Program Notes

At holiday times, and perhaps no time more than Christmas, we tend to think of traditions. In our music we like to hear that which is familiar to us and which helps us recall memories of Christmases past. Christmas Echoes is a celebration of the old and the new, the familiar and the unfamiliar. While you will certainly hear in this concert music that you have heard many times in the past, you may also be introduced to some pieces and composers with which you are not so familiar. In so doing, we hope that your Christmas musical traditions will be both strengthened and enriched.

The concert begins with a piece that has become closely associated with Christmas for many people. Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria is filled with exuberance and joy as it proclaims the message, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all of good will." The thirty-minute work by this famous Baroque composer, known by his contemporaries as 'the red-headed priest,' is a wonderful combination of choruses, solos, and duets. The Baroque styles of homophonic and polyphonic choral writing are both used, and an infectious rhythmic drive is felt throughout the entire composition. Vivaldi, known primarily for his instrumental compositions, provides a wonderfully supportive orchestral accompaniment of strings, oboe and trumpet.

The program continues with three selections, all having as their subject a common theme. An oft-recurring idea through much religious thought is the concept of 'light' as our eyes are opened to what could not before be seen. Three composers deal with deal with this subject in very different ways. The Russian composer Alexandre Kopylow provides music in Heavenly Light that brings to mind the Rachmanonoff Vespers performed by MOS last season. The rich, harmonic writing, with an emphasis on the soprano and bass lines, is almost stereotypically Russian. Los Angeles based composer, Morten Lauridsen, has created in O Nata Lux a little gem of insightful beauty. The central piece in a collection of five pieces on the subject of light, Lux Aeterna, this quiet, reflective offering is understated eloquence. Eric Whitacre, as much as any choral composer today, allows his music to reflect the words he sets. The simple, yet profound, text by Edward Esch (translated into Latin by Charles Anthony Silvestri) is wedded with music by Whitacre that is both minimalist and miraculous in the way it illuminates the text. 

The Pastoral Symphony from G.F. Handel's Messiah follows the three pieces about light, and offers the listener an opportunity to further consider the subject of revelation through music.

Mack Wilberg, Associate Conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is rightly recognized as both a conductor and a composer. In his Four Christmas Carols, he has captured the Christmas essence of celebratory joy and quiet reflection. From the lilting O, Green and Shimmering Tree, Good Day! ,  to the happy and bouncy Fum, Fum, Fum! to the sweet lullaby of Away in a Manger, and finally to the rollicking enthusiasm of I Saw Three Ships, there is in this quartet of carols a powerful message of Christmas joy.

The Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah is one of the most widely recognized choral pieces in the world. Although not intended by the composer to be a 'Christmas' piece, it has become forever associated with this special time of year by generations of people on both sides of the Atlantic. As its performance this afternoon brings our Christmas Echoes to a close, our wish for all of you is the happiest of holiday seasons.

         Michael O'Neal

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The Michael O'Neal Singers: P.O. Box 1008, Roswell, GA 30077
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