For the First Sunday of Advent, the LOTI Church Choir and guest instrumental ensemble will perform a musical parody composed by Dietrich Buxtehude. His cantata BuxWV 26 Rejoice, Earth and Heaven was originally written for a wedding celebration of a wealthy and powerful couple in Lubeck, Germany. The original lyrics were Dear Artist Beat the Timpani. The sacred words for a Christmas cantata survived in the handwriting of Gustav Duben in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. It is difficult to know whether Buxtehude himself or Duben made the parody. One detail, however, is clear. Buxtehude never included timpani in his sacred cantatas- except for this one- copying the colorful style of the wedding celebration. Interestingly, Bach may have parodied Buxtehude in using timpani for the opening chorus of his own Christmas Oratorio.

Join us on for the First Sunday of Advent for a festive musical collage of Vivaldi, Buxtehude, and the marching rhythms of a Salvation Army band. Even that may be a bit of a musical parody.