This Gregorian chant expresses the overwhelming joy of the birth of the Christ child. It is traditionally sung as celebrants enter the sanctuary on Christmas Day. Jonathan Miller programmed the medieval Mass chant as the opening tune of the 1997 Holidays concert, and it seems fitting to include it as a representation of the many very early music settings we’ve performed over the years.

If Puer natus est nobis doesn’t exactly sound full of “overwhelming joy” to your 21st century ears, you’ll certainly get your fill of excitement here. J. David Moore’s 2004 arrangement of the traditional French carol announces the birth of Jesus with a brilliant fanfare bookending a lovely chorale.

The Shehecheyanu is a Hebrew prayer recited at happy occasions and festivals of significance such as Chanukah. Jonathan Miller wrote: “Composing it literally came to me as I was walking down the street, and the rhythm of my feet on the pavement gave rise to the quarter-note pulse for the melody. Once that was done, the piece pretty much wrote itself.”

Maoz Tzur is traditionally sung on Chanukah after the lighting of the menorah. The Hebrew song is thought to have originated in the 13th century: However Bob Applebaum’s blues and jazz harmonies bring an updated spin. Chicago a cappella has performed more than 15 works written or arranged by Bob over the years, and it’s an honor to bring you yet another gem from this gifted artist.

Gwyneth Walker’s ability to fashion an endless number of textures, timbres and effects delivers a stunning experience for the listener. Her vocal lines are a joy for singers to produce and present, and her text-driven approach always gives a clear sense of direction and character. This extended, dramatic rendition of the traditional Scottish “Hebrides Lullaby” begins and ends with Mary alone as she expresses feelings of unworthiness to tend to the needs of her child. This is contrasted by a celebratory choral “Alleluia” in the middle of the work. Mary, however, remains steadfastly in her own thoughts throughout.

Paraphrasing the arranger Robert L. Morris, freedom, literacy, and numeracy were the intangibles most desired by slaves. To seek such knowledge was as great a threat to the institution of slavery as were overtly rebellious behaviors, so attempts to educate slaves were cloaked in subterfuge. Since Jesus was perceived as a source of revolutionary inspiration, references to him were disguised beneath the identities of other Biblical characters. This explains the limited repertoire of Christmas spirituals when compared to spirituals of other types.

These same biblical figures are the vehicle for the songs’ immediate purpose, which is to learn the number system backwards and forwards. The backward count returns to Jesus, the freedom figure, who “was born in Bethlehem.” The underlying belief of this song, hidden beneath the joy, may well be that knowledge leads to freedom.

Gunnar Eriksson is a Swedish arranger, choral conductor and founder of the 12-voice Rilke Ensemble. Jonathan writes: “I have never found a vocal ensemble more akin to Chicago a cappella than the Rilke Ensemble—both are virtuoso ensembles made up of soloists, which imbue the music at hand with individual passion while remaining committed to flawless tuning, blend, and ultimately, expressing the score itself. Both ensembles are favorites of living composers, and so on. Until I met Gunnar, I didn’t know there was any other group out there like ours. I am happy that he had been at it for a decade or so before me, and grateful for his generous collegiality.”

Kristallen den fina is an old Swedish tune expressing love for the Virgin Mary with texts depicting quite passionate images. Gunnar’s arrangement brings together the original tune (sung by the two highest voices) with two other sacred Swedish melodies: A Lutheran chorale in the tenor and an old Gregorian melody bracketed by the two.

This joyous holiday guaracha contrasts rapid tempos with a slower section. Traditional images of the newborn child are represented in the slower section, while the lyrics in the faster section are more animated, theatrical and dramatic. This is probably the best-known piece of Mexican composer Juan García de Zespedes (1619-1678), and performances typically included instruments and dancing.

The roots of this folk song date back to the 16th century. The original text did not refer to Christmas or Christmas trees, which didn’t evolve as a custom until the 19th century. It was simply a folk song using an evergreen as a representation of faithfulness and constancy. In 1819 Joachim Zarnack adapted the text to correlate the treu (true, faithful) evergreen tree with a faithless lover to create a somewhat tragic song. In 1824 Ernst Anschütz wrote additional verses directly referencing Christmas, thus flipping the perspective of Zarnack’s version into something more positive and hopeful. At some point in the 20th century—after Christmas trees had become a solid custom—the word treu was changed to grün (green).

Jim Clements is a British composer, singer, arranger, and orchestrator. He has written countless charts for a cappella groups including The King’s Singers and VOCES8. This glorious arrangement of a Basque Christmas folk carol was nominated for the Best Classical Song in the 2009 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards.

Written for Chicago a cappella’s 2003 Holidays program, James E. Clemens’ take on James S. Pierpont’s 1857 tune brings fun, contemporary harmonization’s to a classic Christmas standard. The fugue in 7/8 time in the middle section is based on Bach’s Fugue 23, BWV 868, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume 1. Don’t try this at home, folks!

This chart is one of many Paul Langford forwarded to me for consideration. Being a longtime fan of The Christmas Waltz, I was thrilled to see it included in the list. Originally written for Frank Sinatra, it has since been covered by a range of artists including The Carpenters, Pat Boone, Robert Goulet, Rosemary Clooney and Johnny Mathis. When I asked Paul if he had any thoughts he’d like to share about his arrangement he confessed: “I stole the intro idea for Christmas Waltz from an old Peggy Lee Christmas record my dad used to play when we were kids.” Paul’s arrangement was written for Voices of Liberty (the in-house a cappella group at Epcot Center), and it is an excellent fit for Chicago a cappella.

In 1934 the Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra finished a recording session early, and with the remaining time laid down a track for a new tune called “Winter Wonderland.” Among the many New York studio musicians in that session was a 24-year old clarinetist named Artie Shaw. Within a few years Shaw would be regarded as one of jazz’s finest clarinetists and big-band leaders.

“Winter Wonderland” has been recorded over 200 times by a range of artists including Elvis Presley, The Andrews Sisters, Aretha Franklin, Dean Martin and the Eurythmics. The Pentatonix version is yet another fun variation on his classic holiday tune, one which might help alleviate symptoms of holiday stress. Don’t worry, be happy!

Whether producing an album, music directing, creating entire concerts comprised only of custom arrangements (Rock and Soul, anyone?) or cheering us on from the audience, Patrick’s influence on the Chicago a cappella sound and spirit has been a persistent creative force throughout our history. He was a natural choice to serve as arranger for the title track for our Silver Anniversary program. His lovely dedication on the title page of “Silver Bells” will forever associate this arrangement with our 25th Anniversary Season. Thank you, Patrick, for all your incredible gifts!

Anders Edenroth writes:
“For The World for Christmas, I’ve chosen to frame my lyrics with several lines from Clement Clarke Moore’s and Henry Livingstone Jr.’s famous Christmas poem, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, which describes the moments of anticipation while waiting for presents from Santa.

For a long time I have been trying to express my concern for the future of our planet in music and words. I only had the phrase “Give me a present for the future,” which with its double meaning captured my feelings exactly. But I couldn’t come up with anything else. So one day last winter I met my friend Emma’s three day old daughter, Lela. She made me realize that it wasn’t my worry that needed to be expressed but rather Lela’s unspoken wish. I have borrowed her voice in order to ask you all to take care of our planet so that one day she and all the children of the world can inherit the beautiful blue-green, healthy planet of their dreams.