Joyful Noise Inc. presents

CHRISTMAS ANGELICUS

Friday, December 13th at 7:30pm UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Simsbury, Connecticut

Saturday, December 14th at 4:00pm ST. MICHAELS EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Litchfield, Connecticut

Friday, December 20th at 7:30pm TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Torrington, Connecticut

Saturday, December 21st at 6:00pm ST. PATRICK-ST. ANTHONY CHURCH

Hartford, Connecticut

Sunday, December 22nd at 4:00pm THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF SALISBURY

Salisbury, Connecticut

Chorus Angelicus & Gaudeamus

Gabriel Lfvall, Artistic Director Jason Roberts, Organist

John McDonough, Narrator Andrew Thomson, percussionist & Uilleann pipes player

The audience is requested to turn off all cell phones, pagers and alarm watches

for the duration of the program. Flash photography is not permitted. The audience is invited to stand for the hymns and sit for the other musical numbers.

Please hold your applause until the end of the concert. Thank you.

PROGRAM

PROCESSIONAL HYMN

Once in Royal Davids City

Words, Cecil Francis Alexander (1818-1895) Music, Henry John Gauntlett (1805-1876), final stanza descant by Paul Halley (b. 1952)

The audience is invited to rise and join in singing from the fourth stanza on.

GREETING

INVITATORY CAROL Gaudete

Words, Anon. medieval Music, from Pi Cantiones (1582), arr. by David Hill

Refrain: Gaudete! Christus est natus Ex Maria virgine; Gaudete!

Refrain: Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is born Of the Virgin Mary rejoice!

Tempus adest grati Hoc quod optabamus,

Carmina ltiti Devote reddamus.

Deus homo factus est Natura mirante,

Mundus renovatus est A Christo regnante.

Ezechielis porta Clausa pertransitur, Unde lux est orta Salus invenitur.

Ergo nostra contio Psallat iam in lustro; Benedicat Domino: Salus Regi nostro.

The time of grace has come what we have wished for,

songs of joy Let us give back faithfully.

God has become man, To the wonderment of Nature, The world has been renewed

By the reigning Christ.

The closed gate of Ezekiel Is passed through,

Whence the light is born, Salvation is found.

Therefore let our gathering Now sing in brightness.

Let it give praise to the Lord: Greeting to our King.

READING CAROL

A Patre Unigenitus

Words, anon. 15th c. English carol, adapted and translated by Andrew Parrot (b. 1947) Music, Carl Rtti (b. 1949)

A Patre unigenitus, [the only-begotten of the Father] Is through a maiden come to us:

Sing we of Him and say Welcome Veni, Redemptor gentium. [come, redeemer of the nations]

Agnoscat omne seculum, [let every age and nation know] A bright star made three kings to come,

Him for to seek with their presents, Verbum supernum prodiens. [the Word descending from above]

A solis ortus cardine, [from the rising of the sun] So mighty a Lord is none as He;

And to our kind He hath him knit, Adam parens quod polluit. [which the father Adam defiled]

Refrain: Make we joy now in this fest, In quo Christus natus est. [in which Christ is born]

Eya, Eya, Eya. [yea, yea, yea!]

Maria ventre concepit, [Mary conceived in her womb] The Holy Ghost was aye her with,

Of her in Bethlem born He is, Consors paterni luminis. [sharing in the light of his Father] R/

O Lux beata Trinitas, [oh trinity of blessed light] He lay between an ox and ass,

Beside His mother maiden free, Gloria Tibi Domine. [glory to you, oh lord]

CAROL

Coslorgai World Premire: dedicated by the composer to Chorus Angelicus & Gaudeamus

Words, anon. Scottish proverb Music, Andrew Thomson (b. 1988)

T daoine a shilann inr saolta Agus shilann amach astu go luath,

T daoine a fhanann ar feadh tamaill... Agus fgann siad rianta a gcos ar r gcrothe,

Agus casann r n-anamacha port nua go deo deo.

Some people come into our lives And they quickly go away, Some people stay awhile...

And leave footprints on our hearts, And we are never, ever, the same.

READING

A HYMN FOR ALL

The First Nowell

Words, anon. old English carol Music, old English carol, arr. by David Willcocks (b. 1919), final stanza descant by Paul Halley (b. 1952)

The audience is invited to rise and sing stanzas 1 and 6, plus ALL refrains.

READING

CAROL Agnus de Lumine

World Premire: dedicated by the composer to Gabriel Lfvall & Chorus Angelicus

Words, William Blake (1757-1827) and O Nata Lux, 10th c. hymn Music, Matthew D. Cramer (b. 1990)

Little lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee,

Little lamb, Ill tell thee:

Little lamb, Ill tell thee:

O nata lux de lumine [O Light born of Light,]

He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb. He is meek and he is mild, He became a little child.

Qui carne quondam contegi [You who once deigned to be clothed in flesh]

dignatus es pro perditis, [for the sake of the lost,] nos membra confer effici [grant us to be made members]

tui beati corporis. [of your blessed body.]

I a child, and thou a lamb, We are called by his name. Little lamb, God bless thee! Little lamb, God bless thee!

CAROL

What Child Is This? Words, William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898)

Music, trad. 16th c. English melody, Greensleeves, arr. by Paul Halley (b. 1952)

1. Ave Maria [Hail, Mary] What child is this, who, laid to rest,

On Marys lap is sleeping, Whom angels greet with anthems sweet

While shepherds watch are keeping? This, this is Christ the King,

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing; Haste, haste to bring Him laud,

The babe, the son of Mary!

2. Why lies He in such mean estate Where ox and ass are feeding?

Good Christian, fear: for sinners here The silent Word is pleading.

This, this is Christ the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;

Haste, haste to bring Him laud, The babe, the son of Mary!

3. Ave Maria [Hail, mary]

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh; Come, peasant, king, to own Him!

The King of Kings salvation brings; Let loving hearts enthrone Him!

This, this is Christ the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;

Haste, haste to bring Him laud, The babe, the son of Mary! Maria.

READINGS

CAROL God Is With Us

Words, from the Orthodox Great Compline for Christmas Eve Music, John Tavener (1944-2013)

God is with us. Hear ye people, even to the uttermost end of the earth.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. The people that dwell in the shadow of death, upon them the light has shined.

For unto us a child is born! For unto us a son is given! And the government shall be upon his shoulder.

And his name shall be called wonderful! Counselor! The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace.

Hear ye people, even to the uttermost end of the earth. God is with us. Christ is born!

Andrs Moreno Garca, Zachary Gilbert (12/13), tenors

A HYMN FOR ALL

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Words & Music, John Francis Wade (c.1710-1786); final stanza descant by Paul Halley (b. 1952).

The audience is invited to rise and sing.

READINGS CAROL

Sleep Words, Charles Anthony Silvestri (b. 1965)

Music, Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)

The evening hangs beneath the moon A silver thread on darken dune.

With closing eyes, and resting head I know that sleep is coming soon.

Upon my pillow, safe in bed,

A thousand pictures fill my head I cannot sleep; my minds aflight.

And yet my limbs seem made of lead.

If there are noises, in the night, A frightening shadow, flickering light

As I surrender unto sleep, Where clouds of dream, give second sight..

What dreams may come both dark and deep,

Of flying wings and soring leap, As I surrender unto sleep

Unto sleep

READING CAROL

Ru, Ru Chu Words & Music, Anon. medieval Spanish

Refrain Ru, ru chu la guarda ribera: Dios guard el lobo de nuestra cordera.

Refrain: Riu, riu chiu* Shepherd at the river: God kept the wolf away from our sheep.

El lobo rabioso la quiso morder, Mas Dios poderoso la supo defender; Quiso la hazer que no pudiesse pecar, Ni an original esta Virgen no tuviera:

Este ques nacido es el gran monarca,

Cristo patriarca de carne vestido; Ha nos redemido con se hazer chiquito

Aunquera infinito, finito se hizera:

Muchas profecas lo han profetizado Y an en nuestros das lo hemos alcanado;

A Dios humanado vemos en el suelo Y al hombre en el cielo por qul le quisera:

Yo vi mil garones que andavan cantando

Por aqui botando haziendo mil sones Diziendo gascones Gloria sea en el cielo Y paz en el suelo, pues Jess nasciera:

Este viene a dar a los muertos vida Y viene a reparar de todos la cada; Es la luz del da aqueste mouelo;

Este es el cordero que San Juan dixera.

The furious wolf attempted to bite her But all powerful God knew how to protect her:

He wished to make her without sin, A Virgin unstained even by our first fathers fault.

This new born babe is the mighty monarch,

Christ the patriarch clothed in flesh: By making Himself a little child he redeemed us:

He who was infinite, made himself finite.

Many a prophesy told of his coming, And now in our days we have seen them fulfilled:

We see God made man upon the earth And man in heaven because He so willed.

I saw a thousand youths coming forward singing in This place, leaping as they sang a thousand notes:

Chanting glory be in heaven and peace upon Earth, Since Jesus is born.

He comes to give life to the dead,

He comes to redeem the fall of man; This child is the light of day,

He is the very lamb Saint John prophesied.

Kevin J. Andersen, bass Matthew Cramer, bass

Marie Laser, alto Andrs Moreno Garca, tenor

Michelle Fenton Begley, soprano

* the nonsensical syllables from the refrain of this carol imitate the growling of wolves.

The Burning Babe Words, Robert Southwell (15611595)

Music, Jonathan Wikeley (b. 1989)

As I in hoary winters night stood shivering in the snow, Surprisd I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow;

And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near, A pretty Babe all burning bright did in the air appear;

Who, scorched with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed As though his floods should quench his flames which with his tears were fed.

Alas! quoth he, but newly born, in fiery heats I fry, Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I!

My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns, Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns;

The fuel Justice layeth on, and Mercy blows the coals, The metal in this furnace wrought are mens defiled souls,

For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good, So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood.

With this he vanishd out of sight and swiftly shrunk away, And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas day.

READING CAROL

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day Words, trad. English carol

Music, John Linton Gardner (1917-2011)

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, my love, my love;

This have I done for my true love.

Then was I born of a virgin pure, Of her I took eshly substance; Thus was I knit to mans nature,

To call my true love to my dance. R/

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. R/

Then afterwards baptized I was; The Holy Ghost on me did glance,

My Fathers voice heard from above, To call my true love to my dance. R/

READING RECESSIONAL HYMN

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Words, Charles Wesley (1707-1788). Music, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847); final stanza descant by Paul Halley (b. 1952).

The audience is invited to rise and sing.

CHORUS ANGELICUS

The Senior Choir Gabriel Lfvall, director

Head Choristers, Jillian Cowles, Molly Cowles

Finn Begley, Ali Bottari, Mika Coderre, Eden Cowles, Piper Gibson, Bekah Heiland,

Michael Ivain, Jill Keegan, Samantha Keegan, Rose Kelly, Anna King, Faith Middlebrook, Phoebe Ivain, Anna Ryan, Claire Ryan, Grayson Shuck, Dana Wilton, Abigail Yanaway

GAUDEAMUS Gabriel Lfvall, director

Sopranos

Michelle Fenton Begley, Micaela Bottari, Kelly A. Brennan, Ann Havemeyer, Kitty C. Hickcox, Sonya Kobes, Sierra Labbe,

Jolanta Lorenc, Joan Pavlinsky, Karen Sovak

Altos

Dorothy Cowles, Claire Kelly, Marie Laser, Julia Torrant, Anne Voglewede Green

Tenors

James Boratko, Jeffrey Boratko, Zachary Gilbert, Thomas Lang, John LaPorta, George Mason, Andrs Moreno Garca

Basses

Kevin J. Andersen, Michael Coderre, Gregory Clark, Matthew Cramer, Martin Dodd, Luke Kelly, Glenn Scanlan, Gregory Zabielski

Dorothy Cowles, rehearsal accompanist - Anne Voglewede Green, rehearsal accompanist & librarian

Instrumentalists

Jason Roberts, organ Andrew Thomson, percussion

GABRIEL LFVALL, artistic director, grew up listening to the sounds of the tango in his native Argentina, and is at ease conducting, playing the keyboards, or singing tenor. He sang with the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo Boys Choir in the city of Mendoza, under Marcelo Coltro, where he also studied piano with Dora De Marinis. He went on to receive his Bachelors Degree from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Gabriel moved to the US in 1997 and got his Masters of Music in Piano Performance with Luiz De Moura Castro, as well as a Masters Degree in Choral Conducting from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. He has performed all around the world, including Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Hungary and Canada. He co-directs the vocal ensemble Vallis Music, a community chorus that has performed internationally, and he served as the assistant conductor for The Main Street Singers of New Britain. He directs the music ministries at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church in downtown Hartford, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford with Dr. Edward Bolkovac.

JASON ROBERTS, organist, Jason Roberts is Organist and Choirmaster at St. Jamess Episcopal Church in West Hartford, Connecticut. A graduate of Rice University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, his teachers have included Clyde Holloway, Martin Jean and McNeil Robinson. He is winner of the 2008 AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation and the 2007 Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition. He has recently presented recitals for the national conventions of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the American Guild of Organists. He has been a finalist at competitions in St. Albans, England and Haarlem, The Netherlands; and he enjoys accompanying silent films.

JOHN McDONOUGH, narrator, is an actor and narrator that has performed with many orchestras and chamber music festivals, most recently at the Norfolk (Yale) Festival (2011) narrating Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat. He was the voice of Paul Bunyan in the Glimmerglass Opera and New York City Opera productions of the Benjamin Brittens work by the same name. John also records audiobooks, winning an Audie Award in 2006. He has recorded hundreds of titles in Fiction, Classics, History, and Children's Literature. This year he recorded the last of the Wicked series, by Gregory Maguire, Out of Oz. Outside his audiobook work, John has performed with Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion and starred in the revival of Captain Kangaroo on the Fox and ABC Family networks.

ANDREW THOMSON, percussionist & Uilleann pipes player, was born in Norfolk, Connecticut, and began his musical career with, among other organizations, Chorus Angelicus in 1995. After singing with this group for eight years, under Paul Halley, Andrew continued his musical training as a percussionist through high school. In 2006, he auditioned and enlisted in the U.S. Marines as a Bandsman and spent the better half of his enlistment at the Armed Forces School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. Andrew graduated from Ithaca College as a composer and percussionist. He currently composes and performs throughout the tri-state area, taking numerous opportunities to continue collaboration with Joyful Noise.