The Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life and the Middlebury College Choir present
A Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas
An annual celebration of traditional Christmas music and biblical texts of the season
Euángelos, oil on panel, © Katie Runde 2020
Mark R. Orten
Dean of Spiritual and Religious Life
Jeffrey Buettner
Conductor, Middlebury College Choir
Sunday, December 10, 2023 | 4:00 and 7:00 pm Middlebury College Chapel
This event is open to the public. Donations will be accepted for local charities. ASL Interpreter 4:00 pm only. Large print program available.
Lessons and Carols FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS The Carillon George Matthew Jr., College Carillonneur Angelina Como-Mosconi ’25 Graydon Hanson ’26 The Prelude Vom Himmel Hoch, Da Komm Ich Her (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come) Johann Pachelbel Magnificat (Song of Mary) Marcel Dupré Prelude on ‘Irby’ (Once in Royal David’s City) David Willcocks Jeffrey Buettner, Organist *Processional Hymn Once in Royal David’s City (Choir and Congregation) 1. (Naomi Clark ’24, soloist) Once in royal David’s city Stood a lowly cattle shed, Where a mother laid her baby In a manger for his bed: Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child. 2. (Choir) He came down to earth from heaven Who is God and Lord of all, And his shelter was a stable, And his cradle was a stall. With the poor and mean and lowly Lived on earth our Savior holy.
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3. (Choir and Congregation) And through all his wondrous childhood He would honor and obey, Love, and watch the lowly maiden, In whose gentle arms he lay: Christian children all must be Mild, obedient, good as he. 4. For he is our childhood’s pattern, Day by day like us he grew. He was little, weak, and helpless, Tears and smiles like us he knew. And he feeleth for our sadness, And he shareth in our gladness.
5. And our eyes at last shall see him, Through his own redeeming love, For that child so dear and gentle Is our Lord in heaven above; And he leads his children on To the place where he is gone.
6. Not in that poor lowly stable, With the oxen standing by, We shall see him; but in heaven Set at God’s right hand on high; When like stars his children crowned All in white shall wait around.
Words by Cecil Francis Alexander, 1848; music by H. J. Gauntlett; setting by David Willcocks)
The Bidding Prayer The Lord’s Prayer Choir Conditor Alme Siderum Sarum Plainsong (7th–14th c.) Creator of the stars of night, your people’s everlasting light O Christ, redeemer of us all, we pray you hear us when we call. First Lesson Genesis 3:8–13, 22–24 Sebastian Holbrook ’26 (4:00 p.m.) Aria Kamal ’27 (7:00 p.m.) Choir Adam Lay Ybounden Ben Parry (2019) Adam lay ybounden, Bounden in a bond; Four thousand winter Thought he not too long.
Ne had the apple taken been, The apple taken been, Never our Lady Abeen heavn’e queen.
And all was for an apple, An apple that he took. As clerkes finden Written in their book.
Blessed be the time That apple taken was; Therefore we moun singen Deo gratias! (Thanks be to God!)
Words 15th century English (anonymous)
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Second Lesson Isaiah 9:2, 6–7 Will Nash, Professor of American Studies/ English and American Literatures (4:00 p.m.) Frank van Gansbeke, Executive Scholar in Residence (7:00 p.m.) *Advent Hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Choir and Congregation) 1. O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Refrain 2. O come, O Wisdom from on high, who orders all things mightily; to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go. Refrain
3. O come, O Dayspring, from on high, and cheer us by your drawing nigh; disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight. Refrain 4. O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind; O bid our sad divisions cease, and be for us the Prince of Peace. Refrain
Refrain Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanual shall come to thee, O Israel. (Text from Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, Cologne; 1710; music from a 15th-century French Processional)
Third Lesson Isaiah 40:1–8 Maria Watters, Director of Event Management Madalyn Shaw ’25 *Advent Hymn: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come (Choir and Congregation) 1. From heaven above to earth I come To bear good news to every home; Glad tidings of great joy I bring Whereof I now will say and sing: 2. To you this night is born a child Of Mary, chosen mother mild; • 4 •
This little child, of lowly birth, Shall be the joy of all your earth. 3. G lory to God in highest heaven, Who unto us this child has given! While angels sing with joyful mirth A glad new year to all the earth.
(Martin Luther, 1535; translation by Catherine Winkworth)
Choir Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day John Gardener (1965) Tomorrow shall be my dancing day; I would my true love did so chance To see the legend of my play, To call my true love to my dance; Refrain (sung after each verse) Sing, oh! my love, oh! my love, my love, my love, This have I done for my true love. Then was I born of a virgin pure, Of her I took fleshly substance Thus was I knit to man’s nature To call my true love to my dance. In a manger laid, and wrapped I was So very poor, this was my chance Betwixt an ox and a silly poor ass To call my true love to my dance. Then afterwards baptized I was; The Holy Ghost on me did glance, My Father’s voice heard I from above, To call my true love to my dance. (Traditional English carol text)
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Fourth Lesson Isaiah 11:1–9 Nicole Chance, Assistant Director, International Programs (4:00 p.m.) Sophia Calvi, Director of Programs at Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest (7:00 p.m.) *Hymn: Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming (Choir and Congregation) 1. Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse’s lineage coming as seers of old have sung. It came, a blossom bright, amid the cold of winter, When half spent was the night.
2. Isaiah ‘twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind, With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind. To show God’s love aright she bore to us a Savior When half spent was the night.
(15th century German text, trans. Theodore Baker; German traditional melody, harmony by Michael Praetorius, 1609)
Choir Alleluia! A New Work Is Come On Hand Ghislane Reece-Trapp (2017) A new work is come on hand Through might and grace of Goddes son, To save the lost of every land, For now is free that erst was bound. We may well sing Alleluya! Now is fulfilled the prophecy Of David and of Jeremy And also of Isaiah. Sing we therefore both loud and high Alleluya! This sweete song Out of a green branch it sprung. God send us the life that lasteth long, Now joy and bliss be him among. That thus can sing Alleluya! (Medieval English text)
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Fifth Lesson Luke 1:26–33, 38 Katie Runde Sanchez, Affiliate Christian Chaplain (4:00 and 7:00 p.m.) Choir When Angels Sing Mark Miller (2020) Within each lifetime an angel’s voice is heard; celestial sounds pierce time and space. For just a moment, the breathless beauty of heaven’s song reveals God’s grace. Peace in our hearts, peace when angels sing, Peace, be still and listen, heart. Listen when angels sing. Despite our sorrow, the dawn brings life anew; and raging storms begin to cease. For just a moment, the breathless beauty of heaven’s song brings us peace. (Poetry by Herb Frombach)
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Sixth Lesson Luke 2:1–7 Dante Aguilar ’26 (4:00 p.m.) Brian Lee ’24.5 (7:00 p.m.) *Hymn: Away In a Manger (Choir and Congregation) 1. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head; the stars in the heavens looked down where He lay, the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. 2. The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes. I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky and stay by my side until morning is nigh.
3. B e near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay close by me forever, and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, and fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there.
(Words anonymous; tune “Cradle Song” by William Kirkpatrick, 1895)
Choir Go Tell It On the Mountain Stacey Gibbs (2012) Refrain: Go, tell it on the mountain, o’er the hills and everywhere. Go, tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born. When I was a seeker, I sought both night and day. I asked the Lord to help me, and He showed me the way. Refrain They found a lowly manger, where humble Christ was born, And God sent our salvation that blessed Christmas morn. Refrain (Christmas Spiritual)
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Seventh Lesson Luke 2:8–20 Stephanie Neil, Executive Assistant to the President (4:00 p.m.) Angela Izi ’24 (7:00 p.m.) *Hymn: Angels We Have Heard On High (Choir and Congregation) 1. A ngels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains, And the mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains. Gloria in excelsis Deo!
3. C ome to Bethlehem and see Christ whose birth the angels sing; Come adore on bended knee, Christ, the Lord, the newborn King. Gloria in excelsis Deo!
2. Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? What the gladsome tidings be, Which inspire your heavenly song? Gloria in excelsis Deo!
4. S ee him in a manger laid, Whom the choirs of angels praise; Mary, Joseph, lend your aid, While our hearts in love we raise. Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Eighth Lesson Matthew 2:1-12 Artrianna Freeman ’25.5 (4:00 p.m.) Melissa Hammerle, Assistant Professor of Education Studies (7:00 p.m.) *Hymn: Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow 1. ( Choir and Congregation) There’s a star in the East on Christmas morn; Rise up, shepherd, and follow; It will lead to the place where the Christ was born; Rise up, shepherd, and follow. Refrain: Follow, follow, rise up, shepherd, and follow. Follow the Star of Bethlehem; rise up, shepherd, and follow. 2. ( Call and Response) Choir: Leave your sheep, and leave your lambs;
Congregation: Rise up, shepherd, and follow; Choir: Leave your ewes and leave your rams; Congregation: Rise up, shepherd, and follow. Refrain 3. I f you take good heed to the angel’s words; Rise up, shepherd, and follow; You’ll forget your flocks, you’ll forget your herds; Rise up, shepherd, and follow. Refrain
(Christmas Spiritual)
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Choir Brightest and Best of the Stars of the Morning Arr. Shawn Kirchner (2016) Hail the blessed morn, see the great Mediator down from the region of glory descend! Shepherds, go worship the babe in the manger, lo, for his guard the bright angels attend. Refrain: Brightest and best of the stars of the morning, dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid. Star of the East, the horizon adorning, guide where our infant Redeemer is laid. Cold on his cradle the dewdrops are shining; low lies his head with the beasts of the stall. Angels adore him in slumber reclining, maker and monarch and Savior of all. Refrain Shall we not yield him, in costly devotion, fragrance of Edom and offerings divine, gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean, myrrh from the forest or gold from the mine? Refrain (Poetry by Reginald Heber)
Offering The free-will offering received at these services will be directed to HOPE (Helping to Overcome Poverty’s Effects), Project Independence, and Addison County Home Health and Hospice. Please be as generous as your means permit.
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Choir The Shepherd’s Carol Bob Chilcott (2000)
We stood on the hills, Lady, our day’s work done, watching the frosted meadows that winter had won. The evening was calm, Lady, the air so still, silence more lovely than music folded the hill. There was a star, Lady, shone in the night, larger than Venus it was and bright, so bright. Oh, a voice from the sky, Lady, it seemed to us then telling of God being born in the world of men. And so we have come, Lady, our day’s work done, our love, our hopes, ourselves, we give to your son. (Poetry by Clive Sansom)
Collect Ninth Lesson John 1:1–5, 9–14 Mark R. Orten (4:00 and 7:00 p.m.) *Hymn: Silent Night! Holy Night! (Choir and Congregation) 1. Silent night! Holy night! 2. Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright, Shepherds quake at the sight, Round yon virgin mother and Child! Glories stream from heaven afar, Holy infant, so tender and mild, Heavenly hosts sing: “Alleluia; Sleep in heavenly peace, Christ the Savior is born, Sleep in heavenly peace. Christ the Savior is born.” 3. Silent night! Holy night! Son of God, love’s pure light Radiant beams from thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. (Words Joseph Mohr, trans. attr. John Freeman Young; music by Franz Xaver Grüber) • 11 •
*Benediction *Recessional Hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful (Choir and Congregation) 1. O come, all ye faithful, 2. See how the shepherds, Joyful and triumphant, Summoned to his cradle, O come ye, O come ye to Leaving their flocks draw nigh to Bethlehem; gaze; Come and behold him, We too will thither, Born the King of Angels; Bend our joyful footsteps; Refrain Refrain 3. Yea, Lord, we greet thee, 4. Sing, choirs of angels, Born that happy morning, Sing in exultation, Jesus, to thee be all glory giv’n. Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above; Word of the Father, Glory to God Now in flesh appearing. In the highest; Refrain Refrain Refrain O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord! (Words attr. Frederick Oakeley; melody by J. F. Wade; setting by David Willcocks) Postlude In Dulci Jubilo Setting by Johann Sebastian Bach Jeffrey Buettner, Organist
Welcome and Historical Introduction We are pleased that you could join us for the 52nd annual Lessons and Carols service. Our service is based on the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols that has been celebrated every year at King’s College, Cambridge, England, since 1918. Beginning in the 1930s the King’s College service was broadcast annually to millions worldwide on BBC Radio. It was originally planned by Eric Milner-White, the dean of King’s College Chapel. He had been a World War I British army chaplain and became a liturgical pioneer who was convinced that the Church of England needed more imaginative worship. Christmas Eve 1918 was a mere six weeks from the World War I armistice; nearly half of Cambridge University undergraduates had gone to war; a third of them never came back. Thus, the phrase, “all those who rejoice with us, but on another shore and in a greater light,” from the Bidding Prayer, had particular resonance. Though the music changes each year, the prayers and lessons have remained virtually unchanged in the Cambridge service since those days. The first Middlebury College service took place in 1971, under the direction of Emory Fanning and Chaplain Charles P. Scott. They were certain that the College’s music department was up to the challenge, and that the community would welcome this colorful and moving celebration of the season. Middlebury’s Lessons and Carols service was broadcast two television specials: Christmas in Vermont: A Celebration of Lessons and Carols, filmed in 1984, and in 1988 Vermont Public Television produced A Vermont Christmas, narrated by actor Burgess Meredith and filmed on location in Middlebury and on the College’s Bread Loaf campus. Each production was rebroadcast nationally over several years by over 200 public television stations. Each year the offering is donated to HOPE (Helping to Overcome Poverty’s Effects), Project Independence, and Addison Home Health and Hospice. The overall format of this service provides such a rich opportunity to experience the emotional resonance and familiarity of tradition, each year offering music that is unfamiliar or new. Over the years that blend of constancy and innovation creates anticipation and joy well-suited for the Advent and Christmas seasons. For the Christian community, Advent is not only about the expectation of the birth of Jesus, which has already happened in history. It is also about the rebirth of the earth, the re-infusing of the New Creation into our currently beautiful but broken world. That hope is expressed every time the Lord’s Prayer is recited in public and private devotion: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We stand in awe of the beauty of the story of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. We recognize that from what is small, vulnerable, humble, poor, powerless, and barely noticed, there can arise a constant inspiration and religious devotion that has outlived many an empire.
—by Reverend Laurel Macaulay Jordan ’79 Chaplain Emerita, Middlebury College
Notes on the Music In 2023, we celebrate fifty-two years of services of Lessons and Carols of Christmas and Advent at Middlebury College. Our music includes hymns, carols, and choral pieces for the season, many of them traditional and some of them rather recent. The processional and recessional hymns are sung in arrangements by Sir David Willcocks (1919–2015), long-time director of music of King’s College, Cambridge, and they have opened and closed the Middlebury service since its inception. John Gardener’s energetic setting of Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day has been popular worldwide for decades, and that as well as Bob Chilcott’s The Shepherd’s Carol are fast becoming favorites among our choral students. We also share music that is new to our services and written within the past ten years, by American composers Mark A. Miller and Shawn Kirchner and British composers Ben Parry and Ghislane ReeceTrapp. The latter two compositions are grounded in two most elemental aspects of the carol tradition: very old (and typically anonymous) texts and danceable tunes. Traditionally, carols were dance tunes, likely performed outside the church but certainly by many of the churchgoers. As this program reveals, musical tradition develops with cultural adaptation, and thus our service includes music and musical influence from many traditions and contexts. Today we celebrate and meditate with such words and melodies as a result of their complicated histories in oral and written transmission. It is important to remember that these histories include suffering as well as art; we might consider this art a complex gift from those whose suffering it represents, and that through our celebration of their art, we honor it and those who created it. Several carols and choir anthems in this service feature the image of the angel in the Christmas story and represents the many ways the concept of the angel is part of human spirituality and art. When Angels Sing is by church musician, composer, and teacher Mark A. Miller. A committed social justice advocate, Miller’s music is consistently thoughtful and personal, and he places relevant topics in the voices of singers through beautifully crafted melody and Gospel and contemporary musical style. Brightest and Best of the Stars of the Morning is adapted from the hymn “Star in the East” in the shape note collection Southern Harmony (William Walker, 1835). Shawn Kirchner’s powerful arrangement preserves the stark, strident tone and modality of the tune and includes an accompaniment drawn stylistically from American bluegrass. This service includes two of the few Christmas spirituals of the African American tradition that we know today, of which Go, Tell It On the Mountain is by far the most well-known. The present form of Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow developed through aural tradition and a fascinating performance history including adaptation by master composers John Rosamund Johnson and R. Nathanial Dett, and the song has a prominent place in American music history including in the Civil Rights movement. This spiritual includes the interesting call to stop working and follow, and not only does one stop, but in doing so, can even “forget” the tasks at hand. In The Shepherd’s Carol, Clive Samson’s poetry also depicts people who upon leaving their work as they experience a revelatory moment expressed musically in the
phrase, “O, a voice from the sky, Lady”; in hearing of the new presence of God, they leave their fields and give, selflessly and joyfully. The vividness of the musical moment, the simplicity and humanity of the message, and the sheer joy in singing it are certainly reasons for all the music of this service to be so loved. The Service of Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas is a celebration of tradition and music, and we share this program in a spirit of artistic beauty, thoughtful inquiry, and community. I hope that this service brings you joy.
—Jeffrey Buettner
Special Thanks Anne Chabot, Administrative Coordinator, Department of Music Valerie Costello, Graphic Designer Cathy Collins and Emina Mahmuljin, Printing Services Ellen McKay Jewett, Administrative Coordinator, Chaplain’s Office Nicole Sargent and Dawn Tomlinson, American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreters
Carillonneurs George Mathew Jr., College Carillonneur Angelina Como-Mosconi ’25 Graydon Hanson ’26
Musicians in the Service Jeffrey Buettner Director of Choral Activities and Christian A. Johnson Professor of Music Conductor and Organist
Middlebury College Choir SOPRANO Naomi Clark ’24 Sylvan Garesché ’27 Aria Kamal ’27 Lilly Mitchell ’26.5 Chelsea Colley Robinson ’26 Kendall Schilling ’25 Bella Winckler ’27 ALTO Phoebe Davis ’24.5 Lydia LaBelle ’24.5 SG Solomon ’25 Emma Wilson ’27
TENOR Xander Bowles ’26 Davis Guyton ’25 Simon Hall ’26 BASS Kai Fukuda ’23.5 Sebastian Holbrook ’26 Jeff Lewis ’27 Ian Nolon ’24.5 Peter Shellhaas ’26
For more details about Lessons and Carols, please go to our website at middlebury.edu/academics/music/middleburylessonsandcarols Office of the Chaplain Charles P. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life 46 South Street, Middlebury, VT • 16 • 802-443-5626 | middlebury.edu/studentlife/services/chaplain