Sacred Music & History

Themes of waiting, vigilance, and the coming of light and the Bridegroom are prominent in Advent music. The “O” Antiphons are perhaps the earliest example, and not much later is the Office hymn “Conditor alme siderum,” a 7th century text sung by the Holy Spirit Choir in the Dufay polyphonic setting from the mid-15th century. Another Office hymn, from Compline, is “Alma redemptoris mater” (“Dear mother of our redeemer”), one of the four Marian Antiphons, traditionally composed by the Benedictine monk Bl. Hermannus Contractus in the 11th century. The Holy Spirit choir sings both the chant antiphon and the splendid Palestrina polyphonic setting from the late 16th century.

The theme of the Annunciation also appears at Advent, as in the Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) “Dixit Maria”, the Blessed Virgin’s affirmation: “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum” - “Be it done unto me according to thy word.” The parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (as depicted above by William Blake) is the theme of the hymn by Phillip Nikolai (1556-1608) “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” (“Wake, awake, for night is flying”) set in 1731 by J.S. Bach in his great cantata of the same name. And the great Thomas Tallis combined polyphony and Sarum chant in his motet “Audivi vocem de caelo” (“I heard a voice from heaven”) – commanding the wise virgins to bring their oil and greet the Bridegroom.

Some Advent music is drawn directly from the prayers of the Church, as in the Adrian Batten (1590-1637) anthem “Lord we beseech thee,” setting the Collect for Third Advent, with its prayer to “lighten the darkness of our hearts.” A modern Advent hymn, “People look East”, was written by Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965), an English poet and novelist who became a Catholic at the age of 70. Farjeon mirrors the “O” Antiphons by describing five titles of the coming Messiah, thus bringing Advent music full circle and back to its beginnings.