowly state with the enormity of the gift God has bestowed upon her.
For the Anthem, a lovely sacred confection from the American composer Dan Forrest, who lives just across the state line from us, in Greenville, SC. Dan writes music beloved to church choirs everywhere: his works are tuneful, warm-hearted, and directly expressive. One of my favorites is Shalom, an unabashedly lovely work with some grand Hollywood-esque sweep. Scored for keyboard, chorus, and solo violin – played this morning by my wonderful colleague at Queens, Peter deVries – it’s a sincerely felt call for peace, the topic of this month’s series of sermons.
-Justin Smith