CHRISTMAS WITH THE ACADEMY

Transcription

1 Eloq uence CHRISTMAS WITH THE ACADEMY O Come, All Ye Faithful Dino Dong! Merrily on High Once in Royal David s City Silent Night The Holly and the Ivy The Three Kings Jesus Christ the Apple Tree Academy & Chorus of St. Martin in the Fields Sir Neville Marriner

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3 CHRISTMAS WITH THE ACADEMY 1 Church Bells Past Three a Clock 2 37 (English traditional carol / G.R. Woodward / harmonised by Charles Wood) Gerald Finley, baritone 2 O Come, All Ye Faithful 2 39 (18th century? / arr. David Willcocks) 3 Dino Dong! Merrily on High 1 33 (16th-century French Melody / G.R. Woodward / harmonised by Charles Wood) 4 In the Bleak Midwinter 4 29 (Harold Darke) Rosemary Joshua, soprano Ian Bostridge, tenor 5 Christmas Oratorio: Sinfonia 2 21 (J.S. Bach) 6 Once in Royal David s City 2 46 (H.J. Gauntlett / A.H. Mann / arr. David Willcocks) Rosemary Joshua, soprano 7 Sussex Carol 1 29 (English traditional carol / arr. David Willcocks) 8 Quelle est cette odeur agréable? 4 23 (French traditional carol? / arr. David Willcocks) 9 Il est né le divin enfant 1 43 (French traditional carol / arr. David Willcocks) Andrew Fowler-Watt, tenor L enfance du Christ (Hector Berlioz): 0 L adieu des bergers à la Sainte Famille 4 19! Le repos de la Sainte Famille 2 Es ist ein Ros entsprungen 2 23 (Michael Praetorius) Stille Nacht 2 10 (Franz Gruber / Joseph Mohr) John Birch, organ

4 $ Still, still, still 3 00 (German traditional carol / arr. Philip Ledger / orch. Frank Spedding) Ian Bostridge, tenor % Singt und klingt 2 06 (Michael Praetorius) ^ The Holly and the Ivy 2 29 (English traditional carol / arr. H. Walford Davies) Lesley Postle, soprano Eleanor Boulter, mezzo-soprano Andrew Fowler-Watt, tenor David Roper, baritone & The Three Kings 2 33 (Peter Cornelius / arr. Ivor Atkins) Gerald Finley, baritone * Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day 1 57 (English traditional carol / arr. David Willcocks) ( Away in a Manger 2 22 (W.J. Kirkpatrick / arr. David Willcocks) Rosemary Joshua, soprano ) Christmas Song (Personent hodie) 1 41 (German traditional carol? / arr. Gustav Holst) In dulci jubilo 2 30 (German traditional carol / arr. R.L. Pearsall) Jesus Christ the Apple Tree 2 58 (Elizabeth Poston / Joshua Smith) # Hark! The Herald-angels Sing Church bells 3 33 (Felix Mendelssohn / arr. David Willcocks) Academy & Chorus of St. Martin in the Fields (Chorus master: Laszló Heltay) Sir Neville Marriner The church bells of St Bartholomew s Church, Crewkerne, Somerset Total timing: 60 55

5 The story of the birth of Jesus more than two thousand years ago has been the source of inspiration for countless poets and musicians, as well as practitioners of other forms of art. The infant, born of a virgin in a lowly cattle shed, because there was no room in the inn; the angel of the Lord appearing to shepherds in the field and bringing them tidings of great joy; three kings, led by a star, bearing their precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh: these are elements of the Gospel narrative which have rekindled the imagination of successive creative artists, providing a wealth of vocal and instrumental music with which to celebrate the festival of Christmas. The music, which is sung and played today in Christian churches and in concert halls, spans several centuries and embraces many styles, ranging from elaborate works such as the Weihnachts-Oratorium (Christmas Oratorio) by Johann Sebastian Bach and L enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ) by Hector Berlioz to simple hymns and carols. Most of the Christmas hymns which are in general use, including O come, all ye faithful, Once in Royal David s City and Hark! The Herald-angels sing can safely be ascribed to their authors, translators and composers, though in some instances considerable adaptations have been made to the original verbal and musical texts. In the case of Hark! The Herald-angels sing W.H. Cummings, a young organist at Waltham Abbey, who had sung as a boy chorister under Mendelssohn, selected a portion of Mendelssohn s Festgesang for male chorus and brass (which the composer considered unsuitable for a sacred text), altered it rhythmically and wedded it to the first verse of a hymn by Charles Wesley, which in its original version read: Hark, how all the welkin rings Glory to the King of Kings Further alterations to Charles Wesley s text were made by George Whitefield, Martin Madan and others to give us the hymn that has become so popular. Many of the carols widely sung today may be classed as traditional, since it is not known who wrote the words or the melody. Such carols have been handed down from generation to generation, and exist with variant versions of both words and tunes in different regions of their country of origin. Examples of traditional English carols are the Sussex Carol ( On Christmas Night all Christians sing ), which was taken down by

6 Ralph Vaughan Williams from a Mrs. Verrall of Sussex in 1904, and The Holly and the Ivy, noted by Cecil Sharp from Mrs. Clayton of Gloucestershire a few years later. Examples of traditional French carols are Quelle est cette odeur agréable, the melody of which was used by John Gay for a drinking song in The Beggar s Opera, and Il est né, which probably originated as an old hunting song. Sometimes an author has provided a verbal text for an old melody, as is the case with G.R. Woodward s words for the stanzas of Past three a clock (the refrain being original) and Ding, dong, merrily on high, the tune of which is a sixteenth-century dance known as a branle. Many other traditional carols, including Tomorrow shall be my dancing day, have their origins in dance, reminding us of the derivation of the word carol from the carole, a ring dance performed widely throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. A particular characteristic of the carole was its structure of stanza and burden, which can be recognised in carols such as Past three a clock and The Holly and the Ivy. The stanza (verse) was sung by a soloist, while the burden (refrain) was taken up by the remainder of the group and repeated after each subsequent stanza. Repeated attempts by the Church to suppress dancing through the issue of solemn edicts proved to be unsuccessful and eventually the dance in various forms became incorporated into the music of the Church throughout Europe. Most of the traditional carols sung at Christmas have to some extent been arranged, for it is unusual to hear the melody unharmonised or without instrumental support. Arrangements can take many forms, including the following: (1) the harmonisation of the melody by the addition of independent vocal parts, exemplified by the effective arrangement by Michael Praetorius of the old German tune Es ist ein Ros entsprungen for four voices. Years later Brahms was to make this beautiful melody the basis of a chorale prelude for organ, the chorale prelude being a more extended type of arrangement. (2) the provision of an instrumental accompaniment a task undertaken with such skill by Gustav Holst in his striking arrangement of Personent hodie, the modal character of the melody being preserved in the harmonic structure of the accompaniment. (3) the addition of a descant or independent

7 melody to a hymn or chorale. The ingenious superimposition by Peter Cornelius of an independent solo line, Three kings from Persian lands afar, above the chorale How brightly shines the morning star of Philipp Nicolai is a model of its kind. Descants added to certain verses of hymns, e.g. Sing, choirs of angels (O come, all ye faithful) and When like stars his children crowned/all in white shall wait around (Once in Royal David s city) can illuminate the verbal text and provide a climactic effect, especially when linked to a reharmonisation of the melody. (4) the juxtaposition of harmonies above and below the melody. Pearsall exploits the effect of changing textures in his arrangement of the melody of In dulci jubilo, which has attracted scores of arrangers, both choral and instrumental, over the centuries. It is possible that, in the years ahead, successive generations of musicians will continue to arrange and rearrange popular carols such as Stille Nacht, Still, still, still and Away in an manger. More likely is that the repertoire of Christmas music will continue to be enriched during the next millennium by original compositions, whether they be conservative in style, like Harold Duke s sensitive setting of Christina Rossetti s poem In the bleak midwinter and Elizabeth Poston s delicate response to Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, or whether they explore new musical territory. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, expressed in poetic terms the creative human s search for beauty and truth: Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky. Ring out the old, ring in the new. Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. David Willcocks Artistic adviser: Sir David Willcocks Artist & repertoire production: Anthony Freud Recording producer: Erik Smith Balance engineer: Erdo Groot Recording engineers: Jan Wesselink, Roger de Schot, Keiichiro Mori Tape editors: Everett Porter, Tjeerd Veeger Recording location: St John s, Smith Square, London, UK, January 1994 Mixdown monitored on Audio Static loudspeakers Eloquence series manager: Cyrus Meher-Homji Art direction: Chilu Booklet editor: Bruce Raggatt

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