"Love came down at Christmas" [Alexander L'Estrange]

"Love came down at Christmas" [Alexander L'Estrange]

First line of lyrics: Love came down at Christmas

L'Estrange, Alexander; music (English, born 1974)

Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894)

2016 [copyright] [publication]

BBC Music Magazine

genre: carol|Christmas music|choral music|sacred music|song

chorus: SATB chorus

instrumentation: a cappella

initial sharps/flats: one sharp

initial time signature: 3/2

origin: United Kingdom

male composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "Christmastide"

Composition history: Commissioned for the December 2016 issue of the BBC Music Magazine. L'Estrange writes, "I was delighted to be asked to compose this year's carol for the readers of BBC Music Magazine. The poem 'Love came down at Christmas' is classic and Christmassy, and although many composers (including John Rutter) have set these words by Rossetti, no one melody has come to dominate. The words are direct, sincere and expressive; my aim was to provide music that would be a suitable stylistic match."

Tempo markings: "Expressively"; half note = c.56

Performance instructions: "The most important thing here, as indeed in all choral music, is the clarity and communication of the text. The English language is abundant with consonant clusters and diphthongs which are to be revelled in, not shied away from. If we sing the words as closely as possible to how we would say them, they can be heard and understood. As choral singers and directors, we can too often become overly concerned with precisely where to place final consonants and pay so much attention to lengthening 'pure' vowels that the resulting sound, while beautiful, can be less meaningful or moving for the listener. To this end, initial consonants (for example, on 'Love') and closed 'm' and 'n's in words such as 'came' and 'sign' must be heard. I have a particular dislike of rolled 'r's in modern English choral music and of sounding the silent 't' in Christmas', so try to refrain from these mannerisms when you perform the piece! | Decisions about where to breathe should also be governed by a desire to communicate the meaning of the words. For our demo recording [https://youtu.be/FDWRJcIFYGc], we chose to breathe with the commas in bar 5 ('born' and 'God'), but you can decide what suits your performance best. Enjoy the octave leap at the start of the melody and pay attention to your tuning as you come down the scale. Dynamics are subtle but should be effective, particularly the crescendos into bars 6 and 14 and the piano beginning to verse 3."

Dedication: "For the readers of BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2016"

Format 1: musical score

2 pages

Other data reference(s): "Love came down at Christmas." YouTube, https://youtu.be/FDWRJcIFYGc. Accessed 16 September 2019.

Cataloguer: Emily McConkey, University of Ottawa

musical score: L'Estrange, Alexander. "Love came down at Christmas." BBC Music Magazine, no. 304, Dec. 2016, pp. 42-44. Scan provided by Linda E. Marshall.

Record: CRM-christmastide-lestrange

"© 2016 Alexander L'Estrange"

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