Foreword (Schott Music C 52107)

When the newly appointed Director of Church Music, Günter Jena, launched the highly successful concert series featuring music and poetry during Advent in 1974 at St Michael’s, Hamburg’s largest and most historic church – a series that continues to this day – he asked Bertold Hummel to compose three variations on the world-famous Christmas carol ‘Silent Night’ for the St Michael’s Choir.

The idea was to incorporate the narrator, who recited poetry relating to the Advent and Christmas season between the musical pieces, into this song motet.
For the first three performances of this composition at St Michael’s in Hamburg, two of Germany’s most famous actors were available: Elisabeth Flickenschildt (1974/1975) and Heinz Rühmann (1978).

Following a performance on Boxing Day 1980 at Würzburg’s St Kilian’s Cathedral, my father composed a “Postlude from Afar” at the request of the Würzburg Cathedral Boys’ Choir. In doing so, he responded to the particularly strong need for harmony on this festive day and resolved the ambiguous closing phrase of the third verse into a radiant C major.

Choirs wishing to include this effective piece in their Christmas programme may decide for themselves how to conclude it.

Martin Hummel

Günther Jena formulates the commission as follows:

Dear Mr Hummel!
Please find the song enclosed. Naturally, it would need to be in a higher key for the choir. As Ms Flickenschildt will be present, the first verse could also be sung in a spoken voice over the choir – though I am not sure if that would be appropriate, given that she is due to read Böll’s story immediately beforehand. In my opinion, the second and third verses should be rearranged to achieve a clearer (dynamic?) crescendo. The number of voices could also be increased; there are 90–100 choristers.
The entire evening is accompanied by various lighting effects: it begins in an Advental atmosphere in the darkened church, then candles are introduced, and at the end of the evening the church should be festively illuminated amidst Christmas jubilation. During the third verse, a spotlight could shine on a golden sun and the risen Christ in the altarpiece, thereby making the church noticeably brighter for the first time. Unfortunately, I’ve left Böll’s story at home, but you can perhaps imagine the atmosphere he captures in a main station on Christmas Eve: loneliness, desolation, darkness, desolation.

With warmest regards
Günter Jena

At the popular Advent concert series ‘Music and Poetry’ held at Hamburg’s St Michael’s Church, the following texts were read before the motet:
Heinrich Böll: Christmas at the City Station (Elisabeth Flickenschildt, 1974) – followed by Jochen Klepper: The Night Has Fallen
Karl Heinrich Waggerl: This is the quietest time of the year (Heinz Rühmann, 1978)
Selma Lagerlöf: The Holy Night (Christiane Hörbiger, 2015) – followed by Johannes Kuhn: Do You Believe in Angels?