Words Joanna Forbes L'Estrange; Music Alexander L'Estrange
Scoring S/A/Men + organ

SHEET MUSIC
https://www.rscmshop.com/books/A4136/...

COMPOSER NOTE
As is the case with the vast majority of my choral pieces, the most important aspect here is the "steady and funky" groove. Although the time signature alternates between 7/8, 4/4 and 3/4, the tempo of the crotchet pulse never deviates and must remain rocksolid throughout. With this in mind, it is imperative that the organ accompaniment never rushes but provides a metronomic foundation on which the choir can overlay the melodies.

Choir directors should encourage their singers to pronounce the words in as speechlike a way as possible, that is to say with plenty of consonants and not lengthening the vowels unduly. This will be particularly effective wherever the melody appears in canon.

The contrast between ‘the people who walked in darkness’ and the ‘child is born’ is highlighted by the shift from the harmonic minor tonality of the verses to the major tonality of the refrain. Enjoy the moment at the end of each refrain where the organist stops playing and the choir sings ‘to us a son is given’, taking us back to the minor for the next verse. This needs plenty of character, as will the modulation up a semitone for the final verse.

I am indebted to my wife Joanna Forbes L’Estrange for writing these words for me which are based on Isaiah 9. There’s a sense of energy, excitement and urgency in the text which inspired me to create the 7/8 groove. Thanks too to Dean Close School and Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum for commissioning the work. I’m delighted that London Voices and Richard Gowers (organ) have recorded it on the album Winter Light (SIGCD873).

CREDITS
London Voices, conducted by Ben Parry
with Richard Gowers (organ)
Engineer Al Forbes
Producer Alexander L'Estrange
Videographer Tom Mungall
Recorded at St Barnabas Church, Ealing, London, May 2024
#winterlightalbum