"The Darkest Midnight in December" is one of the two 2007 carols chosen through the annual Welcome Christmas! Carol Contest. Additional performances occurred on:

Composer's Note:

"The Darkest Midnight in December" is set to a text by William Devereux, an Irish priest who originally published it in 1728. The text is remarkable for its sensuality. Fr. Devereux makes his point with striking images: cold wind on a starry night, offerings of incense, the dazzling glory of the Christ child, and the softness of Mary's arms.

The tune is presented first by sopranos and then tenors. Other sections of the choir remain wordless in the background, evoking nighttime stillness and the rustling wind. By alternating between major and minor modes, the melody brings out the contrasting themes of the shepherds' great joy and the shivering infant. From a compositional point of view, the assignment of writing for celesta provided a palette of unusual musical colors. The sparkling pure tones of this instrument are especially adept at evoking mystery, innocence and vulnerability all at the same time.

It is a great honor to have composed this carol for Philip Brunelle and his very fine choral ensemble, VocalEssence. The annual Welcome Christmas Carol Contest, now in its 10th year, helps to ensure that the 800-year old tradition of writing Christmas carols will continue well into the future! — Stephen Main

Sweet Was the Song is one of the two 2007 carols chosen through the annual Welcome Christmas! Carol Contest. Additional performances occurred on:

Composer's Note:

Much of my recent work has been heavily influenced by my love of medieval music, especially the folk music of that time. It has a simplicity and earnestness of expression that resonates with me. Salient features include improvised melodic ornamentation, general homophony, and a harmonic reliance on the perfect fifth, often used as an accompanying drone or moving parallel with the melody. This seemed a good fit for a lullaby, so my aim in this setting was to synthesize these and other stylistic features into my own language.

Meanwhile, the celesta was invented several hundred years later, in France in 1889; I use it here mainly as a shimmering background, occasionally "commenting on" and echoing the vocal lines. Old, older, and new come together, and in the end my hope was that of portraying the atmosphere of mystery that surrounds the nativity, and to craft a tune that could have been sung, perhaps, in a rural street sometime in the 1590s, or even two millennia ago.