Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra

PCO Presents A Holiday Celebration - Part 1

Premieres 3 pm, Sunday, December 6, 2020

Program Notes

Leroy Anderson wrote his Suite of Carols in 1955 for a Christmas recording by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. Anderson had a special feeling for the season as he said, “…you see, my parents were born in Sweden, so at Christmas time we would have the traditional Swedish foods on Christmas Eve....for dinner we would have the Hoghead's cheese and the pickled herring, and the pickled beets and various kinds of sausage and other things you usually find on a smorgasbord. Then, of course, the rice pudding for dessert, and in the rice pudding they always put an almond and whoever gets the almond, you see, is supposed to have good luck during the next year; of course, it always happens that the youngest child happens to get the almond, they'd arrange it that way.”

The first carol set by Anderson is “Pastores a Belen,” (Shepherds in Bethlehem) describing the joyful dance of the shepherds as they discover the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” is a poem written in 1849 by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. Anderson chose for the setting a melody called “Carol” by Richard Storrs Willis, a composer who studied with Felix Mendelssohn.

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” was written in 1868 by Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal priest, then rector of Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia and later of Trinity Church, Boston. Brooks was inspired when he visited Bethlehem in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church, and his organist Lewis Redner added the music.

"Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" is a 17th century Christmas carol originating in the Provence region of France. The song, not originally meant to be sung at Christmas, was dance music for French nobility. It was likely written by Marc-Antoine Charpentier.

The song title refers to two female farmhands who have found the baby and his mother in a stable. Excited, they run to a nearby village to tell the inhabitants, who rush to see the new arrivals. Visitors to the stable are urged to keep their voices quiet, so the newborn can enjoy his dreams. To this day, on Christmas Eve in the Provence region, children dressed as shepherds and milkmaids carry torches and candles while singing the carol, on their way to Midnight Mass.

"Away in a Manger" was first published in the late nineteenth century. Although it was long claimed to be the work of German religious reformer Martin Luther, the carol is now thought to be wholly American in origin. The origin of the words is obscure. An early appearance was on March 2, 1882, in the "Childrens' Corner" section of the journal The Christian Cynosure. Under the heading "Luther's Cradle Song" an anonymous author contributed the first two verses. For this setting Anderson has chosen the tune most commonly used in the United States, “Mueller” by James Ramsey Murray (1887).

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi composed this Gloria in Venice, probably in 1715, for the choir of the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for daughters of Venetian noblemen and their mistresses. The Ospedale prided itself on the quality of its musical education and the excellence of its choir and orchestra. This, his most famous choral piece, presents the traditional Gloria from the Latin Mass in twelve varied cantata-like sections.

The wonderfully sunny nature of the Gloria, with its distinctive melodies and rhythms, is characteristic of all of Vivaldi’s music, giving it an immediate and universal appeal. The opening movement is a joyous chorus, with trumpet and oboe obligato.

The most popular melody for “Away in a Manger” in England is "Cradle Song,” written by the American composer William J. Kirkpatrick. It was first published as part of the collection Around the World with Christmas (1895), a "Christmas Exercise" for schools featuring material representing various countries. It was included, under the title "Luther's Cradle Hymn," as a representative of "The German Fatherland.”

Program notes by Conductor Laureate, Douglas Meyer.

Video produced by CW Studios.