John Burge

Orchestration:  2222/4231/2Perc.+Timp./Strings

Commissioner: St. Louis Symphony Children's Choirs

Premiere: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Children’s Choir and St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra; Powell Hall, St. Louis, MA; Dec. 8, 1997.

Duration: ca. 7 minutes

Program Note: And the Angel Said was commissioned by the St. Louis Children's Choir and their Artistic Director, Ethelyn Sparfeld, in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry McCoy and Mr. Paul E. Sparfeld.  This work was one of two commissions for SSA choir and orchestra that the St. Louis Children's Choir asked Burge to compose in 1996.  The other commissioned work was the four-movement setting of Dennis Lee's poetry entitled Simple Songs, which was published by Boosey and Hawkes in 2001.  Both of these commissions were the result of the choir's past performances of movements from Buurge's work, Thank You God, which is scored for SSA choir and chamber orchestra.  The two SLCC commissions were conceived to give children's choirs an orchestral accompaniment that is sutiably scored to match young voices while at the same time providing a keyboard reduction that makes it possible to perform the works satisfyingly with only a piano.

And the Angel Said is a setting of the familiar lines from the gospel of Luke that announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds (Luke 2.10-14).  Of particular interest in the composition is the instrumental introduction which sets the scene by simultaneously combining two Christmas carols: Silent Night and The First Noel.  Both of these tunes return at the end of the work while the choir sings the prhases, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards all!" 

Text:  

     Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

     For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

     And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

     Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards all!

Performance Note: While not a required element to perform this piece, it is possible to have an additional choir of Soprano and Bass choristers sing the two Christmas carols that combine at the end of the work (Silent Night and The First Noel).  To stress the optional aspect of this, the choral parts have only been included as an addendum to the published score on page 22 and do not appear in the full score (but the actual doubling is very obvious).

Interesting Observation: John Burge stumbled upon the idea of combining Silent Night with The First Noel while improvising some piano music for a Nativity Service involving his young children and later used the combination in And the Angel Said.  A number of years later, when asked to write a Christmas-inspired organ work, he returned to this concert in the composition, A Christmas Quodlibet.

The vocal score to this work can be purchased from Boosey and Hawkes.

For information with regards to renting the full score and a set of parts for this work, please contact: Boosey and Hawkes Rental Information.

Youtube performance conducted by Doreen Rao: 2009-10 Minnesota All State Women's Choir