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O du Stille Zeit by Marcus Schmidl
By contrast, today's motet is tiny. A mere three pages in length, setting a very brief poem, and timing out at well under three minutes, its boundaries are constrained and its mission modest: To invoke a certain mood.
And does it ever succeed.

The piece is entitled 'O du stille Zeit'. I discovered it on an album called Adventskalendar by a group I admire very much, Singer Pur. As one might imagine given its title, the album contains 24 tracks appropriate to the season. I first listened to it early in the pandemic while running on the treadmill. There are lots of great pieces in beautiful performances. But when 'O du stille Zeit' came on, I was just spellbound. I had to stop the machine and listen; then I repeated the track about five times. It's amazing--like angels dancing on the head of a pin, or like one of those miniature paintings in which the artist has depicted an entire world in a space the size of your thumb.

And somehow the music is therapeutic. Right at that moment--probably in June of 2020, with pandemic and politics raging and our music shut down--it was just the medicine I needed.

The piece has a long history. The evocative little poem was written by Joseph von Eichendorff (1788-1857)--see below. Cesar Bresgen (1913-1988) provided the melody, which has become a folk-song of the season in Germany. Gottfried Wolters (1910-1989) wrote a straightforward 4-part harmonization which is quite effective. And Marcus Schmidl (born 1971) created the extraordinary six-part version which is today's motet.

But enough talk! You simply have to check this piece out. I am attaching Marcus Schmidl's score and the Singer Pur recording. Here's a link to a magical live performance from one of their concerts. And as a Friday lagniappe, here is a link to a very sweet performance (by a different group) of the simpler--but still every effective--Gottfried Wolters arrangement. I love the love that is so evident on their faces.

The poem is as follows:

O du stille Zeit,
   O you quiet night,

Kommst, eh wir´s gedacht,
   You come, as we imagined,

Über die Berge weit:
   Over the distant mountains:

Gute Nacht!
   Good night!

In der Einsamkeit,
   In the loneliness,

Rauscht es nun sacht,
   It rustles now gently,
​
Über die Berge weit:
   Over the distant mountains:
Good night!
Click here to download learning materials
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