Transeamus usque Bethlehem

Transeamus. Handwritten bass part by Joseph Ignaz Schnabel from the Breslau Cathedral.

Transeamus. Handwritten organ part by Joseph Ignaz Schnabel from the Breslau Cathedral.

Transeamus usque Bethlehem , or Transeamus for short , is a Silesian Christmas choral work by an unknown composer. The text, sung in Latin , is based on the biblical Christmas story in the Gospel according to Luke and tells the shepherds' decision to go to Bethlehem - accompanied by the “ Gloria ” of the angels.

origin

The Pastorella has been handed down in voices from the Breslau Cathedral , which the last German cathedral music director Paul Blaschke was able to save from besieged Breslau to West Germany during the Second World War .

The composition was for a long time attributed to the cathedral bandmaster Joseph Ignaz Schnabel (1767–1831), but Blaschke was able to prove as early as 1931 that Schnabel's part was limited to the arrangement of the instrumental accompaniment. In the Breslau choir and orchestral parts , which are probably made by Schnabel, no composer is given by name, but the note Ignoto ( Latin for 'from an unknown person') can be found in one of the parts .

Franz Witt had already mentioned in 1870 that the composition was “arranged in an old fashion. by J. Schnabel ”.

Paul Krutschek suspects that Schnabel found the composition in a Silesian monastery.

description

The composition may have had its occasion in a liturgical nativity play . Possibly it originally contained further movements and thus represented a small cantata . For stylistic reasons, the date of origin should be set in the first half of the 18th century. Rococo elements are not included, rather the course of the form indicates that the composer is deeply rooted in folk music. An edition differing somewhat in text, instrumentation and melodic-rhythmic guidance from the Wroclaw version was found in the middle of the 19th century in the Benedictine monastery in Braunau in northern Bohemia.

The text of the work is based on the biblical Christmas story ( Lk 2,10–16 Vul ). The piece is originally set for a three-part choir ( soprano , alto , bass ) with orchestral accompaniment (8 wind instruments , 5 strings and organ ). Arrangements for four-part choir are widespread; the instrumental accompaniment is often performed by the organ alone.

The piece begins with a recitative , the text of which has not survived in the Wroclaw version and which has been left out in many arrangements. Transcripts of parts from the Glogau Cathedral show that the recitative was underlaid with the text Lk 2.10–12 Vul . The subsequent pastorella is composed of a three-part song with a framing ritornello . The bass voices (quasi in the role of the shepherds) sing the first stanza alone, then the female voices (quasi as an angel choir) and finally accompany the second stanza performed by the basses as counterpoint . At the end the basses sing alone again.

In the harmonic analysis the piece proves to be remarkably simple; the harmonies do not go beyond the three main levels of the cadence , with the subdominant, with one exception, only ever being reached on the weak beat times . The female voices are mostly performed as parallel thirds, this simple form of polyphony is also a stylistic device characteristic of folk music. With its multiple repetitions, the design is talkative and rambling, but shows a clear increase with a climax at the text passage multitudinem militiae caelestis . For all the simplicity of the composition, the piece is characterized by the joy of God's incarnation, which is performed with folk musical unconcern.

text

Latin

Recitativo
   Angelo
Nolite timere:
ecce enim evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum, quod erit omni populo:
quia natus est vobis Salvator hodie, qui est Christ Dominus in civitate David.
Et hoc vobis signum:
Invenietis infantem pannis involutum, et positum in praesepio.

Pastorella
   Basso multiplicato
Transeamus usque Bethlehem
et videamus hoc verbum quod factum est.
Mariam et Joseph et Infantem positum in praesepio.

   Coro
Gloria in excelsis Deo,
et in terra pax hominibus
bonae voluntatis.

   Basso multiplicato
Transeamus, et videamus multitudinem
militiae caelestis laudantium Deum,
Mariam et Joseph et Infantem positum in praesepio.

Transeamus et videamus quod factum est.

German translation

Recitative
   Engel [boy soprano]
Do not be afraid!
Behold, I proclaim to you a great joy, which applies to all the people: today
in the city of David the Savior, who is Christ, was born.
And this should be a sign for you:
You will find a child, wrapped in diapers and lying in a manger.

Pastorelle
   Bass
Let's go over to Bethlehem
and see this word that happened.
Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger.

   Chorus
Glory to God on high,
and peace on earth to people of
good will.

   Bass
let's go over and see
the heavenly hosts praising God.
Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger.

Let's go over and see what happened.

reception

The choral work is the subject of the story Transeamus… by the prior of the Grüssau Abbey Nikolaus von Lutterotti OSB (1892–1955). The plot of the story is set in 1738. In the story, the composition is attributed to a fictional Father Nivard.

The writer Joseph Wittig also made Transeamus usque Bethlehem the title of a Christmas story in which the story of a Silesian glassworker is told in analogy to the song.

The Transeamus was after the Second World War by native displaced made Silesians in Western Germany increasingly known and has since found its way into the musical accompaniment of Christmas services in many Christian churches. The song was an integrative element for the uprooted displaced people of the post-war period . Some publications mention it as a “substitute anthem” for the Silesians.

literature

Paul Blaschke: Transeamus. Silesian Christmas shepherd song. In: Silesia. Organ of the Friends and Patrons of the Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien eV Volume 6 (1961), Issue 4, pp. 200–201.
Alois Schnabel: The Transeamus Cantata. In: Silesia. Organ of the Friends and Patrons of the Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien eV Volume 9 (1964), Issue 4, pp. 239–241.
Rudolf Walter (Ed.): Transeamus usque Bethlehem. Urtext edition [score]. Silesia cantat, booklet 5th edition Laumann 30205. Laumann, Dülmen 1973, DNB 997809825 .
Rudolf Walter: On the liturgical classification and historical transmission of the Pastorella "Transeamus". In: Silesia. Organ of the Friends and Patrons of the Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien eV Volume 18 (1973), Issue 4, ISSN 0036-6153 , pp. 209-212 ( limited preview in Google book search).

Web links

Commons : Transeamus usque Bethlehem - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Sheet music in the public domain by Transeamus usque Bethlehem in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

Notes (arrangements) in the choir archive

Transeamus on YouTube , original version with recitative, sung by the Augsburger Domsingknaben , conducted by Reinhard Kammler

Remarks

↑ Paul Blaschke in: Caecilia , Kirchenmusikzeitschrift, Neisse, Jg. 1931. Quoted from: Rudolf Walter: On the liturgical classification and historical transmission of the Pastorella "Transeamus". In: Silesia. Organ of the Friends and Sponsors of the Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien eV Volume 18 (1973), Issue 4, pp. 209–212, here p. 211 ( limited preview in Google book search).
↑ Paul Blaschke: Supplement to the record Transeamus (Breslau original version) of the Rheinisches Kammerchor, conducted by Hermann Schroeder , harmonia mundi HM 17 077, undated [approx. 1965].
^ Franz Witt: Graduals and Offertory for the pastoral mass by Anton Diabelli (148th work) and a pastoral by an unknown. In: Musica sacra , 3rd year, Regensburg 1870, p. 13 f. ( online ).
^ Paul Krutschek: Church music according to the will of the church. Regensburg, 5th edition 1901. Quoted from: Rudolf Walter, foreword to the Dülmen score edition 1973.
↑ ^a ^b Alois Schnabel: The Transeamus Cantata. In: Silesia. Organ of the Friends and Patrons of the Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien eV Volume 9 (1964), Issue 4, pp. 239–241.
↑ Nikolaus von Lutterotti : Transeamus… In: Ambrosius Rose (Ed.): Grüssauer Gedenkbuch. Brentano, Stuttgart 1949, DNB 451455894 . Printed in: Gundel Paulsen (Ed.): Christmas stories from Silesia. Husum Verlag, Husum 1982, ISBN 3-88042-172-2 , pp. 53-59.
^ Joseph Wittig: Transeamus usque Betlhehem . In: ders .: Come, we're going to Bethlehem. Christmas stories. 3. Edition. Salzer, Heilbronn 1990, ISBN 3-7936-0479-9 .
^ Kurt Dröge: Everyday cultures in border areas (= Central Europe - Eastern Europe. Oldenburg contributions to the culture and history of East Central Europe. Volume 4). Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-631-38957-4 , p. 125 ff. ( Limited preview in the Google book search).

^ Michael Hirschfeld: Catholic milieu and expellees. A case study using the example of the Oldenburger Land 1945–1965 (= research and sources on the church and cultural history of East Germany. Volume 33). Böhlau, Köln / Weimar 2002, ISBN 3-412-15401-6 , p. 107 f. (at the same time dissertation Hochschule Vechta 2001; limited preview in Google book search).

↑ Norbert-Dietmar Dziallas: memories of the flight. Literareon, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-8316-1225-0 , p. 14 ( limited preview in the Google book search).

↑ Peter Pragal: See you again, my Silesian country: In search of home. Piper, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-492-95867-7 ( limited preview in Google book search).

[1] Paul Blaschke in: Caecilia , Kirchenmusikzeitschrift, Neisse, Jg. 1931. Quoted from: Rudolf Walter: On the liturgical classification and historical transmission of the Pastorella "Transeamus". In: Silesia. Organ of the Friends and Sponsors of the Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien eV Volume 18 (1973), Issue 4, pp. 209–212, here p. 211 ( limited preview in Google book search).

[2] Paul Blaschke: Supplement to the record Transeamus (Breslau original version) of the Rheinisches Kammerchor, conducted by Hermann Schroeder , harmonia mundi HM 17 077, undated [approx. 1965].

[3] Franz Witt: Graduals and Offertory for the pastoral mass by Anton Diabelli (148th work) and a pastoral by an unknown. In: Musica sacra , 3rd year, Regensburg 1870, p. 13 f. ( online ).

[4] Paul Krutschek: Church music according to the will of the church. Regensburg, 5th edition 1901. Quoted from: Rudolf Walter, foreword to the Dülmen score edition 1973.

[Alois_Schnabel-5] Alois Schnabel: The Transeamus Cantata. In: Silesia. Organ of the Friends and Patrons of the Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien eV Volume 9 (1964), Issue 4, pp. 239–241.

[6] Nikolaus von Lutterotti : Transeamus… In: Ambrosius Rose (Ed.): Grüssauer Gedenkbuch. Brentano, Stuttgart 1949, DNB 451455894 . Printed in: Gundel Paulsen (Ed.): Christmas stories from Silesia. Husum Verlag, Husum 1982, ISBN 3-88042-172-2 , pp. 53-59.

[7] Joseph Wittig: Transeamus usque Betlhehem . In: ders .: Come, we're going to Bethlehem. Christmas stories. 3. Edition. Salzer, Heilbronn 1990, ISBN 3-7936-0479-9 .

[8] Kurt Dröge: Everyday cultures in border areas (= Central Europe - Eastern Europe. Oldenburg contributions to the culture and history of East Central Europe. Volume 4). Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-631-38957-4 , p. 125 ff. ( Limited preview in the Google book search).

[9] Michael Hirschfeld: Catholic milieu and expellees. A case study using the example of the Oldenburger Land 1945–1965 (= research and sources on the church and cultural history of East Germany. Volume 33). Böhlau, Köln / Weimar 2002, ISBN 3-412-15401-6 , p. 107 f. (at the same time dissertation Hochschule Vechta 2001; limited preview in Google book search).

[10] Norbert-Dietmar Dziallas: memories of the flight. Literareon, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-8316-1225-0 , p. 14 ( limited preview in the Google book search).

[11] Peter Pragal: See you again, my Silesian country: In search of home. Piper, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-492-95867-7 ( limited preview in Google book search).