Michael Praetorius is one of my favorite composers; I
don’t think I’ve ever heard anything of his that I don’t like. He makes the
transition from medieval/Renaissance-sounding things to a more modern—or maybe
a more universal—feel, that touches me every time. He was one of those court
composers—like Bach or Handel or (sort of) Mozart, which perhaps gave him the
freedom to set his hand to whatever struck his fancy. Masses, motets;
experimenting in surround-sound (by placing mini-choirs in different areas of
the space)—these days, in the Valley They Call Silicon, they’d dub him a
paradigm-shifting, disruptive-tech, game-changing thought leader, and venture
capitalists would throw money at him.
In those days he served a succession of German princes,
ending at the court of Dresden.
“Es ist ein Ros
entsprungen” is my all-time favorite Christmas carol. I first learned it in
a German class and I still only know the words auf Deutsch. You probably know it as “Lo, How a Rose E’er
Blooming”. The intricate polyphony of this piece always speaks to me of voices echoing
in huge, candle-lit Gothic spaces, merging together on the final note of each
verse. I love it.
Here to sing it for you is the Dresdner Kreuzchor, as seems only appropriate, it being the home team for Praetorius.
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