Program Notes
Our concert, "Dancing Day", celebrates the joy and wonder of Christmas through a variety of musical traditions. From medieval carols and sacred Latin texts to modern interpretations and reimagining, the program highlights themes of celebration, mystery, and peace. The title, inspired by the carol "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day", reflects the lively spirit of dance and renewal woven throughout the selections. Each piece invites reflection on the Christmas story, its cultural expressions, and our shared human desire for hope, connection, and rejoicing in the season of light.
The carol "Gaudete" (Latin for "Rejoice") originates from Piae Cantiones, a medieval collection of sacred songs published in 1582 in Sweden. Its lively, dance-like refrain, "Gaudete, gaudete! Christus est natus" ("Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is born"), celebrates the arrival of Christ, while the chant-like verses draw on scripture and medieval theology to highlight the joy of salvation. Brian Kay’s arrangement, originally written for the King’s Singers, retains the carol's medieval charm while enhancing it with harmonic richness and rhythmic energy. In 1989, David Overton expanded the arrangement by adding parts for brass quintet for the King’s Singers' album A Little Christmas Music.
"Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" is a traditional English carol, dating to the late 16th or early 17th century. The carol is notable for its use of dance as a metaphor for Christ's life and mission. Narrated in the first person, it recounts events from the Nativity to the Crucifixion, each part of Christ’s "dance" to redeem humanity. This imagery reflects a medieval tradition celebrating the Incarnation as a joyful, communal event.
In 1965, John Gardner (1917–2011), a prolific British composer, created a unique and charming setting of the text with a new tune, highlighting the playfulness of the dance metaphor. Featured in Oxford University Press’s Carols for Choirs 2, Gardner's version has become a perennial favorite for choir Christmas concerts.
Sarah Quartel’s arrangement of "Huron Carol" offers a fresh and evocative interpretation of Canada’s oldest Christmas carol. Originally written in 1642 by Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf, the carol sets the Nativity story within the cultural context of the Huron-Wendat people, using imagery from their world to convey the Christmas message. For example, the carol refers to God as the "Gitchi Manitou,” or Great Spirit, and Christ being born in a lodge and wrapped in rabbit skin. Instead of Magi, hunters and chiefs bring the child gifts of beaver pelts. Quartel, a Canadian composer and arranger, highlights the carol’s haunting beauty with harmonies and flowing lines that evoke a sense of reverence and wonder.
Cecilia McDowall’s "A Winter’s Night" is a 15-minute cantata that blends several beloved Christmas carols with McDowall’s creative re-harmonizations and rhythmic variations. Through imaginative linking passages, she creates a joyful atmosphere, surprising listeners with familiar yet fresh material. McDowall, born in London in 1951, studied at Edinburgh University and Trinity College of Music, London. A frequent short-list nominee for the British Composer Awards, she has received numerous commissions. Her works include orchestral, chamber, and choral pieces. In A Winter’s Night, McDowall incorporates popular carols In dulci Jubilo, O Little One Sweet, Noël nouvelet, Still, Still, Still, and Sussex Carol, reinterpreting them with new harmonies and rhythms. These carols are framed by an introduction and decorative commentary for brass, organ, and percussion, balancing the peace of O Little One Sweet and Still, Still, Still with the more vigorous movements.
"O Magnum Mysterium" (Latin for "O Great Mystery") is one of the most ancient texts in the Christmas liturgical tradition, originating in the 12th century. It reflects on the mystery of the Incarnation, celebrating the paradox of God’s entry into the world as a humble child. The text emphasizes the wonder of Christ’s birth in a manger, surrounded by animals, and calls believers to awe at the Creator becoming human, revealing God's infinite love through humility rather than power. Rene Clausen’s 1990 setting of O Magnum Mysterium is a rich and expressive interpretation of the text, capturing its awe and reverence. Known for lush harmonies, dynamic contrasts, and emotional depth, Clausen’s choral work enhances the ancient hymn with profound musical expression.
"Carol of the Bells/Shchedryk" is a dynamic new arrangement by 19-year-old composer Gordon Badgett, a composition student at Brigham Young University. This reimagining adds rhythmic complexity and unexpected key changes to the well-loved Carol of the Bells melody before transitioning into the original Ukrainian text of Shchedryk. The text tells the story of a swallow bringing tidings of prosperity to a household, heralding the wealth of the coming spring. Traditionally sung on January 13, New Year’s Eve in the Julian calendar (known in Ukraine as Malanka or “Generous Evening”), Shchedryk was introduced to the wider world after the Ukrainian National Chorus performed it at Carnegie Hall in 1922. Peter J. Wilhousky later adapted the song into English as Carol of the Bells, transforming it into a Christmas classic.
From arranger Craig Courtney:
Let There Be Peace on Earth was written by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller in 1955 and is usually associated with the Christmas season. Beautiful music is often born out of loss and suffering. Such was the case with this piece. Jackson, who had been suicidal following the failure of a marriage, wrote the song when she experienced what she called the "life-saving joy of God's peace and unconditional love." My goal as an arranger was to be guided by simplicity in the creation of a visual and aural experience of the spreading of peace. To that end, a soloist begins the anthem and as each successive recipient of that peace shares it with others, singers, choirs and audience members are added so that one has the sense of an exponential accumulation of peace that covers and changes the world. The soloist returns to sing the final phrase as a reminder that peace begins with one person.
Dan Forrest’s arrangement of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" reimagines this cherished Christmas carol with characteristic richness and energy. The text, written by Charles Wesley in 1739, was originally titled Hymn for Christmas Day. Wesley’s opening line, “Hark! How all the welkin rings,” was famously altered by George Whitefield to the now-familiar “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” The carol is paired with the tune Mendelssohn, adapted in 1855 by William H. Cummings from a chorus in Felix Mendelssohn’s 1840 cantata celebrating Johann Gutenberg. Forrest’s vibrant setting includes accompaniment by brass, 4-hand piano, and percussion.