Main Page Christmas Cantata
Musical directors' notes


      Christmas Cantata is pre-eminently vocal music: choirs, solos, duets, trios, octets, and recitatives. You will need a good keen chorus who can read the notes and stick to them, and some versatile soloists who may be granted a little more freedom in their delivery.
      Once you've got your singers, the basis of the musical accompaniment is the continuo of piano, jazz organ, guitar, bass and drums. At least, they should all have some knowledge of reading music. At best, you should find a pianist who can groove; an organist who can scat all over; a guitarist who can turn from finger-pick Spanish guitar to electric rhythm; and a drummer and bassist who can keep it all together. Like the solo singers, the continuo may improvise and embellish their parts as long as long as they stay within the mood and the harmonic structure.
      It is possible to put on a decent performance of the Cantata with simply the continuo and a few featured instruments. However, a full-size performances require the addition of an orchestra. Unlike the continuo, but like the chorus, the orchestra should not attempt to improvise!
      The orchestral forces required for a full performance are as follows:

            Woodwind
            2 Flutes (1 doubling piccolo)
            2 Oboes
            2 Clarinets in B flat, doubling alto and tenor saxophone
            2 Bassons

            Brass
            2 Horns in F
            3 Trumpets in Bb
            2 Tenor Trombones
            1 Bass Trombone
            1 Tuba

            Percussion
            Percussion 1: Timpani
            Percussion 2: vibraphone, xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, santur, etc.
            Percussion 3: congas, bongos, timbales, tombak, etc.
            Percussion 4: various.

            Voices
            Soloists: Soprano (operatic), Alto (soul-pop), Tenor (chansoniste), Bass-baritone (operatic).
            SATB chorus.

            Continuo
            Guitar (acoustic & electric)
            Piano (acoustic & electric)
            Hammond organ
            Drums
            Electric Bass (5-string assumed)

            Orchestral Harp

            Strings
            Violin I (10)
            Violin II (8)
            Viola (6)
            Violoncello (4)
            Double Bass (2)

            The usual transpositions obtain for piccolo, clarinets, alto and tenor saxophones, horns in F, trumpets.
            The glockenspiel sounds two octaves higher than written.
            Xylophone sounds one octave higher than written.
            Guitar, Electric Bass, Double Bass sound one octave lower than written.

      Percussion is scored according to players rather than instruments. First, the timpanist. Second, mallets (wo)man. Third, free-standing drums. Fourth, various orchestral percussion. Players two and three are also presumed to double on orchestral percussion.
      To order materials for a Christmas Cantata production, please click here. To see section headings and lyrics, please click here. Here follows a list of Cantata tracks and performance notes.

1. Before all things. Soprano solo & chorus.
2. It is written. Spoken recitative.
3. Angel. Chorus.
4. All this took place (0.42). Spoken recitative (St Matthew 1:22-23).
5. Mary (4.30). Mezzo-soprano solo & chorus. A setting of the Magnificat, Mary's song from St Luke 1:68-79. Here the soul-pop diva makes her entrance. She should improvise freely over the third and fourth choral refrains. Light and gentle, not too fast.
6. Behold, I send my messenger. Spoken recitative.
7. Blessed (4.15). R&B chorale. A setting of the Benedictus, Zechariah's song from St Luke 1:68-79.
8. And so it was. Spoken recitative.
9. Lullaby. Mezzo-soprano solo. A Celtic-style cradle song.
10. And there were shepherds. Spoken recitative. The children's chorus can enter at the end of this recitative, in order to sing in 'Gloria' and 'Wake, Little Children'.
11. Gloria (4.15). Chorus. This is a triple fugue of St Luke chapter 2, verse 14, in Zulu, English and Greek, based around the quintessential southern African harmonic sequence: I IV Ic V.
    The SATB chorus needs to be redistributed as SAB. Two-thirds each of altos and tenors join to become the new middle section, while the remaining third of each part joins the sopranos and baritones respectively.
    Zulu pronunciation: the hl of ‘emhlabeni’ is produced by holding the tongue against the roof of the mouth and expelling air from the sides, like the initial consonant of Welsh ‘Lladudno’. The k is implosive. This is a hard sound for non-Bantu speakers. The nearest approximation is a very soft ‘g’.
12. When the angels. Spoken recitative.
13. Shepherds. Vocal octet in barbershop style. It is designed for eight soloists, although it can be sung by the whole chorus with each voice group divided in two. The "doh" syllables should have a strong start and a soft sustain, like a plucked double bass string. The "dumm" syllables should be sustained on the m and not the n. Likewise there should be some hum on the m of "Bethlehem". It may also be sung a capella.
14. When they had seen him. An unaccompanied reading of St Luke 2:17-20.
15. Wake. Children's chorus and chorus.

      Interval.

16. Lord, our Lord (4.00). Chorale. A setting of the eighth psalm, the Christmas psalm, which tells how God uses babes and sucklings to quell the foe, and how the son of man was made a little less than the immortals and then crowned ruler of all things. The piano and the touch is crucial. A good grand piano is ideal. Failing that, a warm electric piano might be good. The song should have a luminous, suspended quality, like Satie's Gymnopédies. Or like the stars.
17. Now there was a man. Sung recitative.
18. Master, now. Solo & chorus. A version of the Nunc dimittis, Simeon's song from St Luke 2:29-32.
19. Now when Jesus was born. Spoken recitative.
20. You, Bethlehem. Trio & chorus. This is a slow processional march. The Magi enter singing with a retinue of percussion, and reach the front stage just before the main chorus entry. Watch the key-signature. It's in the Persian dastgah of Shur, that is, the Phrygian mode; all the supertonics are flattened.
21. And when they came. Spoken recitative.
22. The Star (5.10). Tenor solo.
23. The oracle of Balaam ben Beor. An unaccompanied reading of Numbers 24:15-17.
24. Rorate coeli. Chorus. The words are a reworking of the lyric of the same name by the Scots Franciscan poet, William Dunbar (c. 1460-1520). The melody is Scots traditional.
25. When Herod saw. Spoken recitative.
26. A voice is heard in Ramah (5.10). Solo & female chorus. The high female voices of bar 34 following are a stylized representation of the screaming of wailing women. The song was influenced by Swazi funeral music.
27. When Israel was a child. Choral recitative.
28. News. Solo & chorus.
29. The vision of Isaiah ben Amoz. Spoken recitative.
30. Arise (9.35). Chorale. A setting of Isaiah 60, describing the glory of Jerusalem in the messianic kingdom, with an ending from Ephesians 5:14. The trumpeters stand. Their motif of one long, seven short and one long notes is the teruah given to Moses in the desert. At its sound the Lord promised to come and save his people.
    At bar 192 the soul diva enters and continues into the three-time repeat between bars 199 and 214; the second and third time through she should improvise freely over the chorus. At the second time through the dramatic soprano re-enters and may also improvise freely.
31. Amen.