Carols forQuire from the Old & NewWorldsTrinity Cathedral, Cleveland December 22-23, 2011

— Please hold your applause until the end of each set. —

Out from lands of Orient (Orientis partibus) Anonymous French, 13th century Gabriel from heaven’s king (Angelus ad virginem) Anonymous English, 13th century

There is no rose Anonymous English, 15th century Ave rex angelorum Anonymous English, 15th century Nowell sing we Anonymous English, 15th century

Quid petis, o fili? Richard Pygott (ca.1485–1549)

E la don don Anonymous (Cancionero de Upsala, 1556) Dadme albricias Anonymous (Cancionero de Upsala, 1556)

A solis ortus cardine Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–1594)

This day Christ was born William Byrd (ca.1540–1623)

— Intermission —Joseph est bien marié French 17th century, arr. R. Duffin Quelle est cette odeur agréable? French ca.1700, arr. RD Tous les bourgeois de Châtre French 17th century, arr. RD

Tous les bourgeois de Châtre (noël pour orgue) Claude-Bénigne Balbastre (1727–1799)Jonathan William Moyer, organ

Canite tuba in Sion Jakob Handl (1550–1591)

Personent hodie Anonymous (Piae cantiones, 1582), arr. RD Puer natus in Bethlehem Anonymous (Piae cantiones, 1582), arr. RD Verbum caro factum est Anonymous (Piae cantiones, 1582), arr. RD Gaudete Anonymous (Piae cantiones, 1582), arr. RD

Quiet Promise (2011) Jennifer Conner (b.1962)

In the bleak midwinter Gustav Holst (1874–1934) The holly and the ivy arr. Henry Walford Davies (1869–1941) A spotless rose Herbert Howells (1892–1983)

Ross W. Duffin, Artistic Director

Music & Art @ Trinity presents

ABOUT Q UIRE

Quire Cleveland is a professional choral ensemble founded in 2008 to perform the glorious choral masterpieces of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras, and beyond. Members of the ensemble are highly-trained musicians, collectively representing nearly 500 years of choral experience. In addition to being soloists and choral leaders at many of the major churches in the Greater Cleveland area, including the Cathedral of St. John, Church of the Covenant, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and Trinity Cathedral, among others, they have sung together in historically-informed ensembles, such as the Case Western Reserve University Early Music Singers and Apollo’s Singers of Apollo’s Fire. Quire performs nine centuries of a cappella repertoire. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has praised “the inspired voices of Quire Cleveland” and the group’s “exceptional purity of pitch” and, according to Cool Cleveland, “the joyful sounds could easily have soared to the very heavens.”

Q UIRE CLEVELAND

Sopranos: Donna Fagerhaug, Elena Mullins, Judith Overcash, Lisa Rainsong, Sian Ricketts, Gail WestAltos: Tracy Cowart, John McElliott, Debra Nagy, Beverly SimmonsTenors: Evan Bescan, Frank Blackman, Peter Hampton, Tyler SkidmoreBasses: Jonathan F. Cooper, Ian Crane, José Gotera, Nathan Longnecker, Ray Lyons, Jonathan Moyer

Board of Directors: John West, esq, President; Ross W. Duffin, dma, Artistic Director; Beverly Simmons, dma,

Executive Director; John McElliott, Secretary/Treasurer; Richard Rodda, ph.d. Quire Cleveland is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization.

Artistic Director and tenor Ross W. Duffin was born in London, Ontario, and attended the University of Western Ontario there. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University, where he specialized in the performance practice of early music. He came to Case Western Reserve University in 1978 to direct the nationally recognized historical performance program there. Ross has made a name for himself as a scholar in a wide range of repertoires, publishing articles on music from the 13th to the 18th centuries. His edition of DuFay chansons won the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society for work of benefit to both scholars and performers, and his Shakespeare’s Songbook won the inaugural Claude Palisca Prize, also from the AMS. Other “vocal” publications include his edition of Josquin motets from Oxford University Press, an edition of motets from the Jacobean period, and a reconstruction of the early Tudor St. Matthew Passion by Richard Davy, both from A-R Editions. Ross’s love of vocal ensemble singing has a familial background, since his grandfather, William Nelson, was a professional countertenor in London, England, and was soloist for Harold Darke and later Herbert Murrill, and his mother conducted her church choir, making him a third-generation choral conductor. He has sung with Apollo’s Fire since its inception in 1992. He also directs the Early Music Singers at CWRU.

Composer Jennifer Conner was a Regents scholar at the University of California Irvine, where she received three undergraduate degrees in music, dance, and fine arts disciplinary. She did her master’s and doctoral work at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying under Donald Erb. She also studied with New York composer George Tsontakis and participated in the Aspen Music Festival Center for Advanced Compositional Studies under Bernard Rands. Her orchestral music has been performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as the Oregon, Akron, Canton, and Grand Rapids Symphonies; she has had performances by soloists and chamber ensembles, including Panaramicos, Cleveland Chamber Collective, Myriad, and Epicyle New Music Ensemble; and several of her works appear on CD. Jennifer teaches theory and composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music and is head of the Suzuki music theory program there. She is also on the faculty at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music. She is author of the theory curriculum, Foundations in Music. A member of ASCAP, her works are published through Imaginings Publishing.

P ROGRAM NOTESby Ross W. Duffin

Christmas has traditionally been a feast of music, and we hope that, after performances in 2009 and 2010, our audiences are looking forward to a third serving of Christmas fare from Quire Cleveland. Once again, we bring you a cornucopia of musical works expressing the joy and hope of the season, from chant and sophisticated solemn motets to danceable villancicos, from Medieval and Renaissance Europe all the way to Cleveland, Ohio, in 2011!

Since around the middle of the nineteenth century, the medieval carol Orientis partibus has been popularly known as the “Song of the Ass.” It tells the story of the donkey on which Mary rode into Bethlehem, and was apparently sung as part of the Epiphany celebrations at Beauvais, France, from the Middle Ages to at least the seventeenth century. A manuscript with the musical setting as used in Beauvais survives in the British Library and seems to have been copied in the thirteenth century. Six stanzas survive in that manuscript, each with slight musical variants (though these are typically ignored in modern editions and performances), and another four stanzas of text in other manuscripts of the period. Our performance presents the music to the entire song as it appears in the original manuscript, but we are using the rhyming English translation by Henry Copley Greene. Greene wrote an article about the piece in 1931 and included such a delightful translation that I decided to use it for our performance as an alternative to the original Latin.

Dating from around the same time as Orientis partibus but from across the Channel is Gabriel from Heven King, which also exists in Latin, as Angelus ad virginem. That title is actually named by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, as sung by Nicholas the Clerk in “The Miller’s Tale.” The song tells the story of the dialog between Mary and the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation, and we are highlighting the dialog by having men sing Gabriel’s part and women sing Mary’s. The Middle English text is comprehensible but slightly hard to follow, so we are fortunate that the romantic poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889), made a rendering of it that has formed the basis of our singing version. The musical text is taken from two manuscripts of the fourteenth century.

From the next century in England come several Christmas songs in a popular form for lyric works at the time—the carol. In fact, so common did the use of this form become for Christmas works that nowadays we use the term “carol” by itself to denote a Christmas song, although it did not originally have that connotation. The typical carol uses a refrain, or “burden,” which alternates with several verses, as can be heard in the first and third of these selections. Another feature of these delightful English carols is what is called “macaronic” text, meaning lyrics that move back and forth between Latin and another language—in this case, English. They also feature use of a fauxbourdon texture, where the outer voices are frequently in parallel at a distance of a sixth, and the middle voice is exactly a fourth below the top, making a texture of sweet, parallel first-inversion triads that we strongly associate with late-Medieval polyphony, and that seems related to what the French writer Martin le Franc referred to ca.1440 as “La contenance angloise”—the English Guise.

An English carol from the early sixteenth century is Quid petis, o fili?, which survives as the most substantial musical work in a manuscript copied for the court of Henry VIII. Like the earlier Gabriel from Heven King, it uses imagined details and dialog to tell the story. Here, the long, Latin “burden” for the chorus alternates with florid soloists’ verses in English that tell the story of Mary interacting tenderly with the baby Jesus.

The next set features two Spanish works from a collection of anonymous villancicos printed in Venice in 1556, which includes a special section of Christmas songs. The volume survives in only a single copy, now in the University Library in Uppsala, Sweden, so it has been dubbed the Cancionero de Upsala. One of its handful of Christmas songs is E la don don, in which monophonic verses for men alternate with a polyphonic refrain sung by the full group. The second piece, Dadme albricias, features soprano solos and duets with tenor, alternating with the chorus.

Palestrina’s A solis ortus cardine is a setting of a chant hymn for Christmas morning, at the service of Lauds. One highly unusual feature of the piece is that Palestrina sets a version of the chant that follows the contour of the well-known Gregorian melody, but puts it in a different mode (Dorian rather than Phrygian), even though such a version does not survive in any period chant books. We have used a reconstruction of this apparent source melody for our chant. Palestrina’s setting uses alternatim technique, where verses of the chant alternate with polyphonic verses variously for three, four, and ultimately five voices. It was published in 1589, during which time Palestrina was maestro di cappella at St. Peter’s in Rome, but two of its other sources are manuscripts copied by Palestrina himself, so it seems to be a work of which he was especially fond.

William Byrd’s This day Christ was born is “A Carroll for Christmas Day” from his Psalmes, Songs, and Sonnets of 1611. In keeping with Byrd’s Catholic background in Protestant England, the text is a translation of the antiphon to the Magnificat for the Second Vespers of the Nativity. However, rather than sounding like a stately motet, it is instead in a full madrigalian style, with angelic voices entwining, and thrilling alleluias.

Around 1694, Marc Antoine Charpentier composed his Messe de Minuit pour Noel (Midnight Mass for Christmas), which used popular tunes as themes for the movements of the mass. The first Kyrie is based on the tune of Joseph est bien marié, which, unlike some of the other tunes Charpentier borrowed, at least was originally a Christmas song to begin with! Our arrangement is based on harmonizations in the Messe de Minuit. One lovely French Christmas song that did not make it into Charpentier’s mass—probably because it wasn’t yet composed—is Quelle est cette odeur agréable. It began to appear around 1700, and by 1728, in fact, had been hijacked by John Gay as the melody for the drinking song, “Fill every glass,” from his ballad-based Beggar’s Opera. It’s a sweet tune and perfectly suited to its original Christmas setting. The last song from the set is also from the Messe de Minuit, though in a somewhat modified form in the Laudamus te section of the Gloria. Charpentier also did more straightforward arrangements of it as a “noel,” meaning a Christmas work for organ solo or for an ensemble of instruments, and those have formed the basis of our harmonization. From the second half of the eighteenth century, we also present a delightful organ “noel” based on this tune by Claude-Bénigne Balbastre.

Jakob Handl (also known as “Gallus”) was born in Slovenia and worked mainly in Austria before spending his last few years in Prague. His Canite tuba in Sion is a based on an Office antiphon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and features an unusual scoring for low voices which interweave in close counterpoint. It was published in 1586 in the first volume of Handl’s monumental four-volume edition of his own motets, which he began to publish shortly after his arrival in Prague.

The next set consists of four works that were published in the 1582 Latin collection Piae Cantiones though there was also a Finnish version published in 1616, reflecting the apparent origin of the collection. Personent hodie, which is monophonic in the original print, appears in the Oxford Book of Carols in an

arrangement by Gustav Holst (which is what I grew up with), but the four-voice harmonization for this evening’s performance is my own, based on Medieval and Renaissance contrapuntal procedures. The set continues with Puer natus in Bethlehem, a strophic hymn based on the Introit for Christmas Day, set in the Piae Cantiones as a rather unusual duo. I have expanded the texture to include a four-voice arrangement, though our performance will show an array of textures in presenting the many stanzas, with solos, duos, and quartets. Verbum caro is another hymn based on a famous Christmas chant. This charming, lilting work is again monophonic in the original source, and I have harmonized it using period contrapuntal techniques. The vigorous last work of the set, Gaudete, is given in Piae Cantiones only as a four-voice refrain. The lyrics to the stanzas are printed in the source but, oddly, there is no music for them at all, so I have created a monophonic verse, and harmonized it to match the refrain for our last stanza.

In 2011, Quire Cleveland held a competition for members of the Cleveland Composers Guild to compose a work for possible performance on this program. Quiet Promise by Jennifer Conner was the winner of that competition, and this performance is its world premiere. Here are the composer’s notes on the piece:

Each year at Christmas, I usually make my own cards with the message that speaks to me most that year. Being a composer, my cards have often been short compositions. Thus, several years ago I wrote a short poem entitled Quiet Promise which I then set as a solo for piano and voice. The idea I wanted to communicate that year was the incredible simplicity, humility, and lack of fanfare behind the birth narrative, in light of the insatiable need for the spotlight that permeates our present culture. This past summer I decided to expand this poem, adding several more verses to the narrative—but still with the same thematic intent. I then set this work as a Carol specifically for Quire Cleveland’s Christmas concerts. This new a cappella setting retains the melodic theme in all of the verses but with different counterpoints and textures with each new occurrence. The work gradually builds reaching a climax of divisi voices in the penultimate verse where the Magi mistakenly search for the new King at the center of power. Following this build, the work closes with a simple restatement of the original verse and tune.

Our final set includes three works from twentieth-century England, a choral tradition that we explored in our recent concerts under the British guest conductor Timothy Brown. First is the touching In the bleak midwinter by Gustav Holst, a 1906 setting of a Christmas poem by Christina Rossetti (sister of the artist/poet, Dante Gabriel Rossetti), published originally in Scribner’s Monthly magazine in January 1872. The setting of the same poem by Harold Darke (my grandfather’s long-time choral director) was voted the most beloved Christmas work by choral directors in the US and UK in 2008, but Holst’s setting is the one I remember most fondly from my youth, and Darke clearly took the rhythm of his setting directly from Holst’s of five years earlier. The second piece is H. Walford Davies’s memorable 1913 carol, The holly and the ivy, with its captivating solo-duo verse opening. We conclude with Herbert Howells’s 1919 carol, A spotless rose, in which he sets an English version of Praetorius’s Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, that was published in 1869 by the English translator and hymnwriter, Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). (The Praetorius setting can be heard on our Carols for Quire CD.) With its soaring baritone solo verse in the middle, A spotless rose is quite simply one of the most exquisite carols for choir from the twentieth century.

— Ross W. Duffin

SINGERS BIOGRAPHIESTenor Evan Bescan holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, along with a Methodology Diploma from the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary. He sings with the Cathedral Choir at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and is currently a member of Cantores Cleveland and Trinity Chamber Singers. He has also performed with Opera Columbus and the Kecskeméti Fesztival Korous. Evan is currently a full-time elementary/middle school music teacher at Stockyard Community School in Cleveland.Tenor Frank Blackman is currently in the second year of his undergraduate degree, studying Music Education at Case Western Reserve University. At Case, Frank studies voice with Marla Berg and has participated in the Case Concert Choir, Early Music Singers, and Collegium Musicum, as well as the Church of the Covenant choir. Baritone Jonathan F. Cooper is in his final year studying at Baldwin-Wallace College. He has performed the roles of Mr. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium, Unnamed Bass in Too Many Sopranos by Edwin Penhorwood, Dr. Gibbs in Ned Rorem’s Our Town (Ohio premiere), and Colline in La Bohème. He will sing Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at B-W this spring. Locally, Jonathan has performed with the Trinity Chamber Orchestra, Trinity Chamber Singers, Cantores Cleveland, Opera Cleveland, and Apollo’s Fire. He has been featured on the emerging artist recital series at Trinity Cathedral, and has been heard live on WCLV.Praised by the New York Times as “the real attraction” with a voice that is “light and lithe,” mezzo-soprano Tracy Cowart has performed with many period ensembles, including Apollo’s Fire, La Donna Musicale, the Newberry Consort, Opera Lafayette, Trinity Cathedral Chamber Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, and the choir of the Church of the Advent. Also known for her interpretations of new music, Tracy recently performed the world premiere of Armando Bayolo’s Kaddish: Passio: Rothko and the role of “Hadewijch” in Louis Andriessen’s Die Materie, both with the Great Noise Ensemble. She is currently pursuing a DMA in Historical Performance Practice at CWRU.Bass Ian Crane is a high school music teacher and performer. He teaches choir and band at Holy Name High School in Parma, and previously spent five years on faculty at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, as instructor of bagpipes. He has performed with many local groups, including Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Carolers, and the Choir of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Ian earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Cleveland State University and his master’s in conducting from Kent State University. He resides in Lakewood, with his wife, Tricia, and children, Phoebe and Alexander.Soprano Donna Fagerhaug holds a Master of Arts degree in Church Music from Trinity Lutheran Seminary and a Bachelor of Music from the Conservatory at Capital University, both in Columbus, Ohio. Locally, she sings with Apollo’s Singers and

Cantores Cleveland. She serves as choir director at Celebration Lutheran Church in Chardon. Donna resides in Richmond Heights with her husband and three children.Baritone José Gotera began his choral training at age eight at St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto. He sang with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Tafelmusik while completing degrees at the University of Toronto. In Cleveland, he has sung with Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland Opera on Tour, Opera Circle, Opera Cleveland, and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. He completed an MA in Early Music at CWRU. At present, José is a music instructor at Hiram College, where he teaches voice and directs opera/musical theater workshop and the Hiram men’s chorus. He is also the baritone section leader for the chancel choir at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights.Tenor Peter Hampton teaches K-5 general music in the Lakewood Public Schools. He also sings with the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Evangelist and the early music and arts ensemble Cantores Cleveland. Peter has a bachelor’s degree in music education (vocal emphasis) from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, where he studied voice with Robert Nims. His choral experience includes singing in the United States premier of the Lord of the Rings Symphony with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shore conducting; and tours with choral ensembles to Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and France (which included a performance in Notre Dame Cathedral).Bass Nathan Longnecker also sings with Apollo’s Singers and Cantores Cleveland. When not singing, Nathan is proprietor of The Quiet Gardener, providing gardening service to homeowners.Baritone Ray Lyons does statistical programming and independent consulting in library performance measurement. He has performed in a number of local choral groups, including the Old Stone Singers, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Cleveland Opera Chorus, CWRU Early Music Singers, Cleveland Music School Settlement Vocal Chamber Ensemble, and in church choirs at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Temple Emanu El, Church of the Covenant, Immaculate Conception, and St. James Anglican Church, as well as the Church of the Ascension and St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York.Baritone Jonathan William Moyer maintains a dynamic career as organist, pianist, harpsichordist, and conductor. He is organist and director of music of the Church of the Covenant in University Circle and a lecturer in organ and harpsichord at the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music. Currently pursuing an artist diploma in organ at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Winner of second prize in the 2008 International Musashino Organ Competition in Tokyo, most recently he performed the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen in Baltimore. He serves on the executive committee of the

Cleveland AGO, and resides in Shaker Heights with his wife, organist Kaori Hongo, and two sons.John McElliott, countertenor, holds undergraduate degrees in voice and organ performance from the University of Akron and spent a year abroad as a choral scholar at Winchester Cathedral in the UK. He sings with several choral ensembles in Northeast Ohio, including Apollo’s Fire and Trinity Cathedral’s Chamber Singers, in addition to Quire Cleveland. John is president of Karen McFarlane Artists, where he manages concert careers for many of the world’s great concert organists and choirs. A versatile vocalist, he sings alto, tenor, and baritone parts in Quire Cleveland, and also serves as the organization’s Secretary/Treasurer.Soprano Elena Mullins is a second-year master’s student in Historical Performance Practice at CWRU, studying voice with Ellen Hargis. Her interest in early music was sparked as an undergraduate at the Eastman School of Music, where she performed in the Collegium Musicum under Paul O’Dette and the Schola Cantorum under Stephen Kennedy. She appeared with the CWRU Baroque Chamber Ensemble at the 2011 Boston Early Music Festival and with the Baroque Dance Ensemble at Cornell University and at Eastman. In addition to singing with the CWRU Early Music Singers and Collegium, she toured with Apollo’s Fire’s national tour of Monteverdi’s Vespers last fall, and appears with the Newberry Consort next January.Mezzo-soprano Debra Nagy has been called a “musical polymath” (San Francisco Classical Voice) for her accomplished performances as a singer and historical wind player. As one of the country’s top baroque oboists, Debra frequently performs with Apollo’s Fire (among other ensembles on both coasts), is the founder and director of Cleveland-based chamber ensemble Les Délices, and is a member of Ciaramella. She has also appeared as a guest multi-instrumentalist and singer with such groups as the Newberry Consort, Piffaro, Baroque Northwest, and Blue Heron Renaissance Choir. Debra has recorded for the Capstone, Bright Angel, Naxos, Hänssler, Chandos, and ATMA labels, and her live performances have been featured on radio in North America and Europe. Debra currently teaches in the Historical Performance Practice Program and conducts the Collegium Musicum at CWRU, where she earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Praised for her “excellence of style and ease of expression” (Austin-American Statesman), soprano Judith Overcash is known for a repertoire which ranges from medieval song to opera and oratorio to American musical theater. She has appeared across North America and abroad, as featured soloist with leading period and modern ensembles and at international workshops and festivals. In addition to appearing as soloist in large oratorio and dramatic works, she is celebrated for her interpretations of early music and chamber works, and is also active in musical theater. Judith holds both master’s and doctoral degrees in Early Music Performance Practices from CWRU, with additional post-graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin and the

Indiana University Institute of Early Music. As lecturer and adjunct faculty, she has taught music history, vocal pedagogy, graduate research methods, and applied voice at Hiram College and CWRU.Soprano Lisa Rainsong’s musical life integrates composition, education, vocal performance, and natural history. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from Cleveland Institute of Music and is a member of CIM’s Music Theory faculty. She is also a professional singer who performs as both a soprano soloist and as a choral musician, singing with ensembles including Quire Cleveland and Ensemble Lautenkonzert. Lisa earned a Naturalist Certificate from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and now teaches classes on bird song and insect song identification throughout Northeast Ohio.

Soprano Sian Ricketts is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Historical Performance Practice from CWRU. She is a soprano section leader at Trinity Cathedral and also sings in the Trinity Cathedral Chamber Choir. She will make her début performance with the Newberry Consort in January.

Mezzo-soprano Beverly Simmons is a singer, graphic designer, and Executive Director of Quire Cleveland. Born in Denver, she earned a doctorate in early music at Stanford University, and moved to Cleveland in 1978. Her career includes stints as a CWRU music professor, WCLV radio announcer, international artist manager, executive director, and mother of two. She has sung with Apollo’s Fire since its inception; founded the CWRU Early Music Singers, which she directed for 21 years; sang with the Cleveland Opera Chorus and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Senior Choir; and also sings at Temple Tifereth-Israel. Bev was founder/manager of the concert series Chapel, Court & Countryside: Early Music at Harkness and is also half of the cabaret duo, Rent-a-Yenta.

Tenor Tyler Skidmore is an active music educator and performer. Teaching now at the same high school he attended, Tyler attempts to share the joys and challenges of choral music with the students at Medina High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Mount Vernon Nazarene University and a master’s in voice performance from Kent State University. Tyler has performed with other area choral ensembles, including Opera Cleveland, The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus, and Apollo’s Singers of Apollo’s Fire.

Soprano Gail West has worked with such eminent artists as Julianne Baird, Emma Kirkby, Suzie LeBlanc, Paul Hillier, and Benjamin Bagby. Currently a voice student of Ellen Hargis, she has been a member of Apollo’s Singers since its founding. Gail has been a member of CWRU’s Early Music Singers for over 20 years and is a soprano soloist at Church of the Good Shepherd. She lives in Cleveland Heights with her husband and three children.

YouQuire Cleveland has just been awarded a grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture to record music that hasn’t been heard since the beginning of the 17th century and we need your help. In order to match the CAC grant, we need to raise $5,000 in donations to make this project work.

Here’s what’s so exciting: The music is by leading madrigal composers from the time of King James I of England — such celebrated masters as William Byrd, Thomas Weelkes, and Thomas Ravenscroft — but most of the music has never been professionally performed or recorded. It’s beautiful sacred music with Latin texts, the original partbooks for some are held in Special Collections at Case Western Reserve University. Not all the parts survived the centuries, but — lucky for Quire — artistic director Ross Duffin is an internationally recognized expert in the repertoire, so he has reconstructed them.

Quire Cleveland is in a perfect position to bring this exquisite repertoire to the ears of modern-day music-lovers. Since 2008 the ensemble has earned popular and critical acclaim for “inspired voices,” “sophisticated artistry,” and “joyful sounds.”

Won’t you help Quire meet this challenge by making a tax-deductible donation, to match the CAC grant? You’ll feel richly rewarded for your participation. But you’ll also BE richly rewarded with bonuses:

• Donors of $250 or more will receive an autographed copy of the recording;• Donors of $500 or more will receive an autographed CD and be invited to dinner with

the artists;• Donors of $1,000 or more will have their names listed as a sponsor in the CD booklet,

of which they’ll receive an autographed copy, and be invited to dinner with the artists.

But every gift, in any amount, is valuable and appreciated — and brings us one step closer to make this project a reality.

Please use the remittance envelope in your program or go to our website QuireCleveland.org and donate through PayPal. Thank you for your generosity!

Some simple math:

+ =+A New CD:

Madigalian

Motets

sung by

Quire

Cleveland

With YOUR HELP, this equation adds up to SUCCESS!

T EXTS & TRANSLATIONS

1. Out from lands of Orient Was the Ass divinely sent.

Strong and very fair was he, Bearing burdens gallantly. Heigh, oh heigh, Sir Ass, oh heigh.

2. Hey, Sir Ass, you sing hee-haw, Your fair mouth’s a sulky maw; You shall have your fill of hay, Oats enough to cast away.

3. Slow he went on lagging feet Till the rod began to beat, And the pointed goad to prick, Thigh and sides, and make him kick.

4. In the hills of Sichem bred Under Reuben nourished Jordan stream he traversed Into Bethlehem he sped.

5. With his flapping ears and long Lo the harnessed son of song. He is chosen: hear his call, Ass of asses, lord of all.

6. Higher leaped than goats can bound, Doe and roebuck circled round, Median dromedaries’ speed Overcame, and took the lead.

7. Red gold from Arabia, Frankincense and, from Sheba, Myrrh he brought and, through the door, Into the Church he bravely bore

8. While he drags long carriages Loaded down with baggages, He, with jaws insatiate, Fodder hard doth masticate.

9. Chews the ears with barley corn, Thistle down with thistle corn. On the threshing floor his feet Separate the chaff from wheat.

10. Stuffed with grass, yet speak and say Amen, Ass, with every bray: Amen, amen, say again: Ancient sins hold in disdain.

—tr. Henry Copley Greene

1. Gabriel, from heaven’s king Sent to the maiden sweet, Brought to her blissful tiding And fair ‘gan her to greet. “Hail be thou, full of grace aright! For so God’s Son, the heaven’s light, Loves man, that He a man will be and take Flesh of thee, maiden bright, Mankind free for to make Of sin and devil’s might.”

2. Gently to him answer gaveThe gentle maiden then: “In what wise should I bear Child, that know not man?” Th’ angel said to her: “O dread thee nought. ‘Tis through the Holy Ghost that wrought Shall be this thing whereof tidings I bring: Lost mankind shall be bought By thy sweet childbearing, And out of torment brought.”

3. When the maiden understood And th’ angel’s words had heard, Gently, of her own mild mood, The angel she answered: “Our Lord His handmaiden, I-wis,

I am, that here above us is: Concerning me fulfilled be thy saw; That I, since His will is, Be, out of nature’s law A maid with mother’s bliss.”

4. The angel went away thereon And parted from her sight And straightway she conceived a Son Through th’ Holy Ghost His might. In her was Christ contain’d anon, True God, true man, in flesh and bone; Born of her too when time was due; who then Redeemed us for His own, And bought us out of pain, And died for us t’atone.

5. Filled full of charity, Thou matchless maiden-mother, Pray for us to him that He For thy love above other, Away our sin and guilt should take, And clean of every stain us make And heaven’s bliss, when our time is to die, Would give us for thy sake; With grace to serve him by Till He us to him take.

—Gerald Manley Hopkins, S.J. (1844–1889)

There is no rose of such virtue as is the rose that bare Jesu.

1. There is no rose of such virtue as is the rose that bare Jesu. Alleluia

2. For in this rose contained was heaven and earth in little space; Res miranda.

3. By that rose we may well see that he is God in persons three, Pari forma.

4. The angels sungen the shepherds to: Gloria in excelsis deo: Gaudeamus.

5. Leave we all this worldly mirth, and follow we this joyful birth; Transeamus.

Ave rex angelorum, Ave rexque caelorum, Ave, princepsque polorum. Hail, most mighty in thy working, hail, thou lord of all thing; I offer thee gold as to a king; Ave, rex angelorum. Ave rex angelorum, Ave rexque caelorum, Ave, princepsque polorum.

Nowell sing we, both all and some, now Rex pacificus is y-come.

1. Exortum est in love and lysse. Now Christ, his grace he gan us gysse, and with his body us bought to bliss, both all and some.

2. De fructu ventris of Mary bright, both God and man in her alight, out of disease he did us dight, both all and some.

3. Puer natus to us was sent, to bliss us bought, fro bale us blent, and else to woe we had ywent, both all and some.

4. Lux fulgebit with love and light, in Mary mild his pennon pight, in her took kind with manly might, both all and some.

5. Gloria tibi ay and bliss, God unto his grace he us wysse, the rent of heaven that we not miss, both all and some.

Quid petis, O fili? mater dulcissima, ba, ba. O pater, O fili, michi plausus oscula, da, da.

The mother, full mannerly, and meekly as a maid,Looking on her little son, so laughing in lap laid,So prettily, so pertly, so passingly well apay’d,Full softly and full soberly unto her sweet son she said :Quid petis, o fili? …I mean this by Mary, our Maker’s mother of might.Full lovely looking on our Lord, the lantern of light,Thus saying to our Saviour ; this saw I in my sight;This reason that I rede you now, I rede it full right.Quid petis, o fili? …Musing on her manners so nigh marr’d was my main,Save it pleasëd me so passingly that past was my pain;Yet softly to her sweet son, me-thought I heard her sain :Now gracious God and good sweet babe, yet once this game again :Quid petis, o fili? …

Wonderful things.

In such fashion.

Glory to God in the highest. Let us rejoice.

Let us cross over.

Hail, king of the angels, and hail, king of the heavens, and hail, prince from pole to pole.

King of peace-making.

It arose …

Of the fruit of the womb …

A boy born …

The light will shine …

Glory to thee …

What do you seek, O my son? says the sweetest mother, kiss, kiss. O father, O son, give me, give me kisses of praise.

And the lady lady, virgin Mary, and the lady lady, How we will dance!

1. Oh friends, this night a virgin gave birth to a child so fine, there’s no equal on earth. And the lady lady …

2. Tell us who told you that a virgin gave birth, for we never heard such a thing, good sir. And the lady lady …

3. The angels sang glory to God in the highest, for in Bethlehem town the child was found. And the lady lady …

4. Through signs we were told that truth would be wrapped in a very skimpy blanket, a small boy, the true God. And the lady lady …

5. Peter approaches the true God and the Virgin, he brings them a bundle that is full of treats. And the lady lady …

6. Now Beltran, sing for love of the Holy Child and after, John will sing, and then they’ll give us sweets. And the lady lady …

7. He will sing his song for Jesus my good friend, who will save us from all harm while we sleep through the night. And the lady lady …

1. Sons of Eve, reward my tidings! Why should we make gifts to you? Born is He, the Adam new. Almighty God, what glad tidings!

2. Pay my boon, and sing for joy, For tonight is born our Savior,

3. The Messiah promised to us, Man and God, a virgin’s boy

4. By his birth, he gives us pardon For the sin and wrong we do. Born is He, the Adam new. Almighty God, what glad tidings!

5. Sons of Eve …

1. From the rising of the sun to the ends of the earth, let us sing of Christ the Prince, born of the Virgin Mary.

2. The blessed creator of the world put on a servant’s body, so that, liberating the flesh through taking flesh, he would not lose what he had made.

3. The virgin mother’s belly is filled with heavenly grace; the girl’s womb carries secrets which she has not known.

E la don don, verges Maria, e la don don, peu cap de sanque que nos dansaron.

1. O garçons, aquesta nit una verges na parit un fillo qu’es tro polit que non aut au en lo mon. E la don don …

2. Digas nos qui t’ho la dit, que verges n’haja parit, que nos may havem ausit lo que tu diu, girantom. E la don don …

3. A eo dian los argeus, que cantaven altas veus la grolla n’ecelsis Deus, qu’en Belem lo trobaron. E la don don …

4. Per señau nos an birat, que verets embolicat de drapets, molt mal faxat, lo ver diu petit garçon. E la don don …

5. Vin Perot i a Diu veray, i a la Verges sa may, un sorron li portarai, que sera ple de coucom. E la don don …

6. Ara canta tu Beltran, per amor deu Sant Infan i apres cantara Joan, i donar nos an coucom. E la don don …

7. I be cantare sus dich per Jesus mon bon amich, que nos sauvara la nit de tot mal qu’an hom se dorm. E la don don …

1. Dadme albricias, hijos d’Eva! Di, de que dartelas han? Qu’es nascido el nuevo Adam. Oh, hí de Dios, y que nueva!

2. Dadmelas y haved plazer, Pues esta noche es nascido

3. El Mexías prometído, Dios y hombre de mujer.

4. Y su nacer nos releva Del peccado y de su afan. Qu’es nascido el nuevo Adam. O hí de Dios, y que nueva!

5. Dadme albricias …

1. A solis ortus cardine Ad usque terrae limitem, Christum canamus principem, Natum Maria Virgine.

2. Beatus auctor saeculi Servile corpus induit: Ut carne carnem liberans, Ne perderet quos condidit.

3. Castae parentis viscera coelestis intrat gratia, venter puellae bajulat, secreta, quae non noverat.

4. Domus pudici pectoris Templum repente fit Dei: Intacta nesciens virum, Concepit alvo Filium.

5. Enixa est puerpera quem Gabriel praedixerat, quem matris alvo gestiens clausus Joannes senserat.

6. Foeno jacere pertulit, Praesepe non abhorruit: Et lacte modico pastus est, Per quem nec ales esurit.

7. Gaudet chorus coelesium, et Angeli canunt Deo: palamque fit pastoribus, pastor, creator omnium.

8. Jesu, tibi sit gloria, Qui natus es de Virgine, Cum Patre et almo Spiritu, In sempiterna saecula. Amen.

This day Christ was born,This day our Savior did appear,This day the Angels sing in earth, the Archangels are glad.This day the Just rejoice, saying:Glory be to God on high. Alleluia.

1. Joseph est bien marié à la fille de Jesse. C’etait chose bien nouvelle d’être mère et pucelle. Dieu y avait operé: Joseph est bien marié.

2. Et quand ce fut au premier que Dieu voulut nous sauver Il fit en terre descendre son seul fils Jésus pour prendre en Marie humanité: Joseph est bien marié.

3. Quand Joseph eut aperçu que la femme avait conçu, Il ne s’en contenta mie, fâché fut contre Marie, Et se voulut en aller: Joseph est bien marié.

4. Mais l’ange si lui a dit: Joseph n’en aie point dépit, Ta sainte femme Marie est grosse du fruit de vie. Elle a conçu sans peché: Joseph est bien marié.

5. Les anges y sont venus voir le Rédempteur Jésus. De très belle compagnie, puis à haute voix jolie Gloria ils ont chanté: Joseph est bien marié.

6. Or prions devôtement de bon coeur et humblement. Que paix, joie et bonne vie impêtre Dame Marie à notre necessité: Joseph est bien marié.

4. The modest dwelling of her body becomes God’s new temple; untouched, not knowing a man, at a word she conceived the Son in her womb.

5. By her birth pangs she brought forth the one whom Gabriel had foretold, and whom the Baptist, leaping within the womb, had recognised as Lord.

6. He consented to lie in the hay; he did not shrink from the manger; and with little milk he was fed, who does not allow even the birds to hunger.

7. The heavenly chorus rejoices, and the angels sing God’s praise, and to the shepherds is now made known the Shepherd who is the creator of all.

8. Jesus, to you be glory, who are born of a virgin, with the Father and the loving Spirit, for eternal ages. Amen.

—tr. Mick Swithinbank

1. Joseph is well married to a girl of Jesse’s line. It’s something new to be a mother and girl. God made it happen: Joseph is well married.

2. And when this was at the beginning that God wanted to save us He made descend to earth his only son, Jesus, to take human form in Mary: Joseph is well married.

3. When Joseph had perceived that the woman had conceived, He was not a happy husband, was angry with Mary, and wanted her to go away: Joseph is well married.

4. But the angel said unto him: Joseph, don’t be spiteful. Your saintly wife, Mary, is pregnant with the fruit of life. She has conceived without sin: Joseph is well married.

5. The angels came there to see the redeemer Jesus. With a very beautiful chorus, then with loud and pretty voices, “Gloria,” they sang: Joseph is well married.

6. Now pray we devotedly with good heart and humbly, that peace, joy, and good life to implore lady Mary to our necessity: Joseph is well married.

—tr. R. Duffin

1. What is this agreeable fragrance, shepherds, that ravishes our senses? Does it not exhale something more than the mingling of spring flowers? What is this agreeable fragrance …

2. But what a blinding light in the night that comes to strike our eyes. The star of day, without his chariot, was he ever so radiant? But what a blinding light…

3. Here are many other wonders! Great God, what hear I in the strains? What voices! Never have our ears heard concerts so beautiful. Here are many other wonders!…

4. Fear not, ye faithful, listen to the angel of the Lord; He tells of a mystery that will fill you with joy. Fear not, ye faithful, …

5. At Bethlehem, in a manger has just been born for you a saviour. Let us go, that nothing prevents you from adoring your redeemer. At Bethlehem, in a manger…

6. God all-powerful, glory eternal be rendered to you to the heavens, so that peace will be universal, so that grace abounds everywhere, God all powerful, glory eternal…

—tr. R.D.

1. All the citizens of Châtres and those of Montlhéry they all went four by four, in chasing cares away On this particular day, on which the Virgin Mary near the ox and ass—don, don— laid Jesus down—la, la—in a stable.

2. The angels of radiance sang a lot of songs to the shepherds and shepherdesses who watched their flocks. Among all these regions, and all across the waves saying that the darling boy—don, don— was born nearby,—la, la—to save the world.

3. When they had finished drinking, a fellow from Aveaux made a good soup with plenty of turnips! Chickens, also pigeons, to make good cheer and ducklings, too, and pheasants were brought by Jean Rabot—smart lad—to Jesus and his mom.

4. When everyone was seated, a young boy from Nevers upon a pleasant lute sang a thousand lovely airs. In all the diverse keys, mixing his serenading with trumpet and bugle—don, don— with Alleluia—la, la—to Joseph and Mary.

—tr. R.D.

1. Quelle est cette odeur agréable, bergers, qui ravit tous nos sens? S’exhale t’il rien de semblable au milieu des fleurs du printemps? Quelle est cette odeur agréable bergers, …

2. Mais quelle éclatante lumière Dans la nuit vient frapper nos yeux. L’astre de jour, dans sa carrière, Fut-il jamais si radieux! Mais quelle éclatante lumière …

3. Voici beaucoup d’autres merveilles! Grand Dieu! qu’entends-je dans les airs? Quelles voix! Jamais nos oreilles N’ont entendu pareils concerts. Voici beaucoup d’autres merveilles!…

4. Ne craignez rein, peuple fidèle, Écoutez l’Ange du Seigneur; Il vous annonce une merveille Qui va vous combler de bonheur. Ne craignez rein, peuple fidèle …

5. A Bethléem, dans une crêche Il vient de vous naitre-un Sauveur. Allons, que rien ne vous empêche D’adorer votre rédempteur A Bethléem, dans une crêche, …

6. Dieu tout puissant, gloire éternelle vous soit rendue jusqu’aux cieux, Que la paix soit universelle, que la grace abonde en tous lieux. Dieu tout puissant, gloire éternelle…

1. Tous les bourgeois de Châtre, et ceux de Montlhéry s’en allaient quatre à quatre, en chassant le souci. Cette journée ci, que la Vierge Marie, près le boeuf et l’ânon, don, don, de Jésus accoucha, la, la, dans une bergerie.

2. Des anges de lumière ont chanté divers tons aux bergers, aux bergères qui gardaient leurs moutons. Parmi tous ces cantons tout alentour de l’onde, disant que ce mignon don, don, était né près de là, la, la, pour le salut du monde

3. Lorsqu’on visait la coupe un nommé des Aveaux faisait de bonnes soupes avec force naveaux. Poulets et pigeonneaux pour faire grande chère, outre des halebrans, faisans qu’apporta Jean Rabot, pas sot, à Jésus et sa mère.

4. Comme on était à table un garçon de Nevers sur un luth agréable chanta mille beaux airs Sur tous les tons divers mêlant sa chanterie de trompette et clairon don, don, avec l’alleluya, la, la, à Joseph et Marie.

Canite tuba in Sion, vocate gentes, annuntiate populis et dicite: ecce, Deus, salvator noster adveniet; annuntiate et auditum facite, loquimini et clamate: ecce, Deus, salvator noster adveniet.

1. Personent hodie voces puerulae, laudantes jucunde qui nobis est natus, summo Deo datus, Et de virgineo ventre procreatus.

2. In mundo nascitur, pannis involvitur praesepi ponitur Stabulo brutorum, rector supernorum. Perdidit spolia princeps infernorum.

3. Magi tres venerunt, munera offerunt, parvulum inquirunt, stellulam sequendo, ipsum adorando, Aurum, thus, et myrrham ei offerendo.

4. Omnes clericuli, pariter pueri, cantent ut angeli: advenisti mundo, laudes tibi fundo. Ideo gloria in excelsis Deo.

1. Puer natus in Bethlehem, unde gaudet Jerusalem, alleluia.2. Assumsit carnem hominis, verbum patris altissimi, alleluia.

3. Per Gabrielis nuncium, virgo concepit filium, alleluia.4. De matre natus virgine, sine virili semine, alleluia.5. Sine serpentis vulnere, de nostro venit sanguine, alleluia.6. In carne nobis similis, peccato sed dissimilis, alleluia.7. Tanquam sponsus de thalamo, processit matris utero, alleluia.

8. Hic iacet in præsepio, qui regnat sine termino, alleluia.9. Cognovit bos et asinus, quod puer erat Dominus, alleluia.10. Et angelus pastoribus, revelat quis sit Dominus, alleluia.11. Magi de longe veniunt, aurum, thus, myrrham offerunt, alleluia.

12. Intrantes domum invicem, natum salutant hominem, alleluia.13. In hoc natali gaudio, Benedicamus Domino, alleluia.14. Laudetur sancta Trinitas, Deo dicamus gratias, alleluia.

Verbum caro factum est de virgine, verbum caro factum est de virgine Maria.

1. In hoc anni circulo vita datur seculo nato nobis parvulo de virgine Maria.

2. O beata femina, cuius ventris gloria mundi lavat crimina: de virgine Maria.

3. Stella solem protulit, sol salutem contulit, carnem veram abstulit de virgine Maria.

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, call together the nations, tell it out among the people, and say:Behold, God our Savior cometh.Tell it out and make it to be heard, speak aloud and cryBehold, God our Savior cometh.

1. On this day earth shall ring with the song children sing to the Lord, Christ our King, born on earth to save us; him the Father gave us, from the virgin’s womb was he procreated.

2. He is born in this world, in swaddling clothes is he furled in a manger doth abide, ox and ass by his side ruler of the heavens. Thus was lost all the spoils of the prince of darkness.

3. Wise Men three to him led, to lay their gifts by his bed, seek the child from afar, following a little star, only him adoring. Frankincense, gold, and myrrh were their offerings for him.

4. All the clerics there be, all the children with thee sing like angels that he by the world unbounded praises now be sounded. Let there be to our God glory in the highest.

—Jane M. Joseph/R. Duffin

1. A boy was born in Bethlehem, and so Jerusalem rejoices, alleluia.2. He assumes the flesh of man, the most high Word of the Father,

alleluia.3. By Gabriel the messanger, a virgin conceived a son, alleluia.4. Born of a virgin mother, without the seed of man, alleluia.5. Without the wound of the serpent, he came out of our blood, alleluia.6. Like us in flesh, but unlike us in sin, alleluia.7. Like a bridegroom coming out of the chamber, he went forth from

his mother’s womb, alleluia.8. He lies in a manger, who reigns without end, alleluia.9. The ox and ass knew that the child was the Lord, alleluia.10. And the angel to the shepherds, reveals who is the Lord, alleluia.11. The Magi come from afar; gold, frankincense, and myrrh they offer,

alleluia.12. Entering in each other’s houses, salute him who is born, alleluia.13. Rejoice in this birthday, bless the Lord, alleluia.14. The Holy Trinity be praised, let us say thanks to God, alleluia. —tr. R.D.

Word was made flesh of a virgin, the word was made flesh of the Virgin Mary.

1. On this day, as the year goes round, life is given to all mankind with the birth of a little son of the virgin Mary.

2. Oh, happy woman, the glory of whose womb washes the crimes of the world: of the Virgin Mary.

3. The star brought forth the sun, the sun conferred salvation, true flesh he took out of the Virgin Mary.

4. The fountain of streams is born of its own accord for the people, whom he released form bondage: of the Virgin Mary.

5. Praise, honor, power to the Lord God, the Father and the Son, the Holy One and Comforter together: of the Virgin Mary.

—tr. R.D.

Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is born of the Virgin Mary, rejoice.

1. The time of grace is present, the truth for which we hoped, devoutly render songs of joy. Rejoice.

2. God has become man, astounding nature, the world is renewed by the reign of Christ. Rejoice.

3. Ezechiel’s closed gate is traversed, whence light arose, salvation is found. Rejoice.

4. Therefore, friends, sing now in the light, bless the Lord, salvation through our King. Rejoice.

—tr. R.D.

4. Fons de suo rivulo nascitur pro populo, quem tulit de vinculo de virgine Maria.

5. Laus, honor, virtus Domino Deo Patri et Filio, Sancto simul Paracleto: de virgine Maria.

Gaudete, gaudete Christus est natus ex Maria virgine, gaudete.

1. Tempus adest gratia, hoc quod optabamus, Carmina laetitiae devotè reddamus. Gaudete.

2. Deus homo factus est, Natura mirante, Mundus renovatus est à Christo regnante. Gaudete.

3. Ezechielis porta clausa pertransitur, Unde lux est orta, salus invenitur. Gaudete.

4. Ergo nostra concio psallat iam in lustro, Benedicat Domino, salus Regi nostro. Gaudete.

1. In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan; Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

2. Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign: In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

3. Enough for him, whom cherubim, worship night and day, A breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay; Enough for him, whom angels fall down before, The ox and ass and camel which adore.

4. Angels and archangels may have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; But only his mother, in her maiden bliss Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

5. What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man, I would do my part, Yet what I can I give him, give my heart.

1. The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown, Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown.

Oh, the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.

2. The holly bears a blossom as white as lily flower, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to be our sweet savior.

Oh, the rising …

3. The holly bears a berry as red as any blood, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to do poor sinners good.

Oh, the rising …

4. The holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the morn.

Oh, the rising …

5. The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to redeem us all.

Oh, the rising …

1. A spotless rose is blowing, sprung from a tender root, of ancient seers’ foreshowing, of Jesse promis’d fruit; Its fairest bud unfolds to light, amid the cold, cold winter, and in the dark midnight.

2. The rose which I am singing, whereof Isaiah said, is from its sweet root springing in Mary, purest maid; For through our God’s great love and might, the Blessed Babe she bare us in a cold, cold winter’s night.

Q UIET P ROMISEby Jennifer Conner

A tiny babe. A lowly stall.This fragile life, the Lord of all.A quiet prayer marks the infant’s birth.God come down from Heav’n to earth.

A promise made in yesteryear’twixt God above and His people dear.Though you my flock shall soon scattered be,I will call you back to me.

The message came to Mary mild.Most favored one, thou shalt bear God’s child.In awe she answered most faithfully,as thou hast said so shall it be.

Cold winter’s night. Lone star above,a beacon of God’s unfailing Love.Thus beckons to those wise men of old:come and see what God foretold.

Fine gifts they brought to the King’s estate,in honor of this new potentate.To Bethlehem went they soon awayto where the humble Christ child lay.

A tiny babe. A lowly stall.This fragile life, the Lord of all.A quiet prayer marks the infant’s birth.God comes down from Heav’n to earth.

A CKNOWLEDGMENTSQuire Cleveland is grateful to Music & Art @ Trinity, the Very Rev. Tracey Lind, Dean, and Todd Wilson, Director of Music and Worship, for hosting Quire Cleveland. In addition, we thank Rev. J. Mark Hobson and Diane Lionti, Church of the Resurrection; Gregory Heislman, Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist; David Rothenberg and Oxford University Press; Rev. T. Conrad Selnick and Yuri Sato, Church of St. Christopher’s by the River, Gates Mills; Tyler Skidmore, Medina High School; and Hristo Popov, Chagrin Valley Chamber Music.We also wish to thank our generous donors: Edward Alix, Peter Bennett, Rev. Catherine G. Borchert, Mary R. Bynum & J. Philip Calabrese, David Carver, Kathleen Cerveny, Anne Cook, Gayle Crawford, Ross W. Duffin & Beverly Simmons, Mary C. Gerhart, Robert E. & N. Sue Hanson, Jeremiah Heilman, Donald Hoffman, F. Jenkins, Dr. & Mrs. J. Adin Mann, Geraldine McElliott, John McElliott, James & Virginia Meil, Jewel Moulthrop & Evan Komito, Duncan Neuhauser, Charlotte Newman, Russell Oberlin, Joanne Poderis, Peter Pogacar,

Mr. & Mrs. Harry Pollock, Gay & Quentin Quereau, Richard Rodda & Jan Curry; Justin T. Rogers, David Saffron, Diane & Lewis Schwartz, Shirley Simmons, Mr. & Mrs.‡ Seymour Simmons, Jr., Tyler Skidmore, Deborah Smith, Richard Snyder, Jordan Sramek, Tim & Linda Tuthill, Robert & Diane Walcott, John West, W. Lane Wofford.Thanks also to the Cleveland Composers Guild and Jeffrey Quick; CWRU Music Department; Church of the Covenant; 90.3 WCPN Ideastream; 104.9 WCLV; Ωort∞simo design; Beth Segal Photography; Thomas Knab; Armin Karim; David Simmons-Duffin; and the ushers.The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

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