Thoughts on The Many Worlds of Christmas

This year in our December 3 and 11 concerts Master Chorus Eastside is sharing the world, as well as the power, of choral music, and in keeping with our theme The Many Worlds of Christmas tours the globe, savoring diverse holiday songs and carols from cultures all around the world.  These musical expressions showcase a kaleidoscopic array of rhythms, melodies, harmonies, and modes of thought unique to each culture.  Many of them spring from folk idioms that may seem simple on the surface but are solidly rooted in the earthy wisdom of the everyday lives of their creators.  Others are sophisticated compositions and carol arrangements by trained musicians.  But all tell a story of joy in song, comfort in the cyclic ritual of times and seasons and traditions, and the very human need to celebrate.

We begin with calls to “come,” the first directed toward heaven through an ancient French plainchant, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, the second directed earthward in O Come, All Ye Faithful.   From there we travel the world: from summer-in-December Australia to snowy-in-December Austria: from the ancient mountains of American Appalachia to the modern syncopated rhythms of a parang from Trinidad:  from the robust rhythms of Nigerian Africa to an African influenced villancico from Renaissance Spain: and perhaps most surprisingly, from pre-Communist China via an Advent carol found in an old Chinese hymnal to unsinkable, exuberant Haiti. 

There are plenty of familiar European and American carols to delight your ears: I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In, Jingle Bells, Silver Bells; Deck the Halls, and a most delightful wassailing song from England.  There are mummer’s songs from Latvia, an African American Christmas spiritual, and plenty of sing alongs to nurture your holiday spirit.  And then we close the circle back home in the United States with a musical commentary on our travels, Some Children See Him—black, brown, white, almond-eyed—like themselves!  Our journey through the many worlds of Christmas reflects those varied visions back to us as fellow travelers on this planet.  So come and enjoy—and celebrate!

Dr. Linda Gingrich, D.M.A
Artistic Director/Conductor

Master Chorus Eastside