Description
The Tuba and Euphonium Christmas Companion Table of Contents:
No. 1 Rejoice, rejoice!, Lelia Naylor Morris (1862-1929)
No. 2 Lady Almuc’s Scottish Christmas, Anne Hunter (1742-1821)
No. 3 Show Me the Way, traditional American spiritual
No. 4 Hens at the Door, Joanna Hersey (b. 1971)
No. 5 Heaven’s Christmas Tree, Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933)
No. 6 Sound the Clarion, Emily Divine Wilson (1865-1942)
No. 7 Star of Love, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)
No. 8 I’m a-Going to Join the Band, traditional American spiritual
No. 9 I’ll Overcome, Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933)
No. 10 Vivo o Carnaval, Francisca Gonzaga (1847-1935)
Program Notes
Length: Each of the ten works is between 2-4 minutes.
Difficulty Level: III/IV (moderate register, flexible length and tempo, suitable for high school and beyond).
Notes
No. 1: A composer of more than a thousand hymns and gospel songs, Lelia Naylor Morris served as organist at Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church in McConnelsville, Ohio. Inspired by attending camp meetings across her home state, Lelia contributed music to a variety of hymnals published during her lifetime, beginning around 1890. Lelia continued to compose even after beginning to lose her eyesight in her early fifties, when her son built her a large blackboard with an oversized music staff upon which to compose. She composed both the words and music to this hymn which first appeared in 1903, published by the Lorenz Publishing Company, a Dayton, Ohio family business which specialized in church and choral music.
No. 2: Anne Hunter was a Classical era poet and composer centered in London, who ran successful concerts in her home to share new music. She and her husband John were well-known in society, and he was a surgeon and an important figure in the field of medical research. Their home, and the concerts she held there, welcomed top scholars of the day, especially those in the medical field. Finding information about her composition is often difficult, because she is most frequently discussed in context with Haydn, having worked as librettist for several of his song collections. However, Anne was important in her own right, and she published poetry and song cycles during her lifetime. This light and cheerful dance was originally composed for violin and keyboard, calling to mind her Scottish roots.
No. 3: This African American spiritual appeared in the 1884 publication Jubilee Songs, an expanded version of a popular collection first published in 1872, and associated with the famous Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. Founded as a historically Black institution in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, Fisk quickly became famous for their musical programming. Edited by Theodore F. Seward, this collection helped ensure lasting popularity. The lyrics celebrate the power of community, with the chorus asking brothers and sisters, and ultimately the Lord, to “show me the way, how to watch and pray.” The hymn utilizes dotted rhythms and upward motion to highlight the joyful journey.
No. 4: Poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) has long mystified scholars, who often wish they knew more about the life of this famed Amherst, Massachusetts personality. Well-educated and skilled with her pen, Emily left thousands of poems and letters which provide modern readers a tantalizing look into her secluded life. Centering her New England roots, Emily’s poetry and letters capture the spirit and wisdom of an agile mind. Her life was lived in opposition to the social norms of the time, serving as a role model for independence. In December of 1880, Emily wrote a letter to a young friend in which she described her Christmas holiday. The letter notes, “The Hens came to the Door with Santa Claus,” and continues with a delightful description of holiday joy. As inspiration for a new carol, this letter sparks a reminder of time spent with loved ones, a centering of the spirit of giving, and the importance of slowing down, to savor the warmth of the season.
No. 5 and No. 9: Methodist minister, author, and composer Dr. Charles Albert Tindley presided over a large and successful congregation in downtown Philadelphia during the early twentieth century. His sermons and hymns were immensely popular, and he led more than ten thousand members of his congregation at the time of his death in 1933. Charles was born in Maryland to a father who was enslaved, and a mother who was free, however she died when Charles was young. The message of salvation and positivity Charles shared in his music and writings was heartfelt, and his work gained a wide audience, as collections of songs were published beginning in 1905, and continuing after his death. The 1915 hymn “Heaven’s Christmas Tree” reminds the congregation of the joy of salvation which is waiting for them in Heaven, seen in common symbols of the season. “I’ll Overcome Some Day,” composed in 1900, is often cited as one of the sources for “We Shall Overcome,” made popular during the Civil Rights movement.
No. 6: A native of Philadelphia, Emily Divine Wilson composed and contributed lyrics to many hymns, as well as serving as a church musician. Born in 1865 to immigrant parents, she later married John George Wilson, a prominent Philadelphia minister. In common with their contemporary Lelia Naylor Morris, the Wilsons were fond of attending camp meeting gatherings for worship. They frequented the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting on the New Jersey shore, which drew thousands of participants each summer after its founding in 1869. Ocean Grove boasted an auditorium which could seat an audience of ten thousand, under a barrel-vaulted wooden ceiling. She wrote both the words and music for the hymn “Sound the Clarion,” which first appeared in the hymn collection The Service of Praise, published in 1899 in Philadelphia by the Hall-Mack Company.
No. 7: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was an accomplished pianist and a respected member of Berlin’s musical society, in addition to being a talented composer. As Felix Mendelssohn’s older sister, Fanny was raised in a home where she was constantly exposed to music and art. Although she was given the same musical education as her brother, Fanny’s family did not support her pursuing a career as a professional musician. Despite this, Fanny composed throughout her life, continuing her work after marriage and motherhood. Even her brother did not wish her to publish her compositions, and consequently only a small number of her almost five hundred works were published during her lifetime. This lullaby, traditionally titled Schwanenlied, is the opening song from Six Lieder, op. 1, sent for publication in 1846. In it she sets to music poetry by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), a talented member of Fanny’s social circle. Fanny composed three hundred lieder in her short lifetime, having written her first at the age of fourteen as a birthday gift for her father. Fanny set this work for voice and piano into a minor key, with the accompaniment outlining the floating rhythm of the water.
No. 8: “I’m a-Going to Join the Band” was published in 1907, in a collection from the well-known Work Brothers publishing firm in Nashville, Tennessee. Music educator and Fisk University graduate John Wesley Work Jr. (1871-1925) is remembered for his preservation of spirituals, and his service to the musical community. Work served as director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and later as President of Roger Williams University in Tennessee, a historically Black college founded in 1866. The Work family sought to provide printed sources for gospel and church music for use in both sacred and secular settings. John’s brother Frederick Jerome Work (1879-1942) was also a composer and arranger, and both are remembered for the importance of their publishing efforts, as is John’s son, John Wesley Work III (1901-1967), also a music educator and composer.
No. 10: Composer Francisca, known as Chiquinha, Gonzaga is an inspiring mentor for combining a career in music, with activism and strength of purpose. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1847, and trained in the musical arts as a young girl, Francisca began composing at the age of eleven. Her mother, Maria Rose de Lima, who was of African descent, and her father José, a military officer, encouraged her musical training. She would write more than two thousand works over her lifetime, including many in the ‘choro’ genre, a new style emerging in Brazil at that time, which was a merging of African and Portuguese styles. In addition to her performance and composing, she was active in the abolitionist movement, donating sales from her music to the cause of freedom. She also wrote many plays, and was active as a conductor and educator. Her work Vivo o Carnaval (Long Live Carnaval) was composed in 1884 in a polka style, perfectly capturing the spirit of celebration through arpeggiated leaps and chromaticism.
