Scoring: Treble recorder, baroque bassoon and harpsichord
Date: 2022A composition for this standard baroque ensemble in a modern idiom! The inspiration for the work is a poem by G K Chesterton entitled "A Christmas Carol" (see below), contrasting the tranquility and brilliance of the Christ-child lying on his mother Mary's lap with the "weariness" of the rest of the world. The music draws on a simple setting I wrote of these words ("The Christ Child") but disrupts the flow with occasional non-harmonic notes and some surprising key changes, gradually shifting the tonality downwards to a more peaceful ending.
Links: pdf (score) - pdf (parts) - mp3 - midi - mxl - sib - sib 6
A
Christmas Carol poem by G.K.Chesterton
The Christ-child lay on
Mary's lap,
His hair
was like a light.
(O weary,
weary were the world,
But here is
all aright.)
The
Christ-child lay on Mary's breast
His hair
was like a star.
(O stern
and cunning are the kings,
But here
the true hearts are.)
The
Christ-child lay on Mary's heart,
His hair
was like a fire.
(O weary,
weary is the world,
But here
the world's desire.)
The
Christ-child stood on Mary's knee,
His hair
was like a crown,
And all the
flowers looked up at Him,
And all the
stars looked down
