John Heaton (jheaton) wrote,
John Heaton
jheaton
  • Music: Alexander Young - Every Valley Shall Be Exalted. (Handel's Messiah)

Advent 2008: Selections from The Joy of Christmas 2003

I spent three years in the Cathedral Choral Society, a symphonic chorus associated with the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, better known as Washington National Cathedral. During my tenure with the group, I had the privilege of performing with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, singing at Katherine Graham's funeral, recording three CDs, and appearing (very briefly) on 60 Minutes II during a profile of John Rutter. And of course I got to perform some amazing choral works, like Beethoven's Symphony no. 9, Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, and Orff's Carmina Burana.

Like every other performing arts group, the CCS gave a Christmas concert each year; here are two songs we performed at our 2003 Joy of Christmas concert. "Rejoice and Be Merry" is a carol by John Rutter, a new setting of a traditional English song, commissioned by and for the CCS. (We were singing this song during our brief 60 Minutes II appearance.) If you care to follow along as you you listen, the text can be found here, courtesy a generous fellow who small remain nameless. We closed the concert, as we did every year, with "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing." This is an arrangement by Paul Halley. Both of these recordings are from our 2004 album Welcome All Wonders! Christmas at Washington National Cathedral, which you'll totally want to buy once you hear how good we are.

Cathedral Choral Society - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (MP3, 4.7MB)
Cathedral Choral Society - Rejoice and Be Merry (MP3, 3.7MB)

Previous Advent posts:

2003: Voices in the Mist
2004: The Nativity
2005: Space-Age Santa
2006: The Christians and the Pagans
2007: Merry Christmas
 
Tags: advent: 2008, music
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