Bethlehem SATB

Hurry To Bethlehem is a work by composer Jonathan Wikeley for Unaccompanied SSATB Choir. The song sets a translation of a traditional Polish carol.

This interesting new take on the classic carol O Little Town Of Bethlehem by Swiss composer Carl Rütti formed one-third of a trio of carols that reinvigorated the old favourites with fresh and interesting musical elements. The Three Carols medley was initiated in 1996 with O Little Town Of Bethlehem forming the Adagio section. Carl Rütti's work blends the English choral tradition with other genres such as jazz and blues. His work defies expectations and as such this would make a great piece to perform for choirs who are perhaps tired of the traditional Christmas choral works. In theSeptember 2015 issue of Organists' Review Michael Overbury wrote that this piece is '[w]ell crafter and emotionally engaging...the painfully bittersweet clashes convey the poignancy of the Incarnation superbly well.'

Scored for SATB and organ this is a beautiful and intense musical description of the journey of the Magi to the stable in Bethlehem. The opening suggests a long tedious camel ride following the star and builds through to a glorious finale.

Carol-The First Mercy (1926) was originally a solo song and an early collaboration between Peter Warlock and Bruce Blunt with whom he would soon after write perhaps his best-known choral work  Bethlehem Down. Warlock arranged the carol for upper voices (SSA) & piano in 1927 but it was not until 1964 that the carol was arranged by Geoffry Russell-Smith for mixed voices & Piano. That arrangement is here restored to print in a newly-prepared edition. 

Carl Rütti's choral music is 'sensuous and exuberant by turns combining dazzling rhythms and soaring melodies with distinctively lush harmonies' (Choir and Organ Magazine).The composer writes: 'The Three Carols were initiated in 1996 by my friend Stephen Jackson (conductor of the BBC Symphony Chorus) for a Carol concert by the Wooburn Singers to whom they are also dedicated. They were originally written for brass quintet and choir. I picked three texts out of the enormous choice of traditional Carols which could form three parts: Andante - Adagio - Presto.'The three carols are: I Wonder as I Wander (Andante) O Little Town of Bethlehem(Adagio) and Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day (Presto).

Remember Bethlehem was conceived after a conversation on the works of the late story-telling songsmith Jake Thackray. Thackray’s sometimes bawdy sometimes satirical and often hilarious lyrics are delivered in a lugubrious baritone and underpinned by a strong Yorkshire accent that led him to be dubbed the “North Country Noel Coward”. In his Remember Bethlehem heshows a more tender side and tells a story devoid of expletives and cutting social commentary of a “shabby little country girl” completely broken by the ardours of her journey arriving in Bethlehem as a distrusted foreigner to give birth to baby boy called Jesus. Whatstruck and moved me most about Thackray’s telling of the Nativity Narrative is the way he normalizes Mary. Rather than retrospectively beatifying her - telling her story full in the knowledge of the extraordinary thing she did (as most nativity stories do) – Thackray’s portrayal of her as young afraid and cold makes her achievement all the more astonishing. Indeed so out-of-the-ordinary is the gift given by this apparently ordinary girl that no one and no thing can ever forget it: “Even the stony old hills […] your shaggy old trees […] the sulky old sun Remembers Bethlehem.” My carol of the same name adapts a similar approach to telling Mary’s story. Musically I have only thinly veiled my affection for Peter Warlock’s miniature masterpiece Bethlehem Down and evidence of this can be seen not only in the choice of key triple metre and strophic setting but also in the resemblance of some of the cadential figures. A final strand of influence comes once more from Yorkshire and specifically Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre. My wife is a literature scholar and pointed out to me the parallels between Mary’s plight in Thackray’s story and a scene from the novel in which Jane is lost up on the moors. Through her distrust of man she feels outcast and

Uses: Christmas EpiphanyScripture: Luke 2:1-4; John 7:42A musical dialogue between soloist and choir creates a great “call and response” character to this Christmas octavo. Verses includeshepherds sages and a call for all Christians to share the path to the Christ-Child. This is an excellent choice for after Christmas moments. The inclusion of the tune KINGSFOLD with the text of O Little Town of Bethlehemis an inspired touch. Duration: ca. 3:38.

from Journey of Promises-Uses: Christmas EpiphanyScripture: John 7:42 Micah 5:2 Matthew 2: 1-8This is a mosaic of splendid carols celebrating the birthplace of the King of kings! Once in Royal David's City; O Sing a Song of Bethlehem; O Little Town of Bethlehem; and Angels We Have Heard on High all are here and brilliantly orchestrated by Brant Adams. This is ideally fashioned for a Christmas pageant or for hangingof the greens commemorations. Splendid! Also available: iPrint Orchestration and StudioTrax CD.