Music for Maundy Thursday – Michael Bauer
Ubi Caritas
The title “Maundy Thursday” comes from the so-called mandatum: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34). The service celebrated on this day incorporates one special commemoration that is unique to that liturgy, the foot-washing ceremony. This is the ritual embodiment of the command of Jesus to love one another. The most ancient and well-known musical accompaniment to this ritual is Ubi caritas, a Gregorian antiphon dating from the early Middle Ages. As the text also has eucharistic overtones, the antiphon is sometimes sung at the offertory procession on Maundy Thursday and in conjunction with Eucharistic Adoration and the service of Benediction in the Roman Catholic tradition. The opening line of the original Latin text has been translated as either “Where charity and love are, God is there” or “Where true charity and love are, God is there,” a variant taken from several early manuscripts. There are many choral pieces based on this text, ranging from the most famous example, by Maurice Duruflé, to more contemporary settings by Ola Gjeilo, David Conte, and Paul Mealor, whose Ubi caritas was sung at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011. See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=457nVpxJDkA (Duruflé)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcRqMPBhuyo (Gjeilo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afFQucDJjSM (Conte)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQE4ryqdvMg (Mealor)
O Lamm Gottes unschuldig, BWV 656
Another piece that is very appropriate on Mandy Thursday is the organ chorale O Lamm Gottes unschuldig (“O Lamb of God, Most Holy”) taken from the Leipzig Chorales by J.S. Bach. Both the melody and text of this chorale were written by Lucius Decius in 1541 as a paraphrase of the Agnus Dei from the Mass. Besides this setting of the chorale, Bach also wrote a version in the Orgelbüchlein (BWV 618) and, famously, used the chorale in the monumental opening movement of his St. Matthew Passion.
BWV 656 is in three sections. The chorale tune migrates from the soprano, to the middle voice, and finally to the bass in succeeding sections. Interestingly, this same arrangement is used in his three large settings of the Kyrie in Clavierübung III. The text of O Lamm Gottes reflects themes of the Agnus Dei – Christ taking away the sins of the world and granting peace. In her book J. S. Bach’s Leipzig Chorales: Music, Text Theology Anne Leahy speculates that the gradual descent of the melody through the three parts of the work may reference the descent of Christ, an action that was necessary for the work of redemption and Christ’s gift of peace. The third part is especially interesting, both because of its unusual triple time signature of 9/4, and because of the chromaticism near the end – a musical technique often connected with the passion of Christ. For a performance of this work, by the well-known Dutch organist Ton Koopman, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1R4CQxyAtc
Michael Bauer is in his 28th year as Professor of Organ and Church Music at the University of Kansas. He is also Organist-Choirmaster at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Omaha, NE. He recently published the book Arts Ministry: Nurturing the Creative Life of God’s People with Eerdmans Publishing Co.