Day of Pentecost - Musical symbols of the Holy Spirit

Day of Pentecost

June 8, 2014

Music for Pentecost

Composers often like to incorporate symbolism into a musical composition as a way to give narrative or pictorial value to the piece.  Music created for the festival of Pentecost is often rich in symbolism, since the New Testament story in Acts contains so much that can be vividly described.  Tongues of fire, rushing wind, and the very presence of Holy Spirit are all dramatic events that invite portrayal. 

J.S. Bach was no stranger to the notion of musical symbolism; likely, I’ve discussed some of his symbolic devices in this blog before!  Today at the end of worship we hear a chorale prelude by Bach that incorporates the tune Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist.  This chorale is one of those in which the early 16^th century reformers (those in Luther’s circle) adapted an existing Latin melody and hymn text to the German vernacular.  The original text is attributed to Rhabanus Marus (9^th century) and the Latin tune is a beautiful example of a flowing Gregorian chant melody.  At one symbolic level, the transformation of the Latin chant into German chorale suggests the work of the Holy Spirit, in that all can understand in one’s own language!

Bach first set this chorale for organ in his collection the Orgelbüchlein sometime between 1708 – 1717.  What we hear today is an expansion of that original setting, composed 20 or so years later, which presents two distinct parts.  The first part, which is simply the original Orgelbüchlein version, contains a very quirky pedal element that many have suggested is an overt expression of the “third” person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit.  This pedal voice is a brief eighth note punctuation on the third beat of a group of three eighth notes, which musically is a bit odd.  The effect is that of one-two-THREE, one-two-THREE, which has all the grace of a heavy booted waltz.  But, it is hard to miss this evocation of the “third” person!  As the composition progresses into the second part, the notes for the hands begin swirling and flowing in rapid sixteenth-note patterns and the melody appears in slow moving notes in the pedal.  You can guess that Bach may have been representing the rushing of the wind and the rapid flickering of tongues of flame in this section.  As a performer, I add to the symbolism by using the rich sound of the organ reeds (trumpets in the manuals, the deep Posaune in the pedal) to suggest the boldness of the Holy Spirit. 

As one of the five primary feast days of the church year, Pentecost has inspired many composers to create amazing pieces celebrating this formative event in the life of the church!  Maurice Duruflé created one of the most beautiful pieces for organ in his "Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du 'Veni Creator'" in 1930.  If you have 20 minutes to spare today, take a listen on youtube!