There are 10 movements:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Prelude for violin and harp<\/li>\n
- Exultation<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 -(by Humphreys, from Southern Harmony, No. 88)<\/li>\n
- Rise Up Shepherd and Follow<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 -(from Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, As Sung on the Plantations, 1909)<\/li>\n
- Jesus, Jesus Rest Your Head\u00a0 – (collected by John Jacob Niles, date and source unknown, probably
\nsomewhere in Southern Appalachia)<\/li>\n- The Babe of Bethlehem<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 -(by William Walker, from Southern Harmony)<\/li>\n
- Shepherds in Judea<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 -(Tune: Emanuel, by William Billings, verses from Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Christmas collection)<\/li>\n
- Oh, Mary and the Baby, Sweet Lamb<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 -(from Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress)<\/li>\n
- Cradle Hymn<\/a><\/strong>: interwoven with the similar tune Restoration<\/strong>\u00a0 -(words from a poem by Isaac Watts, English hymn writer of the early 1700s. Restoration<\/strong> is from Southern Harmony, No. 5b, no composer given. Cradle Hymn<\/strong> is from Devil’s Ditties by Jean Thomas, 1931, published by Hatfield. The tune of Cradle Hymn is from a Tennessee singer, according to Ruth Crawford Seeger.)<\/li>\n
- Jesus Born in Beth’ny\u00a0\u00a0 -(collected by John Jacob Niles. Recorded in Virginia in 1932)<\/li>\n
- Rejoice My Friends<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0 -(Tune: Knoxville by William Walker, from Southern Harmony)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Tamborine performance note:<\/strong> The percussionist who played in the premiere brought an assortment of tamborines and selected the right timbre for each movement. What a treat it was to hear the variety of timbres available for such a simple instrument.<\/p>\n
![\"Song](\"http:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/images\/Song_of_Angels__Bouguereau.jpg\")
Song of Angels by Bouguereau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n More about Shepherds and Angels<\/h2>\n
Pam writes about her research into old and obscure Christmas music:<\/p>\n
“I love unfamiliar Christmas music, particularly the more obscure American contributions to Christmas celebration. In writing Shepherds and Angels, I was inspired by other Christmas collections that include harp, such as Britten and Conrad De Susa. For this collection, I found tunes in Ruth Crawford Seeger’s collection American Folk Songs for Christmas and I looked at old sources like William Billings and Southern Harmony.”<\/p>\n
Read more about the Spindrift Commissioning Guild project and the tunes<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Listen<\/h2>\n
Listen<\/strong> to the original 10 movements of Shepherds and Angels, premiered by The Master Singers, Adam Grossman conducting, on the Spindrift Listening page<\/a>.<\/p>\n
- Rise Up Shepherd and Follow<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 -(from Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, As Sung on the Plantations, 1909)<\/li>\n