Monday is Valentine’s Day – although it is a largely secularized traditional day for couples, it has its origins in Saint Valentine, who is a kind of patron saint for lovers. Valentine was a bishop in late antiquity and, against the will of the pagan emperor in Rome, married couples according to the Christian rite. For this he died a martyr’s death on February 14, 269.
The Bible, as a book full of human experiences, deals extensively with love, both the love between God and his creatures and human love in all its manifestations.
Beguiling love poetry
In this context, the Song of Songs is a biblical collection of wonderful love poetry that has inspired composers to create very special works for centuries. Song of Songs is the actual name of the book, which surprisingly never explicitly mentions God, but only speaks of the daughters of Jerusalem. Mention is also made of the biblical King Solomon, who was long considered the author of the book.
What is certain, however, is that the writing belongs to the so-called wisdom literature and that the love between man and woman is sung in hymns in it. The beauty of the bride and groom is described and praised, husband and wife lose and find each other.
Image for the love between God and man?
In the Christian tradition, this connection was interpreted analogously to the connection between Christ and his church or the mystical unity of the soul with God.
“Nigra sum, sed formosa” – “I am brown, but beautiful”, this text passage in the Latin version was often set to music in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Works by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Andreas de Silva will be heard in the Musica program on Sunday evening from 8 p.m.
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