Deanna Witkowski
A Christmas Carol SATB choir a cappella Duration: 3'06" Poem by G.K. Chesterton
Music Š 2017 Deanna Witkowski/ Tilapia Tunes/BMI. All Rights Reserved.
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“A Christmas Carol� by G.K. Chesterton The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap, His hair was like a light. (O weary, weary were the world, But here is all alright). The Christ-child lay on Mary's breast His hair was like a star. (O stern and cunning are the kings, But here the true hearts are). The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart, His hair was like a fire. (O weary, weary is the world, But here the world's desire). The Christ-child stood on Mary's knee, His hair was like a crown, And all the flowers looked up at Him, And all the stars looked down. From The Wild Knight and Other Poems (1900)
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Program notes: Perhaps best known for his Father Brown novels, the English writer G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) wrote many works articulating his Christian faith, including his 1908 classic, Orthodoxy. An Anglican who converted to Catholicism, his writings had a major impact on fellow writers T.S. Eliot and C.S. Lewis. “A Christmas Carol” comes from his 1900 collection, The Wild Knight and Other Poems. The first three stanzas of Chesterton’s poem describe the Christ-child in images that we tend to associate with Christmas: the child lies on Mary’s lap, then her breast, and finally her heart. The child’s hair is described as being like a light, a star, a fire. We are drawn to this mother and child scene where “here is all alright.” Yet what strikes the most about this poem is its fourth and final stanza: the Christ-child now stands- not lies- on Mary’s knee; his hair is described as a crown, foreshadowing his death; and now, all creation looks at the child standing in his strength. My setting, while almost strophic in nature, includes extended endings after each of the first three verses to evoke the warmness of Mary’s lap, heart, and breast. The lush harmonies throughout move to a unison (with the melody a fourth higher than heard at the beginning) in the fourth stanza where the Christ-child stands. The final, unresolved chord on the word “stood” is meant to leave our eyes fixed on the child, wondering- and yet knowing from historywhere his steps will lead.
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Winner of the 2017 ChoralArt New England Carol Contest. Premiered on January 7, 2018 at Williston-Immanuel United Church, Portland, Maine by the ChoralArt Camerata. Robert Russell, music director.
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
A Christmas Carol
Deanna Witkowski
S
Adagio q=58 mp (2+3)
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mp
A
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FOR REHEARSAL Adagio q=58 ONLY
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"A Christmas Carol" from The Wild Knight and Other Poems (1900) by G.K. Chesterton. In the public domain. Music Copyright © 2017 Deanna Witkowski/Tilapia Tunes/BMI
This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
6
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This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
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6
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(2+3) 34
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(2+3) 38
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8
poco a poco rall
41
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This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
Additional titles by Deanna Witkowski **titles with asterisks are available solely at deannajazz.com
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We Are Surrounded (3’) Inspired by the Gerard Manley Hopkins line, "I say that we are wound/With mercy round and round/As if with air." SSAA with piano Where Shadow Chases Light (3.30’) Winner of the 2016 Illinois ACDA Choral Composition Contest, this setting of text by Rabindranath Tagore features lush harmonies and lyrical melodic lines. SSA a cappella Never Before- (3’) Originally composed for an Advent lessons and carols service, this piece imagines Mary’s response to the Annunciation. As recorded on From This Place. SAT with piano and optional rhythm section Come and Feast A simple, joyful calypso that invites all to come and feast. Perfect for World Communion Sunday. Can be sung in unison or 3-part harmony. Two-part vocal with piano and optional rhythm section Who Do You Say? (3’59”) Based on the question in Matthew 16 when Christ asks, "Who do you say that I am?” ** Unison vocal with piano and optional rhythm section Love Came Down (4’’) Original gospel/funk setting of the 1885 Christmas poem by Christina Rossetti.
This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.