Contemporary Classics December 25, 2018 Contemporary Christmas Classics

Benjamin Britten:   A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28

A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28, is a choral piece by Benjamin Britten, scored for three-part chorus, solo voices, and harp. Written for Christmas, it consists of eleven movements, with text from The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems, edited by Gerald Bullett. The text is principally in Middle English, with some Latin and Early Modern English.

The 1^st carol "Procession" Gregorian antiphon to the Magnificat at Second Vespers of Christmas) - This movement is sung exclusively by the sopranos in Latin and is patterned on a traditional processional in Christian church service.   And typically a chorus will use this carol to come to the stage.

The 2^nd carol "Wolcum Yole!" - An upbeat and festive piece intended to welcome the audience as guests coming to celebrate the holiday. The text of this piece is written in Middle English. At one point, all the parts come in at separate times to introduce each guest who has arrived for the holidays: the tenors begin by welcoming St. Stephen and St. John, the altos then welcome "the innocents" who are implied to be children, (this refers to the innocent first-born children killed by Herod, one of the feast days of the season), followed by sopranos welcoming Thomas Becket, and finally the basses welcome all the previously named guests.

The 3^rd carol "There is no rose" -  presents a more reverent tone than the previous movement, as the choir admires the beauty of the birth of Jesus Christ. The sopranos and altos sing the melody in a soft, prayerful manner, while the rest of the ensemble occasionally joins them to sing in unison. This is a macaronic piece, meaning the text is in both a vernacular language (English, in this case) and Latin.

The 4^th carol.  Begins with the reverent  "That yonge child" consists of a soprano solo with harp accompaniment.   The second part of the 4^th carol is "Balulalow"  which involves the rest of the ensemble and acts as a contrast to the first part. It has a different key, rhythm, and an overall more jubilant tone than "That yongë child". "Balulalow" is meant to be a lullaby for baby Jesus Christ and the soprano solo at the beginning of the movement paints an image of The Virgin Mary singing a lullaby to her newborn child.

The 5^th carol "As Dew in Aprille" switches the focus from baby Jesus Christ to the Virgin Mary. This is reflected in this gentle, soothing piece, which progressively grows softer until the very end. Throughout this movement, the different voice parts overlap each other to create an echoing effect. The volume of the choir abruptly shifts at the end from pianissississimo (very, very, very softly) to forte (loudly).

The 6^th carol "This Little Babe" contrasts with every other piece up to this point, taking a much darker approach and often using imagery of hell. This piece depicts a battle between the baby Jesus Christ and Satan (good and evil), which is conveyed in its swift tempo, polyrhythms, overlapping segments between the voices, and the fact that the song grows progressively louder over the duration of the movement. The song reaches its climax with an intense key change and conflicting rhythm from the rest of the piece.

The 7^th carol Interlude" is a harp solo performed halfway through the performance. The harp solo creates a sense of angelic bliss with its slow tempo, shifting rhythm, and progressively soft nature.

The 8^th carol "In Freezing Winter Night" calls out to the circumstances of the birth of Christ and employs the choir to sing in a round to create an echoing effect. The choir and harp progress through the movement at contrasting paces and, over the duration of the piece, gradually synchronise until they both move at the same pace just before the ending when the music fades out. This is meant to symbolise the discord on earth before and during the birth of Christ and the hope of the future and the harmony he brings.

The 9^th carol  "Spring Carol" is a duet between two sopranos that depicts the signs of spring ends with a call to thank God, which transitions appropriately to the next movement.

The 10^th carol "Deo Gracias" (Thanks Be to God) is based on a macaronic (a mix of English and Latin) poem from the 15th Century, with a story that begins with the original sin  of Adam and Eve and the forgiveness that Christ brings.  The choir becomes emphatic in its thanks to God. Use of syncopation and staccato rhythms emphasise this energetic thankfulness, while only a small section very quietly recounts the plight of humanity. The harp and choir both gradually grow more resounding until the very last chord.[1]

The final carol "Recession" again reverts back to all Latin and is a near mirror of the Procession and the ensemble, typically, performs this piece as they exit the stage. Its melody gradually fades as the ensemble retreats outside of the venue. 

Arnold Schoenberg: Weihnachtsmusik

Despite being Jewish, Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg loved Christmas music. Those who usually cover their ears at the mention of this composer’s dissonant modernist scores have nothing to fear from Schoenberg’s lovely arrangement of the 16th century Christmas hymn "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" (Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming) by Praetorius in the early 20th century for 2 violins, cello, harmonium and piano. When he even weaves Silent Night, “Good King Wenceslas” and other well known Christmas carols as a countermelodies, the dynamic quality of Schoenberg's expressionist composition skills is revealed.

Olivier Messiaen:  Dieu parmi nous

Dieu parmi nous is the concluding movement of Olivier Messiaen’s massive organ work La Nativité du Seigneur (The Birth of the Saviour). It draws together the ideas of the preceding movements. The imposing theme from Le Verbe, signifying the descending Word of God, is heard in powerful chords that proceed to bottom C in the pedal and announce the Incarnation. A short reflection introduces a ‘theme of love’, the Communion between Christ and his people. The joyous and vital third theme signifies Mary’s song of praise, the Magnificat, its rhythmic vigour and flexibility showing the influence of birdsong. In the following section, the ‘theme of love’ is developed, as the harmonic tension becomes more impassioned. An ascending statement of part of the ‘Word of God’ theme heralds the start of an exhilarating toccata, in the radiant key of E major. This masterly section—inspired, according to Messiaen’s diaries, by the mountains close to Grenoble—evolves into a monumental conclusion.           

Gian Carlo Menotti: Three Musical Interludes from Amahl and the Night Visitors

Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast live on television from that venue as the debut production of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. It was the first opera specifically composed for television in America.  The musical interludes Introduction, March and Shepherd's Dance from the opera are often played separately as an orchestral suite – and that is what we have tonight.

Gerald Finzi:  In Terra Pax

In Terra Pax was composed in 1954 and was one of the last pieces that Gerald Finzi wrote. However it’s origin as he told Ralph Vaughan Williams can be traced back decades to his remembrance of Christmas Eve near Gloucester, England and the sound of the midnight bells ringing out across the frosty Gloucestershire valleys which made a lasting impression on him.

The work is a setting of two verses from Robert Seymour Bridges’ poem, “Noel: Christmas Eve, 1913”, subtitled Peace and goodwill to all men. Finzi imaginatively uses this poem to frame St Luke’s account of the angels’ appearance to the shepherds. In Terra Pax is subtitled ‘Christmas Scene’, and Finzi explained that “the Nativity becomes a vision seen by a wanderer on a dark and frosty Christmas Eve in our own familiar landscape”. This work is for baritone and soprano with chorus.  The two soloists and the chorus have clearly defined musical roles; the baritone soloist takes the voice of the poet, the soprano is cast as the angel, whilst the chorus narrates the familiar biblical text. In the opening section the poet is standing on a hill contemplating the events of the very first Christmas, the sound of the distant church bells becoming for him the sound of an angel choir. This image is expressed in a pealing-bells motif that, together with the refrain from ‘The First Noel’, provides the musical fabric of the piece. 

In the words of John Bawden “In Terra Pax is a radiant, optimistic work of great beauty and sincerity; a miniature masterpiece that unites emotions, images and the familiar events of the Christmas story into a compelling musical narrative that is at once personal yet universal.”

Gian Carlo Menotti:  My Christmas

Benjamin Britten:  A Boy Was Born Op. 3

A Boy Was Born Op. 3, is a choral composition for men's, women's and boys' voices, unaccompanied and was composed by Benjamin Britten when he was 19 as a student at the Royal College of Music in 1932-33.  The work is composed of six choral variations on the first four notes sung by the sopranos at the beginning of the work. The first variation is in the form of a dialogue between Mary (women's voices) and the child (boys). Variation 2 tells of the massacre of the innocents with jerky rhythms, altering and distorting the original theme. In variation 3 a semi-chorus sings the text, "Jesu, as Thou art our saviour", punctuated four times by a boy (or boys) singing "Jesu". Variation 4, about the three kings, has the theme as a wordless background flow to the narrative, picturing a distant procession. Variation 5, set for upper voices only, opens with Rossetti's "In the Bleak Midwinter" sung by women's voices, whose parts 'clashing' in seconds suggest the cold while their descending phrases suggest the falling snow: against this, the boys choir sing a folk-like setting of the Corpus Christi Carol. Variation 6 is in the form of a lively rondo, one of the most complex to perform as it divides into eight distinct voice parts, followed by a recollection of the earlier variations and final return of the original theme.