CHAMBER CHOIR 

Going Over Home, Arr. Sonja Poorman

A combination of both Wayfarin' Stranger and Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child, this piece is influenced both by African American spirituals and Appalachian folk music. Sonja Poorman masterfully overlays these two pieces, with an inventive and moving piano line. 

Chamber Choir recently performed this piece in Edmonton, where they were featured performers at Music Conference Alberta, in October 2023.

CHAMBER CHOIR

Mary, Did You Know, B. Greene & M. Lowry, arr. Pentatonix, trans. R. Emerson

Songwriter Mark Lowry had written the words to “Mary, Did You Know?” in 1984 as part of the script for a church Christmas play. For years Lowry looked for the right musical setting, without success. It wasn’t until 1991, after he had joined the Gaither Vocal Band, that Lowry showed the lyrics to Buddy Greene, a renowned southern gospel songwriter who was touring with the band that year, and Greene quickly penned the music for the song. “Mary, Did You Know?” was first recorded by Michael English, one of Lowry’s fellow band-members, and has since been covered by hundreds of singers in a broad variety of styles, becoming a treasured Christmas classic.

This arrangement is pulled directly from the Pentatonix Christmas recording, complete with beat-boxing and five part harmonies.

Deck the Halls in 7/8, arr. James McKelvy

Playing with traditional harmonies in mixed metre, this rollicking arrangement of Deck the Halls will leave you wondering if the piece was always intended to be sung in 7/8 time! Try singing along and experience the wild delight of Deck the Halls in 7/8.

TREBLE CHOIR

Gaudete! Gaudete! from Piae Cantiones, 1582;  arr. L. Walter

It is believed that the sacred Christmas carol 'Gaudete' was composed in the 16th century and was first published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs dating to 1581.

'Gaudete' is written in a style typical of a medieval song of praise with a series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain. 

Latin Text:

Gaudete, gaudete! Christus est natus Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!

Tempus adest gratiæ Hoc quod optabamus, Carmina lætitiæ Devote reddamus.

Deus homo factus est Natura mirante, Mundus renovatus est A Christo regnante.

Ezechielis porta Clausa pertransitur, Unde lux est orta Salus invenitur.

Ergo nostra contio Psallat iam in lustro; Benedicat Domino: Salus Regi nostro.

Translation:

Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is born Of the Virgin Mary – Rejoice!

The time of grace has come— What we have wished for; Songs of joy Let us give back faithfully.

God has become man, With nature marvelling, The world has been renewed By the reigning Christ.

The closed gate of Ezekiel Is passed through, Whence the light is risen; Salvation has been found.

Therefore, let our assembly Now sing in brightness Let it bless the Lord: Salvation to our King.

COMBINED CHOIRS

Hallelujah! Chorus, from Messiah, G.F. Handel 

The Hallelujah Chorus from George Frideric Handel’s Messiah may be one the most easily recognized works of classical music in today’s popular culture. For example, towards the end of the movie “Dumb and Dumber” (with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels), when our two idiotic heroes seem to have hit rock bottom, the Hallelujah Chorus is played as a large charter bus—full of models on their national bikini tour—pulls over to pick them up. Despite the singular fame of this piece, Handel (1685-1759) is by no means a one-trick pony: he rightfully earned his place as one of the greatest composers of the early 1700s with a considerable number of large-scale masterpieces to his credit. Perhaps only Johann Sebastian Bach (born the same year as Handel) is more highly regarded from the musical Baroque era.

Handel grew up in Halle, Germany (formerly Prussia) with an unquenchable thirst to learn music. At first Handel’s father wasn’t too keen on the idea of his son studying music, so the young Handel would secretly practice the clavichord up in the attic. (A clavichord is similar to a harpsichord, but smaller and more delicate sounding.) Upon recognizing his son’s gifts, he relented and got him proper music lessons on the organ. As Handel entered adulthood, he moved to Hamburg, and then to Italy, where he was exposed to the great operas of the time. In 1709 Handel established his reputation in front of an international public with tremendously successful performances of his comic opera Agrippina. It was also around this time that Italian opera was becoming quite popular in England. Handel, now armed with Italian opera cred, visited, and eventually settled down in London as a German composer of Italian opera.

So how did Handel make his way from Italian opera to composing Messiah, a work that uses English text from the King James Bible? In the 1730s and 1740s, the London audiences’ appetite for Italian opera was already beginning to diminish, and Handel pivoted his creative energies to un-staged dramatic works, many with biblical subjects. (Think: opera, but without the acting and only the singing.) Out of Handel’s 25 oratorios, Messiah is the ninth, composed in 1741, and was successfully premiered in Dublin as a charity benefit concert. It went on to receive additional performances in 1743 at London’s Convent Garden Theatre to mixed reviews: many critics felt that it was inappropriate for sacred music to be performed in a secular playhouse.

–David H. Johnson

Why do we stand when the Hallelujah Chorus is sung?

If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands (or maybe millions) of people attending a performance of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah this holiday season, you may find yourself rising to your feet at the opening sounds of the famed “Hallelujah” chorus. That kind of audience behavior is an outlier in the concert hall — imagine the listeners rising to their feet at the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

So, how did this become tradition? Well, here’s the thing — we honestly don’t know. The most accepted reason is that King George II stood up during the chorus at the Messiah’s 1743 London premiere. Unfortunately, we weren't around back then to fact-check any of the reasons given for that ascendant, magisterial behavior. Some believe the king was so moved by the music that he stood up to show his reverence. And, since it was considered good etiquette to stand when the king stood, the audience had to follow suit.  

A few medical-related theories have also circulated for some time. Author Philip Howard mentions one of these in his book, The British Library: A Treasure House of Knowledge. "The King rose to his feet," Howard began, "possibly because of a bad case of pins and needles or gout, rather than an outburst of royal emotion inspired by the music."

But Julian Wachner, the music director of the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, believes in a much more practical answer: The Messiah is really long, and after two hours of music the king just really wanted to stretch his legs. Maybe it’s not romantic, but it does make sense. One other thing about this standing business — the first written mention of King George standing during the Messiah doesn’t occur until several decades after the premiere, raising the question of whether or not it happened at all. Or was the king perhaps napping during the long opening of the Oratorio - and was he suddenly awakened when the loud chorus began - startled and jumping to his feet.

The reason for standing during the famous chorus is a mystery. But whatever it may be, it continues to be a staple of Christmas music traditions. Hallelujah. 

Cardinal Singers

Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth, arr. J. Althouse

"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" is a Christmas song performed by English singer-songwriter David Bowie and American singer Bing Crosby. Recorded on 11 September 1977 at ATV Elstree Studios near London for Crosby's television special Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas, the song features Crosby singing 1941 standard "The Little Drummer Boy" while Bowie sings the counterpoint tune "Peace on Earth", written by the special's musical supervisors Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman, and scriptwriter Buz Kohan, specifically for the collaboration. The duet was one of Crosby's final recordings before his death in October 1977.

Following the special's broadcast during the 1977 holiday season, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" went unavailable for many years. It was eventually released as a single by RCA Records in November 1982 and was a commercial success, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart. It was Crosby's final popular hit. It became one of the best-selling singles of Bowie's career, with total estimated sales over 400,000 in the UK alone. The song has since become a Christmas classic in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom and has been referred to by The Washington Post as "one of the most successful duets in Christmas music history".

wind ensemble

Lux Aurumque, E. Whitacre 

Lux Aurumque began its life as an a cappella choral work that Eric Whitacre wrote in the fall of 2000. When the Texas Music Educators Association and a consortium of bands commissioned hiim to adapt it for symphonic winds, he rewrote the climax and included the grand “Bliss” theme from his opera Paradise Lost.

Lux Aurumque received its premiere at the 2005 conference of the Texas Music Educators Association, and is dedicated with deep admiration for Eric’s dear friend Gary Green.

The original text of the choral work translates to:

Light,
warm and heavy as pure gold
and the angels sing softly
to the new-born baby.

Swirling Prisms, B. Balmages

This innovative work uses astonishing colors to convey the abstract concept of optical prisms spinning freely in space while reflecting light in numerous directions. With a strong nod toward Impressionism, the music has a significant focus on harmony, texture and orchestration.