New Year's impulses 1

Benjamin Britten - A Ceremony Of Carols

For the first time, the NEUE KAMMERCHOR HEIDENHEIM dare to tackle a milestone in the Christmas chamber choir literature: A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten.

The piece was made forChristmaswritten and consists of elevensentenceson textsThe English Galaxy of Shorter PoemsfromGerald Bullettthat onMiddle Englishto be sung. The piece was published on December 4, 1943 in theWigmore HallinLondonPremiered.

The work was written in 1942 while Britten was en route from theUnited StatesafterEnglandwas on the high seas. The work was written at the same time as BrittensHymn to St Ceciliaand is stylistically very similar.

Britten originally planned a series of individual songs. However, they were later fashioned into a coherent work. The framework for this is the unanimousHodie Christ natus est(lat.: "Today Christ was born"), which is based on aGregorian antiphonis based and is intoned by the choir at the entrance and exit. A harp solo based on this chant, as well as some other motifs from Wolcum Yole, also serves to meld into one piece. In the movements "This Little Babe" and "Deo Gracias" the chorus reflects harp-like effects through usagetighter canons.