[Magdalen] Tenebrae

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/31/2015 3:00:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
oppenheimerjw at gmail.com writes:

"Christ  lag in Todesbanden" >>>>>
 
On the subject of Easter "musts", the German Lutherans in 
Pennsylvania don't feel it's Easter until this hymn is sung
(#185-186 in TEC '82 Hymnal).
 
I was amused some years ago early one Easter morning
to hear a classical music announcer for one of the Philadelphia
FM stations say:  "We're going to play this cantata now, though
it seems inappropriate for Easter."
 
Of course, the first line of the text is "Christ Jesus lay in death's
dark bands"  He obviously didn't read the rest of the text!
 
The whiz-kid Procathedral O/C was raised in the German Lutheran 
Tradition, and plays the metrical version (#185) with all the trills  and
frills that makes the hymn extra festive.
 
Never does the Bachan tradition of ending minor key pieces in 
a grand major chord sound better than it does in this hymn.
 
 
David Strang.