UCI Chamber Singers Tackle Rutter, Gjeilo, and More on "Winter Night" off of Signum
Editor's Note: The description below is that of the label.
The UCI Chamber Singers, under the direction of Irene Messoloras, proudly present Winter Night, a heartwarming holiday compilation that beautifully weaves together timeless seasonal favourites and innovative new arrangements. Featuring composers such as Sir John Rutter (Wexford Carol), Cecilia McDowall (Now May We Singen), and Ola Gjeilo (The First Nowell), Winter Night Winter offers radiant and reflective holiday music that captures the spirit of the season.
1 Gabriel’s Message (arr. Jim Clements) 2 Wexford Carol (arr. John Rutter) 3 Now May We Singen (C. McDowall) 4 The First Nowell (arr. Ola Gjeilo) 5 We Toast the Days
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Is there room at the inn for the Ambient Christmas Song?
by R. Rojas
I ask the question about the Ambient Christmas Song because I
believe this is a true genre of Christmas music. It is a needed genre in which more
composers and songwriters need to write/compose in.
The Ambient Christmas Songs are a few Christmas songs that
describe the present ambient of a “Christmas time and space.”
Unlike other Christmas songs, there is no dreaming or
telling someone they will be home. It is not a joy-luck song or carol.
It’s as if a person was sitting in a Lazy-Boy at the family Christmas
gathering and just observing. What he/she observes is described in poetic
detail filling the listener with warmth.
Of course, the king of these Ambient Christmas Songs, is the
appropriately named “The Christmas Song” written and composed by Mel Torme and Robert
Wells.
"The Christmas Song" sung by
its co-writer/composer Mel Torme
In “The Christmas Song,” the narrator is describing the “now,”
talking about “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” He describes the cold, the
sounds, the food, the décor, and the dress of people.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
The narrator goes on to describe the children, “their eyes
all aglow,” and describes what is in the thoughts of these children. Again, it
is like one is sitting in the corner at your Christmas party observing.
Everybody
knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight
“Christmas Walz” also does this, and deliberately. Frank
Sinatra asked Sammy Cahn for a song like “The Christmas Song,” one Sinatra
could make his own.
Again, the narrator is there -- in a certain time and space
-- observing:
Frosted windowpanes
Candles gleaming inside
Painted candy canes on the tree
Santa's on his way
He's filled his sleigh with things
Things for you and for me
Although that is the only descriptive part of the song, it
still works into describing the ambience of a solitary Christmas moment. “The
Christmas Waltz” is short. Just two stanzas, but it does its job.
"The Christmas Waltz" sung Tony Bennett
with the Count Basie Orchestra
“Christmas Eve” by Carleton Carpenter, most famously sung by
Billy Eckstine, is another:
There's a candle in the window
There's a legend we believe
Santa, here's our plea, you can bet that he
wouldn't miss a Christmas Eve
There's a stocking on the fireplace
There are presents to receive
And there's mistletoe, where is Romeo?
Steals a kiss on Christmas Eve
“Christmas Eve” should be more popular than it is. In this
song, Carpenter’s lyrics describes what the narrator is seeing in the now:
“candle in the window.”
Billy Eckstine performing "Christmas Eve"
He goes on to observe the décor, the presents, and the
mistletoe. Then, he gently moves on to describe the nativity scene in a refrain
which later repeats:
In the corner, on a table
Underneath a shining star
Is the holy Christmas stable
And three wise men from afar
There is always a final commentary and contemplations from the narrators to end
these songs. It’s like a “Merry Christmas” wish, a “Happy New Year,” something
more spiritual, saying it “many times, many ways.”
Torme and Wells say:
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to 92
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you
Sammy Cahn. in “Christmas Watz” give us:
It's that time of year when the world falls in love
Ev'ry song you hear seems to say "Merry Christmas,
"May your New Year dreams come true"
And this song of mine in three-quarter time
Wishes you and yours the same thing, too.
Carpenter closes “Christmas Eve” with a sort of peace on
earth, “wish Christmas can be everyday” request:
All this holiday contentment
All this love should never leave
We'd be doing right if we made each night
More like Christmas Eve
I do not put all songs in this category. I am sure there are
lesser-known Ambient Christmas Songs. These songs must be indoors. I do not
know why, but the Christmas party goer is observing. I know the chestnuts
roasting in “The Christmas Song” are roasting in an open fire. So maybe, it’s
outside, at least for that bit.
The Ambient Christmas Song remained largely an American
genre. This was at least until the 1980s when John Rutter, from across the pond
(UK), took a shot at it.
Take John Rutter’s “The Very Best Time of the Year” where he
starts with the ambient description and ends with the closing observance that
this is the “very best time of the year”:
Christmas trees and boughs of
holly,
Yuletide logs and mistletoe;
Candles burning bright, and
meadows frosty white,
And faces in the firelight′s glow;
Sounds of happy children's voices
Singing carols that you love to
hear;
Then the silence of the night
And the winter air so still and
clear.
Feels like you could reach and
touch the sky,
Or catch a star and fly away;
Feels like you could wish for
peace on earth,
And all at once it would come,
some day.
Families
and friends together
Feel
a special kind of love and cheer,
Sharing
all the joys of Christmas time,
The
very best time of year.
The
very best time,
That
strange, enchanted time,
That
shining, magic time of year.
In the John Rutter ChristmasAlbum (Collegium Records, 2002), Rutter states in
the liner notes, the American connections to this song.
"Best Time of the Year" performed by John Rutter, The Cambridge Singers, and the City of London Sinfonia
Written in 1984 as a gift
for two “noted American choral musicians who were among the first to welcome
the composer into the American choral community….” Rutter’s song is written for
chorus. The other Christmas Ambient Songs were written for solo voice but often
performed by choirs: “Christmas Walz,” more true for “The Christmas Song.” I
have only seen one choral performance of “Christmas Eve,” a video which I cannot find. However, the original recording by Eckstine has a chorus backing him.
"The Christmas Song " (arr. Arthur Harris) performed the Morman Tabernacle Choir (now the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square)
"The Christmas Waltz" performed by the All-American Boy Choir.
"Best Time of the Year" (arrangement
by Owain Park and Anna Lapwood)
performed by Pembroke College Chapel Choir
I tried to find other examples. Malcolm Williamson’s “This
Christmas Night.” D. Fraser’s “This
Christmastide (Jessye’s Carol).” However, they do not match up.
The simple solitary observation of a room at Christmas makes a great Christmas song and more composers and song writers should give the Ambient Christmas Song a try.
Carpenter's "Christmas Eve" performed by Adam Swanson
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John Rutter goes Brass with the Black Dyke Band and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
Following on from the critically acclaimed Anthems, Hymns and Gloria (8.574130) released in 2020, Nicholas Childs and the Black Dyke Band return to the music of John Rutter with this album of Christmas carols arranged for brass.
The Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus is also featured on O Clap Your Hands, Nativity Carol and Te Deum. Includes twelve world premiere recordings.
Release Date: 8th Nov 2024
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BBC Singers Releases the Program to their Contemporary Christmas Carols Concert
The BBC has released the program of the BBC Signers Contemporary Christmas Carols
The description states: "In the stunning setting of Temple Church, London, Chief Conductor Sofi
Jeannin and organist Ashley Grote join the BBC Singers in a survey of
carols including the world premiere of a BBC Commission by Grace
Rossiter."
The concert will be held on December 21, 2023 at Temple Church, London.
Choir of King's College Cambridge Releases Rutter Orchestral Carol Album
Britten Sinfonioa
Label Description:
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, releases a selection of
arrangements and original works for choir and orchestra by John Rutter
under the direction of Daniel Hyde, featuring Britten Sinfonia. RUTTER
ORCHESTRAL CAROLS includes beautiful orchestral arrangements of
well-known favourites such as Silent Night and Sans Day Carol as well as
Rutter’s original carols All bells in paradise and All the stars
looked down, which is dedicated to the late Sir Stephen Cleobury.
“It was a pleasure to record a handful of John’s carols, some old,
some new, in these colourful orchestrations. Both John Rutter and the
Britten Sinfonia are long term friends and partners with King’s College
Choir; hopefully these new tracks will add a bit of magic to people’s
Christmas this year.” – Daniel Hyde, Director of Music, King’s College
1. Silent Night - Gruber
2. All the Stars Looked Down - Rutter
3. Child in a Manger - Traditional Celtic - arr. Rutter
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Choristers of St Paul’s Cathedral sing Christmas carols during a photo call inside the Cathedral in central London December 22, 2014. (Luke MacGregor/Reuters). Photo is
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The State of the Christmas Carol: 2020
by Ray Rojas
Note: We had some issues with the text on the blog going from white to black and tried every effort to fix it to no avail. Our apologies.
We moved into the new decade of the 2020s with already
some sadness in the Christmas carol world.
In the last decade we lost three
former former directors of the Choir of King College, Cambridge. We also saw
several retirements of people who have provided a host of carol recordings and
performances in the last forty years.
In 2014, Edward Higgenbottam retired
after 35 years as director of music position at New College, Oxford. We also
had Rene Clausen who led many a Christmas festival at Concordia College leading
his last concert before his retirement. In 2018, Stephen Cleobury, director of
the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, directed his last Festival of Nine
Lessons and Carols. He later passed away in 2019. So it was a bit a gloomy, but
none knew how gloomy 2020 would be.
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Twenty twenty came, and within a few months, the worldwide
pandemic had taken over headlines worldwide. Then, when 87% of the attendees
of a Seattle choir practice contracted COVID-19, fear ran across the choir
world. Although there was social distancing, sixty-one members got symptoms and
two died.
With governments locking things down across the globe,
and people self isolating, the classical music world practically shut down. Concerts
were cancelled and others moved outdoors. Performers were forced to distance at
performances often wearing masks. There was a hope the worse of the pandemic
would pass before the 2020 holiday season when Christmas concerts would take
place.
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The global pandemic deeply affected professional
musicians because this is their livelihood. One BBC radio essay focused on the
effect of the pandemic on composers. The majority of new commissions are for
the holiday season. If Christmas concerts, services, and masses were not going
to happen, no petitions for commissions were going to occur either. No
commissions, no honorariums for composers.
In the United States, church and state clashed regarding
religious gatherings even as some religious gatherings led to surges in
positive COVID-19 cases. Other religious groups voluntarily cancelled large
gatherings, often moving online. Open defiance of mask wearing and building
capacity restrictions made many to allege a “War or Christmas.”
In the United Kingdom, carol singing was somewhat banned
to avoid people gathering. By the end of November, the state of many Christmas
concerts and religious performances were in limbo. An effort led by John Rutter,
Aled Jones, Tamin Little, Julian Lloyd Webber among others, sent an open letter
to the British government advocating to let Christmas carols concerts and
caroling proceed. The letter stated that Christmas carols were a “fundamental
part of the UK’s culture.”
The government lessened restrictions, limiting indoor performances
to performers only. For caroling, it asked carolers stay two meters apart and away
from the threshold of houses.
World’s
Favorite Christmas Broadcast
It was the Superbowl of Carol Services that would be in
question. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, performed at King’s College,
Cambridge by the Choir of King’s College has been the high mark of the
Christmas season for carol advocates.
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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) broadcasts the
Christmas Eve service across the globe. In late November, the college announced
that there would be no congregation in the chapel this year. Although slightly
depressing because who does not love when the congregation joins the choir
singing “Once in Royal David’s City,” “Hark the Herald Angels,” or “O Come all
ye faithful” — we took it in good stride.
Within a week before Christmas, two choral scholars of
the choir tested positive for COVID-19. Although they only suffered mild symptoms,
this would mean the other choral scholars were probably exposed and would not
be able to participate in the Christmas Eve service. For those of you who do
not know who “choral scholars” are, they are usually the undergraduates who
sing with the trebles, the trebles being young boys.
From what I can gather, the choir was recording a backup
concert around the same time. With a forty-eight-hour notice, the King’s
Singers were asked to replace the choral scholars and the service was recorded.
The Telegraph called it, “The race to
save the nation’s favourite Christmas broadcast.”
Later, the college announced the services on Christmas
Eve would not be live, but the earlier recorded service would be broadcasted. The
college stated that with further lockdowns by the government as well as travel
restrictions, it would be irresponsible for the college to have singers, staff,
and faculty travel to Cambridge.
Virtual
Caroling
There was a great effort to have King's College's service broadcast
live. Many choirs and classical ensembles went virtual for their concerts. In
addition, where there use to be only a handful of cathedrals and great churches
that use to broadcast their compline, vespers, masses, and evensongs, now, many
went to virtual religious services. What you might never see in one’s lifetime,
you can suddenly see carols services from Ely Cathedral, see Conspirare
performing live from Austin, Texas, a live Christmas concert by singers in
hardhats from Notre Damn Cathedral in Paris.
In truth, as a Christmas carol fanatic, one found it hard
to keep up. You wanted to watch everything. Yet, this year we at Christmas Carols
& Sacred Music, we posted links to live performance after live performance.
Classical MPR, Classic FM, and Classical-Music.com, posted lists of online performances
as well.
Carol
Fandom
At Christmas Carols & Sacred Music, we also decided
to keep a running list of new Christmas classical albums instead of putting it
out after Christmas as we usually do. Furthermore, the list is to be “working,” meaning we will
continually update it with the assistance of the carol-loving community. We
also created a working list of carol premieres and Christmas musical commissions
because we saw the need to keep track of the new carols out there.
Among other news, one scholar in an article said, “Once
In Royal David’s City," ‘Away in a Manger," and "Good King
Wenceslas," were not "real" carols tempting us to look back at
the real carols of early music.
Chris Westbrook won the BBC’s Carol
competition. Alastair Boyd has won the TMC Choral Composition with his "A Hymn on the Nativity" (see it performed on the Toronto Mendelson Choir's Festival of Carols concert). The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College did not have
a commissioned carol this year, although it did release a recording of "Peace on Earth" by Errollyn Wallen, one of the last carols King’s recorded
with Cleobury.
Choir of King's College, Cambridge: "Peace on Earth" by Errollyn Wallen
Various new Christmas recordings were released. Among
them, new recordings by Queen’s College Oxford, Winchester College Chapel
Choir, Trinity Boy’s Choir, Choir of St. John’s Cambridge, SWR Vokal Ensemble,
Musica Bohemica, Choir of Keble College Oxford, the Godwine Choir, Chanticleer
to mention a few.
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Favorite Carols
“O Holy Night” was voted the nation’s (UK)
favorite carol on Classic FM. Why does the United States not have a similar
survey? The choice of the favorite carol, often gives a measure of the mood of
the country. In the United States, we have to rely on Billboard, iTunes downloads, and Spotify plays of popular Christmas
music. Unfortunately, there is a desert of carols on these lists. Surveying
many of them, “O Holy Night” was the only carols listed. One list had “O Holy
Night” in the top 10 (sung by Josh Groban). The next carol ranked was “O Holy
Night” again at 65 (Carrie Underwood). On another list, The Bare Naked Ladies
recording of “God Bless You Merry Gentleman” ranked in the 70s. On the iTunes list, the Pentatonix version of the same carol barely cracks the top 100.
In 1906, “O Holy Night” was the first piece
of music to be broadcast on the radio. We at Christmas Carols & Sacred
Music have called “O Holy Night” the “Star-Spangled Banner” of Christmas carols
because so many soloists butcher it. Andrew Gant described “O Holy Night” as an
“art song,” one “meant for a soloist, preferably one as plump and confident as
the Christmas turkey.”[1] Gant
goes on saying, “It doesn’t’ really work sung by a choir, and certainly not by
a congregation.” There are some exceptions that prove him a little wrong, but
we half way agree with him. Those exceptions being John Rutter and John
William’s (Home Alone)(liners nots says it not his arrangement, but he had something to do with it) arrangements.
We can take these informal surveys as a
measure of what the favorite carol in the States and the UK are in 2020. Observing the lyrics, maybe as we “Long lay” “in sin and error pining til He appears and the soul felt its worth,” bring some hope to self-reflections on sin.
Themes
However, in all the cancelations, moves from
live audiences to virtual, I notice new Christmas compositions and concerts this
year dealt with a variety of social justice topics, aside from the traditional
Christmas charity. With the rise of open racism and Fascism again, some
composers dealt with it by composing pieces about racism, reconciliation, and #BlackLivesMatter.
Other did concerts on themes of “All Earth is Hopeful,” “Sun of Justice, Reveal
of Dawn,” and “For Everyone Born.” Issues revolving around the pandemic have
piled on to the plight of the poor, the refugee, and the hungry — themes we
usually associate with Christmas. Others called for peace, much more than the
traditional carols' pleading. Others focused on reunions and hope after a year
of sequestering and socially distancing, that soon “we all will be together.”
"Joseph's Carol" by John Rutter
New Carols
Even Mr. Christmas John Rutter appears to have
written a carol on the whim as only he can do, writing “Joseph’s Carol” in
honor of the Oxford Vaccine Group. It was premiered by the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra with Bryn Terfel. VocalEssence carol competition featured
Travis Ramsey’s new carol on the tradition text “Little Lamb” as well as the premiere of Kim Andre Arnerson's "Nordic Christmas." Diana
Burrells wrote of tradition greenery in “Green growth the holly” for the Choir
of St. Catherine’s College, Cambridge. Also for the same college, a new version
of “O Antiphones” by Christopher Fox.
For the Choir of Bath Abbey, Huw Williams
wrote a new version of “Away in a Manger.” For University College, Dublin, Ivo
Antognini used the text of “Christe Redemptor” for a really lovely new carol. Many
other new compositions and arrangements are mentioned on our post on the
subject.
"Christe Redemtor" by Ivo Antognini (performed by the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin)
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The Bristol Choral Society asked Judith Wier
and Stephen Jackson to judge for its First Carol Competition in memory of Mary
Otty (Mary Otty Prize 2020). The five final carols were to be performed we
assume by the choral society in December. Wier states on her blog that there
were 70 submissions from around the world. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19
restrictions, the winners’ carols were not performed, but 1st Prize
went to Pamela Slatter ("I saw three ships"), with a motet by James Williams ("Christ’s Nativity") at 2nd. Weir
does not mention the place of the others, but states they were Mark Chaundy ("There is no Rose"),
Jamie Brown ("‘Nu tändas tusen Iuleljus’"), and Matthew Heyburn ("I saw a faire Maiden").
Global Flu Pandemic 1918
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If we listen to the music historians, carols
were once dances, not necessarily songs. Carols were sung in secret during
religious oppression or even Puritan canceling of Christmas, carols were sung
in congregations like that first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s
College in 1918 (though not the first Nine Lessons and Carols), a response to
the aftermath of World War I (199 former King's College choristers died in the war)[2] and like today, a global pandemic, the 1918 one
being the Flu Pandemic.
Despite our pandemic worries, carol writing
and singing continued in 2020, maybe in smaller places with smaller crowds, but
there was no reluctance to bring out the carol even though we had every right
to lament this year. All this new music and continued caroling occurred despite
the sickness, loneliness, and death that pervade our present time.
In my at-home carol music, I was moved to
take out the “grand” recordings with full orchestra, choir, and chorus with
brass heavily exaggerated, and I found I played these repeatedly. These were recordings
like the John Alldis Choir with the London Symphony or the Cambridge Singers
with the City of London Sinfonia. To use vaccination jargon, a much larger
dosage of carols was needed this year. Recordings like these satisfied that
craving. Maybe it was a longing for the live concert, or maybe the longing to
hear larger groups of people sing together.
On Christmas Eve, as I listened to the Choir
of King’s College and the King’s Singers finish the Festival, I knew it was not
a live broadcast, and I knew the congregation was not singing along. However,
the spirit of caroling still rang out in the chapel. “Hark the Herald Angels”
was being sung, ending the festival. As the first chords of “In dulci jubilo”
by Johanne Sebastian Bach blared out on the organ and the radio announcer
stated this had been a broadcast of the festival live from King’s College,
Cambridge, you still feel that warmth. As the lyricist (or poet) for “O Holy
Night” wrote in the original French text:
“ …love unites
those whom iron once held in chains…People, arise! Song of your deliverance.”
John
Sullivan Dwight who translated the song could not make a literal translation of
the French, but he wrote “Truly He taught us to love one another.” It
has since given us much hope and peace, just as carols should.
[1]
Gant, Andrew. The Carols of Christmas: A
Celebration of the Surprising Stories Behind Your Favorite Holiday Songs,
Nelson Books, 2015, p. 84.
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New Carols, Premiered Carols, and Premiered Christmas Music 2020
UPDATED Dec. 24, 2021.
This is a working list of new carols and Christmas music that was premiered by a choir or classical music group in 2020. If you have one we don't know about, or special commission that were debuted in 2020, please leave a comment to this post or email us at christmascarolsblog@gmail.com
New Carols, Premiered Carols, and Premiered Christmas Music
Patrick Hawes: "Still, Still the Night." Words by his the composer's brother Andrew Hawes, for The Self-Isolation Choir: a UK-based virtual choir. The carol was premiered at the choir's virtual Nine Lessons and Carols on 20 December 2020.
Paul John Rudoi: "The Orbit Carol" - premiered by VocalEssence
"The Penbroke Carol." - BBC Singers. Written by the Girl choristers of Pembroke College.
Diana Burrells: "Green groweth the holly" - Choirs of St. Catharine's College, Cambridge in their 2020 album Alpha & O: Music for Advent & Christmas."
Christopher Foxs: New setting of the "O Anitphons" - Choirs of St. Catharine's College, Cambridge in their 2020 album Alpha & O: Music for Advent & Christmas."
Jeremy Thurlows: Magnificat for upper voices, organ and tape - Choirs of St. Catharine's College, Cambridge in their 2020 album Alpha & O: Music for Advent & Christmas."
Huw Williams': "Away in a manger" - The Choir of Bath Abbey in their 2020 album Gaudete! - premiere recording. written for Her Majesty The Queen's Christmas day broadcast in December
2015
Eoghan Desmond: "Be all Merry" - Choral Scholars of the University College, Dublin in their 2020 album Be Merry.
Ivo Antognini: "Christe Redemptor Omnium" for tenor solo, chorus, violin and violoncello - Choral Scholars of the University College, Dublin in their 2020 album Be Merry. Commissioned by the Swiss Embassy in Dublin, Ireland.
Ben Parry and Garth Bardsley: "The Aldeburgh Carol." In partnership with Britten-Pears Arts, National Youth Chamber Choir.
Francisco Carbonell: "Heart of God," Winner of the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir Carol Commission Competition.
Carson Cooman: "Legend of the Little Child." Premiered by the Harvard University Choir at 111th Annual Christmas Carol Service is scheduled for 5 p.m., Dec. 24
First Carol Competition in memory of Mary Otty (Mary Otty Prize 2020): The Bristol Choral Society asked Judith Wier and Stephen Jackson to judge for its carol competition.
Philip Moore: "The Angel Gabriel" commission for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge. Words by Sabine Baring-Gould.
2018
Judith Weir: "O Mercy Divine" commission for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge. Words by Charles Wesley.
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