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A
Saint James Christmas
The
St. James Choir
The
St. James Male Choir
The
St. James Orchestra
Betty
Rice, soprano soloist
Rev.
Canon Rod Gillis, reader
Dr.
David Wilson, music director and organist
CD
design and Front Photo: Tony Murphy
Christmas
is a time for celebration and contemplation. The Anglican
tradition allows for both those aspects, with its contemplation of
the prophecies and the promise of Christ, and then the announcements
of, and joyously, Christ's coming itself.
St.
James Church, with a long tradition of fine music, has always had
Christmas as one of the year's high points. And the St. James
musical organizations, the St. James Choir, the Male Choir, and the
Orchestra are happy to share the music of Christmas in this more
permanent form.
The
scene is set with Redner's beautiful description of a silent Bethlehem
unknowingly awaiting the great event, followed by Corelli's lovely Concerto
for the Night of Christmas depicting the shepherds in the
fields in their variant moods and ending with a peaceful pastorale
as they watch their sheep at night.
The
coming of Christ was foretold many centuries before in the writings
of the prophets as we are reminded in two old German carols, Long
Ago, Prophets Knew, and the ever popular Lo How a Rose
e'er Blooming, depicting Christ as the rose or flower coming
from the stem or lineage of Jesse, the father of King David,
presented in both a choral and an organ version. The ancient
plainsong O Come, O Come Emmanuel well portrays the
longing for the coming of the Saviour.
The
time of Christ's birth was presaged by the appearance of the angel
to Mary, aptly told in the Basque carol The Angel Gabriel and
Christ's ministry itself by the preaching of John the Baptist retold
in the English On Jordan's Bank. The associated
organ pieces both date from the 18th century, Bach's lovely setting
of the German carol In Dulci Jubilo, "In
Sweetest Joy", known to us also with the English words
"Good Christian Men, Rejoice and Sing", and Balbastre's
variations on the French carol O Glorious Day.
Our
musical celebration of the birth begins with Bach's tender O
Little One Sweet followed by the equally tender Pastorale
Symphony from Handel's beloved Messiah, depicting the peace
of the shepherds in the fields. Franz Gruber's simple, yet
majestic Silent Night takes us through the angels'
appearance to those shepherds, leading to the joy of the Sussex
Carol, a traditional English carol in modern dress, and to
Mendelssohn's magnificent Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!
Christ
has come, and the world rejoices!
1.
O Little Town of Bethlehem - Lewis Redner / arr. D.
Wilson [3:36]
The
St. James Choir
2.
A Concerto for the Night of Christmas - Archangelo
Corelli [11:26]
Vivace:
Grave
Adagio
Vivace
Allegro:
Pastorale
The
St. James Orchestra
3.
Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 [0:54]
4.
Long Ago Prophets Knew - German / arr. Malcolm
Archer [2:49]
The
Combined Choirs
5.
O Come, O Come Immanuel - Traditional Plainsong / arr.
D. Wilson [3:06]
The
Male Choir
6.
Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming - Michael Praetorius
[1:57]
The
St. James Choir
7.
Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming - Johannes Brahms
[2:44]
Organ
8.
Luke 1:26-33 [1:11]
9.
The Angel Gabriel - Basque Carol /arr. Theron
Kirk [2:49]
The
St. James Choir
10.
In Dulci Jubilo - Johann Sebastian Bach [2:15]
Organ
11.
Mark 1:1-8 [1:11]
12.
On Jordan's Bank, the Baptist's Cry - German / arr.
Malcolm Archer [2:15]
The
Combined Choirs
13.
O Glorious Day! - Jean Balbastre [4:16]
Organ
14.
Matthew 1:18-23 [1:11]
15.
O Little One Sweet - German / arr. J.S. Bach
[1:35]
The
St. James Choir
16.
Pastorale Symphony (Messiah) - George Frideric Handel
[2:52]
The
St. James Orchestra
17.
Silent Night, Holy Night - Franz Gruber [4:01]
The
St. James Choir
18.
The Sussex Carol - English /arr. David Wilcox
[1:54]
The
St. James Choir
19.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! - Felix
Mendelssohn [2:16]
The
Combined Choirs
Recorded
and Produced by Tony Murphy - February, August 2005
St. James Orchestra recording: Pat Martin
Ó
Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved
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