O Morning Star

The November 2015 issue of this column focused on the King of Chorales, “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying.”  Alongside every great king stands a stalwart queen, and “Wake, Awake” is no exception.  This kingly chorale is blessed with a regal counterpart in the Queen of Chorales, “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” (Lutheran Service Book 395).

​Both the King and Queen of Chorales hail from Philipp Nicolai (1556-1608), who wrote the text and composed the tune of both hymns. In the late sixteenth century, Nicolai became pastor at Unna in Westphalia, which was devastated by a plague during his pastorate. In a dark time when pastoral care of the dying became nearly his sole responsibility, Nicolai was thankfully spared from the plague and recorded his sacred meditations on the doctrine of eternal life:

​Now has the gracious, holy God most mercifully preserved me amid the dying from the dreadful pestilence and wonderfully spared me beyond all my thoughts and hopes, so that with the prophet David I can say to Him, “Oh, how great is the goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee” (quoted in The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal, p. 556).

To be sure, it was only a decade after writing the “The Mirror of Joy” (Freuden-Spiegel, published 1599) that God, in His infinite wisdom, called Nicolai to His eternal presence through a fever, while he was serving as the pastor of St. Katherine’s Church in Hamburg. But we can join Nicolai in thanking God for sparing him long enough to write the hymn that many of us are singing this Epiphany:

O Morning Star, how fair and bright! You shine with God’s own truth and light,
            Aglow with grace and mercy!
Of Jacob’s race, King David’s son, Our Lord and master, You have won
            Our heart to serve You only!
Lowly, holy! Great, and glorious, All victorious, Rich in blessing!
            ​Rule and might o’er all possessing (LSB 395.1).

Biblical foundations for the rich imagery in this seven-stanza hymn are numerous and varied. The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH), which generally lists one Bible passage based primarily on the title of the hymn, suggests Rev. 22:16 as the primary biblical reference for the obvious textual connection: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Lutheran Service Book, which lists up to four biblical texts in their order of influence on the hymn text, adds the Benedictus in Luke 1:68-79, Paul’s own “Benedictus” on the doctrine of election in Ephesians 1:3-7, and the elements of descriptive praise (vocal melody, harp, and strings) in Psalm 33:1-5. Melvin P. Unger, in his massive work, Handbook to Bach’s Sacred Cantata Texts, lists numerous texts for each movement of every cantata, includes (among other passages) the acclamation of Jesus’ Sonship in Hebrews 1:1-5 and St. Luke 1:31-33 (p. 1) for the first stanza of Nicolai’s hymn.
 
The tune by the same name, Wie Schӧn Leuchtet, is a perfect match for the text. Listen to a setting by an unidentified composer for viols and soprano (TLH 343, st. 6), sung in German. Hear how the stately tune, especially the large leaps in the opening statement, is fitting for the admonition to “Lift up the voice and strike the string” (Zwingt die Saiten in Kithara / Under lasst die süsse Musika).

Lift up the voice and strike the string, Let all glad sounds of music ring
            In God’s high praises blended.
Christ will be with me all the way, Today, tomorrow, every day,
            Till traveling days be ended. Sing out, Ring out
Triumph glorious, O victorious, Chosen nation;
Praise the God of your salvation.

​It will come as no surprise to readers of “Lifted Voice” that the most elaborate setting for chorus and orchestra comes from J. S. Bach (1685-1750). Written for the Annunciation of Our Lord (March 25th) in 1725, the seven-part cantata follows the structure of Nicolai’s seven stanzas (retained in TLH, but slightly shortened in LSB), with adaptations and paraphrases of the text in the five center movements. The opening movement is a masterly chorale fantasia in 12/8 meter, with the melody gradually unfolding in the soprano line, accompanied by the first horn, as presented in this stylish performance on period instruments:

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), who was born in the town in which Nicolai died (Hamburg) and died in the town where Bach last served (Leipzig), also made use of the chorale in his unfinished oratorio, Christus. Listen to a short recitative of Matthew’s narrative of the Gospel Lesson for Epiphany Day, a charming men’s trio (listen for the pizzicato or “walking bass,” which depicts the journey of the Wise Men), and a chorus that ends with the Queen of Chorales, with texts adapted from Matthew 2:1-2 and Numbers 24:17:

​Recitative: When Jesus the Lord and God, was born in Bethlehem in the land of Judea, behold from the east, [to] the city of Jerusalem, There came the wise men and said,
​
Trio: “Say, where is he born the King of Judea? For we have seen his star and are come to adore Him.”
 
Chorus: Then shall a star from Jacob come forth and a scepter from Israel rise up and dash in pieces princes and nations.
 
[Chorale]: How brightly beams the morning star …

​The contexts for singing the Queen of Chorales are as rich and varied as the musical settings, and perhaps even more surprising. In addition to its textual connection to the Annunciation of our Lord (March 25th), “O Morning Star” has found a secure home in Lutheran worship as the Hymn of the Day for Epiphany Day (January 6th), and arguably for any day during the Epiphany season. But there is one more important use that is not to be neglected among Lutherans.
 
In his magisterial study, Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig, Günther Stiller notes that Nicolai’s Queen of Chorales “served as hymn of the day for the 20th Sunday after Trinity, which annually took note of the Sacrament of the Altar in a special manner through the Gospel reading with its parable of the royal wedding feast (Matt. 22:1-14)” (p. 83). This precedent suggests two additional places for “O Morning Star” in our liturgical life: as a distribution hymn during the Lord’s Supper and the Hymn of the Day for Trinity 20 in the one-year lectionary (or Proper 23 in LSB, Series A). See how the final stanza, drawing heavily on selected passages from Revelation, is fitting during the distribution of the Blessed Sacrament:

What joy to know, when life is past, the Lord we love is first and last,
            The end and the beginning!
He will one day, oh, glorious grace, Transport us to that happy place /
            Beyond all tears and sinning!
Amen! Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! Crown of gladness!
We are yearning for the day of your returning!

​The prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Komm, du schӧne, Freudenkrone = Come, thou beautiful crown of joy) prays, on the one hand, for His coming at the end of time. But the church also prays for His abiding presence in the Sacrament of the Altar here and now, which gives us a down payment on the final resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
 
May I suggest that this two-fold epiphany is precisely the point of Nicolai’s hymn? The Lord’s Supper is the Mirror of Joy for those whose commonwealth is in heaven (Phil 3:20). In the Eucharist, all that is true of Christ in eternity is true of us on earth, as we pray to God Almighty “that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life, have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead” (Collect for Epiphany Day, TLH p. 58).

+ Come, Lord Jesus! +