Year C: Music for Transfiguration of Our Lord February 27, 2022

OPENING VOLUNTARY O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright

(Wie schön leuchtet)

setting, Niels Wilhelm Gade

In these Sundays after Epiphany, the Transfiguration of Our Lord reminds us where we started - with Jesus being revealed as "a light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people, Israel." It's not surprising that this cycle of readings ends with even more images (and music) around the theme of light.

Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890) was an important musician in Denmark, a contemporary (and friend) of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. Several Scandinavian composers of the day, including Edvard Grieg, are counted among his students. 

GATHERING HYMN O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright

(Wie schön leuchtet)

ELW 308

HYMN OF THE DAY How Good Lord, to Be Here! (Potsdam)
ELW 315

12th Century Icon of the Transfiguration

Have you ever wondered why Lutherans observe the Transfiguration at the end of the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany arc?  Others, including Episcopalians, observe it later in the year.

This was the work of two Lutheran reformers: Johannes Bugenhagen and Viet Dietrich, two Lutheran theologians and pastors who thought it made sense to link the transfiguration scene with that of Jesus' baptism. This action brought two of the major revealings (epiphanies) of Jesus nearer each other on the church calendar.


It is believed the old observance came from the East and had no significant relationship to the rest of the church calendar.

MUSICAL OFFERING In Thee Is Gladness (In dir ist Freude)
arr. Carl Schalk
(The text and the tune can be found at ELW 867.)

Johann Lindemann (1549-1631) first published this text in Amorum Filii Dei Duae in 1598. Some attribute the text not to Lindemann, but to his brother-in-law Cyriakus Schneegass. Whoever the author, it was Lindemann who paired it with the dancing music of Italian composer Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (1550-1622). Gastoldi wrote madrigals, masses, and psalm settings, but his most popular works were his balletti. These vocal works are closely associated with madrigals and often include refrains of fa-la-la-la-la.

The dance-hymn appears later in the service with a modern day setting by Kenneth T. Kosche.

COMMUNION HYMN Beautiful Savior (Schönster Herr Jesu)
ELW 838

SENDING HYMN Alleluia, Song of Gladness (Praise, My Soul)

ELW 318

Veiling crosses is another Lenten custom.

As is our custom, on the last Sunday before Lent, we bury the "Alleluia" and refrain from using it until Easter Sunday. Refraining from its use goes back to the 5th century, but the practice of "burying" or "saying farewell to" the Alleluia began in the middle ages. 

"Alleluia, Song of Gladness" is a hymn from the 11th century that compares our time of Lent to the exile of the Israelites in Babylon. The final stanza prepares us to sing "Alleluia" with joy when Easter arrives.

CLOSING VOLUNTARY In Thee Is Gladness

setting, Kenneth T. Kosche


sources:
Hymnal Companion: Evangelical Lutheran Worship; Paul Westermayer

Wikipedia
ELCA.org (see FAQ - Why don't we use alleluias during Lent?"

Icon of the Transfiguration By Unknown author - Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai (Egypt) / K. Weitzmann: "Die Ikone", Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3859855