Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
(2021) - 3'
for SATB choir, organ and optional glockenspiel; high voice solo and harp (or piano); or medium voice solo and harp (or piano)
COMPOSER'S NOTE
This uplifting Christmas carol is a new setting of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, Christmas Bells, for which I've written three arrangements:
- SATB choir, organ and optional glockenspiel
- high voice solo and harp (or piano)
- medium voice solo harp (or piano)
It tells of the poet's despair upon hearing the ringing of Christmas bells in 1863, amidst the chaos of the American Civil War. "For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Despite this, the mood is powerfully uplifting. In the end, the Christmas bells ring forth a renewed hope for peace. "The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men!"
The poem has been set to music before, notably in 1872 by English organist John Baptiste Calkin and in 1956 by American songwriter Johnny Marks, who also wrote Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
I am especially fond of Christmas carols based on medieval chord patterns, such as Personent hodie and Good King Wenceslas, both of which date to the Middle Ages. That's why I gave my setting a similar musical sound, but with a contemporary twist:
It combines a memorable melody with splashes of color and an energetic tempo that is sure to make it a holiday favorite with audiences and singers alike.
THE TEXT
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each dark, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
December 25, 1863