Singing the Laud to the Nativity

Last Saturday I sang with the Bremerton Symphony Chorale at our annual Christmas concert. We sang Laud to the Nativity by Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936), an Italian composer well-known for his orchestral tone poems.

We've been practicing this piece for three months, and I've found it to be a wonderful preparation for Christmas. The Laud is a magnificent choral composition set in the stable where Jesus was born. Three soloists sing the parts of the Angel, the Virgin Mary, and a Shepherd.

And this child, pure and holy, sent by the Father,
sent by the Lord against evil to do battle,
lies in stable lowly within a manger
'mid the sheep and the cattle
to shield the child from the breezes.
Mary so gently in linen has bound him;
his blanket, hay around him.
Thus art thou come down to earth, blessed Jesus.

Respighi composed this in 1900, but he wrote it in the style of a 17th-century choral composition, so the harmonies and the tones have a baroque feel. Respighi was a gifted writer of melodies, and the melodic lines in the Laud have a lovely flow to them. I especially enjoyed the opening duet between the oboe and bassoon.

The text of the Laud puts us in the stable with Mary and the shepherds. The shepherds know that they're "unclean", but they want to touch the baby Jesus. Mary lets them touch him, and they go back to their flocks in joy. What a beautiful story!

Before we went on stage, one of the members of the chorale reminded us that the words we were singing were essentially worship, and she encouraged us to sing like that. I appreciated her reminder.
-