in terra pax

18 Pages·2009·0.85 MB·English

by  Nick Staines

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The City of London Choir at The Lighthouse, Poole
IN TERRA PAX
A Christmas Anthology
Finzi • Holst
Howells • Leighton
Rutter • Warlock
Vaughan Williams
Julia Doyle, Soprano
Roderick Williams,
Baritone
City of London Choir
Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra
The City of London Choir and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at The Lighthouse, Poole
Hilary Davan Wetton
Photographs ©Daisy Hutchison
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IN TERRA PAX
Julia Doyle at The Lighthouse, Poole Mark Williams at The Lighthouse, Poole
A Christmas Anthology
1 Gustav Holst (1874-1934): Christmas Day 7:37
2 John Joubert (b. 1927): There is no rose 2:23
3 William Mathias (1934-92): Sir Christèmas 1:26
4 Herbert Howells (1892-1983): Here is the little door 3:30
5 Howells: A spotless Rose 3:10
6 Gerald Finzi (1901-56): In terra pax – Christmas scene 16:16
Peter Warlock (1894-1930): Three carols
7 I. ‘Tyrley, tyrlow’ 2:01
8 II. ‘Balulalow’ 2:20
9 III. ‘As I sat under a sycamore tree’ 1:44
0 Kenneth Leighton (1929-88): A hymn of the Nativity 6:14
! John Rutter (b. 1945): What sweeter music 4:21
@ John Gardner (b. 1917): Tomorrow shall be my dancing day 2:00
# Mathias: A babe is born 3:05
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958):
Folk songs of the four seasons – Winter
$ I. Children’s Christmas song 3:39
% II. Wassail song 2:31
^ III. In Bethlehem city 4:35
& IV. God bless the Master 4:05
Julia Doyle, Soprano 1680• Roderick Williams, Baritone 5 6
Mark Williams, Organ 3 ! #, Celeste 6 and Piano 9 @• Ben Glassberg, Tambourine @
Lydia Challen, Contralto 1• Julian Davies, Tenor 1• Simon Oberst, Baritone 1
City of London Choir
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 1 6 7-9 $-&
Hilary Davan Wetton
Tracks 1, 6-9, and 14-17 recorded on 12th July, 2009, in the Concert Hall, The Lighthouse, Poole, Dorset;
tracks 2-5 and 10-13 recorded on 14th and 15th July, 2009, in St. Paul’s Girls’ School, Hammersmith, London
Hilary Davan Wetton conducting the City of London Choir and
Publishers: Novello and Company Ltd. (tracks 1, 2, 10); Oxford University Press (tracks 3, 7-9, 11-17); Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at The Lighthouse, Poole Roderick Williams at The Lighthouse, Poole
Stainer and Bell (tracks 4-5); Boosey and Hawkes Music Publishers, Ltd. (track 6) Photographs ©Daisy Hutchison
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Here’s a health to the cow and to her long tail. Then God sent an angel from Heaven so high, In Terra Pax: A Christmas Anthology
Pray God send our Master a good cask of Ale; To certain poor shepherds in fields where they lie,
A good cask of Ale as ever I did see And bade them no longer in sorrow to stay Christmas music is almost as old as celebrations of the I, when the form of the Festival of Nine Lessons and
In the Wassail bowl we’ll drink unto thee. Because that our Saviour was born on this day. festival itself. Yet, like those celebrations, it has had a Carols was first instituted at King’s College Chapel,
Then let us be merry … more erratic history than might be imagined today, so Cambridge, on Christmas Eve 1918.
Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best, we should not be surprised to find that all the pieces Central to this Christmas music renaissance was the
Then I pray your soul in heaven may rest, Then presently after the shepherds did spy, gathered together here, though many trace centuries-old Gloucestershire-born, Cambridge-educated Ralph
But if you do bring us a bowl of the small, Vast numbers of angels did stand in the sky; roots, were actually composed during the twentieth Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), whose work as musical
May the devil take butler, bowl and all! So merry were talking, so sweetly did sing, century. editor of The English Hymnal(published in 1906)
All glory and praise to our heavenly King. Originally suppressed by the medieval church, helped enshrine such now well-loved carols as Christina
Then here’s to the maid in the lily white smock, Then let us be merry … which favoured monastic chant, in England the carol Rossetti’s In the bleak midwinter, set to music by his
Who tripped to the door and slipped back the lock, went on to suffer the double blow of the Reformation friend Gustav Holst. Though one of the most
Who tripped to the door and pulled back the pin, &God bless the Master and Cromwell’s Protectorate. During this latter period cosmopolitan of all English composers – he studied with
For to let these jolly Wassailers walk in. the pursuit of fun became a risky business; by 1647 Bruch in Berlin and Ravel in Paris – Vaughan Williams
God bless the Master of this house Christmas Day had been abolished by parliamentary found creative inspiration in the regenerative use of
^In Bethlehem city With happiness beside; decree and carols were among the many musical targets, traditional and folk-music. He arranged countless carols,
Where e’er his body rides or walks, surviving best of all in deeply rural communities. A and used Christmas themes for such bigger works as his
In Bethlehem city in Judea it was Lord Jesus be his guide. different situation prevailed on the Continent, even in Fantasia on Christmas carolsand late masterpiece
That Joseph and Mary together did pass, Protestant countries, where Luther was among the Hodie. Despite being an atheist who (according to his
All for to be taxed when thither they came, God bless the mistress of this house reformers who actually composed carols and second wife, Ursula Vaughan Williams) ‘later drifted
For Caesar Augustus commanded the same. With gold chain round her breast, encouraged their use in worship. Some of the most into cheerful agnosticism’, he remained drawn
Then let us be merry, cast sorrow aside, Where e’er her body sleeps or wakes, popular carols in nineteenth-century England were thus throughout his life to the pantheistic possibilities of
Our Saviour Christ Jesus was born on this tide. Lord, send her soul to rest. imports, as, for example, the fourteenth-century German Christmas music. His Folk songs of the four seasons, a
In dulci jubilo, introduced in an English version by the cantata that had its première in 1950, scored for female
But Mary’s full time being come as we find, God bless your house, your children too, Victorian composer Robert Lucas Pearsall. chorus and orchestra, uses four carols as the basis for its
She brought forth her first born to save all mankind; Your cattle and your store, Though nineteenth-century English literature broad and stirring Winter segment: the Children’s
The inn being full, for the heavenly guest The Lord increase you day by day contains some celebrated references to the carol, it also Christmas song, Wassail song, In Bethlehem cityand
No place could she find to lay him to rest. And send you more and more. highlights the extent to which Christmas music was still God bless the Master.
Then let us be merry … languishing on the fringe. Dickens’s A Christmas Carol When GustavHolst (1874-1934) and Vaughan
is itself credited with helping to revive the concept of Williams met at the Royal College of Music in London
Then they were constrained in a stable to lie, Christmas ‘spirit’. In Under the Greenwood Tree, in 1895, it was the beginning of a lifelong friendship
Where horses and asses they used for to tie. Thomas Hardy’s Mellstock Quire adheres to the based on shared musical ideals. Holst’s deep interest in
Their lodging so simple they took in no scorn, tradition of singing carols outside the church. Hardy’s Hindu spiritualism did not preclude his own rediscovery
But against the next morning our Saviour was born. rural vision was part of a wider yearning for pre- of English folk-music, and several of his choral works –
Then let us be merry … Industrial Revolution landscapes, and in the great carol he was a much more varied and prolific figure than his
revival of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries reputation as composer of The Planetssuggests – were
composers often drew on old manuscripts for their inspired by Christmas tradition. Christmas Day,
arrangements of earlier tunes and, especially, settings of subtitled Achoral fantasy on old carols, dates from
This recording was made possible by the generosity of the late Sir Alan McLintock
ancient texts; their nostalgia may also have taken a cue 1910 and is written in a sturdy, diatonic vein. It takes the
and is dedicated to his memory.
from the paintings of the pre-Raphaelites. Like so many form of variations on In dulci jubilo (better known in the
The City of London Choirgratefullyacknowledges additional support from developments in music, which have often lagged a little English-speaking world as Good Christian men,
Ecclesiastical Insurance and Allchurches Trust. behind other artistic movements, the carol, however, rejoice), and interweaves portions of God rest you
arrived definitively only in the aftermath of World War merry, gentlemen, The first Nowelland a lively old
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Breton melody to which Holst sets the text Come, ye Perhaps because he belonged to a slightly separate #A babe is born We are not daily beggars
lofty, come, ye lowly. tradition, Kenneth Leighton (1929-88) remains an William Mathias That beg from door to door;
HerbertHowells (1892-1983), who also enjoyed a underestimated composer. Whether based on Baroque Words: traditional We are your neighbours’ children,
close friendship with Vaughan Williams, was far more models or serial principles, his works are always tautly Whom you have seen before.
conventional in his religious outlook. Beginning his written. Leighton’s early musical experiences as a A babe is born all of a may, For it’s Christmas time …
musical career as an organ pupil at Gloucester chorister at Wakefield Cathedral left him with a strong To bring salvation unto us.
Cathedral, he went on to compose a distinguished body feeling for the choral idiom (he was even an early patron To him we sing both night and day. Good Master and good Mistress,
of music for the Anglican liturgy. The Carol-Anthems of the City of London Choir), which he displays in A hymn Veni Creator Spiritus. While you’re sitting by the fire,
of 1918-20 are early works, often and deservedly of the Nativity(1960) for solo soprano and unaccompanied Pray think of us poor children
referred to as gems, giving notice of the spiritualised chorus, dating from the first decade of his career. At Bethlehem, that blessed place, That wander in the mire.
sensuality that was to mark out Howells’s reflective John Joubert (b. 1927) and William Mathias (1934- The child of bliss now born he was; For it’s Christmas time …
style. They are set for unaccompanied choir, but A 92) have composed in most genres, including opera, but And him to serve God give us grace,
spotless Rosealso floats a solo baritone line. are best known to the public for their choral music. O lux beata Trinitas. We’ve got a little purse
A miniaturist now best remembered for his Though born in Cape Town into a family of Afrikaner Made of leathern ratchin skin
distinctive songs, PeterWarlock (1894-1930) was an descent, Joubert has since 1950 been an important figure There came three kings out of the East, We want a little of your money
enigmatic composer who pursued a reckless life and on the British musical scene. Based on a fifteenth-century To worship the King that is so free, To line it well within.
death (by suicide) in London’s Bohemia. In mid-1923 Advent text, his gentle There is no rose(1954) is the With gold and myrrh and frankincense, For it’s Christmas time …
he responded to a request from Vaughan Williams for antithesis of his even more popular carol, Torches. A solis ortus cardine.
carols with soprano solo, chorus and orchestra for a Mathias’s Sir Christèmasand A babe is bornare both Bring us out a table,
concert that December. Adding to a newly composed written in the typically vigorous style that made Mathias The angels came down with one cry, And spread it with a cloth,
setting, As I sat under a sycamore tree, he reworked his perhaps the best-loved Welsh composer of his generation. A fair song that night sung they Bring us out a mouldy cheese
earlier Tyrley, tyrlowand (as the middle panel between A one-man Christmas music industry, John Rutter In worship of that child: And some of your Christmas loaf.
two extrovert carols) Balulalowwhich, with its muted (b. 1945) has composed and arranged carols for choirs Gloria tibi Domine. For it’s Christmas time …
string accompaniment and mystical, quasi-medieval around the world, but the gently flowing What sweeter
atmosphere, shows the composer at his haunting best. music was written in 1988 for the place most celebrated A babe is born all of a may, %Wassail song
This programme’s most substantial work, In terra for its Lessons and Carols: King’s College, Cambridge. To bring salvation unto us.
paxby GeraldFinzi (1901-56), is subtitled Christmas A more senior composer, John Gardner (b. 1917) is also To him we sing both night and day. Wassail, Wassail all over the town,
sceneand finds the composer near the end of his life best known for a carol, Tomorrow shall be my dancing Veni Creator Spiritus. Noel! Our bread it is white and our ale it is brown,
recalling the experience he had as a young man of day, based on traditional English words mingling divine Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
hearing bells ringing out across the Cotswolds on a and human love and using dance as both rhythm and Folk songs of the four seasons – Winter In the Wassail bowl we’ll drink unto thee.
frosty midnight at Christmas Eve. The Christmas story metaphor. Originally scoring the piece for women’s (or Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
is transplanted into an English pastoral scene, as if girls’) voices, Gardner wrote it during his time as Words: traditional Here’s a health to the horse and to his right eye.
envisioned by Samuel Palmer, and the text mixes St Director of Music at St Paul’s Girls’ School. It Pray God send our Master a good Christmas pie,
Luke with Robert Bridges. Proudly English in character completes a thread running through this programme: $Children’s Christmas song A good Christmas pie as ever I did see,
but cosmopolitan by birth – Jewish of German-Italian Gardner’s predecessors at St Paul’s included Howells In the Wassail bowl we’ll drink unto thee.
descent, and able to trace his roots to a prominent and and Holst, and his successor was Hilary Davan Wetton, We’ve been awhile a-wandering
learned Sephardic family in Padua – Finzi was a artistic director of the City of London Choir. This Amongst the leaves so green, Here’s a health to the ox and to his broad horn.
pastoralist with a fierce love of English lyrical poetry. recording of Gardner’s popular carol, albeit in its But now we come a-wassailing Pray God send our Master a good crop of corn.
Engaging with the story from an agnostic, rationalist revised form for mixed chorus, was made at the So plainly to be seen. A good crop of corn as ever I did see;
point of view, Finzi conjured up some of his most Hammersmith school where it was first heard. For it’s Christmas time, when we travel far and near; In the Wassail bowl we’ll drink unto thee.
visionary music here. May God bless you and send you a happy new year.
John Allison
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No, no, your King’s not yet to seek Who, with his sunshine and his show’rs, Julia Doyle
Where to repose his royal head; Turns all the patient ground to flow’rs.
See, see how soon his new-bloom’d cheek The darling of the world is come, The soprano Julia Doyle performs regularly with leading baroque and classical
‘Twixt mother’s breasts is gone to bed! And fit it is, we find a room orchestras both in Britain and abroad, specialising in oratorio repertoire. Recent
Sweet choice, said we; no way but so, To welcome him, to welcome him. performances include Haydn’s Scena di Bereniceat the Bridgewater Hall in
Not to lie cold, yet sleep in snow! Manchester with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Bach’s St John Passionat the
The nobler part of all the house here, is the heart, Concertgebouw with the English Baroque Soloists, Handel and Bach arias at
Welcome to our wond’ring sight Which we will give him; and bequeath King’s Place with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and recordings of
Eternity shut in a span! This holly, and this ivy wreath, Lutosławski’s Dwadziesci Koledwith the BBC Symphony Orchestra and
Summer in winter, day in night! To do him honour; who’s our King, Handel’s Messiahwith the Britten Sinfonia.
Heaven in earth! and God in man! And Lord of all this revelling.
Great little one, whose glorious birth
Lifts earth to Heav’n, stoops Heaven to earth. @Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
John Gardner (b. 1917)
To thee, meek Majesty, soft King Words: traditional
Of simple graces and sweet loves!
Each of us his lamb will bring, Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
Each his pair of silver doves! I would my true love did so chance
At last, in fire of thy fair eyes, To see the legend of my play,
Ourselves become our own best sacrifice! To call my true love to my dance:
Sing O my love, my love, my love; Photo: William Unwin
!What sweeter music This have I done for my true love.
John Rutter (b. 1945) Roderick Williams
Words by Robert Herrick (1591-1674) Then was I born of a virgin pure,
Of her I took fleshly substance; Active in the opera house, on the concert platform and in recital, the baritone
What sweeter music can we bring Thus was I knit to man’s nature, Roderick Williams is internationally acclaimed for performances that range from
Than a carol, for to sing To call my true love to my dance: the baroque to world premières. His numerous recordings include Vaughan
The birth of this our heav’nly King? Sing O my love … Williams, Berkeley and Britten operas for Chandos, Verdi’s Don Carlosfor
Awake the voice! Awake the string! Philips, and an extensive repertoire of English song with pianist Iain Burnside for
Dark and dull night, fly hence away, In a manger laid and wrapped I was, Naxos. He is also a composer and has had works performed at the Wigmore and
And give the honour to this day So very poor this was my chance, Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room and on national radio.
That sees December turn’d to May. Betwixt an ox and a silly poor ass,
To call my true love to my dance:
Why does the chilling winter’s morn Sing O my love …
Smile, like a field beset with corn?
Or smell like a meadow nearly shorn Then afterwards baptized I was;
Thus on the sudden? Come and see The Holy Ghost on me did glance,
The cause, why things thus fragrant be: My Father’s voice heard from above,
’Tis he is born, whose quick’ning birth To call my true love to my dance.
Gives life and lustre, public mirth, Sing O my love …
To heaven and the underearth.
We see him come, and know him ours,
Photo: Keith Saunders
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Mark Williams Three carols But I sall praise thee evermore
Peter Warlock (1894-1930) With sangis sweet unto thy glor.
Mark Williams, who here plays organ, piano and celeste, was appointed Assistant Words: traditional The knees of my heart sall I bow,
Conductor and Principal Accompanist of the City of London Choir in 2001. An And sing that richt Balulalow.
organ scholar at Truro Cathedral and Trinity College, Cambridge, and then 7Tyrley, tyrlow
Assistant Sub Organist of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, he has performed in 9As I sat under a sycamore tree
Britain and abroad with the some of the world’s leading ensembles. In 2009 he About the field they pipèd right,
was appointed Director of Music of Jesus College, Cambridge. So merrily the shepherds began to blow. As I sat under a sycamore tree,
A-down from heaven that is so high. I looked me out upon the sea
Tyrley, tyrlow, tyrley, tyrlow, tyrley, tyrlow. A Christmas day in the morning.
Of angels there came a company I saw three ships a-sailing there,
With merry songs and melody, The Virgin Mary and Christ they bare
The shepherds anon gan them aspy. A Christmas day in the morning.
Tyrley, tyrlow …
He did whistle and she did sing,
The shepherds hied them to Bedlem And all the bells on earth did ring,
To see that blessed sun his beam. A Christmas day in the morning.
And there they found that glorious leme.
Tyrley, tyrlow … And now we hope to taste your cheer,
And wish you all a happy new year,
Now pray we to that meke child, A Christmas day in the morning.
City of London Choir And to his mother that is so mild,
The which was never defiled. 0A hymn of the Nativity
Photo: Harry Adam Established in 1963, the City of London Choir Tyrley, tyrlow … Kenneth Leighton (1929-88)
performs in London’s most prestigious venues Words by Richard Crashaw (c. 1613-1649)
including the Barbican, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, That we may come unto his bliss
Cadogan Hall and St John’s, Smith Square with some Where joy shall never miss. We saw thee in thy balmy nest,
of the country’s leading orchestras, such as the Royal Then may we sing in Paradise. Young dawn of our eternal day;
Philharmonic Orchestra, Hanover Band, London Tyrley, tyrlow … We saw thine eyes break from the East,
Mozart Players and the English Chamber Orchestra. And chase the trembling shades away:
The Choir enjoys an enviable reputation as a “leader I pray you all that be here We saw thee, and we blest the sight,
among non-professional choruses” (The Times), and For to sing and make good cheer We saw thee by thine own sweet light.
its development owes much to the inspirational In the worship of God this year.
leadership of its Artistic Director since 1989, Hilary Tyrley, tyrlow … I saw th’obsequious seraphim
Davan Wetton. Their rosy fleece of fire bestow,
8Balulalow For well they now can spare their wings,
www.cityoflondonchoir.org Since Heaven itself lies here below.
O my dear hert, young Jesu sweet, Well done, said I; but are you sure
Prepare thy credil in my spreit, Your down, so warm, will pass for pure?
And I sall rock thee in my hert,
And never mair from thee depart.
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5A spotless Rose Then sped my thoughts to keep Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Herbert Howells that first Christmas of all
Words: traditional When the shepherds watching Founded in 1893, the Bournemouth Symphony
by their folds ere the dawn Orchestra has worked with many famous composers,
A spotless Rose is blowing, Heard music in the fields conductors and musicians including Elgar, Sibelius,
Sprung from a tender root, and marvelling could not tell Holst, Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams and Thomas
Of ancient seers’ foreshowing, Whether it were angels Beecham; and more recently with Michael Tippett,
Of Jesse promis’d fruit; or the bright stars singing. John Tavener and Peter Maxwell Davies. Principal
Its fairest bud unfolds to light conductors since the founder Sir Dan Godfrey have
Amid the cold, cold winter, And there were in the same country shepherds abiding included Charles Groves, Constantin Silvestri, Andrew
And in the dark midnight. in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And Litton, Marin Alsop and now the dynamic young
lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory Ukrainian, Kirill Karabits. The BSO has toured
The Rose which I am singing, of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore worldwide, performing at Carnegie Hall, New York,
Whereof Isaiah said, afraid. And the angel said unto them: the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein,
Is from its sweet root springing and Berlin Philharmonie, as well as regular British
In Mary, purest Maid; Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great appearances at the Royal Festival Hall and Royal
For through our God’s great love and might, joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this Photo: Chris Zuidyk Albert Hall in London, the Symphony Hall in
The Blessed Babe she bare us day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Birmingham and the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. The BSO is known internationally through over three
In a cold, cold winter’s night. Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the hundred recordings, and continues to release numerous recordings each year with Naxos. Recent critically
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. acclaimed recordings have included music by Bernstein, Bartók, Sibelius, Glass, Adams and Elgar, and three discs
6In terra pax – Christmas scene featuring arrangements of Mussorgsky, Bach and Wagner by Stokowski were nominated for GRAMMY awards in
Gerald Finzi (1901-56) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Words by Robert Bridges (1844-1930) the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to
and from the Gospel of St Luke God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will Hilary Davan Wetton
toward men.
A frosty Christmas Eve Hilary Davan Wetton has enjoyed a distinguished musical
when the stars were shining But to me heard afar career as both conductor and teacher. Director of Music at
Fared I forth alone it was starry music St Paul’s Girls’ School and then Tonbridge School, he has
where westward falls the hill, Angels’ song, comforting appeared frequently as a guest conductor with the UK’s
And from many a village as the comfort of Christ leading orchestras and was Principal Conductor of the
in the water’d valley When he spake tenderly Milton Keynes Orchestra for more than 30 years. He was
Distant music reach’d me to his sorrowful flock: founder/conductor of the Holst Singers; through this and
peals of bells a-ringing: The old words came to me long-standing associations with the City of London Choir
The constellated sounds by the riches of time and Guildford Choral Society he has conducted all the
ran sprinkling on earth’s floor Mellow’d and transfigured major choral repertoire. A champion of nineteenth- and
As the dark vault above as I stood on the hill twentieth-century British composers, he has conducted
with stars was spangled o’er. Heark’ning in the aspect numerous neglected works and his many recordings have
of th’eternal silence. been critically acclaimed. His disc of Holst’s Choral
Symphonywon the Diapason d’Or in 1994.
Photo: Clive Barda www.hilarydavanwetton.co.uk
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1Christmas Day See, in Mary’s arms reposing, This holy tide of Christmas Dieu vous garde, beaux sieurs,
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) Christ by highest heav’n adored; All others doth deface. Tidings I you bring:
Words: traditional Come, your circle round him closing, O tidings of comfort and joy. A maid has borne a child full young,
Pious hearts that love the Lord. Which causeth you to sing:
Good Christian men, rejoice Good Christian men, rejoice Nowell, nowell.
With heart, and soul, and voice; The first Nowell the angels did say, With heart, and soul, and voice;
Give ye heed to what we say: Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay; Now ye need not fear the grave: Christ is now born of a pure maid;
News! News! In fields where they lay keeping their sheep, Peace! Peace! In an ox-stall he is laid,
Jesus Christ is born today: On a cold winter’s night that was so deep. Jesus Christ was born to save! Wherefore sing we at a brayde:
Ox and ass before him bow, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Calls you one, and calls you all, Nowell, nowell.
And he is in the manger now. Born is the King of Israel. To gain his everlasting hall:
Christ is born today! Christ was born to save! Buvez bien, par toute la compagnie.
Come, ye poor, no pomp of station Make good cheer and be right merry,
God rest you merry, gentlemen, Robes the child your hearts adore: 2There is no rose And sing with us now joyfully:
Let nothing you dismay, He, the Lord of all salvation, John Joubert (b. 1927) Nowell, nowell!
Remember Christ our Saviour Shares your want, is weak and poor: Words: traditional
Was born on Christmas day, Oxen, round about behold them; 4Here is the little door
To save us all from woe and sin, Rafters naked, cold and bare, There is no rose of such virtue Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
When we were gone astray. See the shepherds, God has told them As is the rose that bare Jesu: Words by Frances Chesterton (1875-1938)
O tidings of comfort and joy. That the Prince of Life lies there. Alleluia.
Here is the little door, lift up the latch, oh lift!
In Bethlehem, in Jewry, Come, ye children, blithe and merry, For in this rose contained was We need not wander more but enter with our gift;
This blessed Babe was born, This one child your model make; Heav’n and earth in little space: Our gift of finest gold,
And laid within a manger, Christmas holly, leaf and berry, Res miranda. Gold that was never bought or sold;
Upon that holy morn; All be prized for his dear sake; Myrrh to be strewn about his bed;
The which his mother, Mary, Come, ye gentle hearts, and tender, By that rose we may well see Incense in clouds about his head;
Did nothing take in scorn. Come, ye spirits, keen and bold; There be one God in Persons Three: All for the child that stirs not in his sleep,
O tidings of comfort and joy. All in all your homage render, Pares forma. But holy slumber hold with ass and sheep.
Weak and mighty, young and old.
Good Christian men, rejoice Then leave we all this worldly mirth Bend low about his bed, for each he has a gift;
With heart, and soul, and voice; High above a star is shining, And follow we this joyous birth: See how his eyes awake, lift up your hands, O lift!
Now ye hear of endless bliss: And the Wisemen haste from far: Transeamus. For gold, he gives a keen-edged sword
Joy! Joy! Come, glad hearts, and spirits pining: (Defend with it thy little Lord!)
Jesus Christ was born for this! For you all has risen the star. 3Sir Christèmas For incense, smoke of battle red
He hath oped the heav’nly door, Let us bring our poor oblations, William Mathias (1934-92) Myrrh for the honoured happy dead;
And man is blessed evermore. Thanks and love and faith and praise: Words: traditional Gifts for his children, terrible and sweet,
Christ was born for this! Come, ye people, come, ye nations, Touched by such tiny hands and
All in all draw nigh to gaze. Nowell, nowell! Oh such tiny feet.
Come, ye lofty, come, ye lowly, Who is there that singeth so?
Let your songs of gladness ring; Now to the Lord sing praises, I am here, Sir Christèmas.
In a stable lies the Holy, All you within this place, Welcome, my lord Sir Christèmas!
In a manger rests the King; And with true love and brotherhood Welcome to all, both more and less,
Each other now embrace; Come near, come near.
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1Christmas Day See, in Mary’s arms reposing, This holy tide of Christmas Dieu vous garde, beaux sieurs,
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) Christ by highest heav’n adored; All others doth deface. Tidings I you bring:
Words: traditional Come, your circle round him closing, O tidings of comfort and joy. A maid has borne a child full young,
Pious hearts that love the Lord. Which causeth you to sing:
Good Christian men, rejoice Good Christian men, rejoice Nowell, nowell.
With heart, and soul, and voice; The first Nowell the angels did say, With heart, and soul, and voice;
Give ye heed to what we say: Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay; Now ye need not fear the grave: Christ is now born of a pure maid;
News! News! In fields where they lay keeping their sheep, Peace! Peace! In an ox-stall he is laid,
Jesus Christ is born today: On a cold winter’s night that was so deep. Jesus Christ was born to save! Wherefore sing we at a brayde:
Ox and ass before him bow, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Calls you one, and calls you all, Nowell, nowell.
And he is in the manger now. Born is the King of Israel. To gain his everlasting hall:
Christ is born today! Christ was born to save! Buvez bien, par toute la compagnie.
Come, ye poor, no pomp of station Make good cheer and be right merry,
God rest you merry, gentlemen, Robes the child your hearts adore: 2There is no rose And sing with us now joyfully:
Let nothing you dismay, He, the Lord of all salvation, John Joubert (b. 1927) Nowell, nowell!
Remember Christ our Saviour Shares your want, is weak and poor: Words: traditional
Was born on Christmas day, Oxen, round about behold them; 4Here is the little door
To save us all from woe and sin, Rafters naked, cold and bare, There is no rose of such virtue Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
When we were gone astray. See the shepherds, God has told them As is the rose that bare Jesu: Words by Frances Chesterton (1875-1938)
O tidings of comfort and joy. That the Prince of Life lies there. Alleluia.
Here is the little door, lift up the latch, oh lift!
In Bethlehem, in Jewry, Come, ye children, blithe and merry, For in this rose contained was We need not wander more but enter with our gift;
This blessed Babe was born, This one child your model make; Heav’n and earth in little space: Our gift of finest gold,
And laid within a manger, Christmas holly, leaf and berry, Res miranda. Gold that was never bought or sold;
Upon that holy morn; All be prized for his dear sake; Myrrh to be strewn about his bed;
The which his mother, Mary, Come, ye gentle hearts, and tender, By that rose we may well see Incense in clouds about his head;
Did nothing take in scorn. Come, ye spirits, keen and bold; There be one God in Persons Three: All for the child that stirs not in his sleep,
O tidings of comfort and joy. All in all your homage render, Pares forma. But holy slumber hold with ass and sheep.
Weak and mighty, young and old.
Good Christian men, rejoice Then leave we all this worldly mirth Bend low about his bed, for each he has a gift;
With heart, and soul, and voice; High above a star is shining, And follow we this joyous birth: See how his eyes awake, lift up your hands, O lift!
Now ye hear of endless bliss: And the Wisemen haste from far: Transeamus. For gold, he gives a keen-edged sword
Joy! Joy! Come, glad hearts, and spirits pining: (Defend with it thy little Lord!)
Jesus Christ was born for this! For you all has risen the star. 3Sir Christèmas For incense, smoke of battle red
He hath oped the heav’nly door, Let us bring our poor oblations, William Mathias (1934-92) Myrrh for the honoured happy dead;
And man is blessed evermore. Thanks and love and faith and praise: Words: traditional Gifts for his children, terrible and sweet,
Christ was born for this! Come, ye people, come, ye nations, Touched by such tiny hands and
All in all draw nigh to gaze. Nowell, nowell! Oh such tiny feet.
Come, ye lofty, come, ye lowly, Who is there that singeth so?
Let your songs of gladness ring; Now to the Lord sing praises, I am here, Sir Christèmas.
In a stable lies the Holy, All you within this place, Welcome, my lord Sir Christèmas!
In a manger rests the King; And with true love and brotherhood Welcome to all, both more and less,
Each other now embrace; Come near, come near.
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5A spotless Rose Then sped my thoughts to keep Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Herbert Howells that first Christmas of all
Words: traditional When the shepherds watching Founded in 1893, the Bournemouth Symphony
by their folds ere the dawn Orchestra has worked with many famous composers,
A spotless Rose is blowing, Heard music in the fields conductors and musicians including Elgar, Sibelius,
Sprung from a tender root, and marvelling could not tell Holst, Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams and Thomas
Of ancient seers’ foreshowing, Whether it were angels Beecham; and more recently with Michael Tippett,
Of Jesse promis’d fruit; or the bright stars singing. John Tavener and Peter Maxwell Davies. Principal
Its fairest bud unfolds to light conductors since the founder Sir Dan Godfrey have
Amid the cold, cold winter, And there were in the same country shepherds abiding included Charles Groves, Constantin Silvestri, Andrew
And in the dark midnight. in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And Litton, Marin Alsop and now the dynamic young
lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory Ukrainian, Kirill Karabits. The BSO has toured
The Rose which I am singing, of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore worldwide, performing at Carnegie Hall, New York,
Whereof Isaiah said, afraid. And the angel said unto them: the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein,
Is from its sweet root springing and Berlin Philharmonie, as well as regular British
In Mary, purest Maid; Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great appearances at the Royal Festival Hall and Royal
For through our God’s great love and might, joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this Photo: Chris Zuidyk Albert Hall in London, the Symphony Hall in
The Blessed Babe she bare us day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Birmingham and the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. The BSO is known internationally through over three
In a cold, cold winter’s night. Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the hundred recordings, and continues to release numerous recordings each year with Naxos. Recent critically
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. acclaimed recordings have included music by Bernstein, Bartók, Sibelius, Glass, Adams and Elgar, and three discs
6In terra pax – Christmas scene featuring arrangements of Mussorgsky, Bach and Wagner by Stokowski were nominated for GRAMMY awards in
Gerald Finzi (1901-56) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Words by Robert Bridges (1844-1930) the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to
and from the Gospel of St Luke God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will Hilary Davan Wetton
toward men.
A frosty Christmas Eve Hilary Davan Wetton has enjoyed a distinguished musical
when the stars were shining But to me heard afar career as both conductor and teacher. Director of Music at
Fared I forth alone it was starry music St Paul’s Girls’ School and then Tonbridge School, he has
where westward falls the hill, Angels’ song, comforting appeared frequently as a guest conductor with the UK’s
And from many a village as the comfort of Christ leading orchestras and was Principal Conductor of the
in the water’d valley When he spake tenderly Milton Keynes Orchestra for more than 30 years. He was
Distant music reach’d me to his sorrowful flock: founder/conductor of the Holst Singers; through this and
peals of bells a-ringing: The old words came to me long-standing associations with the City of London Choir
The constellated sounds by the riches of time and Guildford Choral Society he has conducted all the
ran sprinkling on earth’s floor Mellow’d and transfigured major choral repertoire. A champion of nineteenth- and
As the dark vault above as I stood on the hill twentieth-century British composers, he has conducted
with stars was spangled o’er. Heark’ning in the aspect numerous neglected works and his many recordings have
of th’eternal silence. been critically acclaimed. His disc of Holst’s Choral
Symphonywon the Diapason d’Or in 1994.
Photo: Clive Barda www.hilarydavanwetton.co.uk
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