Once in Royal David’s City

Music by H.J. Gauntlett (1805–1876)
Harmonized by A.H. Mann (1850–1929)
Text by C.F. Alexander (1818–1895)

This carol has traditionally begun the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at the King's College Chapel, Cambridge on Christmas Eve. As will be the case with our performance, a soloist sings the first verse. However, at King's College, the soloist is chosen immediately before the performance based on which singer has the strongest voice that day, which will not be the case with our performance!
—

Once in royal David’s city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.

He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall;
with the poor, and mean, and lowly,
lived on earth our Savior holy.

And through all his wondrous childhood
He would honour and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden,
In whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as he.

For he is our childhood’s pattern,
Day by day, like us he grew,
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us he knew;
And he feeleth for our sadness,
And he shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see him,
through his own redeeming love;
for that Child so dear and gentle
is our Lord in heaven above,
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable,
with the oxen standing by,
we shall see him, but in heaven,
set at God’s right hand on high;
when like stars his children crowned
all in white shall wait around.

A Winter Ride

Music by Joan Szymko (b. 1957)
Text by Amy Lowell (1874–1925)

From Joan:
Poet Amy Lowell captures the rush, the exhilaration of riding a horse through a snowy field on a bright, brisk winter day. There are those experiences, often while out in nature or in the wild, when physical boundaries disappear and one loses oneself in a joyful, timeless realization of oneness. Lowell’s  “A Winter Ride” is such an experience! It is to be sung with joyful abandon.
—

Who shall declare the joy of the running!
Who shall tell of the pleasures of flight!
Springing and spurning the tufts of wild heather,
Sweeping, wide-winged, through the blue dome of light.
Everything mortal has moments immortal,
Swift and God-gifted, immeasurably bright.

So with the stretch of the white road before me,
Shining snowcrystals rainbowed by the sun,
Fields that are white, stained with long, cool, blue shadows,
Strong with the strength of my horse as we run.
Joy in the touch of the wind and the sunlight!
Joy! With the vigorous earth I am one.

Umoja

Music by Zanaida Stewart Robles

From Zanaida:
“Umoja”, the first principle of Kwanzaa, means unity, though much of this piece features elements of improvisation and aleatory, or “chance”, music. The simple, calm theme that opens the piece is echoed, augmented, and adjusted until it begins to be sung at different times and tempi by all 50 of our singers. In a perfect moment of text painting, a small semichorus unites at the end of the piece with the theme.
—

Umoja
Unity

The Snow Shower

Music by Eric William Barnum (b. 1979)
Text by William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)

It’s always a joy to perform works by alumni of our Competition for Young Composers — Eric William Barnum won the competition in 2006 and has gone on to become an influential composer and conductor. He has written at length about this piece on his website, and I encourage you to read his notes once you’ve heard the piece (and not while you are listening!)

What I will say is that it is rare to find a work for treble choir that contains the depth and gravitas “The Show Shower”. It is gut-wrenching, mournful — a truly devastating piece. It is imbued with grief, and yet also a glimmer of hope — “...A sunbeam falls from the opening skies.”

The piece closes with the text “Nox praecessit” repeated as an almost mantra that gives way to the cold sounds of the winter wind. “Nox praecessit” is the name of a famous hymn tune that one might hear in church on a Sunday. It is most commonly translated to something like “the night will soon be over.” However, I have intentionally translated it as “night passes” and, while my wonderful high school Latin teacher may have thoughts about this, I feel the more active, if not slightly inaccurate, translation better captures the spirit of the piece. I’d love to hear if you feel the same.
—

Stand here by my side and turn, I pray,
On the lake below thy gentle eyes;
and dark and silent the water lies;
And out of that frozen mist the snow
In wavering flakes begins to flow;

See how in a living swarm they come
From beyond the misty veil;
dropping swiftly or settling slow,

Here delicate snow-stars, out of the cloud,
Come floating downward in airy play,
Like spangles dropped from the glistening crowd
That whiten by night the milky-way;

And some, as on tender wings they glide
From their chilly birth-cloud, dim and gray,
Are joined in their fall, and, side by side,
Come clinging along their unsteady way;
As friend with friend, or husband with wife,
Makes hand in hand the passage of life;
Each mated flake
Soon sinks in the dark and silent like.

I see in thy gentle eyes a tear;
They turn to me in sorrowful thought;
Thou thinkest of friends, the good and dear,
Who were for a time and now are not;
Like these fair children of cloud and frost,
That glisten then are lost,

Yet look again, for the clouds divide;
And far away, on the mountain-side,
A sunbeam falls from the opening skies.

Nox praecessit
Night passes

Kujichagulia

Music by Zanaida Stewart Robles

From Zanaida:
“Kujichagulia” is the second principle of Kwanzaa, meaning self-determination. Call-and-response elements, canonic phrases, tight harmonies, and a driving djembe accompaniment make this moderately challenging up-tempo tune both celebratory and empowering.
—

Kujichagulia
Self-determination

There Is No Rose

Music by Eleanor Daley (b. 1955)
Anonymous Medieval Text

Set to an ancient text that is more often associated with Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols”, this fresh and rousing setting from Eleanor Daley contains mysterious, modal elements, allowing tension to build through canonic entries and moments of lush, gorgeous harmonies until it ends on a perfectly prepared Picardy third. As the kids say, IYKYK.
—

There is no rose of such virtue
as is the rose that bare Jesu.
Alleluia.

For in this rose containèd was
Heaven and earth in little space.
Resmiranda.

By that rose we may well see
there be one God in persons three.
Pares forma.

Then leave we all this worldly mirth,
and follow we this joyous birth.
Transeamus.

Ave Maria

Music by B.E. Boykin (b. 1989)

The publisher of B.E. Boykin’s setting of “Ave Maria” describes it as “...like a dramatic chorale.  She explores the depths and heights of the treble voices, building to a glorious and ecstatic climax. Dramatic dynamics and sincere expression result in a powerful and moving composition.”
—

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Music by Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
Adapted by William H. Cummings (1831–1915)

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With th’angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ by highest heav'n adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of a Virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris'n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that we no more may die,
Born to raise us from the earth,
Born to give us second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

The Rose

Music by Joel Thompson (b. 1988)
16th-century German text
Translation and verse 3 by Joel Thompson

Joel Thompson's setting of “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen” combines the old and the new; it contains lush, jazzy harmonies, while also featuring brief quotations of other settings of this famous carol. It also features a virtuosic piano part, played masterfully by the always incredible Mike Gaertner. If you're a choral nerd, see if you can figure out which other pieces are quoted!
—

A Rose unfolds on tender vine,
as seers foretold, from Jesse’s line.
Its petals radiant in the light
of stars aglow this holy night.

Isaiah divined the Flower would bloom
a spotless Rose from Mary’s womb,
as angels praise the glorious sight:
the blessed Babe this holy night.

E’en though we now our anthem raise
in gratitude and joyous praise,
I wonder why, for me, God chose
to show such love with a spotless Rose.

In Winter’s House

Music by Joanna Marsh (b. 1970)
Text by Jane Draycott (b. 1954)

Joanna Marsh is a Dubai-based English composer, and I met her at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in 2023, and after hearing her music I knew I wanted to program one of her works. “In Winter’s House” is one of those rare pieces that captures the spirit of winter, with all of its darkness, light, warmth, cold, and everything in between. It winds through harmonic twists and turns until a final, unexpected chord “gives way to light.”
—

In winter’s house there’s a room
that’s pale and still as mist in a field
while outside in the street every gate’s shut firm,
every face as cold as steel.

In winter’s house there’s a bed
that is spread with frost and feathers, that gleams
in the half-light like rain in a disused yard
or a pearl in a choked-up stream.

In winter’s house there’s a child
asleep in a dream of light that grows out
of the dark, a flame you can hold in your hand
like a flower or a torch on the street.

In winter’s house there’s a tale
that’s told of a great chandelier in a garden, 
of fire that catches and travels for miles,
of all gates and windows wide open.

In winter’s house there’s a flame

being dreamt by a child in the night,

in the small quiet house at the turn in the lane

where the darkness gives way to light.

Angele Dei

Music by Susan LaBarr (b. 1981)
Medieval Latin prayer

From Justin:
Being raised in the Deep South, you are almost always guaranteed one thing, sometimes two. A praying mother and a praying grandmother. I was fortunate enough to have both in my childhood, my first two guardian angels. Susan LaBarr’s setting of Angele Dei, a Latin prayer for guardian angels, simply and richly encapsulates the feeling of what it means to have someone looking out for us. As we move through this holiday season, let us not take for granted those who look after and keep us.
—

Angele Dei,
qui custos es mei,
Me tibi commissum pietate superna;
illumina, custodi, rege, et guberna.
Amen.

Angel of God,
who are my keeper,
to whom I am committed by divine mercy;
light and guard, rule and guide.
Amen.

And So

Music by Dale Trumbore (b. 1987)
Text by Laura Foley

From Dale:
Whenever I set a poem to music, I’m always hoping that if the text resonates for me, the music will carry that message through to a listener. Laura Foley’s poem “And So” unfolds as one uninterrupted thought, and setting this poem at this point in time felt restorative to me—imagining a place where the only storm outside is a snowstorm, and the choice to stay inside with our loved ones is wholly, blissfully ours.
—

And so to imagine it the whole world at peace
the peace I feel inside my body dissolving into hers
and outside the snow that falls
that keeps falling big fat flakes all morning
keeping us safe on our quiet hill in the snow
only the rustle and breath of our dogs in their beds
no other sight but the hills the endless trees
the white coming down from the sky the fire inside.

Meet Me for Noche Buena

Music by Saunder Choi (b. 1988)
Text by Aileen Cassinetto

From Saunder:

Growing up, a paról was both a familiar and expected sight during the holidays— hanging by windows, attached to street lamps, all around malls and other public spaces, in the zeitgeist of every Filipino. They can be as simple as ones crafted from bamboo and colorful Japanese paper, or as elaborate as those made from capiz shells and even LED lights. Aileen’s poetry paints a joyous, nostalgic, and colorful picture of Noche Buena — a Christmas Eve celebration shared amongst Spanish colonized countries. The ubiquitous Philippine star lantern forges a link between past and present. It symbolizes the transfer of tradition from one place to another, bringing along with it other holiday traditions like bibingka (a traditional baked rice cake) and queso de bola (a ball of red Edam cheese) — because is it even a Filipino gathering without tons of food? 

In the middle of this new carol, as we “sing our favorite Christmas songs,” I took the opportunity to quote one of my favorite ones while growing up — Payapang Daigdig (Peaceful World) by Felipe De Leon — our version of Silent Night. I specifically included the phrase sa bughaw na langit (in blue sky) because it is an image that is shared amongst cultures no matter where you are. 

At its heart, Meet Me for Noche Buena is really about journeys and relationships; people bringing and sharing their various holiday traditions in new places — whether you’re an American in Japan, an Italian in Argentina, or, like Aileen and myself, Filipino immigrants who have found a home in California.
—

Pasko na naman!

Follow the story of the paról
Haggled and hand-carried
Tarried, gloried and ferried
From Quiapo to San Francisco
Now hanging on my window

Follow the string of lights
We’ll sing carols tonight
Everything’s big and bright
A little Christmas charm
Greets you with open arms

Meet me for Noche Buena
Where it’s not quite like home
But a different kind of warm

Meet me for Noche Buena
Where it’s merry at midnight
Gather and give thanks
Gather old friends and new

We’ll countdown to midnight
Have some hot tsokolate
Bibinka and Queso de bola
At ipa pa

We’ll open presents
Be children again for a moment
Making star lanterns
With bamboo and paper
To light our way back home

You’ll find me where the holidays
Are merriest, look for the paról
Brightest in darkest night
I’ll be singing my favorite
Christmas song. All I want is home.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Arranged by David Willcocks (1919–2015)

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
come and behold him,
born the King of Angels.
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!

God of God, Light of Light,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
Very God, Begotten not created.
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of Heaven above!
Glory to God, glory in the highest:
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Ave Maria

Music by Franz Biebl (1906–2001)

Franz Biebl's setting of "Ave Maria" is one of the most performed Christmas choral works. However, it didn't become famous overnight — in fact, it took over 30 years for it to become widely known. Written and premiered sometime in 1959, it was published in 1964. It was then "discovered" by chance by the Cornell University Glee Club while on tour in 1970, when Biebl was working for Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting). Biebl gave the conductor of the Glee Club many of his compositions, and the "Ave Maria" impressed him so much that he brought it to the U.S. as one of the few sacred pieces in the Glee Club's repertoire. Somewhere along the way, the professional men's ensemble Chanticleer came upon it, and they performed it for the first time in 1989. The rest, as they say, is history!
—

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae et concepit de Spiritu sancto.

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.

Maria dixit: Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived of the Holy Ghost.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

And Mary said: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me, according to your word.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Hallelujah Chorus

Music by George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)

Hallelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our
Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!
Hallelujah!