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Merry Christmas! Have you ever noticed that this greeting is unique? We say “Happy Easter!” “Happy Valentine’s Day!” even “Happy Holidays!” But “Merry” is reserved for Christmas. It Is Good To Be Merry, a setting of proverbs on the word “merry” by the German-born American composer Jean Berger, supplies the title for this program of unaccompanied choral music, selected from Greenwood’s Christmas performances in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Other contemporary American composers are featured as well, Morten Lauridsen and Moses Hogan amongst them. There is music by Canadian composers Healey Willan, Imant Raminsh, John Butler and Mark Sirett, and music from the Renaissance in England (Byrd, Weelkes, Morley) and elsewhere (Sweelinck, Victoria). Many of the texts recount events associated with the birth of Christ, or reflect upon its significance, Healey Willan’s Here Are We in Bethlehem, for example, or There Is No Rose of Such Virtue by the American composer Robert H. Young. Others, like Sing Hey! It’s Christmas Day! by Imant Raminsh, and the American James McKelvy’s clever arrangement, Deck the Halls (In 7/8), focus on aspects of the annual celebration.
Merry Christmas! Have you ever noticed that this greeting is unique? We say “Happy Easter!” “Happy Valentine’s Day!” even “Happy Holidays!” But “Merry” is reserved for Christmas. It Is Good To Be Merry, a setting of proverbs on the word “merry” by the German-born American composer Jean Berger, supplies the title for this program of unaccompanied choral music, selected from Greenwood’s Christmas performances in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Other contemporary American composers are featured as well, Morten Lauridsen and Moses Hogan amongst them. There is music by Canadian composers Healey Willan, Imant Raminsh, John Butler and Mark Sirett, and music from the Renaissance in England (Byrd, Weelkes, Morley) and elsewhere (Sweelinck, Victoria). Many of the texts recount events associated with the birth of Christ, or reflect upon its significance, Healey Willan’s Here Are We in Bethlehem, for example, or There Is No Rose of Such Virtue by the American composer Robert H. Young. Others, like Sing Hey! It’s Christmas Day! by Imant Raminsh, and the American James McKelvy’s clever arrangement, Deck the Halls (In 7/8), focus on aspects of the annual celebration.