A Ceremony of Carols

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A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 is a choral work by Benjamin Britten for three-part boys' choir (or women's choir ), solo voices and harp . The piece was written for Christmas and consists of eleven sentences on texts from The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems by Gerald Bullett , which are sung in Middle English . The piece premiered on December 4, 1943 at Wigmore Hall in London . The performance lasts approx. 23 minutes.

The play was written in 1942 while Britten was on the high seas en route from the United States to England . The piece was written at the same time as Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia and is stylistically very similar.

Britten originally planned a series of individual songs. However, they were later shaped into a coherent work. The framework for this is provided by the unanimous hodie Christ natus est ( Latin : "Today Christ was born"), which is based on a Gregorian antiphon and is intoned by the choir for entry and exit. A harp solo, which is based on this singing, as well as some other motifs from "Wolcum Yole", also serves to merge into one piece. In the sentences “This Little Babe” and “Deo Gracias” the choir reflects on harp-like effects by using narrow canons .

History of the creation of the work

Sir Robert Southwell (1561–1595), was a martyr and saint in the Catholic Church. He was the author of "This little Babe" and parts of "Newe Heaven, Newe Warre" (1595) and of "In Freezing Winter Night"

When Benjamin Britten left the United States in 1939, he had not fulfilled Edna Phillips' commission to write a concerto for harp. When he returned to England across the Atlantic Ocean on the Swedish ship “MS Axel Johnson” in 1942 , Britten was studying a contract for a harp composition.

While stopping for repairs in Halifax, Nova Scotia , Britten purchased The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems, written by Gerald Bullett, which contained five poems that he set to music in the original version:

  • 3. "There is no rose"
  • 5. "As dew in April"
  • 6. "This little babe"
  • 8. "In Freezing Winter Night"
  • 10. "Deodorant Gracias"

In addition, 4b “Balulalow” and a first version of “Hodie Christ natus est” appeared, the melody of which, however, differed from the final version. This first version was called "7 Christmas Carols" and appeared in 1942. Back at home, Britten added the first section "Procession" and the eleventh, "Recession". The music and Gregorian melody that he originally composed for "Hodie", he used for the second section "Wolcum Yole!" He also composed the ninth section "Spring Carol". This version (without movement 4a “That yongë child” and the interlude for harp, which were added later) was written on December 5, 1942 in the library of Norwich Castle by the women's choir of the “Fleet Street Choir” under the direction of TB Lawrence and the Harp accompaniment performed for the first time by Gwendolen Mason. The final version was premiered in 1943 at Wigmore Hall in London by Morriston's Boys' Choir, with Maria Korchinska on harp and conducted by the composer.

The work is dedicated to the singing teacher and choir director Ursula Nettelship, who created the Saint Nicolas cantata Op. 42 sponsored.

Sections

1. "Procession" ("Hodie Christ natus est", Gregorian chant for the Magnificat at the second Vespers at Christmas)
2. "Wolcum Yole!"
3. "There is no Rose" ( Trinity College MS 0.3.58, early 15th century)
4a. "That yonge child"
4b. "Balulalow" ( Wedderburn Brothers , fl. 1548)
5. " As dew in Aprille " (Sloane 2593, first quarter of the 15th century)
6. "This little Babe" (from Robert Southwell's "Newe Heaven, Newe Warre", 1595)
7. "Interlude" (harp solo)
8. "In Freezing Winter Night" (Robert Southwell)
9. "Spring Carol" (16th century, created by William Cornysh )
10. " Deo Gracias " (Sloane 2593)
11. "Recession" ("Hodie")

Edits

The publishing house Boosey & Hawkes commissioned the composer Julius Harrison to arrange a version for four-part mixed choir ( SATB ), soloists and harp, which was published in 1955.

Herberth E. Herlitschka created a German version under the title Ein Kranz von Lobechören .

Some texts were later used by other composers. Worth mentioning are Adam lay ybounden by Boris Ord .

literature

  • Humphrey Carpenter: Benjamin Britten: A Biography . Faber, London 1992, ISBN 0-571-14324-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b work information at Schott Music ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 25, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schott-musik.de