A Ceremony of Carols

PROGRAM
Conducted by Dr. Ann Stephenson-Moe
Giuseppina Ciarla, Harpist

A CEREMONY OF CAROLS
BENJAMIN BRITTEN

FOUR ENGLISH CAROLS
GUSTAV HOLST

DANCING DAY
JOHN RUTTER

CHRISTMAS DAY
GUSTAV HOLST

Benjamin Britten composed his A Ceremony of Carols while on a 1942 sea voyage from America to Britain. The text, in eleven movements, is taken from The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems, edited by Gerald Bullett. Originally conceived as a series of unrelated songs, it was later unified into a single work with the inclusion of a Processional and Recessional in unison based on the Gregorian antiphon “Hodie Christus Natus est. A harp solo based on the chant, along with a few other motifs from “Wolcum Yole” serve to unify the work.

Gustav Holst composed his Four Old English Carols in 1907, at 33. Best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, he composed many other works across a range of genres, although none achieved comparable success. His distinctive compositional style was the product of many influences, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss being the most crucial early in his development. The subsequent inspiration of the English folksong revival of the early 20th century, and the example of such rising modern composers as Maurice Ravel, led Holst to develop and refine an individual style.

John Rutter was requested by a harpist to write a work as a companion to Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, or possibly the latter work’s replacement. The work opens with a movement for a solo harp, which also shines in a solo movement halfway through the job.

Christmas Day – a choral fantasy on old carols was written in 1910. A number of well-known carols are used in this ‘fantasy.’ Throughout the piece, the composer uses ‘God rest you, merry gentlemen,’ ‘The First Nowell’ and a traditional melody derived from Brittany used to set the words ‘Come ye lofty; come ye lonely.’