Christmas Is Here was commissioned by the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra (WPO) in the context of my relationship with them as Composer in Residence at the time.
The brief was to write a modern Christmas carol for full orchestra and SATB choir. The text was inspired by the Christmas story and a description of who this baby that was born was to become:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called ‘Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.'” (Isaiah 9:6)
The piece was first performed as part of the WPO’s concert Christmas on Broadway in the Worthing Assembly Hall on the 17th December 2023.
The composition process stretched over a number of months. From voice notes on the phone to short piano recordings. At times lyric ideas were noted down, at other times short snippets of instrumental solos.
The next step of the journey for me was then to gather everything in Logic, calling up the orchestral template I had created for the instrumentation of the Worthing Philharmonic I was working for. Voicenotes of oboe ideas then turned into a midi translation of it and ideas for percussion impact and markers for section also became audible.
When it came to creating the actual score, the midi data of the various instruments was imported to Dorico. Here all the details and instructions for various players were then added. Dynamic instructions, articulation, clear layout for all the different parts. At this stage of the process I really learned to keep the bigger picture (A3 conductor score) and its overview in mind, as well as the very intricate details of notes for players and page turns at the appropriate time. One becomes immersed in the music as every instrumental player’s performance needs to be imagined, making sure each will indeed have all that they need to perform well.
It was my privilege and joy to work with musical director Dominic Grier and I appreciated all reviews and feedback along the way. I particularly enjoyed conversations with players of various instrument sections, discussing intention and thought behind various musical moments or details such as articulation and bow movement.
Thanks also goes to Sam Barton and Aedan Kerney from the Worthing Choral Society. Attending the choir rehearsal and exploring different options for the choir at different points of the piece was a great experience.
The full orchestral score, choral version with piano or other individual parts are available on request.
For more information or if you you would be interested in performing the piece, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Kai Vollprecht Media 