Choral Reflections on:
The Winter’s Night, Songs of the Mother, and A Birth

Christmas Cantata (Sinfonia Sacra) by Daniel Pinkham (b.1932)

I. Quem vidistis pastores?

II. O magnum mysterium
Semi-chorus: Janet Crist, Lisa Gamber, Faye Goolrick, Michaelene Gorney, Kristen McDermott, Miffanwy Mistretta, Barbara Pettitt, Elizabeth Sinback

III. Gloria in excelsis Deo
Joselyn Hoffman, Scott Lile, trumpets
Lee Steakley, french horn
Mike Roman, trombone

Program Notes

By Michaelene Gorney

The Winter's Night

Our vigil begins at midnight with "Sure on This Shining' Night" by Samuel Barber (1910-1981). This piece, originally for soloist and orchestra, is well known to vocalists, who appreciate Barber's art songs for their inherent lyricism and romantic expressiveness, a reflection perhaps of Barber's own experience as a competent mellow baritone. The text is a poem by James Agee, the American writer born in Knoxville, Tennessee, whose prose and poetry was also set by Barber in Knoxville: Summer of 1915 for soprano and orchestra. "Sure on This Shining Night" combines the homophonic texture of a piano accompaniment with points of melodic imitation.

The two settings of "O Magnum Mysterium," by Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) and Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), reflect the Medieval mindset of mystery and mysticism surrounding the miracle of "the Word made flesh." The physicality of a spiritual Deity becoming one with a woman's body and deigning to be physically nurtured within her womb and at her breast was a source of profound awe and wonder to Christians of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Poulenc's setting owes much to Victoria's original motet, beginning with the enigmatic melodic movement on the word "mysterium" -- as if the chromatic half-step is the only melodic interval capable of expressing the inexpressible. The words, "O magnum mysterium," anchor the musical form of both works. Poulenc uses the same music for these words every time they are sung; Victoria sets them to a distinctive melodic line, which is then imitated higher or lower. Music accompanying the text beginning with "animalia viderunt" is varied by Poulenc upon its return by the expansion of melodic and harmonic intervals (distances between notes), creating a dramatic tension which builds to the end.

Victoria's style was influenced by Spanish composers of the Renaissance, his spirit by Spanish mysticism. Typical of the period is his practice of alternating musical textures -- voices in imitation of each other followed by homophonic sections where syllables are voiced at the same time by the entire chorus. In contrast, Poulenc's setting, one of Quatre Motets pour le Temps de Noël is largely homophonic. It is also fairly conservative for a member of the French "Nouveaux Jeunes" ("New Youths", later dubbed "Les Six") who represented the French avant-garde in the first half of the 20th Century. These composers preferred classic practices to the "machine music" and polyrhythms in vogue among their contemporaries.

The text of "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" is from Shakespeare's play, As You Like It. The Oxford Book of Carols calls it "Shakespeare's Carol." The music is from a larger work, When Icicles Hang, by the English composer, conductor, and arranger, John Rutter (b. 1945). Rutter, educated at Clare College of Cambridge University, is known as the founder of the Cambridge Singers, as a choral conductor, and as a masterful arranger of songs, anthems and carols. His own works, written in a traditional and accessible style, are almost exclusively choral. "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" reflects the melancholy mood of much of Shakespeare's comedy, which never failed to recognized the ironies of a "life ... most jolly."

"Snow Had Fallen; Christ Was Born" is a setting of the poem, "In the Bleak Midwinter," by the 19th Century poet Christina Rosetti. Rosetti's poems appear in countless editions of children's books; this poem became famous when first set to music by Gustav Hoist. In an arrangement published by Harold Darke in 1911, Rossetti's third verse was altered to read "A heart full of mirth" rather than "A breast full of milk." Darke thought that the original line would be an embarrassment to his audience! Stephen Paulus (b. 1949), a former Composer-in-Residence of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra, was born in Summit, New Jersey, and is recognized for his craftsmanship in vocal and instrumental writing.

Songs of the Mother

The Virgin Mary quietly enters the Bible in St. Paul's Epistle to the Galations, when he tells his readers that Jesus was "made of a woman" (Galations 4:4). But our knowledge of her is concentrated in the two accounts of Christ's birth and infancy as told by Matthew and Luke. A consideration of her presence is essential to the celebration of Christmas, when prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New for all of Christianity.

The opening text of the "Ave Maria," by György Orban (b. 1947), is part of an Alleluia verse sung during Advent Masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary; it is also used as an antiphon sung at vespers. The second half of this text is a prayer to the Virgin for peace. Orban, a Romanian-born Hungarian composer, studied at the Cluj Conservatory, taught music theory there, then settled in Hungary to work as a music editor for Editio Musica Budapest. He has written music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and chorus. Though at times employing harmonic dissonance and shifting tonal centers for the sake of emphasis and variety, Orban's Ave Maria always returns to the D major tonality in which the work is grounded.

"Benedicta es Tu," by Atlanta composer Tristan Foison (b. 1961), takes its text from the Gradual of the Mass in honor of the Immaculate Conception. This is a major feast of the Roman Catholic Church and is celebrated yearly on December 8. The DCG is familiar with Foison's work through performances of his Suite Liturgique and Missa Solemnis, which indicate a deep regard for the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. Folson's music, true to its tonal roots, emphasizes major and minor tonalities while using chromatic shifts of melody and harmony to provide tonal color. The rhythms of the Latin words themselves dictate changing meters, measures with varying numbers of beats, in order to preserve their chant-like nature. The effect is a surreal tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary, offered with the clarity and purity of women's voices. [Foison seems to be following in the footsteps of his French forbears, known as masters of orchestral color: a review of the November 17 premier of movements from his violin concerto cited the "shimmering, coruscating colors" of his orchestration.]

Text also dictates the rhythms of John Noel Wheeler's "A Child, My Choice," a setting of a poem by Robert Southwell. Stanza 1 begins with a unison melody, one part becoming two near its end. In Stanza 2, equal parts imitate each other, then become three. Stanza 3, generally homophonic (chordal), subtly divides into four parts at intense moments. Stanza 4 combines counterpoint and homophony in two duets. Thus this work reflects the increasing complexity of the narrator/subject relationship in Southwell's poem: Wheeler begins with relatively simple parts, overlays them, then makes the sum of these parts more complex. Mr. Wheeler (b. 1956) is a member of the DeKalb Choral Guild - previously an Associate Conductor - and plays trombone in chamber ensembles. He holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Georgia, where he pursued Doctoral studies, and was a Fulbright candidate in 1986.

"A Spotless Rose" is a setting of an anonymous 14th Century carol by Herbert Howells (1892-1983). Once again, text dictates rhythm, as the melody takes on a chant-like flow with bar lines that exist primarily to coordinate movement between parts. Howells' music, described as "nobly British," continued in the tradition of Elgar and Vaughn Williams by drawing on national folk literature as a basis for composition. Howells himself contributed to that tradition by teaching composition at the Royal College of London for forty years and by succeeding composer Gustav Hoist as Music Director of St. Paul's Girls School through 1962. The Herbert Howells Society furthers the performance of his music, which includes works for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensemble, and keyboard.

A Birth

"And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks at night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone roundabout their, and they were sure afraid." (Luke 2:8-9)

"Break forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light" follows the above reading, sung as a solo recitative, in the Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach. The six parts of the oratorio were first performed as separate works "over the holy festival of Christmas [Christmas Day to Epiphany] in the two chief churches in Leipzig," 1734-35. Most of the music in the Christmas Oratorio had been previously composed for other works, furnished by Bach with new texts. This oratorio is bound from beginning to end by Luke's and Matthew's accounts of Jesus' birth and the events following, up to the worship of the Child by the Three Wise Men. The hymn tunes and texts are all from traditional hymns of the 16th and 17th centuries. With their complexity of harmony and part-writing, the four-part chorales in the Christmas Oratorio represent the epitome of Bach's work in this genre, perfected over a period of twenty years and studied today by countless students of Western harmony and counterpoint.

"Hodie Chrlstus natus est" is >an antiphon sung at Second Vespers on Christmas Day. Here, too, rhythm follows text, as the flow of the original Gregorian chant is maintained. Niels La Cour (b. 1944) is a Danish composer.

"Gaudete" comes from a book called the Piae Cantiones, a collection of Latin hymns and carols printed in 1582. Of its time, it was the best European collection of religious folk songs and the writing of English words to fit these tunes began a flow of European carols toward England, where they fell on fertile soil. This song as arranged by Robert J. Batastini, contains verses pertinent to the Christmas season, but the tune was originally written as a "Spring Song" or "Flower Song." This is suggested by part of a verse which translates as, "the time has come for flowers." Ms. Root's translation of the original verses reflects the song's earlier intent.