Event

Christmas in Olde England

CHRISTMAS IN OLDE ENGLAND is a holiday program celebrating the English carol tradition, from the gloriously idealized yuletide lore of the Middle Ages to carols and songs of quintessentially English composers, including John Rutter, Peter Warlock, Gustav Holst, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Much of the music on the CHRISTMAS IN OLDE ENGLAND program is from the turn of the 20th century, a time when English holiday traditions created by the Victorians began to take on new meaning and depth for contemporary artists who were exploring the medieval customs and art of their people. Composers were simultaneously reviving the works of the past and composing new music inspired by their research. A rich past-meets-present repertory developed.

The carols sung for CHRISTMAS IN OLDE ENGLAND will alternate with chant and works for solo harp and clarinet, as well as readings from such authors and poets as W.H. Auden, Edwin Muir, and George Herbert.

PROGRAM
Rutter, John: Prelude and Angelus ad virginem, from Dancing Day
Anonymous: There is no rose
Chant: Ecce virgo concipies
Anonymous: Nova, nova
Rutter: Interlude, from Dancing Day
Vaughan Williams, Ralph: The truth from above
Howells, Herbert: A spotless Rose
Rutter: What child is this
Rutter: Tomorrow shall be my dancing day, from Dancing Day
Chant: Puer natus est nobis
Holts, Gustav: Christmas Day
Rutter: Wexford carol
English traditional: O little town of Bethlehem
Rutter: Wild wood carol
Warlock, Peter: Lullaby my Jesus
Rutter: King Jesus hath a garden
Chant: A solis ortus cardine
Vaughan Williams: Down in yon forest
Britten, Benjamin: Hodie Christus natus est, from A Ceremony of Carols