O come, Emmanuel (Veni, veni, Emmanuel), Op. 26, No. 1

J. Alfred Schehl was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on July13 , 1882 and died in Cincinnati on September 20, 1959.

He as the son Son of John Schehl, organist of St. Francis Seraph Church in Cincinnati, and studied with Romeo Gorno (piano), W. S. Sterling (organ), L. Campanari (violin), L.V. Saar (composition) Van der Stucken (orchestration).

He held his first church job at St. Stanislaus at age 16.served at St. John Church and Holy Trinity Church (from May 1899 ) before settling at St. Lawrence in 1912, where he remained for 47 years.

"O come, Emmanuel" was published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co. in 1945. It is the first work in a collection called "Six Chorales (Paraphrases,) Set 1." The first prelude for Advent is dedicated: "To Clifford A. Bennett."

The work is based upon a melody that is different from the famous plainsong one. It comes from "Lucas Lossius Psalmodia," which was published in 1561.

It's a simple setting with alternating phrases of chorale-like statements, varied by slightly more ornate "filler phrases."

I thought of several ways to elaborate the effects of the music, but in the end, chose to just leave it simply, without altering the registrations.

The text quoted by the composer is also slightly different from the one that most of us know.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall ransom captive Israel.

The score is attached below.