I. 

Canadian composer Ramona Luengen draws her text for Celebremus from the 13th-century Carmina Burana manuscript, the collection of poems by wandering medieval scholars most famously set by Carl Orff. This particular poem is a jubilant student anthem declaring "This is the time of joy!" as young scholars proclaim their determination to celebrate "with great tumult" while the rest of the world works. Written in 1997 for the Elektra Women's Choir, Luengen honors this 800-year-old text through dance-like rhythms and counterpoint evoking sacred and secular medieval music, alongside exuberant piano writing that proves the urge to celebrate has remained unchanged across the centuries.

II.

This Endris Night (The Other Night) unfolds as an intimate dialogue between Mary and the infant Jesus, with the mother singing a lullaby while questioning the mystery and paradox of the Nativity. The original medieval melody has been lost to time, making every modern setting, including Walter's, a new creative interpretation of this cherished text that has been praised for its unusual delicacy and lyrical beauty. 

Vieux Noël pour les Tout-petits (Old Christmas Song for the Very Young) is a gentle lullaby from the Rouergue region of Southern France, where the ancient Occitan language, once spoken by medieval troubadours, survives in folk traditions. Collected by Léon Froment in the early twentieth century, the tender text invites sleepy children to rise and witness the mystery of the Nativity. Gousset's arrangement honors this French folk heritage while evoking the shimmering harmonies and delicate colors of French Impressionist composers, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that captures the carol's enchanting simplicity.

Sudrabiņa lietiņš lija (See the Silver Rain Is Falling) represents the rich winter folk song tradition of Latvia, where ancient melodies passed down through rural communities blend pre-Christian Baltic traditions with later Christian influences. The melody and text were collected in 1968 by composer Pēteris Plakidis in Katlakalns, a district of Riga, during an era when ethnomusicologists worked urgently to preserve disappearing folk traditions before modernization erased them. Latvian seasonal music often features nature imagery and the interplay of darkness and light during the longest nights of the year. Selga Mence's unaccompanied arrangement preserves the folk authenticity of this hauntingly beautiful carol while allowing the pure vocal lines to shine, offering a window into Latvia's lesser-known but deeply evocative winter music.

III.
South Sámi composer Frode Fjellheim's Eatnemen Vuelie (Song of the Earth) blends yoiking, an ancient vocal tradition of the Sámi people, the Indigenous inhabitants of northern Scandinavia, with the Danish Christmas hymn "Deilig er jorden" (known in English as "Fairest Lord Jesus"), which takes its melody from a Silesian folk song. While most listeners will recognize this piece from Disney's film Frozen, tonight we perform Fjellheim's original version which includes the hymn text in Danish, celebrating the resilience of Sámi culture and the union of two ancient Northern European traditions, Indigenous yoik and Silesian folk music.

Winter Walk offers a contemplative counterpoint to the season's celebratory music. Rather than focusing on holiday festivities, the composer and poet describe time as a circular journey, with winter as a descent into darkness that requires us to look inside ourselves and dig deep before emerging transformed. Through this meditation on hibernation, endurance, and metamorphosis, Winter Walk reminds us that winter offers not just celebration but also an opportunity for reflection, renewal, and growth.

IV. 
The folk hymn Brightest and Best comes from the collection of Jean Ritchie, the renowned folk singer and dulcimer player who preserved and shared the mountain music heritage of her family and community in Eastern Kentucky. The melody is a variant of "Star in the East," an early American shape-note hymn from the Sacred Harp tradition, in which rural congregations sang from specially notated songbooks in a distinctive style characterized by open harmonies and powerful unison singing. Jerome Epstein's arrangement honors this folk heritage, bringing Ritchie's treasured melody from the mountains of Kentucky to contemporary audiences and offering a uniquely American voice in this global celebration of winter song.

Cold December Flies Away comes from the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain and captures the transformation of winter's chill into the warmth of Christmas celebration. This traditional melody represents the rich tradition of Catalan Christmas music, where villancicos (folk song carols) have been sung in homes, churches, and public gatherings for centuries, often accompanied by dancing and festive processions. Daniel Schreiner's contemporary arrangement honors the folk origins through simple, unison verses that evoke communal singing, while his vibrant piano accompaniment and skillful harmonic writing bring fresh energy to this timeless song of seasonal transformation.

V. 
Two pieces in this set are contemporary interpretations of the text “I Sing of a Maiden,” considered one of the most admired lyrics of the late Middle Ages. The poem portrays Jesus's birth through the image of dew softly descending on grass, flowers, and branches, celebrating both the mystery of divine incarnation and the woman who bore him. Like This Endris Night heard earlier, the original medieval melody has been lost to time, making each new musical setting an act of creative reimagining. This setting by Amy Bebbington employs modern harmonies and irregular meters that honor the text's medieval and folk character.

Don Macdonald's setting of There is No Rose captures the text's central image through a striking musical metaphor: chords build one note at a time, like a rose gently opening to reveal its true beauty. A soloist introduces the theme, and the choir responds with these flowering harmonic expansions that unfold throughout the piece in both brief phrases and extended passages, conveying the image of a rose gradually unveiling its full splendor.

Irish composer Séamus de Barra offers a second contemporary interpretation of I Sing of a Maiden, featuring unique melodic contours and frequently shifting time signatures that create a floating, otherworldly quality. His setting captures the mystery of the Incarnation through music that feels both ancient and timeless. Originally composed for Séamus Ó Néill's Irish translation of this medieval text, de Barra also provided the English adaptation you’ll hear today.

VI. 
Canticum Novum (New Song) serves as the title piece for this concert, as we present new and unfamiliar music for the winter season. The text repeats in a mantra-like ostinato pattern exactly seven times, representing the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Antognini structures this through an irregular rhythm mixing duple and triple groupings that also total seven (3+2+2), giving the piece its distinctive drive. This compact work demands precise attacks and tremendous energy from the singers, capturing the joyful imperative to "sing a new song."