Michaelmas

For many years I incorrectly identified "Michaelmas", the name often given to the Autumn academic term,  with the festive season. In fact, the feast of Michaelmas is much earlier in the term, often around the start of the Oxbridge term and hence the reason this school term is called the "Michaelmas Term".

Michaelmas is the Feast Day of St Michael and All Angels, and fell on 29th September this year. Since angels feature in the Christmas story, I thought I would include the article I wrote for Viral Music here! 

Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are the three named biblical angels, depicted as the beloved messengers of God. Michael is an archangel in the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. To Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, and Lutherans he is called "Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Michael". In other Protestant churches, he is referred to as Archangel Michael. The name Michael means 'who is like God?'., he is described as the protector of Israel and leader of the armies of God against Satan. Michael is perhaps best known for his victory over the dragon, which is told in the Revelation to John. 

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven" (Rev. 12:7). 

As recounted by the Revelation of Saint John, at the end of the world war will break at between Heaven and Hell, between good and evil. As the commander of the Army of God, Archangel Michael leads the other angels in the fight against evil, represented in this picture by a seven-headed dragon. Each of the dragon's heads represents one of the seven deadly sins. Michael is therefore regarded as the protector of Christians from the devil, particularly those at the hour of death. Sanctuaries to Michael were built by Christians in the 4th century, when he was first seen as a healing angel.

We are all familiar with Gabriel's role in Luke's Gospel. Gabriel (meaning 'the strength of God') is the one who is sent by God to Mary to announce the birth of Christ. Raphael (meaning 'the healing of God') is depicted in the Book of Tobit as the one who restores sight to Tobit's eyes. 

A basilica near Rome was dedicated in the fifth century in honour of Michael on 30 September, beginning with celebrations on the eve of that day, and 29 September is now kept in honour of Michael throughout the western Church. In medieval England, Michaelmas marked the ending and beginning of the husbandman's year.  

"at that time harvest was over, and the bailiff or reeve of the manor would be making out the accounts for the year. " George C. Homans

Saint Michael defeats the Dragon, from
a 12th-century manuscript.

Music for Michaelmas

"Factus est silentium" is a sacred motet written for the Feast of Michael the Archangel by Richard Dering, first published in 1618.  Dering, like Philips, was an English Catholic musician who went into exile in the Spanish Netherlands (or, according to one account, converted to Catholicism while visiting Rome in 1612). By 1617 he published his first collection of Cantiones Sacrae and the publisher was the noted Phalèse of Antwerp who also published music by Philips. Factum est silentium comes from a second collection which appeared in 1618. Its declamatory, dramatic style shows the influence of the new Italian Baroque style which at that time had barely reached the shores of England. 

There are many excellent recordings on YouTube, I've included one below and you can download the score as a PDF here.