Christmas Concert 2011 - Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols"

Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols has been a favorite of Christmas music programs for years.  Britten (1913-1976) was particularly known for his vocal writing, having composed numerous operas as well.  A Ceremony of Carols was written primarily on a sea voyage in 1942, as the composer returned to his native England from a stay in America.  Fortunately, hostile U boats in the North Atlantic did not prevent the trip's successful completion.

As the twentieth century unfolded, there was great interest in older music, particularly the folk music and the writings of each country's history.  English composers were no exception; with A Ceremony of Carols  Britten harkened back to the period of Middle English, which we associate with Chaucer and his times.  Britten selected nine carols from this Medieval era and placed a processional and recessional around them.  Though it was originally written for three part treble voices and harp, our performance is arranged for mixed chorus (SATB), a version arranged in 1955 by the composer Julius Harrison.  Britten approved the modification.

The nine carols are largely homophonic and dance-like, although counterpoint is essential to recreate the raindrops effect of "dew in Aprille" (#5), the sun-lit duetting of the Spring Carol (#9), and to reinforce the intensity of contrasts of the "freezing winter night" where the "silly tender babe" lies in a stable which itself becomes, by His very presence, "a Prince's court" (#8).  Of special significance is the virtual Holy War between the new-born Babe and the powers of Satan described in #6, "This Little Babe".  The angular, metrically irregular melody is set over a rhythmically relentless accompaniment.  As the war between good and evil expands, the chorus separates first into a canon in two parts, then in four, expanding Southwell's poetic imagery to create a vivid picture of apocalyptic conflict - a picture replete with pressing contemporary references for Britten, as noted above.

As a composer, Benjamin Britten was influenced by many styles and historic periods and wrote extensively for instrumental ensembles also.  He drew inspiration from specific gifted performers, including Peter Pears, Dennis Brain, and Mstislav Rostropovich.  A baseball player is considered complete if he has five tools or gifts; Britten possessed six - composer, pianist, accompanist, conductor, arranger, and editor.  

Incidentally, another Britten choral masterwork, his War Requiem, figured prominently in a cultural coup for our area in the new millennium.  The Atlanta Symphony Chorus performed this piece with the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin and drew great praise from its press who observed the rarity of it's orchestra members turning around in their seats to applaud an amateur volunteer chorus.  Another comment remarked how the best chorus in Germany was that of the Bavarian Radio, and the Atlantans were better.  For our founder Don Stafford, our guest conductor Jenny Rawson, and many others in this area who enjoyed a strong association and history with Atlanta's Symphony Choruses and beloved maestro Robert Shaw, it's a very proud moment.

Felton Dunn