' (Our dear Lady's dream, ''Our Lady's Vision''
)
Op. 138, No. 4, is a sacred
motet for unaccompanied mixed choir by
Max Reger. The German text is a poem by an anonymous poet, derived from a
Volkslied
Volkslied (literally: folk song) is a genre of popular songs in German which are traditionally sung. While many of them were first passed orally, several collections were published from the late 18th century. Later, some popular songs were also ...
. The piece is in
F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.
The F major scale is:
:
F major is the ...
and scored for up to six voices,
SSATBB. Composed in
Meiningen in 1914, it was published in 1916 after Reger's death as the fourth of ' (Eight Sacred Songs). It is often performed in
Advent.
History
Reger composed the motets of Op. 138 in
Meiningen in 1914,
at the beginning of World War I, when he also worked on
Requiem projects in Latin and German. Inspired by
Bach's motets, he had composed "extended a cappella choral settings",
such as
''Geistliche Gesänge'', Op. 110, dedicated to the Thomanerchor, with challenging
double fugues. In great contrast, he composed eight motets forming ''Acht geistliche Gesänge'' (Eight Sacred Songs), Op. 138, as a master of "new simplicity".
He died before finishing to check the ''Korrekturbögen'' (
proofs) from the publisher.
''Unser lieben Frauen Traum''
was published in 1916 as the fourth of ''Acht geistliche Gesänge'' (Eight Sacred Songs).
# ''
Der Mensch lebt und bestehet'' (
Matthias Claudius
Matthias Claudius (15 August 1740 – 21 January 1815) was a German poet and journalist, otherwise known by the pen name of “Asmus”.
Life
Claudius was born at Reinfeld, near Lübeck, and studied at Jena. He spent the greater part of his li ...
)
# ''Morgengesang'' (Johannes Zwick)
# ''
Nachtlied'' (Petrus Herbert)
# ''Unser lieben Frauen Traum'' (anonymous)
# ''Kreuzfahrerlied'' (anonymous)
# ''Das Agnus Dei'' (
Nikolaus Decius)
# ''Schlachtgesang'' (anonymous)
# ''Wir glauben an einen Gott" (anonymous)
Text and music
The German text consists of three short stanzas by an anonymous poet, derived from a religious folk song, that was first printed in 1602 in a Catholic hymnal edited by Nicolaus Beuttner.
''Und unser lieben Frauen''
Liederprojekt
The topic is a dream of Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
, "our dear Lady", of a tree growing under her heart, providing shadow over all land, called Jesus Christ the Saviour. The final stanza says that he is "our salvation and consolation", who freed us by his bitter martyrdom. A sermon held in the Thomaskirche
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, image = Leipzig Thomaskirche.jpg
, imagelink =
, imagealt =
, caption =
, pushpin map =
, pushpin label position =
, pushpin map alt ...
where the motet was performed by the Thomanerchor
The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding sch ...
pointed out that the growing tree refers to the wood of the cross on which Jesus suffered.Catherine Winkworth
Catherine Winkworth (13 September 1827 – 1 July 1878) was an English hymnwriter and educator. She translated the German chorale tradition of church hymns for English speakers, for which she is recognized in the calendar of the Evangelical Luth ...
, "Our Lady lay a-sleeping". A translation to be sung was written by Jean Lunn, published by Carus: "And to our blessed lady".F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.
The F major scale is:
:
F major is the ...
and scored for up to six voices, SSATBB.tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
and bass. The second stanza has different dynamics for the same notes.common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...
and set for six parts by division of the soprano and bass.fortissimo
In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...
on "all", which is released within only two beats to pianissimo
In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...
, then the last half line is repeated, beginning softly and fading away.
Recording
The motet has been recorded in programs for Advent and Christmas, such as a collection by the chamber choir ars antiqua Aschaffenburg,NDR Chor
The NDR Chor (North German Radio Choir) is the choir of the German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1946, with Max Thurn as the first director of then 55 singers. The group has participated in premiere ...
conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann.
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Motets by Max Reger
1914 compositions