' (', ''Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming'') is the setting of the
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...
''
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
"" () is a Christmas carol and Marian hymn of German origin. It is most commonly translated into English as "Lo, how a rose e'er blooming" and is also called "A Spotless Rose" and "Behold a Rose of Judah". The rose in the German text is a symbo ...
'' for two choirs
a cappella
Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
by Swedish composer Jan Sandström. The work of 1990, which incorporates the harmonization by
Praetorius Praetorius, Prätorius, Prætorius was the name of several musicians and scholars in Germany.
In 16th and 17th century Germany it became a fashion for educated people named "Schulze," "Schultheiß," or "Richter (disambiguation), Richter" (which mea ...
, is one of his signature compositions, along with his ''Trombone Concerto No. 1'', the '' Motorbike Concerto''.
Composition
Jan Sandström composed the work in 1990, one year after the success of his '' Motorbike Concerto''. He took the four-part setting of the Christmas carol ''
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
"" () is a Christmas carol and Marian hymn of German origin. It is most commonly translated into English as "Lo, how a rose e'er blooming" and is also called "A Spotless Rose" and "Behold a Rose of Judah". The rose in the German text is a symbo ...
'' by
Michael Praetorius
Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and Music theory, music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of ...
(1609) as a starting point. Line by line, he placed it in slow motion within an eight-part
a cappella
Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
setting. Choir I in four parts, singing Praetorius, can be performed by soloists. Choir II in eight parts is hummed throughout. The way of combining a chorale as a
cantus firmus
In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.
The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect trea ...
with different musical material is similar to
chorale prelude
In music, a chorale prelude or chorale setting is a short liturgical composition for pipe organ, organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque music, Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works ...
s, but in this case the cantus firmus is quoted not only in the melody but a full harmonization, and the contrasting music is given to voices. Their humming renders the work suitable for international presentation.
The work was first published in 1995 by the Sveriges Körförbunds Förlag, Stockholm. It is available as a single copy or in the collection ''Cantemus 3''. It is published for the U.S. by Walton Music as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming / Es ist ein Ros entsprungen".
It is written in
F major
F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...
in
common time
A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...
with a
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
indication of ♩=56, which is especially slow since Sandström has changed the note grades so that this is equivalent to ♩=28 in Praetorius's notation and he uses mainly the longest notes. The voices of choir II enter one after the other within four measures, from the lowest to the highest, starting ppp and gradually increasing to piano. All voices but bass II, which stays on its first note F, move upwards from their first note to a second on which they stay, building up a chord into which choir I enters in measure 5, also ppp to piano and back again on the words "". The chords in choir II change subtly by voices moving or pausing, carefully supporting the harmonies of Praetorius. Choir II is singing alone for more than a measure before choir I continues "aus einer Wurzel zart".
Selected performances and recordings
The composition is a highlight of Christmas programs by ambitious choirs and vocal ensembles. In 2007 it was included in a broadcast from
Kings College Chapel
King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...
Stephen Cleobury
Sir Stephen John Cleobury ( ; 31 December 1948 – 22 November 2019)Chanticleer performed it in 2007 and then commissioned the composer to write a piece for them for the Christmas season of 2010, which resulted in ''The Word Became Flesh''. In 2010 it was broadcast twice by the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in a Choral Evensong from
Winchester College
Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
.
New England Conservatory
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...
's Chamber Singers and Concert Choir included the composition in their 2011 Lessons and Carols program. It is on the 2011 Christmas program of the
NDR Chor
The NDR Chor (North German Radio Choir) is the choir of the German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1946, with Max Thurn as the first director of then 55 singers. The group has participated in premiere ...
in St. Nikolai.
In 2002, the chamber choir Dresdner Kammerchor, conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann, included it on their CD ', and it was described in a review as an "absolutely otherworldly setting ... Praetorius meets Ligeti". Performed by the
Dale Warland Singers
The Dale Warland Singers (DWS) was a 40-voice professional chorus based in St. Paul, Minnesota, founded in 1972 by Dale Warland and disbanded in 2004. They performed a wide variety of choral repertoire but specialized in 20th-century music and ...
, the composition is part of a 2005 CD ''Noel – A Music Feast'', a charitable project which also features "
Carol of the Bells
"Carol of the Bells" is a popular Christmas carol, which is based on the Ukrainian New Year's song " Shchedryk". The music for the carol comes from the song written by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in or before 1916; the English-la ...
" and "
Hallelujah
''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christ ...
" from ''
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
'', sung by the Westminster Choir. In 2009, a CD titled ''Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen – Christmas Music for Choir and Organ'' combined several settings of the tune, the original by Praetorius, an organ prelude by
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
(Op. 122 No. 8), variations on it by
Hugo Distler
August Hugo Distler (24 June 1908 – 1 November 1942)Slonimsky & Kuhn, ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', v. 2, p. 889 was a German organist, choral conductor, teacher and composer.
Life and career
Born in Nuremberg, Distler att ...
from ''
Die Weihnachtsgeschichte
(''The Christmas Story''), Op. 10, is an oratorio by Hugo Distler, composed in 1933. He set Biblical texts about the nativity of Jesus in German, interspersed with different settings of stanzas of the hymn "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen", for solois ...
'' (''The Christmas Story'', 1933) and Sandström's setting, together with related Christmas music, performed by Vox Bona, the chamber choir of the , conducted by Karin Freist-Wissing. Reviewer Dan Morgan commented on Sandström's work: "From its dark, monastic beginning rising to a radiant, multi-layered crescendo, this is the disc's crowning glory. ... It's an extraordinary fusion of old and new, a minor masterpiece that deserves the widest possible audience." Stefan Schmöe compared the "schwebende Klangflächen" (floating soundscapes) of the added second chorus to an acoustic halo. John Miller describes Sandström's addition as a "timeless, atmospheric, dream-like sound-scape of poignantly dissonant polyphonic strands".
In 2011, ''Es ist ein Ros entsprungen'' was recorded by the TOWER Voices New Zealand for their CD ''A Voices Christmas''. The Crypt Choir of
The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school and is considered to be the oldest continuously op ...
included it on the program ''A Spotless Rose'', recommended by the
Royal School of Church Music
The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...
. The Society of Swedish Composers selected it for its "Composer's Radio 2011" titled "Inspirations".
See also
*
List of Christmas carols
This list of Christmas carols is organized by language of origin. Originally, a "Christmas carol" referred to a piece of vocal music in carol form whose lyrics centre on the theme of Christmas or the Christmas season. The difference between a ...