Advent Liturgy at Church of the Advent

Yesterday evening my wife and I visited the Church of the Advent of Christ the King to attend the Advent Liturgy that, for many, marks the beginning of the celebration of Christmas. Both of us are atheists. Nevertheless, the Director of Music Paul Ellison leads a chamber choir, which plays a significant role in major services; and, before the service began, organist George Anton Emblom performed about twenty minutes of organ music relevant for the occasion. As a result, we often attend services to experience the music, while showing all due respect for the congregation and keeping a low profile.

Engraving of Weimar published by Christoph Riegel showing the church of St Peter and Paul, where Bach may have played his Orgelbüchlein chorale settings during his service to the ducal court (made by Andreas Knorz in 1686, public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

The service itself was framed by four different musical interpretations of what, in Germany at least, has become the most prominent hymn for the occasion, “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” (savior of the nations, come). Two of those interpretations were by Johann Sebastian Bach. BWV 599, the very first entry in the Orgelbüchlein (little organ book), was one of the opening selections; and the service concluded with BWV 661, the arrangement Bach composed for the collection of eighteen chorale preludes, which is often known as the “Leipzig” chorale settings. The other settings were by Bach’s predecessor Dietrich Buxtehude and contemporary composer Gerald Near (born in 1942). Emblom’s opening selection also included “Desseins éternels" (eternal designs), the third of the nine movements of Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur (the Nativity of the Lord).

The service itself was one of six lessons, each followed by either a carol or a hymn. Those couplings were followed by Thomas Tallis’ setting of the “Magnificat” canticle in the Dorian mode. This made for a generous diversity of music, which could be appreciated without showing any disrespect for the solemnity of the service itself.