Peter Lawson
OUR SAVIOUR BORN IN BETHL'EM FAIR for SSA
Goodmusic GM446
For choir and orchestra or piano.
Here is a carol with words to fit an abridged version of the slow movement of Schubert’s fifth Symphony, which he wrote in 1816, when only nineteen years old. The fifth symphony is a great favourite with concert audiences around the world and much loved by conductors and performers alike…its immediate appeal always charms and entertains with its beguiling simplicity and straight-forwardness - it is like a dear old friend to concert-goers. The hymn-like quality of the music to the slow movement’s main theme is tempered with an almost Mozartian elegance - Schubert was a great admirer of his fellow Viennese maestro’s music and, of his nine symphonies, this is arguably Schubert at his most Mozartian.
In this arrangement, I have given the middle section to soloists, who tell of the journey of Mary and Joseph to a crowded Bethlehem, finding nowhere to stay except a humble stable, sharing with animals. In the original symphonic movement, there are two such similar sections with the main theme occurring between them as well as at the beginning and end, but, given the limitations on time with a carol, I have used a shortened version of only the second section. The recapitulation of the main theme thus follows, with words describing the three wise men following a star, which guided them to the stable, while heavenly voices sing from above. Peter Lawson
Orchestral material is available (GMCH020)
Duration 4½ minutes
Here is a carol with words to fit an abridged version of the slow movement of Schubert’s fifth Symphony, which he wrote in 1816, when only nineteen years old. The fifth symphony is a great favourite with concert audiences around the world and much loved by conductors and performers alike…its immediate appeal always charms and entertains with its beguiling simplicity and straight-forwardness - it is like a dear old friend to concert-goers. The hymn-like quality of the music to the slow movement’s main theme is tempered with an almost Mozartian elegance - Schubert was a great admirer of his fellow Viennese maestro’s music and, of his nine symphonies, this is arguably Schubert at his most Mozartian.
In this arrangement, I have given the middle section to soloists, who tell of the journey of Mary and Joseph to a crowded Bethlehem, finding nowhere to stay except a humble stable, sharing with animals. In the original symphonic movement, there are two such similar sections with the main theme occurring between them as well as at the beginning and end, but, given the limitations on time with a carol, I have used a shortened version of only the second section. The recapitulation of the main theme thus follows, with words describing the three wise men following a star, which guided them to the stable, while heavenly voices sing from above. Peter Lawson
Orchestral material is available (GMCH020)
Duration 4½ minutes
