Doxology

Enjoy this Christmas song by a contemporary choral master.  I’ve sung this piece with the Nashville Symphony Chorus and absolutely am still enamored with it.

Here are the lyrics:

Latin Lyrics:

Lux,
calida gravisque pura velut aurum
et canunt angeli molliter
modo natum.

English Lyrics:

Light,
warm and heavy as pure gold
and the angels sing softly
to the new-born baby. – Edward Esch

Here is Eric Whitacre’s explanation of the virtual choir

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I have been enraptured by a particular work called “Five Mystical Songs” by Ralph Vaughn-Williams that I just performed yesterday with the Nashville Symphony Chorus and Orchestra (no–I was not the soloist!).  The text is by a 16th century writer named George Herbert.

This particular video picks it up at the third song (the 4th and 5th are also on it).  I want to share with you the text of the third song, “Love Bade Me Welcome”:

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back.
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eye’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack’d anything.

A guest, I answer’d, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkind, ungratefull? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marr’d them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.

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The Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

I’m so pleased to share the news that the Nashville Symphony Orchestra won THREE Grammy awards last night!

Here is the press release from the NSO President Alan Valentine (no joke):

I am writing from Los Angeles to let you know that our recording of Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony and Deus ex Machina won 3 Grammy Awards in the categories of “Best Orchestral Performance”, “Best Engineered Classical Album”, and “Best Contemporary Classical Composition”.

As you know we had 5 nominations and to have won in 3 of those 5 categories is extraordinary.  By far the most significant honor of the day is the award for “Best Orchestral Performance” as the award recognizes the quality of the orchestras performance.  In that category we were competing with extraordinary colleagues including the Chicago Symphony and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others.

It is a joy to get to sing with the Nashville Symphony Chorus and work with such an excellent orchestra–quickly gaining the reputation as being one of the best in the world (esp. winning over CSO and RCO).  This is the second year that the NSO has won a Grammy (also winning back in 2006).   I also think it’s neat that they won the award for their recording of the “Metropolis” Symphony since I lived in Metropolis, IL for over a dozen years and served as Music Minister at two churches there.  Go Metro!

Maybe one of these days they will produce a recording with the Chorus on it and I can win a Grammy.  Haha!

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