Griffin Choral Arts welcomes you to our eighteenth season’s Christmas Concert. We are delighted to present for your enjoyment seasonal music to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child. Enjoy!
“Where Shepherds Lately Knelt” c. 1987 by Carl Schalk (1929-2021) and Jaroslav J. Vajda (1919-2008)
This simple, lovely carol reminds us that the shepherds gathered in the manger for the birth of the baby also include pilgrims like us who come in “half-belief”. This baby of promise burns its way into our hearts in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies. This wonderous event in an “unlikely place” includes us in the group for whom this child will one day live and die. Don’t we wonder what our reaction would have been to Magi, shepherds and angels arriving to glorify and worship this baby? Even our extravagant modern Christmases might possibly cover an anxiety that love is not enough. Schalk and Vajda assure us in their sweet carol that Jesus comes to welcome and love all.
Carl Schalk was a noted Lutheran composer who was educated at Eastman School of Music and Concordia Seminary. He served on a commission that produced the Lutheran Book of Worship in 1978. Schalk collaborated with American-Slovak poet Yaroslav Vajda on the music for this text and other hymns. Vajda was the son of a Lutheran pastor who wrote or translated over two hundred hymns that appear in hymnals around the world.
“Mary’s Lullaby” 1978 by John Rutter (b. 1945)
This dreamy, gentle lullaby was written in 1978 for the Clare College Choir, Cambridge. Atmospherically set in the manger in Bethlehem, the gifts of the wise men and the worship of the shepherds honor the divinity of Jesus while Mary’s sweet song reminds us of Jesus’ very real human side: a young mother with her newborn baby. It is one of Rutter’s most popular carols.
John Rutter is an English composer, conductor and record producer. Rutter has been active internationally since serving as the Director of Music at his Alma Mater, Clare College, Cambridge in the 1970s. He founded a professional chamber choir, the Cambridge Singers, in 1983, and also started the Collegium record label as the vehicle by which the Singers could record; they have since produced over fifty recordings. The Archbishop of Canterbury conferred a Lambeth Doctorate of Music on Rutter in 1996. Rutter was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2007 by Queen Elizabeth II and was knighted by King Charles III in 2024. He is an honorary fellow of Westminster Choir College and is a fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians. Rutter is a favorite composer for GCA, particularly for Christmas.
“The Infant King” traditional Basque noel; text by Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924); arrangement by David Willcocks (1919-2015)
The gentle Basque tune of this carol carries listeners from the manger to the cross. Its intimate evocation of the sleeping Child foreshadows the sorrow and pain of the Crucifixion, the purpose for which that baby was born. As the verses progress, echoes of Mary’s crooning at the cradle of her firstborn sound across the weeping at the cross and grave. The carol concludes with the triumph of Easter as death is conquered, coming full circle to the comfort of his mother’s singing.
Sabine Baring-Gould was an Anglican priest, novelist, antiquarian and scholar. Particularly remembered as a composer of hymns (“Onward, Christian Soldiers” and “Now the Day is Over”), Baring-Gould also wrote novels based on medieval myths and West Country. He served as the rector of East Mersea for ten years and in the living of his own estate church in Lewtrenchard in Devon. He organized the first scientific archeological expeditions of hut circles in Dartmoor. A grandson, William Baring-Gould, was a noted Sherlock Holmes scholar who wrote a fictional biography of the Victorian detective. William borrowed extensively from his grandfather’s childhood to make up for a lack of Holmesian information. Sabine-Gould himself was a character in a Holmes pastiche by Laurie King. Father Baring-Gould married Grace Taylor in 1868; they had fifteen children in the forty-eight years of their marriage (he had “Half My Soul” engraved on her tombstone).
Sir David Willcock was a British composer, conductor and organist known especially for his service with King’s College Choir, Cambridge from 1957 to 1974. A number of carol arrangements and descants for the annual service of Lessons and Carols have been published in Carols for Choirs which he edited with John Rutter and Reginald Jacques. Willcocks served with bravery and distinction I the British Army in WWII. Returning to Cambridge at the war, he was elected a Fellow of King’s College. As director, Willcocks oversaw King’s College Choir recorded and toured extensively, garnering international acclaim through radio and television broadcasts. He traveled to the United States frequently as guest conductor. Willcocks served as Director of Music and conducted the Bach Choir at the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
“Do You Her What I Hear?” 1962; music by Gloria Shayne (1923-2008); text by Noel Regney (1922-2002)
Written in 1962 as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis, “Do You Hear?” has sold millions of copies and has been recorded by hundreds of artists. Ironic, since Regney was initially reluctant to write a Christmas song because of the holiday’s commercialism. The verses indirectly recount Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of Matthew but in a shift of perspective never mentioning the Christ by name. The wind speaks to a lamb of a star; the lamb tells his shepherd boy of a song high in the tree. The shepherd boy then speaks confidently to the king in his palace of a child “shivering in the cold” back in the manger worthy of precious gifts. The ultimate verse advances Regney’s message of peace, asking people everywhere to pray for peace being brought by the sleeping Child. Beginning with a simple, quiet accompaniment, the final verse explodes after a key change into a majestic triumph of the Person and Message of the Christ.
In a reversal of their usual composing roles, Regney wrote the lyrics and Shayne composed the music for “Do You Hear”. They were married to each other at the time. Years later, Shayne told an interviewer that performing the entire song, because their emotional reaction to the missile crisis, “…broke [us] up.”
Regney was a French WWII Resistance fighter and songwriter. He wrote the lyrics for “Dominique” from The Singing Nun, among a number of other popular tunes. He also wrote a musical biography of the French writer Colette. He died in 2002. Gloria Shayne was an American composer and songwriter. She was born to a Jewish family and grew up next door to Joe and Rose Kennedy and their children. She moved to New York City in the 1940s, serving as a studio accompanist and as an arranger for Stephen Arsilda and Irving Berlin. She also wrote music and lyrics for the pop hit “Goodbye Cruel World” in 1961. She died of lung cancer in 2008.
Released after Thanksgiving in 1962, the initial 45 rpm single sold more than a quarter-million copies by Christmas that year. The list of major mid-twentieth century recording artists who have covered “Do You Hear” is a Who’s Who (from Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and Robert Goulet to Johnny Mathis and Whitney Houston). Regney said that Goulet’s version was his favorite because of the passion in the last verse.
“Gloria” c. 1715; by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Antonio Vivaldi wrote two extant settings of Gloria in excelsis, RV 588 and RV 589 as noted in the catalog of Vivaldi’s work. None of Vivaldi’s compositions was dated so the date of either Gloria can only be estimated from external sources; each work shows inspiration from each other. RV 589 is the more widely performed and popular of the Gloria settings–GCA will be performing that one tonight. This edition’s first modern performance was in 1939 in Siena; it has since become one of the most popular Baroque works for chorus and orchestra, especially at Christmas. The published version of Gloria differs in several respects from Vivaldi’s manuscript including differences in orchestration, solo voices, textual variations and choral use. For both singers and audiences, Gloria’s virtuosity embodies Baroque music.
Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and Baroque impresario. He ranks beside John Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel as the greatest Baroque composers. He pioneered developments in orchestration and violin technique, consolidating the concerto form for wider acceptance and use. Vivaldi was born in Venice. Because he was baptized immediately after birth, historians have speculated that Vivaldi may have suffered from poor health. He did suffer from strettezza di petto (tightness of the chest or asthma). From an early age, Vivaldi’s father, Giovanni, taught his son violin and possibly composition. Vivaldi was ordained a priest in 1703, age 25, but was soon granted a dispensation from daily Mass because of ongoing health problems. He became master of violin at the Pio Ospedale Viv Pieta (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice; he served there for the next thirty years. Most of Vivaldi’s major works were composed while he worked at the Ospedale. Vivaldi’s talent and reputation brought renown to the girls and women at the Ospedale. The popularity of opera in Venice attracted Vivaldi profitably; he became impresario of the Teatro San Angelo. Vivaldi’s opera of his own creation, Arsilda, regina di Ponto, was presented in 1715. Vivaldi worked in Mantua during the period 1718 to 1722 and composed one of his most famous works, The Four Seasons. In 1728, the Emperor Charles VI invited Vivaldi to move to Vienna, likely to stage operas. Unfortunately, Emperor Charles died the next year leaving Vivaldi without imperial patronage or income. Vivaldi died, impoverished, at age 63.
Vivaldi’s influence is most profoundly known in the style and work of Johann Sebastian Bach, as seen in the St. John Passion and the St. Matthew Passion. Bach also transcribed six of Vivaldi’s concerti.
In the century after his death, Vivaldi’s popularity waned. The early 20th century saw a revival of Vivaldi’s reputation with Fritz Kreisler’s Concerto in C, in the Style of Vivaldi. Academic study of Vivaldi’s oeuvre led to rediscovery of many of his manuscripts. The efforts of Alfredo Casella resulted in the 1939 performance of Gloria. Historically informed performances in the 20th century using period, sometimes even original, instruments saw continued increase in Vivaldi’s popularity. More of Vivald’s manuscripts continue to be rediscovered in the 21st century. In addition, the revival of Vivaldi extends to interest in his life. A 2005 radio play, The Angel and the Red Priest, was later adapted for the stage (Vivaldi was red-haired), along with a 2009 Italian film.
“Go Where I Send Thee” traditional African American spiritual; arranged by Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory
This traditional African American spiritual is known by many Americans as a Christmas carol. The cumulative counting nature of the verses correspond to the pulsating syncopation moving to the insistent climax of the singular “….baby born in Bethlehem”. Every count ends with Biblical references spread throughout Scripture (Paul and Silas, the four gospels, the twelve disciples, ten commandments, etc.). The insistent “Go, go, go” drives the message of this spiritual on which the gospel music tradition is based. In 1934, John Avery and Alan Lomax travelled to Bellwood Labor Camp in Atlanta. and recorded the first known recorded version of the tune in North America. Becoming further distanced from its English forerunner in a 1937 recording, the lyrical developments reference analogies to enslaved Africans. Since the 1930s, this spiritual has been recorded by many music artists.
Caldwell and Ivory have written that they first became aware of this spiritual through the work of Cynthia Wilson Felder of Texas. Caldwell is the Artistic Director of the Men’s and Women’s Choruses of Seattle. His and Ivory’s collaborations have been performed on PBS, at Lincoln Center and across Europe. Their Carnegie Hall debut in 2015 was comprised entirely of their compositions. Sean Ivory is a choral conductor, composer and pianist. His choirs have performed at state and regional conventions for the American Choral Directors Associations and have toured internationally.
“Brightest and Best are the Sons of the Morning” 1811; lyrics by Reginald Heber (1783-1826)’ music by James/John P. Harding (1850-1911)
This Christian hymn was written in 1811 for use at Epiphany. It can be sung to a number of different tunes, but tonight’s performance uses the tune “Morning Star” written by James P. Harding in 1892 and appears in a number of Christian hymnals. Directing our attention to the baby in the manger, the gifts brought in “…costly devotion” are earth’s finest offerings. But even our dearest or rarest gifts cannot match the devotion of loving hearts or the “…prayers of the poor”. Neither shepherds nor wise men can offer anything more precious than their souls or worship.
Reginald Heber was an Anglican priest, scholar and hymn writer. After serving as a country priest 1850-1911) at Hodnett, Heber served as the Bishop of Calcutta from 1823 until 1826. One of his most popular hymns, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty” is sung frequently on Trinity Sunday. A publication of his hymns in 1827 commemorated Bishop Heber in print. Additionally, Bishop Heber’s pioneering commitment to mission fields is honored by the Anglican church on 4 April each year.
James Harding was an organist and choirmaster at St. Andrew’s Church in London for thirty-five years; he also worked in the Inland Revenue Service (Britain’s IRS) for forty-two years. Many of his compositions were written for children’s festivals at the Gifford Hall Mission in Islington, as was the tune of tonight’s selection.
“Peace, Peace” 1969; music and lyrics by Rick and Sylvia Powell; arr. by Fred Bock; “Silent Night” 1818; music by Franz Gruber (1787-1863); lyrics by Joseph Mohr (1792-1848)
Every GCA Christmas concert ends with this touching, harmonic weaving of its opening chorus and “Silent Night”. And we ask you to join singing it with us.
Even more significantly, our Dr. Steve Mulder has ended every Christmas concert in which he has sung or has directed since 1982 when he was a sophomore in high school with “Peace, Peace”. This tradition of ending our Christmas concerts with “Peace, Peace” is our way of thanking you for joining us as we begin this year’s observance of the Coming of the Christ Child.
The interwoven “Silent Night” was written in 1818 by Franz Gruber. Declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011, it is the most recorded Christmas carol in the world.
Rick and Sylvia Powell wrote the words and lyrics in 1963. They have also written additional contemporary compositions for Christian performers like the Gaither Trio, Pat Boone and the Speer Family. Fred Bock arranged the carol; he was church music director for thirty years and owned several music publishing companies. His first company, Gentry Publishing became instantly successful with a choral arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair”.
All of us in Griffin Choral Arts wish you and your family a Christmas season of joy and love.
Happy Advent and Merry Christmas!!
–Patti Morrow, GCA Alto
