Be Thou My Vision

I went to a German Lutheran service in the St. Thomas cathedral. It seemed unreal when I was walking down the street and the bells from the cathedral filled my ears. I held a little tighter to my hymnal and paced faster towards the main entrance. When I entered the building, they had run out of bulletins, but the usher told me that everything was in the hymnal. My internal thoughts turned into “Yes, but what is the order?”  As I sat in the back of the hall, I was very appreciative of the people

around that knew the order so I was able to follow along with the music. While I do not understand German, the sermon of the day was very interesting and kept me engaged. At the end of the service, multiple people talked for around five minutes and I did not know what was happened and I just clapped when everyone else did. When a bulletin was returned, the usher handed it to me. I was very grateful for the bulletin cause I could then see what was happening for the last ten minutes of the service.

The music in the service was used from the motets we saw the previous day. It was still amazing to hear the same songs echo in the halls from a different origin in the room.  I also enjoyed the procession of the choir and how it changed the context of their song. All of the hymns used in service are placed on a board, so someone could follow along only with their hymnal (if they knew the order of the service). 

After the postlude (which no one moved a muscle for), I thought that communion was going to take place after the service. I stayed around and sat in the front of the cathedral. After twenty minutes of people talking and clapping, I realized that I was sitting in on a church council meeting. I quietly as I could, I managed to leave the meeting space.

The day before service, we saw the Bach motets from the rafters seats. This was very cool because we were able to face the choir and orchestra. Since this concert was my presentation, I expected only two compositions to be played, but the concert turned out to be even more songs and the Lord’s prayer. The organ pieces were amazing and resonated through the space. We all sat there for an additional 10 seconds in silence as the sound dissipated from the final note. The boys choir was excellent. To see people younger than me singing at that high of a caliber was breathtaking. They had very clear articulation of notes and lyrics, while maintaining chord balances and shifts.  What is also stunning about this concert is that a different motet is presented every Saturday. This ensemble has to learn new repertoire constantly and has dedicated their lives to this musical craft.