A dose of flu. No, I didn’t get really sick, just had to
spend a week sipping tea constantly and dozing in my tatting chair. I’m back
now. Just a couple more days and I should be back to full speed and full voice.
And so Epiphany….
I was amused recently when someone asked if I focused on
Epiphany to chase away the Winter Blues. Well, I do get exhausted producing
Christmas music so I have little energy for a week or so. But, like most things
about my faith, it’s wrapped up in organ music.
One of my favorite pieces in organ literature is a setting
of a hymn written for Epiphany: Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern BuxWV 223 by Dietrich Buxtehude. Like many compositions of this era, sacred and secular,
this is a rif on the text while running through the common melody. For those
who read music or know the chorale well, you can pick out the melody amongst
the busy notes Buxtehude wrote down. If you’re thinking that’s a lot like jazz
or folk, you’re correct. I particularly like this piece because you have the
option within historical performance practice to change sounds frequently to
set the sections apart from each other. So, I can provide an aural tour
through an organ while providing a reminder of the tune and referencing text.
If you’re thinking complicated, you got it!
I’ve been playing with tatting designs based on this piece
for years. My recent dabbling in Blackwork has given me more ideas: create a
Blackwork design to represent the chorale with the color and various
rings/chains in tatting mounted on top the stitching. Perhaps beads too!
The next few months will be quite busy. We are getting
closer to beginning some serious remodel on our Historic home, along with more
substituting on the organ bench and teaching. I doubt I’ll get to putting into
thread any ideas, but the sketches are piling up. I’ll try to give a window on
that in the next week or so.
In the meantime, enjoy a listen to one of these videos of
Wie schon. The visual is not much to look at unless you watch the one looking
over the organists shoulder. Love her red shoes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyvMzIhiVxo (red!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPtjnhZZQq4 (channel with many hymns)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWxSAjesxPY (Baroque temperament organ in Germany)
