Carolina Vocal Arts Ensemble
Stephen Field, Director
presents
A Classical Christmas

Elisabeth MacKay Field, soprano
Wes Rickard, tenor
Benjamin Horrell, baritone
David Lee Heinzman, organ

**********Program**********

“Carol of the Bells” (also known as the “Ukrainian Bell Carol”) was originally composed by Ukrainian composer, Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych. Through the composition, Leontovych uses a four note motif quoted from an ancient pagan Ukrainian New Year’s chant, as a repeating pattern device known as ostinato. The composer created the piece as an assignment for a correspondence course he was taking on the subject of harmony and composition. The “Carol of the Bells” was premiered in December of 1916 by a group of choral students from Kiev University. It was introduced to Western audiences by the Ukrainain National Chorus during its concert tour of Europe and the Americas, where it premiered in the United States on October 5, 1921 at Carnegie Hall. It was later adapted into the English language version, performed here, by Peter Wilhousky in the 1930’s, and to this day is performed and sung worldwide during the Christmas season. It is our pleasure to pair this great song with David Lee Heinzman’s arrangement for organ. What a wonderful way to introduce Wilmington to a great composer and organist.

The “Magnificat” was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) for Christmas of 1723 to be performed at his church in Leipzig. This is one of the prolific composer’s most well-known works. This first movement is a veritable primer in Bach-style to the new listener with the trumpets heralding with festive D major chords in a lively orchestral prelude, from which the five-part chorus bursts out in highly embellished phrases: “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” (My soul doth magnify the Lord.) These are the words of Mary spoken by her after her visit from the angel Gabriel.                                                  

Norman Luboff (1917-1987) was a widely known conductor, composer and educator. After training in piano as a child and participating in choirs in high school, he did not begin to think of music as a profession until his college years. After attending college in Chicago, he studied with the noted composer Leo Sowerby while singing and writing for some of the best radio programs in the city. When he moved to New York in the early 1940’s, he founded The Norman Luboff Choir which then became one of the leading choral groups in the world. As an educator, Mr. Luboff was in much demand, guest conducting all-state, clinic, and festival choirs of every description in the United States and abroad. In September of 1987, he died peacefully at his home in North Carolina. Mr Luboff created this incredible arrangement of this famous Austrian carol in 1958 choosing harmonies that meld to create a reverent lullaby.

The tune for this carol has a deep connection to dance. It was first published in a collection of dance tunes in France in 1703. Seven years later it appeared in England in a similar collection of dance tunes. The words sung here were put to the tune in 1860 by the poet William Morris. The carol describes a poor man, emphasized by his rural dialect, drawing his master’s attention to the birth of Christ by describing how he had met shepherds traveling to Bethlehem in solemn mood where, joining them, he had seen the Christ child in his mother’s arms. The chorus repeats how the birth of Christ has raised up the poor and cast down the proud. In Morris’s original version there are twelve verses but today only four or five are sung. This version was arranged by Harry Simeone – a composer and arranger who is most famous for his arrangement of “The Little Drummer Boy.”

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor and pianist, known especially for Sampson and Delilah and his Symphony no.3 (The Organ Symphony). The Christmas Oratorio was written in 1858, and was originally scored for soloists, chorus, harp, organ and string quartet. It tells the Christmas story with a series of choruses, arias, quartet, quintet and the trio which is performed in this program. The text of the trio is a portion of the Latin text of the Dixit Dominus. “Thine is the foundation in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness.”

The mystery of the Incarnation is a recurring theme in Advent/Christmas music. “O Magnum Mysterium” is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. (Matins is the early morning or night prayer service of the canonical hours.) Tomas Luis di Victoria (1549-1611) was born in Spain and made his way to Rome to serve in the Papal choir, later becoming the director. His music is in the older practice of the Renaissance: a capella (unaccompanied) settings using imitative polyphony (melodic lines that imitate each other) and homophony (chordal passages) to set words in an ethereal and often peaceful style. “O Magnum Mysterium” is a wonderful, short setting which captures perfectly the peaceful and awesome nature of the text, which in translation is:
O great mystery and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the newborn Lord,
lying in the manager!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy
to bear Christ the Lord.    Alleluia!     

L’enfance du Christ, Opus 25, is a choral work by the French composer, Hector Berlioz, based on the story of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of it was composed in 1853 and 1854. The idea for L’enfance went back to 1850 when Berlioz composed an organ piece for his friend Joseph-Louis Duc, called L’adieu des bergers  (The Shepherd’s Farewell). He soon turned it into a choral movement for the shepherd’s saying goodbye to the baby Jesus as he leaves Bethlehem for Egypt. Berlioz had the chorus performed as a hoax in 1850, passing it off as the work of an imaginary 17th-century composer, Ducré. He was gratified to discover many people who hated his music were taken in and praised it, one lady even going so far as to say, “Berlioz would never be able to write a tune as simple and charming as this little piece by old Ducré.

Some songs written especially for Christmas become so well known that they eventually are thought of as folk songs. The Virgin’s Slumber Song is an example if just the opposite. Originally a folk-song melody to the words “Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mild,” this graceful air was taken by the German composer Max Reger and transformed in 1912 into an art song. The Virgin’s Slumber Song or Maria Wiegenlied is about the Virgin Mary singing to her Baby while He sleeps. The rhythm of both melody and accompaniment suggests the rocking of a cradle.

Charles Edward Ives (1874-1954) was an American modernist composer. He is widely regarded as one of the first American composers of international renown. Ives’ music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an ‘American original’ due to his unique restating of the noise and hustle and bustle of modern American life. Much of Ives’ music can be a little “strange” to the ear, but A Christmas Carol is a gorgeous piece that is sure to delight.                                         

Handel’s Messiah is the most famous and often-performed oratorio in history. “And the Glory” is the first chorus in the Messiah and it truly sets the stage for all that follows. Interestingly, it was adapted by Handel from an earlier work of his called, A Concerto for Two Choirs in B-flat. The text is prophetically proclaiming that the glory of the Lord is soon to be revealed and all shall see what was spoken of come to pass.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was an English composer who, as a young man embraced atheism. Known for his passion for English folk music, he was asked to edit the English Hymnal. As a result, he began to embrace a spiritual view of life that was sympathetic to Christianity, if not orthodox in theology. For the rest of his life he set Christian texts sensitively and beautifully. Fantasia on Christmas Carols displays Vaughan Williams’ vivid use of color as it embraces the mystical elements of the Incarnation. The Fantasia is a skillfully put together medley of familiar carols which include the mysterious, rollicking, joyful and majestic. The ending is a magically peaceful wish for a happy new year.

“Gesu Bambino” is an Italian Christmas carol composed by Pietro Yon in 1917. Originally from Settimo, Italy, Yon studied music at the conservatories in Milan, Turin and Rome. He served as organist at the Vatican and at the Royal Church in Rome before coming to the United States in 1907. He took the post of organist at New York’s St. Francis Xavier Church and then at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Yon eventually became an American citizen and taught, composed and performed around the country. Among his pupils were Cole Porter and his godson, Norman Dello Joio.  The English version of “Gesu Bambino,” performed here was translated by Frederick H. Martens. It is interesting to note that the traditional Christmas song, “I Saw Three Ships” derives its melody from “Gesu Bambino,” though the former is a simpler version of the tune. The lyrics of the chorus are also the same as the lyrics in the chorus of “O Come All Ye Faithful.”

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day is an English carol usually attributed as ‘traditional’; its first written appearance is in William B. Sandy’s “Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern of 1833.” It is most well known in John Gardner’s adaptation, but numerous other composers have made original settings of it or arranged the traditional tune, including Gustav Holst, David Wilcocks and John Rutter. The verses of the hymn progress through the story of Jesus told in his own voice. An innovative feature of the telling is that Jesus’ life is repeatedly characterized as a dance. This device was later used in the modern hymn “Lord of the Dance.”

Adolphe Charles Adam (1803-1856) was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets. Giselle and Le Corsaire. Adam was also a noted teacher, Léo Delibes was among his pupils. O Holy Night is a well-known Christmas carol  composed by Adam in 1847 to the French poem “Minuit, Chrétiens” (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem. In both French original and in the two familiar English versions of the carol, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus and of mankind’s redemption.

Randol Alan Bass (b.1953), a native of Texas, has achieved an impressive array of performances and commissions by prestigious ensembles throughout the U.S., among these: the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Dallas Symphony Chorus. His Gloria was premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1990 by the New York Pops Orchestra under Skitch Henderson. This same composition has been recorded by the Boston Pops Orchestra with Keith Lockhart and can be heard on their Christmas CD, Holiday Pops.
Translation:
Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to all of good will.
We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we adore Thee, we glorify Thee.
We give Thee thanks for Thy great glory.
Lord God! Heavenly King! God, the father Almightly!
Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son!
Lord God! Lamb of God! Son of the Father.
Thou, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Thou, who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.
Thou, who sits at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us.
For Thou alone art holy. Thou alone art Lord,
Thou alone art the most high, Jesus Christ.
With the Holy Ghost in the glory of God the Father.  Amen
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Despite this concert taking place on a cold, rainy Monday evening, First Presbyterian Church was packed to the limit for this electrifying concert.  One audience member stated afterward, “I used to go to many concerts while living in Washington, DC, and have never heard such a wonderful Christmas concert.”
CVAE is most grateful for our audience support.