Personent Hodie
Lara Hoggard
Personent Hodie is a Christmas carol originally published in the 1582 Finnish songbook Piae Cantiones, a volume of 74 medieval songs with Latin texts. The songbook had its origins in the libraries of cathedral song schools, whose repertory had strong links with medieval Prague, where clerical students from Finland and Sweden had studied for generations. A melody found in a 1360 manuscript from the nearby Bavarian city of Moosburg, in Germany, is highly similar, and it is from this manuscript that the song is usually dated.

Personent hodie voces puerulae
Laudantes iucunde qui nobis est natus,
Summo Deo datus,
Et de vir-, vir-, vir-, et de
virgineo ventre procreatus.

In mundo nascitur, pannis involvitur,
Praesepi ponitur stabulo brutorum,
Rector supernorum,
Perdidit, -dit, -dit, spolia
princeps infernorum.

Magi tres venerunt munera offerunt,
parvulum inquirunt, stellulam sequendo,
Ipsum adorando,
aurum, thus, thus, thus,
et myrrham ei offerendo.

Omnes clericuli, pariter pueri
cantent ut angeli,
Advenisti mundo,
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Let youthful voices resound today,
joyfully praising Him who is born for
us, Who is given unto us by the most
high God, and brought forth from a
virgin.

He is born in the world, is wrapped
in swaddling clothes and placed in a
manger in a stable of beasts. He is ruler
over all things. The prince of darkness
has lost his prey!

Three wise men come, bearing gifts.
They have found the Child by following
a little star. Adoring the Lord, They
offer Him gold, frankincense, and
myrrh.

Let all young choristers now sing as did
the angels, praising Him Who has come
into all the world: “Glory to God in the
highest!”

Canzon Primi Toni
Giovanni Gabrieli
From Sacrae Symphonie
Giovanni Gabrieli is best known for his splendid antiphonal brass repertoire. A Venetian by birth, he became principal organist at San Marco di Venezia (Saint Mark’s Basilica) in 1585. Saint Mark’s had and still has two choir lofts or balconies facing each other. Gabrieli utilized the church’s architecture by placing two spatially separated groups or “choirs” in the lofts. Characteristically in Gabrieli’s music, one choir—vocal or instrumental—will sound first from one side, followed by a response from the choir on the opposite side. The acoustics of Saint Mark’s are unique: voices or instruments in the lofts can be heard with perfect clarity everywhere in the church, making it an ideal venue for the display of antiphonal music. Antiphonal textures had been utilized extensively during the Renaissance, but the special “answering” of one choir by the other, the socalled cori spezzati (“broken choirs”), typifies Gabrieli’s music. In his magnificent Sacrae Symphonie (“Sacred Symphonies”) of 1597, imitative flourishes unfurl with especial grandeur in resplendent brass timbres. Today we present Gabrieli’s Canzon Primi Toni (“Song in the First Mode”) for two brass choirs in a modern scoring for four trumpets, three trombones, and tuba.

O Come All Ye Faithful
O come all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all ye citizens of heaven above.
Glory to God, In the highest,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Gloria
John Rutter
John Rutter is indubitably one of the world’s most performed living composers and arrangers, particularly of choral music. Born in London, he was educated first at Highgate School, where his fellow pupils included yet another British musical luminary, composer John Taverner (less familiar to American audiences than Rutter), and Viva’s own luminary, David Silber, Viva tenor of some ten years’ standing and vice-president of the Viva board!

Rutter went on from Highgate to read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was choir director in the late 1970s. In 1981 he founded his own choir, the Cambridge Singers, which he conducts and with which he has made many recordings under his own record label, Collegium Musicum.

Rutter is a prolific composer and arranger and his extensive compositional output includes both original compositions and arrangements of hymns, carols, and folk songs. His music enjoys great popularity, particularly in the USA. In the United Kingdom opinion about Rutter’s music is more equivocal. A review in a 2005 article in the London Evening Standard newspaper, however, recognizes some of his exceptional appeal: “For the infectiousness of his melodic invention and consummate craftsmanship, Rutter has few peers.”

In 1974, Rutter visited the United States for the first time at the invitation ofchoral conductor Mel Olson. It was for this visit that Rutter wrote his Gloria on commission from the Voices of Mel Olson Chorale. He conducted the première in Omaha, Nebraska. Since then, Mr. Rutter has frequently guestconducted choirs and orchestras in the United States, usually performing his own music, and the Gloria has become a much-performed favorite.

Viva la Musica has its own particular connection to John Rutter: we sang his Mass of the Children under the composer’s baton in Carnegie Hall in 2008. I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to interview Mr. Rutter. I asked how he would like to be remembered, and what he might like as an epitaph. He replied modestly, “He wrote a few good tunes.”

Rutter has said that, while he is not a religious man, he feels deeply spiritual, and his music is often inspired by traditional liturgical texts. His Gloria is based on the Gloria Excelsis Deo that is sung in all liturgical Eucharistic rites. It is sung in Latin. The hymn begins with the words that angels are reputed to have sung when the birth of Christ was announced to shepherds.

Rutter’s piece is a cantata (derived from the Italian cantare, “to sing”) a composition for choir and instrumental accompaniment, in several movements (distinctly different sections). This Gloria, seventeen minutes in duration, has three movements in the traditional fast-slow-fast prototype. The choral 7 scoring is for four-part choir, soprano-alto-tenor-bass. Each of these parts may split further; there are several places where seven different voice parts sound simultaneously. The instrumental scoring is for brass, percussion, and organ: four trumpets, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, and snare drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, and xylophone.

The first movement opens heraldically in a snappy triple meter. Shifting rhythm patterns pepper the music with added zip and vivacity. A distinctive feature is augmented note values creating large patterns of three beats that span two measures instead of one, a phenomenon called hemiola.

The second movement is cast in a mood of mystery and wonder. It opens with an extended organ solo that then provides a backdrop as the voices enter in hushed awe. Two chorales, first brass and later a cappella (unaccompanied) choir, are tranquil and contemplative; between these two oases, the ensemble builds to a triumphal climax on the words Rex caelestis (“heavenly King”). A brief solo for a trio of women prays miserere nobis (“have mercy on us”) before the choir closes the movement by echoing that sentiment.

The third movement hearkens back to the animated and vivacious rhythmic themes of the first movement. Rutter builds excitement by interspersing an occasional, surprising 3/4 meter within the overall 4/4. He also interpolates 3/8, 5/8, and 6/8 to keep us on our toes. There are two main themes, and Rutter seems to be enjoying himself the most when he sounds them simultaneously. The apotheosis of the movement is several full-throated choral amens and a presto brass gallop to the finish line.

Gloria in excelsis Deo
et in terra pax hominibus bonae
voluntatis.
Laudamus te,
benedicimus te,
adoramus te,
glorificamus te,
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam
gloriam tuam,
Domine Deus, Rex cælestis,
Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili Unigenite, Iesu Christe,
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius
Patris,
qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere
nobis;
qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe
deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris,
miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus
Dominus, tu solus Altissimus,
Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu: in
gloria Dei Patris. Amen.

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of
good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great
glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten
Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the
Father,
you who take away the sins of the
world, have mercy on us;
you who take away the sins of the
world, receive our prayer.
you are seated at the right hand of
the Father, have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One, you
alone are Lord, you alone are the
Most High,
Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in
the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Gloria
Randol Alan Bass
Randol Alan Bass is a Texan composer and arranger. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1976 from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting in 1980 from The College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, OH. He pursued doctoral studies in choral and wind conducting at both The Ohio State University’s Robert Shaw Institute and the University of Texas at Austin.

He has achieved an impressive array of performances and commissions by prestigious ensembles throughout the United States, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra. The New York Pops Orchestra, under Skitch Henderson, premiered Bass’s Gloria at Carnegie Hall in 1990; it has been recorded by the Boston Pops Orchestra with Keith Lockhart and can be heard on their Christmas CD release, Holiday Pops.

It would seem that Bass may have been inspired to his Gloria by Rutter’s. Both use the identical text, but Bass casts his in just one movement of only seven minutes’ duration. Like Rutter’s, it is scored for four-part choir and uses extensive divisi (each part further divided into two parts). The orchestration is scored similarly to the Rutter: brass (with fewer trumpets but including French horn), organ, timpani, and percussion.

Viva la Musica! performed Bass’ Feast of Carols at our last holiday concert; we are delighted to present his Gloria this year. The piece is a jewel, pithy and compact, with gorgeous, soaring melodies, luscious harmonic colors, and rhythms serene and graceful or lively and infectious. The music is beautifully and subtly crafted to evoke the meaning of the text. There are five main motifs: a fanfare; a chorale; a driving rhythm pattern of alternating 5/8, 6/8, and 2/4 meters; lyrical and rhapsodic melodies; and declamatory narrative.

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Hark! the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Maoz Tsur
Traditional
Commonly translated as “Rock of Ages,” Maoz Tsur is sung during Chanukah, the eight-day Jewish holiday that celebrates the re-consecration of the Temple in Jerusalem following its destruction and rebuilding. The tune we sing today is a variant of a Martin Luther hymn. We will sing three verses. The first uses part of the Hebrew text written in the thirteenth century by one Rabbi Mordecai Ben Isaac HaLevy. The second verse, in English, was written by Lawrence Rosenwald for the Christmas Revels at Harvard University during the 1970s, and it draws a connection between the renewal of the Temple, symbolized by the lighting of the menorah, and the annual rebirth of light (the winter solstice). The third verse, “Rock of Ages,” is a translation of the Hebrew text.

This setting is scored for choir with brass accompaniment and features a profoundly moving trumpet obbligato on the third verse.

Maoz tsur yeshuati
lecha noeh le shabeach.
Tikon bet tefilati
vesham todah nezabeach.
Leet tochin matbeach,
mitsar hamnabeach;
Az egmor beshir mizmor
Chanukat hamizbeach

Rock of ages, let our song
Praise Thy saving power;
Thou, amidst the raging foes,
Wast our shelt’ring tower.
Furious they assailed us,
But thine arm availed us.
And Thy word broke their sword,
When our own strength failed us.

Light in darkness let us sing,
Brightness is returning;
House of prayer once dark and cold,
Now with candles burning.
When the lamp seemed empty,
And its fire forever spent,
Then the flame sprang up anew
For our hearts’ deep yearning.

Ose Shalom
John Leavitt
In the omnipresent buoyancy of the season of glorious light, this plea for peace is by contrast beautifully poignant. We are glad to have the Viva Brass Roots lend their heft to this beautifully beseeching arrangement. Listen especially for the yearning solo trumpet cadenza near the end.

Ose shalom bimromav
Hu ya’ase shalom aleynu
Veh’al kol, kol Yisrael
Veh’imru, imru Amen.

The One who makes peace in the
heavens
May He make peace for us,
and for all Israel,
and let us say, let us say Amen.

A Christmas Jaz z Suite
Arthur Frackenpohl
Jolly Old St. Nicholas
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Jingle Bells
Frackenpohl is an American composer and Professor Emeritus at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music (BA, MA) and McGill University (DM). He studied composition at Tanglewood in 1948 with Darius Milhaud and with Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau in 1950, where he was awarded the First Prize in Composition. In 1949, Frackenpohl joined the faculty of the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam and taught there until his retirement. Frackenpohl has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships for composition, including one from the Ford Foundation. He has published over 250 instrumental and choral compositions and arrangements, but he is best known for works he has written or arranged for chamber ensembles, particularly brass and wind groups.

The first and third movements of Frackenpohl’s Christmas Jazz Suite are, as one might expect, in a jazz style; the second movement is a bossa nova, with a swaying
feel rather than the swing of jazz!

Joy to the World
George Frederic Handel
Joy to the World, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

See, the Conquering Hero
George Frideric Handel
From Judas Maccabeus
Judas Maccabaeus became one of Handel’s most popular oratorios, second only to Messiah. The first performance took place on 1 April 1747 at Covent Garden. The events depicted in the oratorio are from the period 170-160 BC, when Judea was ruled by the Seleucid Empire which undertook to destroy the Jewish religion. Handel’s music depicts the changing moods of the Jewish people as their fortunes vary from dejection to jubilation. Judas Maccabaeus assumes the role of leader and inspires the people with thoughts of liberty and victory through the power of Jehovah. See, the Conquering Hero is from Act III when victory has finally been achieved. Handel’s music is irresistibly ebullient and triumphal, even in its reiterations.

See, the conqu’ring hero comes,
Sound the trumpets, beat the drums.
Sports prepare, the laurel bring,
Songs of triumph to him sing.

See, the god-like youth advance,
Breathe the flutes and lead the dance.
Myrtle wreaths and roses twine,
To deck the hero’s brow divine.

Hallelujah Chorus
George Frideric Handel
From Messiah
Please stand, as is traditional, and join us in singing this ubiquitously loved chorus. If only Handel could have known how this one chorus has come to symbolize the grandeur and beauty of the season of glorious light!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever,

King of kings, and Lord of lords,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And Lord of lords,
And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!

Special acknowledgements are due to Ann Keiffer for her imaginative work in finding the image on the front cover of the playbill and for creating the title of the program and the narration.

Program notes © Shulamit Hoffmann, 2011