One of the pieces Master Chorus Eastside is preparing for
performance in our upcoming December concerts is a delightfully springy carol
arrangement by a 16th-century German composer, Michael Praetorius.
He created a reverently
lovely arrangement of a gentle German hymn, Es
ist ein Rose Entsprungen (Lo, How a
Rose E’er Blooming) which is often heard during the holidays, but that’s
pretty much all that most of us know about him, including myself—except for a
really wonderful CD I have of some of his instrumental arrangements of French
dance tunes called “Dances from ‘Terpsichore’” (terp-SIC-or-ee).
Terpsichore was the Greek muse of the dance, and
Praetorius named his volume of more than 300 dance arrangements after her.
He was an amazing man: organist, theorist, prolific
composer, especially of Lutheran hymns, and apparently an appreciator of dance
music, for these dance numbers, full of jolly rhythms and unusual (to modern
ears) Renaissance instrumental sounds, make my toes tap and my blood dance.
The carol we are rehearsing, Omnis mundus jocundetur, is
like those dances: vivacious, jolly, folksy in an ancient German kind of way,
and lyrical. The Latin text translates
basically as, “Let the whole world (omnis mundus) rejoice at the birth of the
Savior; celebrate with sonorous voices and sincere hearts!” The opening measures are long-limbed, simple,
expressive, and then it cuts loose and dances.
Surely the word “jocundetur” forms the basis for our word jocose, and there
is a sense of play that runs all through the number, especially in the many-times
repeated “itaque, itaque, itaque, ita- ita- itaque” (be happy, be happy, be
happy, be hap- hap- happy!) . In fact, I’ve
told my chorus to sing it as if they were having a party! And it works!
It has its feet on the earth and its heart in the dance.
The few renditions I found on Youtube don’t really do it
justice, but just to give you a taste, here is a women’s chorus that does a
pretty good job.
Praetorius’s music deserves to be better known, and
hopefully we will have a part in making that happen.
Dr. Linda Gingrich
Artistic Director and Conductor
Master Chorus Eastside
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