Let All Mortal Flesh / O Come, O Come Emmanuel

This quodlibet was written for a candlelight Christmas Eve service at my in-laws’ church in Indiana; it was sung by my wife and I a’cappella as the Offertory.  It combines the hymn tunes and words for “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, with both strains being sung simultaneously but treated differently contrapuntally.  These two hymns work well in combination and emotionally combine the two poles of feeling: the longing for a coming Redeemer and also the reverential fear at the Lord’s second coming, because He has come and will come again.  It concludes with the two tunes being sung in unison and then in stretto.