Dancing Day is a collection of Christmas carols by John Rutter, published in 1974. The collection, that is, is by him; none of the songs were actually entirely written by Rutter. The carols were arranged amongst two original instrumental harp bits (a prelude and an interlude), and the collection is written for three-part women's or children's voices, accompanied only by harp. My advanced high school chorus class performed this in 1995 for our holiday concert. (I got a solo, too; a clip of it is available below when I discuss the song it's in.)

This is an unusual (and beautiful) collection, for several reasons. First of all, none of the songs are carols that have been overly done for the season, though some might argue that "Coventry Carol" walks the line in some circles. Secondly, choosing to accompany only with harp gives the collection its intended timeless sound, using an instrument that was available when even the older songs were written, something few instruments (besides the harpsichord) can do. And lastly, the songs almost exclusively cover unusual aspects of the Christmas story: Three of the songs simply glorify the Virgin herself, one song just tells the story of the birth, one song mourns the loss of young children born around the time of Jesus's birth, and one is even told in the voice of Jesus Himself!

The collection consists of the following carols:

Part 1

1. Angelus ad Virginem
2. A Virgin Most Pure
3. Personent Hodie
Part 2
1. There Is No Rose
2. Coventry Carol
3. Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

Prelude

The prelude is a gentle mix of soft harp music that sets the scene and establishes a flowing sort of mood over the piece. Like most harp pieces it is intricate and mostly dictated by the artist's own interpretation as far as tempo goes. However, as the prelude builds toward the chorus's entrance for "Angelus ad Virginem," a more steady beat picks up, and after four bars of this quick tempo, the first carol begins, majestic yet gently.

Angelus ad Virginem

"Angelus ad Virginem" hails from fourteenth-century England. It was popular in the Middle Ages sung in its original Latin in the British Isles and even got mentioned in one of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In this particular arrangement, the first verse is Latin, the second verse is a musically rendered English translation of the first verse, and the third verse is another Latin verse for which a translation is never sung.

This first verse is sung in unison by the whole chorus:

This translates to the following:

The chorus now breaks into three-part harmony, with an unusual twist: The middle or second-soprano line features a counterpoint to the top or first-soprano line melody, in many cases singing higher notes than the top line. This is the approximate English translation of the above verse, and the harp accompaniment ceases for the duration of this next verse.

Immediately, the harp comes back in again, accompanying voices that are again in unison. Latin text is resumed:

The Latin translates approximately:

This first piece sets the theme by discussing Mary's role in her virgin birth, and her encounter with the angel Gabriel. In the first verse the angel explains to her her importance and her mission, and in the second she voices her concerns and questions and gets them answered. She is honored by the heavenly creature and called the queen of maidens. The harp ends the song by repeating the last line of melody, and pauses before beginning the next carol.

A Virgin Most Pure

The words and music to this hymn are traditional, though the earliest printed version of it was from around the 1730s. It was included in a legitimate collection in 1822 by Davies Gilbert, a book called Some Ancient Christmas Carols. Set in rocking 3/4 time with a very gentle *boom*-ching-ching accompaniment from the harp, the song has the feeling of a lullaby, and is by far the longest of any of the carols in this collection, even if the optional verse is excluded.

Here is the first verse and the refrain, sung in unison by the entire chorus:

The harp takes a dive in the tempo and trails off, leaving this next verse completely unaccompanied. The choir is now in three parts: One group of sopranos and the altos singing the lyrics with almost the same harmony and melody from the above verse, while the highest part delivers the lyrics in a descant. The harp returns for the refrain, and the singers continue the trend of three parts with a descant.

Next we have a verse that is suggested for a soloist, the only indicated solo in the collection. It is four lines with the same simple melody and a particularly delicate harp accompaniment so as not to overpower the soloist, who should have a light and innocent boy-soprano sound rather than an overbearing opera singer voice. (Author's braggy bit: That's why I got this solo when we sang it in high school! I sound like a Renaissance boy! HAHA! You can hear a rather crappy recording of my solo right here, recorded in the 1995 Holiday Concert when I was seventeen.) The chorus comes in with the same refrain harmony pattern as the one above.

This next bit is the optional verse, which is more often than not cut out in the interest of slimming down an already-long carol and to avoid singing the same melody over and over--by the fifth verse it begins to feel repetitive.

Now the alto line carries the melody, because we have two-voice harmony by the sopranos, delivered in a wordless "ah." The sopranos pick up words again at the refrain, remaining in three parts with the altos on melody.

And the last verse of this carol, finally; this changes format into two-part harmony, the altos again carrying the melody but only one soprano line, delivered in a bit of an echo effect. The sopranos' lyrics are shortened on every line, leaving out one or two unnecessary words, in order to have their lines end at the same time since the sopranos start after the altos. This continues again into the refrain, sending sopranos up to a high A in the last line--it's suggested there that any second sopranos uncomfortable with such heights drop down to the alto part for just that line or for the refrain.

This song's meaning is fairly straightforward; it's just the story of Mary, the "virgin most pure," traveling to the inn and giving birth to the Savior.

The harp again silences for a moment before picking up the rhythmic march-like single-stroke strumming for the next song.

Personent Hodie

This carol is often used as a processional because of its marching sound; singers often march down the aisles and take their places while singing it. The melody comes from the fourteenth century, and the words are from the Piæ Cantiones, a Finnish collection of holiday music from the late fifteen-hundreds. It is very majestic, and though the harp does little to enhance such majesty because of its comparative lightness as an instrument, its part is written to play up the rhythm of the song and consistently keep the choir in tune. The repeated syllables of the third to last and second to last lines in every stanza are not part of the original words, but are just a rhythmic musical pause, an interpretation of this and other composers.

This first verse begins in two-part harmony almost immediately; it announces that all the world is singing of the glorious birth of the Savior by a virgin.

This second verse is sung in unison with a more delicate harp part, it's more flowing; it is suggested to have it sung by only sopranos or only first sopranos to get the lighter, less filled-out feeling. The scene describes the newborn child wrapped for warmth in the stable, having arrived in the world to conquer the devil.

Now the harp again bows out for an a cappella verse. Three-part harmony, delivered gently and slowly, really makes this verse the most beautiful of the song, and rightly so because the subject is also delicate: The wise men are traveling far and wide just to deliver gifts to their newborn god.

Now we rejoin the harp, with majestic tones once again, powerful unison begins this verse in a decided forte. Triumphant three-part harmony arrives for "gloria in excelsis Deo," the last note drawn out under a fermata. The story is now describing all the world's common people singing with the angels to welcome the newborn king.

Now here is a more in-depth translation of the above Latin verses:

The accompaniment stops with the voices on this one.

Interlude

After a slight pause, we go into the dreamlike and haunting harp interlude, intricate and full of mystery and wordless poetry, with a minor sound to it, until it trails off and becomes the beginning point of the next carol.

There Is No Rose

Another anonymously written text from the fourteenth century. This same text has been set to a number of different tunes in other carol collections (notably Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols); here it is to be sung a cappella. However, because this song is quite long for a totally a cappella piece, it is very possible for any but the most professional choir to drift (usually downward) in pitch, which can cause a jarring surprise when the harp again comes in for the next accompanied piece ("Coventry Carol"). One way to get around this problem is to simply have the harp tastefully strum the base chord every two bars or so, if the choir cannot stop drifting.

This first stanza is to be sung by the choir in unison:

Next we have a repeat of this that should be sung by a small group, usually the first sopranos. The "Alleluia" is sung in harmony by sopranos.

(Alleluia meaning "Praise God.")

The next verse is the whole chorus in unison, with "Resmiranda" sung in two-part harmony by the sopranos and altos.

(Resmiranda meaning "Wondrous Thing.")

The opening stanza is again repeated, in harmony.

This song is of course glorifying Christ's mother, calling her in essence the rose that bore Jesus. None is more virtuous than the one who contained within her own belly all of Heaven and Earth. All of this glorification of the "Mother" figure may be some remnant of Pagan celebrations that glorified the Goddess giving birth to the God at this time; this carol would work completely as a Solstice carol except for the fact that "Jesu" is mentioned.

After the singing is finished on this song, the harp has some hesitant notes and leads tentatively into the saddest carol in the bunch, and probably the best-known. It enters with a lamenting string of minor chords to set the stage for the mourning of the mothers.

Coventry Carol

Here the chorus sings in gentle two-part counterpoint for the first two verses, the sopranos and the altos.

Now the harp gets aggressive and angry, and the chorus attains a forte or fortissimo dynamic in unison as they deliver a verse about a madman:

As the anger of that verse ebbs, the sadness returns, more poignant than ever, with the harp dancing in musical teardrops in its own sort of countermelody over the again two-part counterpoint of soprano and alto:

This song describes the suffering of the mothers whose babies were killed in case they happened to be Jesus. As the legend goes, Herod the King was afraid of the prophecies about this infant coming to be the king of the world, and he ordered many innocent children killed, hoping that murdering any child newly born would assure his reign. Not only was this stupid, considering if he believed the prophecy then he also believed in trying to kill the son of God, but it was cruel, because many infants died, to the intense sorrow of their parents. This carol commemorates the sacrificed babies, so that they aren't forgotten.

The harp now plays out the last of the sadness in some sorrowful chords, but they gradually begin to speed up and turn major in preparation for the next carol, until the happy glissandos spread joy intended to take this production out with a bang.

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

Another traditional English tune tops off the collection. It was apparently first published in William Sandys's Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern back in 1833. However, it comes across fairly modern, and describes Jesus's joy.

The first verse is usually sung by just the sopranos or another small group, fairly loudly and merrily. The 6/8 time signature feeling gives it a flow unusual in Christmas carols. Each repetition of "my love" in the chorus is softer than the last, then back to normal dynamics at "This have I done."

Now the entire chorus sings it again, in unison, where the song really blooms:

Here we split into three parts, with the altos in a bit of an echo part to the sopranos. The chorus continues that echo.

After a very merry string of accompaniment in between the verses, three-part harmony erupts once more, with the first sopranos in a wordless "ah" descant. The second sopranos carry the melody here.

After an impressive glissando, the chorus resumes unison for a repetition of the first verse, but with a difference: Three part harmony in the chorus, with the first sopranos doing an echoey descant that won't let listeners forget where the high A is. It builds to a showy conclusion by slowing down in a repetition of "This have I done for my true love," splitting for the only time into four parts, finished off by another beautiful harp gliss:

My sources:

• The Index of the Hymns and Carols of Christmas

• CyberHymnal