A Shepherd’s Nativity
(Sweet Light)
For TTBB with English Horn (2011), 3’15”
Text: Richard Crashaw
Premiered December 2011, Asheville, NC; Cantaria, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Asheville, Music Director Steve Cooper.
Program Notes
While A Shepherd’s Nativity is indeed a carol for Christmas, I, as usual, have elaborated the verses and refrains considerably. It is not intended for congregational singing. The rich 4-part harmonies of the TTBB chorus are further tinted by the ever-pastoral sounds of the English horn piping above.
A Shepherd’s Nativity (Sweet Light)
Richard Crashaw (from A Hymn of the Nativity)
Gloomy night embrac'd the place
Where the noble infant lay:
The babe looked up, and show'd his face,
In spite of darkness it was day.
It was thy day, Sweet, and did rise,
Not from the east, but from thy eyes.
Winter chid the world, and sent
The angry North to wage his wars:
The North forgot his fierce intent,
And left perfumes, instead of scars:
By those sweet eyes' persuasive powers,
Where he meant frosts, he scattered flowers.
We saw thee in thy balmy nest,
Bright dawn of our eternal day;
We saw thine eyes break from the east,
And chase the trembling shades away:
We saw thee (and we blest the sight)
We saw thee by thine own sweet light.