"Lo! Newborn Jesus" [Tom Shelton]

"Lo! Newborn Jesus" [Tom Shelton]

First line of lyrics: "Lo! Newborn Jesus"

Shelton, Tom T., Jr.; music (American, born 1966)

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

2014 [copyright]

Dallas: Choristers Guild

genre: choral music|song|sacred music|children's music|anthem|Christmas music

chorus: SATB chorus|unison chorus|children's unison chorus

instrumentation: handbells|piano

initial sharps/flats: four flats

initial time signature: 4/4

origin: United States

male composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "'Lo! newborn Jesus'"

Tempo markings: "Dolce"; quarter note = 78-82

Performance instructions: "Combined SATB and unison choirs with piano or 4 octaves handbells."

Recordings: "CGA1369 Lo! Newborn Jesus." Choristers Guild, https://www.choristersguild.org/store/cga1369-lo-newborn-jesus/432/. (mp3 file) Accessed 14 Sep. 2022

Dedication: "For Kevin McBeth and the Manchester United Methodist Church Music Program"

Notes: The score's foreword by Heather Potter, October 28, 2013, notes: "Take time to discuss with your singers the imagery included in the Rossetti text. List the various descriptions of and metaphors for Jesus (the Ark, the Fold, the Shepherd, Love's free sacrifice, soft, small). Talk about the importance of having children's voices present with adult voices to reflect Jesus' nature as a newborn baby who was 'Lord of storm and snow'." And "Tom Shelton's anthem "Lo! Newborn Jesus" provides the special opportunity for a treble choir to join with a mix-voice ensemble accompanied by a handbell choir. The treble part is simple: three verses set to a melody that spans an octave and employs basic rhythms. The effect for the congregation will be moving, and the impact on young choristers could be extensive. Acknowledging children's gifts by including them as worship leaders in a relevant and special way reflects the truth of Christina Rossetti's text in the final verse of the anthem: 'Lo! Newborn Jesus loving great and small... / Op'ning arms and eyes to one and all'."

Format 1: musical score

6 pages

Other data reference(s): "CGA1369 Lo! Newborn Jesus." Choristers Guild, https://www.choristersguild.org/store/cga1369-lo-newborn-jesus/432/. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022

Cataloguer: Emma-Catherine Wilson, University of Ottawa

Musical score: Kathryn Sullivan Bowld Music Library, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth

Record: CRM-lonewbornjesus-shelton

"Copyright © 2014 Choristers Guild. All rights reserved."

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