motet notes - Houge

When I was commissioned to write my motet “Was ist heilig” for Emmanuel Church a few years ago, I took inspiration from the Bach cantatas that nourish this community every week. This influenced my choice of German texts, and I was drawn to the notion of a biblical text with commentary, in that case a passage from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe superimposed over Martin Luther’s translation of Matthew 18:20. Jutta and I subsequently arranged for this piece, celebrating unity, to be performed at our wedding in Berlin.

Now for the baptism of our daughter Emilia, I sought to continue in this same format. I have taken a text from Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg) in which the protagonist asks his grandfather to see the family baptismal bowl on which the names of his ancestors are inscribed and have interpolated it with a passage from one of the most well known Psalms that countless multitudes of believers have sung over the centuries. As we celebrate together, joining our voices with so many others around the world and across the ages, we are so grateful for the community at Emmanuel that has welcomed Emi into its midst.

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