"A Celebration of Lessons and Carols" (in the planning stages)
A complete church service for the Christmas season, including selected readings from Scripture and brand-new carol arrangements scored for choir, soprano soloist, chamber orchestra, and organ. Includes congregational participation during the hymns and responsive readings.
Information about "A Celebration of Lessons and Carols"Tentative Plans
Differences Between This Piece and "A Symphony of Carols"
Carols Featured in the Service
My own "Celebration of Lessons and Carols" will be modeled rather loosely after the famous service of "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols," held every year at King's College, Cambridge, but with my own arrangements of carols and my own selection of Scripture readings.
"A Celebration of Lessons and Carols" will be scored for SATB choir, soprano soloist, and a chamber orchestra consisting of 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet, 1 bassoon, 1 percussionist (on simple instruments such as triangle and glockenspiel), harp, keyboardist (who will play organ and piano), and strings (3, 3, 2, 2, 1). Further down the road, I plan on making an alternate version that does not require strings.
VARIETY OF MUSICAL STYLES
I'm planning on using many different musical styles in my carol arrangements, which will add variety to the overall program. Almost every carol in this service will have its own unique style and mood, from the Baroque setting of "Ding Dong! Merrily on High" to the lush, Romantic arrangement of "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
SUITABILITY OF CAROLS FOR THE CONCERT SETTING
If desired, any of these individual carols will be able to be performed separately, either in a church or a concert setting.
"A Celebration of Lessons and Carols" will be similar in some ways to "A Symphony of Carols," but will differ in some important aspects:
- "A Symphony of Carols" is written in one long movement and is rather technically challenging for the instrumentalists, whereas "A Celebration of Lessons and Carols" will contain carol arrangements that are free-standing and are somewhat easier to perform.
- The chamber orchestra for "A Symphony of Carols" is rather large (for a church setting) and cannot be reduced, whereas the chamber orchestra for "A Celebration of Lessons and Carols" is smaller to begin with, and can be reduced even further to a handful of instruments in the second version of the orchestration that I plan on making down the road.
- There are differences in character due to the different intentions of the two works. "A Symphony of Carols" was designed to be showy and dramatic, making it a piece of music that stands on its own. By contrast, "A Celebration of Lessons and Carols" is a complete church service, so the carols "share the stage" with the other elements of the service, such as the Scripture readings.
- While I think "A Symphony of Carols" has its place as the centerpiece of an all-music church service in larger churches that can accommodate the large chamber orchestra, I think that "A Celebration of Lessons and Carols" will be a simpler and more "practical" set of carol arrangements for most churches.
"Blessed Be That Maid Mary" (organ prelude)
(Note: I had already written this organ piece for a previous church service, but
I'm planning on using it as the prelude for the "Celebration of Lessons and Carols" service. You can hear a sound clip of the entire piece, below.)
- Hear a sound clip of "Blessed Be That Maid, Mary" in its entirety
(Note: This recording was made during the offertory of a church service, so it's a bit "noisy" in places.)
"Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" (congregational hymn)
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (choir)
"Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" (choir)
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" (choir)
"Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming" (congregational hymn)
"The Seven Joys of Mary" (choir)
"The Angel Gabriel" (choir)
"A Virgin Most Pure" (choir)
"Christmas Interlude" (offertory performed by the chamber orchestra, containing "I Saw Three Ships" and snippets of other carols)
"Sweet Was the Song the Virgin Sang" (a new setting of the traditional text) (soprano soloist and choir)
"Ding Dong! Merrily on High" (choir)
"Angels from the Realms of Glory" (congregational hymn)
"Sing All Men! 'Tis Christmas Morning" (a new setting of a traditional Kentucky text) (choir)
(Note: I had already written this carol for a church service called "A Wreath of Carols." Click here for more information about this carol.)
"In the Bleak Midwinter" (choir)
"Unto Us a Child Is Born" (choir)
"Joy to the World" (congregational hymn)
"In Dulci Jubilo" (organ postlude — and by the way, an original setting of my own, not the traditional Bach arrangement!)
