Communion music
Today we shall be listening to “Surrexit Christus hodie” by Samuel Scheidt (1587–1654), performed by the Choir of St Thomas’ Church, New York.
The words are from a Easter hymn originating in 14th-century Bohemia, familiar to us in translation as “Jesus Christ is risen today”; ironically though, the music is probably best known to English-speaking audiences in its adaptation as the Christmas carol “A child is born in Bethlehem”. Scheidt, a multifaceted composer of music both sacred and secular, was one of the first to create a fusion of traditional Germanic chorale and counterpoint with the more modern textures emerging from Italy.