"Sing We Noel! — A Service of Lessons and Carols"
A complete service of Lessons and Carols, including selected readings from Scripture and brand-new carol and hymn arrangements scored for choir, chamber orchestra, and organ. (Duration is ca. 75 minutes.)
NOTES: Each carol in this set is also available for individual use, either in a church or concert setting.
To hear sound clips of some of these carol arrangements, and to check on the availability of the CD recording of this service, please check my new blog.
INFORMATION ABOUT "SING WE NOEL!"
Performing the Carol Arrangements
Description of the Service of Lessons and Carols
Instrumentation Notes // Instrumentation
PERFORMING THE CAROL ARRANGEMENTS
If you're interested in performing this service of lessons and carols (or any of the individual carols), please contact me to learn more about the work.
Please note that you may perform the service in its entirety (as described in the Program Outline below), or you may select any number of individual carol arrangements from it, since each carol is a stand-alone piece. Each carol arrangement is suitable for performance in either a church or concert setting.
Please note that the instrumental parts are quite a bit more demanding than the choral parts, so I would highly recommend the hiring of professional players for the chamber orchestra.
DESCRIPTION OF "SING WE NOEL!" :
A SERVICE OF LESSONS & CAROLS
BASED ON THE FAMOUS "FESTIVAL"
My own "Festival of Lessons and Carols" is 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. And since I scored the accompaniment for chamber orchestra + organ, instead of just organ, the arrangements are a bit more elaborate than those you might be familiar with from the King's College program. The entire service is around 75 minutes in length, containing around 40 minutes of music.
A TRIBUTE TO MY FATHER
This work was written as a special tribute to my father, Richard Bloesch, who has been Director of Music at the Congregational United Church of Christ since 1971, and will be retiring from that position in June of this year. I was thrilled to have this opportunity to honor both him AND my mother, Ethel Bloesch, who's been an invaluable assistant to him in planning and coordinating the church's music programs for the last 40 years.
DIVERSITY OF MUSIC WITHIN THE PROGRAM
In order to create an interesting and varied program of music, I've taken great care to select carols and hymns that will create a pleasing flow of varying moods, styles, and orchestrations. Stylistically, my carol arrangements range from a gentle setting of the lovely tune "In the Bleak Midwinter" to a jaunty, fast-paced arrangement of "the Seven Joys of Mary," and from a robust and extroverted setting of "Go, Tell It on the Mountain" to an introspective but fervent setting of Wither's Rocking Hymn ("Sweet Baby, Sleep").
PROGRAM OUTLINE FOR "SING WE NOEL!"
Duration of entire service: Around 75 minutes
A note on the MUSIC: All the music in this service is arranged and orchestrated by Peter Bloesch. In addition, four of the pieces feature entirely original music by Peter Bloesch: "Sing We All!," "Sweet Baby, Sleep," "There Is No Rose of Such Virtue," and the Postlude (a toccata on "Of the Father's Love Begotten").
A note on the READINGS: All the readings for this service (including the prayers) have been compiled by Peter Bloesch, and make use of the NIV version of the Bible. While you're very welcome to use them in your own performance of the service, you're certainly free to supply your own readings or prayers and to use any version of the Bible you feel the most comfortable with. Let me know if you'd like to see the readings that I've compiled for this service and I'll be happy to share them with you.
COMPLETE PROGRAM:
Welcome (given by the Minister)
Congregational Hymn: "Prepare the Way, O Zion"
Verses 1 & 2 performed exactly as from the hymnal, with an original setting by Peter Bloesch for verse 3. Verse 3 features a new accompaniment for organ and a new descant for sopranos (reinforced by flute and trumpet) — ca. 2:30 (2 mins., 30 seconds) in length
Bidding Prayer (given by the Minister)
Choir: "Sing We All! 'Tis Christmas Morning!"
A jaunty piece for choir and organ, featuring original music by Peter Bloesch, and using a traditional Appalachian text from the state of Kentucky — ca. 2:20
Lesson 1: The prophet Isaiah proclaims good news to a people in Exile.
(Is. 9:1-2, 6-7, and Is. 35:10)
Choir: "On This Day Earth Shall Ring"
A rousing and vigorous setting that brings out the medieval flavor of the tune, making use of the tambourine to evoke a dance-like feel — ca. 2:30
Lesson 2: The Lord will live among us — let us rejoice and sing!
(Is. 7:14 and Zeph. 3:14-17)
Choir: "The Holly and the Ivy"
A charming piece featuring woodwind soli in the introduction and the bridges, with the organ playing a surprise quotation of a famous Bach piece near the end of the piece — ca. 3:30
Lesson 3: The peace that Christ will bring is foreshown.
(Is. 11:1-3, 6-9)
Choir: "See, Amid the Winter's Snow"
A gentle arrangement that evokes a feeling of peace and tranquility, including an extended orchestral ending that features a horn solo and lush strings — ca. 4:35
Congregational Hymn: "Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming"
Not arranged at all -- simply the straightforward but beloved version found in your hymnal — ca. 2:15
Lesson 4: The angel Gabriel salutes the Virgin Mary.
(Luke 1:26-38)
Choir: "The Seven Joys of Mary"
A fast-paced, jaunty arrangement of this delightful traditional English carol
— ca. 3:00
Lesson 5: St. Luke tells of the birth of Jesus.
(Luke 2:1, 3-7)
Choir: "Sweet Baby, Sleep"
A fervent setting of the 1641 poem by George Wither, with original music by Peter Bloesch — ca. 5:20
Lesson 6: The angels announce the birth of Jesus.
(Luke 2:8-14)
Choir: "Ding Dong! Merrily on High"
A colorfully orchestrated setting of this charming carol. (Note: This setting is also available in a version for piano-only accompaniment.) — ca. 3:45
Congregational Hymn: "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear"
An original organ accompaniment for congregational singing, done in a rather "Romantic" style (a la Mendelssohn), for verses 1-2 of the hymn — ca. 2:35
Lesson 7: The shepherds go to the manger.
(Luke 2:15-19)
Choir: "In the Bleak Midwinter"
A subtle but moving arrangement that is inspired by the serenity of the text — ca. 6:15
Lesson 8: The wise men seek the Christ Child.
(Matt. 2:1-12)
Choir: "Go, Tell It on the Mountain!"
A robust setting done in 9/8 that's inspired by the simple but energetic shape-note songs of early America — ca. 3:00
Lesson 9: St. John unfolds the great mystery of the Incarnation.
(John 1:1-5, 14, 18)
Choir: "There Is No Rose of Such Virtue"
An a cappella piece (with optional organ accompaniment) that features original music by Peter Bloesch. A simple but haunting melody provides a chant-like feel designed to evoke the mysterious ancient text — ca. 3:00
Closing Prayer (given by the Minister)
Congregational Hymn: "Joy to the World"
A dramatic and somewhat "Hollywood" style hymn setting, featuring a fugue for the choir on verse 2 and a brief, majestic coda for the choir after verse 3 — ca. 2:40
Blessing (given by the Minister)
Postlude (for organ solo): Toccata on "Of the Father's Love Begotten"
An original piece by Peter Bloesch. This jubilant organ piece would make a dramatic ending to any Christmastide service — ca. 2:10
INSTRUMENTATION FOR "SING WE NOEL!"
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON INSTRUMENTATION
If you're considering performing this work, please carefully read the instrumentation list below. At some point in the future, I plan on revising all of the individual pieces for either a piano-only or organ-only accompaniment, but currently you must have all of the musicians listed below in order to perform most of the pieces in this work.
The following pieces, however, are currently suitable for performance without the chamber orchestra:
> "Sing We All! 'Tis Christmas Morning" (scored for choir and organ)
> "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" (an organ accompaniment for congregational singing)
> "There Is No Rose of Such Virtue" (an a cappella piece, which has an optional organ part doubling the voices)
> Toccata on "Of the Father's Love Begotten" (an organ solo)
> "Ding Dong! Merrily on High" is arranged for choir and chamber orchestra for this service (and I would recommend doing this version if you have a chamber orchestra), but there's also a version for choir and piano available, if you're interested in that.
CHOIR: SATB choir (with a brief soprano solo in verse 4 of "See Amid the Winter's Snow"). A minimum of 40 singers is recommended.
Note: The instrumental parts are quite a bit more demanding than the choral parts, so I would highly recommend the hiring of professional players for the chamber orchestra.
WINDS: 1 Flute (doubling Piccolo), 1 Oboe, 1 Clarinet (playing clarinets in Bb and A),
1 Bassoon, 1 Horn, 1 Trumpet in C.
STRINGS: A minimum of 4, 4, 2, 2, 1. (But as always, the more strings, the better!)
HARP
KEYBOARD: Only 1 keyboardist is required: The organist is asked to play the organ for most of the pieces, but plays piano for three of them. Note: The organ part contains several passages that use the "chimes" stop, as there are no chimes called for in the percussion part. NOTE: I'm in the process of creating a single synth part which would make these arrangements playable by groups that do not have an organ and/or piano.
PERCUSSION: 1 Percussionist on the following instruments: Glockenspiel, Triangle, Finger Cymbal, Tambourine, Suspended Cymbal, Piatti (crashed cymbals), and Mark Tree. NOTE: I'm in the process of adding an optional 2nd percussion part, which would include things like timpani, chimes, and snare drum.
