Description
This piece started life as a fugue, mostly composed in Dressing Room 2 of Chichester Festival Theatre where the cathedral choir takes part in an annual series of concerts in early December. I first played it in Chichester Cathedral on the third Sunday of Advent 2023; the short introduction was added for the 2024 Advent Procession and may be treated as optional.
O come, O come, Emmanuel may be the emblematic melody of Advent. The fugue is based on its opening, gently stretched into a shape that flows as a subject while being susceptible to stretto.
And let the clouds pour forth righteousness
A second Advent melody, Rorate caeli, appears in cantus firmus from bar 45.
We sing this in procession in Chichester Cathedral each week of Advent in its English form: Drop down ye heavens from above.
O come thou dayspring from on high
A Pachelbel Christmas chorale prelude on Vom Himmel hoch ends with cascades of semiquavers, perhaps a depiction of heaven opening. I have aimed for the same effect at the end of this piece.
There is a gradual crescendo between bars 37 and 64. The practicalities of this are up to the performer.
Duration 4½ minutes
