Welcome Christmas 2024 Digital Concert Program
Welcome
Friends,
It is a delight to send this welcome from Northrop and VocalEssence to you! For many years Welcome Christmas has set the standard for celebrating choral music that combines the familiar with the new—and this year’s program continues that tradition—doing it uniquely by greeting all of you from the University of Minnesota’s beloved Northrop.
This is the second year that VocalEssence has partnered with Northrop to present Welcome Christmas with all four of our performing choirs: the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, Chorus, Singers Of This Age, and Vintage Voices—200 voices serenading you! We are delighted that Northrop, with its grand stage and backstage facilities, can be the home for Welcome Christmas. Of course, the presence of Northrop’s glorious Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ adds an additional luster to these concerts!
VocalEssence and Northrop are about community, continuing to expand our messages through music and dance to a greater Twin Cities populace. VocalEssence has presented at Northrop before (with the music of Rodion Shchedrin, heard in a ballet evening with the Bolshoi Ballet ballerina assoluta, Maya Plisetskaya) so we are delighted to return to Northrop. Thank you all for joining us and our best wishes to each of you for a wonderful Holiday Season!
—Kari A. Schloner, Executive Director, Northrop
—Philip Brunelle, Artistic Director and Founder, VocalEssence
Program
FESTIVAL FANFARE
Gerald Bales (1919-2002)
CARILLON (FROM SINFONIETTA FOR ORGAN 4 HANDS AND 4 FEET)
Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
FANFARE AND PROCESSIONAL
Robert Wetzler (b. 1932)
HE IS KING OF KINGS
arr. Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989)
VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, Singers Of This Age, & Vintage Voices
CHRISTMAS IS HERE
Johnathan Dove (b. 1959)
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age
BLOW, BLOW, THOU WINTER WIND
George Shearing (1919-2011)
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age & Vintage Voices
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ROSE
Egil Hovland (1924-2013)
Sopranos & Altos of the VocalEssence Chorus
Anna Meek, narrator
SHEPHERDS, REJOICE
Arthur Frackenpohl (1924-2019)
Tenors & Basses of the VocalEssence Chorus
LO, HOW A ROSE E’ER BLOOMING
Hugo Distler (1908-1942)
VocalEssence Chorus
GLORIA
Ily Matthew Maniano (b. 1988)
VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers
AUDIENCE SING: HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING
arr. Walter Pelz (b. 1924)
VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, Singers Of This Age, & Vintage Voices
ARROZ CON LECHE (RICE WITH MILK)
arr. Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000)
VocalEssence Ensemble Singers
THE CANTICLE OF ZACHARIAH
Sir James MacMillan (b. 1959)
VocalEssence Ensemble Singers
O TANNENBAUM (O CHRISTMAS TREE)
arr. Naji Hakim (b. 1955)
VocalEssence Ensemble Singers
PRELUDE (FOR ORGAN, 4 HANDS AND 4 FEET)
Liselotte Kunkel (b. 1975)
AUDIENCE SING: CHRISTMAS IS COMING
Mack Wilberg (b. 1955)
VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, Singers Of This Age, & Vintage Voices
AVE MARIA
Pärt Uusberg (b. 1986)
VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers
Katie Boardman & JoAnna Johnson, soloists
TOMORROW SHALL BE MY DANCING DAY
John Gardner (1917-2011)
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age
Noèl Ayisyen (A Haitian Noël)
Emile Desamours (b.1941)
VocalEssence Singers Of This Age
Oy, v Yerusalimi (Bells Rang Early in Jerusalem)
arr. Yakiv M. Yatsynevich (1869-1945)
VocalEssence Chorus
Three Latvian Yuletide Folksongs (world premiere)
Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)
VocalEssence Ensemble Singers
We Three Kings
arr. Stuart Nicholson (1975)
VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers
AUDIENCE SING: Joy to the World
arr. John Rutter (b. 1945)
VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, Singers Of This Age, & Vintage Voices
AUDIENCE SING: We Wish You a Merry Christmas
arr. Nils Lindberg (1933-2022)
VocalEssence Chorus, Ensemble Singers, Singers Of This Age, & Vintage Voices
Texts
HE IS KING OF KINGS, arr. Undine Smith Moore (USA)
He is King of kings,
He is Lord of lords;
Jesus Christ the first and last,
No man can hinder him.
This is the year of jubilee,
The Lord has set his people free,
He pitched his tent on Canaan’s ground,
And broke the Roman kingdom down.
We’ll pray and pray and never stop,
Until we reach the mountain top.
—Negro Spiritual
CHRISTMAS IS HERE, Jonathan Dove (Great Britain)
Christmas is come, be of good cheer.
A magical time at the end of the year.
Children can’t sleep, waiting all night,
For presents to open and share with delight.
With nose pressed to windows they’re eager to spy
A sleigh pulled by reindeer, crossing the sky.
Fingers and toes, whiskers and paws,
It’s freezing outside but we’re toasty indoors.
Candles are lit, trees decked with lights,
A welcoming sight on the darkest of nights.
We’ve left him some treats on a tray in the hall,
So old Father Christmas will pay us a call.
Christmas is come, joy fills the air,
Hearts race with every creak of the stair.
Have you behaved? No going back,
Only good children have toys in his sack.
He’s here! He’s here! Christmas is here!
Christmas is come, Santa’s been here!
Our stockings are filled, there was nothing to fear.
Want to see proof? Look to the floor,
A dusting of footprints leads to the door.
With finger to nose up the chimney he sped,
Then off through the night, packed with toys on his sled.
Be of good cheer, Christmas has come
Share what you have because giving is fun.
Mustn’t be glum, give me your hand!
Goodness and kindness are spread through the land.
It’s here! It’s here! Christmas is here!
—Zeb Soanes from Gaspard’s Christmas
BLOW, BLOW, THOU WINTER WIND, George Shearing (Great Britain)
Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
—William Shakespeare
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ROSE, Egil Hovland (Norway)
When Mary walked thru woods of thorn,
Kyrie eleison.
That many years no rose had borne,
Jesus and Maria.
What did she carry in her breast?
Kyrie eleison.
A little child so dearly blest.
Jesus and Maria.
Then in the woods did roses bloom.
Kyrie eleison.
When the Child did spring from his mother’s womb.
Jesus and Maria.
—Hans Christian Andersen, adapted by Anna Meek
SHEPHERDS, REJOICE, Arthur Frackenpohl (USA)
Shepherds, rejoice, lift up your eyes,
And send your fears away.
News from the regions of the skies
A Savior’s born today!
Jesus, the God whom angels fear,
Comes down to dwell with you!
Today He makes His entrance here,
But not as monarchs do.
Alleluia.
No gold nor purple swaddling bands,
Nor royal shining things:
A manger for His cradle stands,
And holds the King of Kings.
Shepherds, go where the Infant lies,
And see His humble throne.
With tears of joy in all your eyes,
Go, shepherds, kiss the Son.
Thus Gabriel sang, and straight around,
The heavenly armies throng;
They tune their harps to lofty sound,
And thus conclude the song.
Glory to God that reigns above,
Let peace surround the earth;
Mortals shall know their Maker’s love,
At their Redeemer’s birth.
Alleluia.
Lord! and shall angels have their songs,
And men no tunes to raise?
Oh, may we lose our useless tongues
When they forget to praise.
Glory to God that reigns above,
That pitied us forlorn.
We join to sing our Maker’s love
For there’s a Savior born.
Alleluia.
—words from a shape-note book, “The Social Harp,” Philadelphia, 1868
LO, HOW A ROSE E’ER BLOOMING, Hugo Distler (Germany)
Lo, how a rose e’er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung.
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came a flower-et bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.
Isaiah ‘twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind;
To show God’s love a-right.
She bore to us a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
O, Flower, whose fragrance tender,
With sweetness fill the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death now save us,
And share our every load.
—from Mainz 1587-88, verse 3 by Friedrich Layritz, 1844
GLORIA, Ily Matthew Maniano (Philippines)
Gloria in excelsis Deo. (Glory to God in the highest.)
HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING, Felix Mendelssohn, setting by Walter Pelz (USA)
Audience:
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the new-born king
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With angelic host proclaim
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Chorus:
Christ by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with us to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Audience:
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that we no more may die,
Born to raise us from the earth,
Born to give us second birth.
—Charles Wesley, 1753, alt.
ARROZ CON LECHE (RICE WITH MILK), arr. Carlos Guastavino (Argentina)
(sung in Spanish)
Rice and milk: I want to marry a girl from San Nicolas
Who knows how to sew, how to embroider,
and how to open the door to go out and play with me.
—Spanish Children’s Song
THE CANTICLE OF ZACHARIAH, Sir James MacMillan (Great Britain)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!
He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior in the house of David,
his servant, as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets from of old.
A savior who would free us from our foes,
from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled,
And his holy covenant remembered.
He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,
that free from fear and saved from the hands of our foes
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.
As for you, little child,
You shall be called a prophet of God the Most High.
You shall go ahead of the lord to prepare the ways before him.
To make known to his people their salvation
Through forgiveness of all their sins,
The loving kindness of the heart of our God
Who visits us like the down from on high.
He will give light to those in darkness,
Those who dwell in the shadow of death,
And guide us into the way of peace.
—Canticle at Lauds, Luke I: 68-79
O TANNENBAUM (O CHRISTMAS TREE), arr. Naji Hakim (Lebanon, France)
(sung in German)
O Christmas tree!
How faithful are your needles.
Not only are you green in the summer time
But also in the winter when it snows,
O Christmas tree!
How faithful are your needles.
O Christmas tree!
You can give me great joy.
How often has at Christmas time
A tree of yours delighted me,
O Christmas tree!
You can give me great joy.
O Christmas tree!
Your garment wants to teach me something.
It is hope and constancy that
Provide comfort and strength at any time,
O Christmas tree!
Your garment wants to teach me something.
—Traditional carol from Alsace
CHRISTMAS IS COMING, Mack Wilberg (USA)
AUDIENCE:
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat,
Please do put a penny in the old man’s hat.
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny, then God bless you!
If you haven’t got a penny, don’t wonder what to do,
You are always rich enough to say, ‘Yes, God bless you!’
Christmas is coming, and with a jolly band,
Please do slip a penny in a lonely hand.
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny, then God bless you!
If you haven’t got a penny, don’t wonder what to do,
You are always rich enough to say, ‘Yes, God bless you!’
Christmas is coming, the shop is brim with toys,
Please do give a penny to the orphan boys.
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny, then God bless you!
If you haven’t got a penny, don’t wonder what to do,
You are always rich enough to say, ‘Yes, God bless you!’
If you haven’t got a guinea, or even half a crown,
If you only have a pence or two, then don’t you fret and frown.
Just reflect upon your blessings, and all your kith and kin,
And remember that in giving all, you let the season in!
Christmas is coming, the figgy pudding’s here,
Please do give a penny with your Christmas cheer!
—Traditional English Carol, additional lyrics by David Warner
AVE MARIA, Pärt Uusberg (Estonia)
(sung in Latin)
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with you,
Blessed are you among women.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen
TOMORROW SHALL BE MY DANCING DAY, John Gardner (Great Britain)
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: Sing O my love, O 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;
Refrain
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;
Refrain
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;
Refrain
Then afterwards baptized I was;
The Holy Ghost on me did glance,
My God’s voice heard from above,
To call my true love to my dance;
Refrain
—17th century English carol
A HAITIAN NOËL, Emile Desamours (Haiti)
(sung in Haitian Creole)
lt was in Bethlehem,
A little corner of Judea,
That Mary had a baby boy
At midnight in a stable.
He was the Son of God
And he was the King of Kings.
Since I was a little child
l’ve known this story.
There were three wise kings
Who followed a great star
With glfts in their hands
To come worship the child.
And they were quite amazed
When they saw little Jesus
Lying between a cow
And a donkey.
Hear that, my friends!
Noel is a strange story indeed!
Jesus, Son of God, King of Kings,
Doesn’t even have a cradle.
He sleeps on the straw among animals. Oh my!
They called him Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God;
The Everlasting Father, too;
And he was the Prince of Peace.
Both shepherds and wisemen
Bowed down to worship him.
They gave him gifts
According to what they had.
Back then, if we’d been there (ta-ma-na),
We’d have done something fitting (ta-ma-na),
We’d have offered him music (ba-dap-peem)
Of the best Haitian kind (chee-kee-chee).
We’d have brought drums,
Manniboulas, vaccins, maracas;
With fine banjo strums
We’d have charmed little Jesus.
Jesus, Jesus, our little Jesus,
We love you greatly.
You bring peace to all people
And you offer us grace,
Noel, Noel, Noel, long live Noel!
OY, V YERUSALIMI (BELLS RANG EARLY IN JERUSALEM), arr. Yakiv Yatsynevich (Ukraine)
(sung in Ukrainian)
Oh, the bells rang early in Jerusalem.
A bountiful evening, a good evening,
to the health of all good people!
Oh the Maiden Mary walked in the garden.
A bountiful evening.
She walked in the garden and gave birth to a Son.
A bountiful evening.
She gave birth to a Son and carried Him in her arms.
A bountiful evening.
—Ukrainian carol
THREE LATVIAN YULETIDE FOLKSONGS, Ēriks Ešenvalds (Latvia)
Carol One
Pure silver’s raining down
On the Yuletide eve,
Every tiny stick and twig
Shoot off silver sparks.
All night long the candles burn
In their silver lamps.
Gently, gently God was coming
Driving down the hill:
God has only gentle horses,
And a gently fitted sled.
Make the fire flame burn bright,
Welcome God inside:
God has driven down the hill
In a coat of silver.
I am thanking God tonight
I saw theYuletide come;
Let Him keep me in good health
So I’m around at Easter.
—Traditional Latvian carol
Carol Two
Sing, young boys, it’s time to sing
Together with your sisters;
Even bees will sing a song
On the Yuletide eve.
Let us listen to the bees
On the Yuletide eve:
If we hear a lovely song
Our summer will be warm.
People ate and people drank,
God was listening outside,
God was listening outside
To hear if He was praised.
Make some kindling, blow on flame,
Let God come inside.
God is standing by the gate
Let God come inside.
—Traditional Latvian carol
Carol Three
(sung in Latvian)
Yuletide has arrived
In a decked out sleigh.
Hurry out good people
Greet and receive Yuletide.
Make kindling, blow on flame,
Invite God to come inside.
God is standing by the gate
With his tired horse.
Silence, young ones, silence oldsters—
God then entered our house.
God then entered our house
Asking for the householder.
The householder is over there,
Sitting at the table end,
Sitting at the table end,
In a linen shirt of white.
Yuletide has arrived in a decked out sleigh.
—Traditional Latvian carol
WE THREE KINGS, John Henry Hopkins, arr. Stuart Nicholson (Ireland)
We three kings of orient are;
Bearing gifts, we traverse afar,
Field and fountain,
Moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
Refrain
O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright.
Westward leading still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain.
Gold I bring to crown him a gain.
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.
Refrain
Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, voices raising,
Worshiping God on high.
Refrain
Myrrh is mine its bitter perfume.
Breathes a life of gathering gloom.
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in a stone cold tomb.
Refrain
Glorious now behold him arise;
King and God and sacrifice.
Heaven sing Alleluia,
Alleluia the earth replies.
Refrain
JOY TO THE WORLD, Traditional, arr. John Rutter (Great Britain)
AUDIENCE:
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and heav’n and nature sing!
Chorus:
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ;
While fields and floods,
Rocks, hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy!
Chorus:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
AUDIENCE:
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.
—Isaac Watts (1719)
WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS, Nils Lindberg (Sweden)
AUDIENCE:
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas and a
happy new year.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
We wish you a merry Christmas and a
happy new year.
Now bring us some figgy pudding,
Now bring us some figgy pudding,
Now bring us some figgy pudding,
And bring some out here.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
We wish you a merry Christmas and a
happy new year.
—Arthur Warrell, 1939
Brass and Percussion
TRUMPET
John Koopmann
Pam Humphrey
Sylvain Pineault
FRENCH HORN
Neal Bolter
Jenna Mcbride-Harris
TROMBONE
Kirsten Lies-Warfield
Jeff Rinear
Scott Moore
TUBA
Jacob Grewe
PERCUSSION
Will Kemperman
Jarod Bendele