Ceiling fresco of the ancient Byzantine church of St Nicholas in Demre, Turkey, burial place of St Nicholas of Myra.
SAINT NICOLAS, OP.42 BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Words by Eric Crozier
To celebrate the feast of St Nicholas on 6th December, we feature Britten's thrilling cantata about the original Santa Claus, his first first major work composed for performance by largely amateur choirs. It is sung here by Downtown Voices, a semi-professional choir made up of volunteer singers from the New York metro area and members of the Grammy®-nominated Choir of Trinity, Wall Street. The choir is praised by the New York Times for its “incisive, agile strength".
If you have not time for the entire one-hour cantata, do listen to the Introduction and "The Birth of St Nicolas". To access the entire libretto, click here.
I. Introduction
Our eyes are blinded by the holiness you bear.
The bishop's robe, the mitre, and the cross of gold
Obscure the simple man within the Saint.
Strip off your glory, Nicolas! Nicolas! and speak! speak! speak!
Help us, Lord! to find the hidden road
That leads from love to greater love,
From faith to greater faith.
Strengthen us, O Lord!
Screw up our strength to serve Thee with simplicity.
II. The Birth of Nicolas
Nicolas was born in answer to prayer, in answer to prayer, in answer to prayer,
And leaping from his mother's womb he cried- GOD BE GLORIFIED!
Swaddling bands and crib awaited him there, awaited him there, awaited him there,
But Nicolas clapped both his hands and cried- GOD BE GLORIFIED!
Innocent and joyful, naked and fair, naked and fair, naked and fair,
He came in pride on earth to abide- GOD BE GLORIFIED!
Water rippled Welcome! in the bathtub by his side, bathtub by his side, bathtub by his side.
He dived in open-eyed, he swam, he cried- GOD BE GLORIFIED!
When he went to Church at Christmastide, at Christmastide, at Christmastide,
He climbed up to the font to be baptized. GOD BE GLORIFIED!
Words by Eric Crozier
To celebrate the feast of St Nicholas on 6th December, we feature Britten's thrilling cantata about the original Santa Claus, his first first major work composed for performance by largely amateur choirs. It is sung here by Downtown Voices, a semi-professional choir made up of volunteer singers from the New York metro area and members of the Grammy®-nominated Choir of Trinity, Wall Street. The choir is praised by the New York Times for its “incisive, agile strength".
If you have not time for the entire one-hour cantata, do listen to the Introduction and "The Birth of St Nicolas". To access the entire libretto, click here.
I. Introduction
Our eyes are blinded by the holiness you bear.
The bishop's robe, the mitre, and the cross of gold
Obscure the simple man within the Saint.
Strip off your glory, Nicolas! Nicolas! and speak! speak! speak!
Help us, Lord! to find the hidden road
That leads from love to greater love,
From faith to greater faith.
Strengthen us, O Lord!
Screw up our strength to serve Thee with simplicity.
II. The Birth of Nicolas
Nicolas was born in answer to prayer, in answer to prayer, in answer to prayer,
And leaping from his mother's womb he cried- GOD BE GLORIFIED!
Swaddling bands and crib awaited him there, awaited him there, awaited him there,
But Nicolas clapped both his hands and cried- GOD BE GLORIFIED!
Innocent and joyful, naked and fair, naked and fair, naked and fair,
He came in pride on earth to abide- GOD BE GLORIFIED!
Water rippled Welcome! in the bathtub by his side, bathtub by his side, bathtub by his side.
He dived in open-eyed, he swam, he cried- GOD BE GLORIFIED!
When he went to Church at Christmastide, at Christmastide, at Christmastide,
He climbed up to the font to be baptized. GOD BE GLORIFIED!
Advent Music from Tim Thurston's playlists for his Lyric FM series, "Gloria"
"I must admit to a great fondness for this season with its rich variety of themes and wonderful sense of waiting – of expectation – which has influenced composers through the ages to write powerful and beautiful music."
"I must admit to a great fondness for this season with its rich variety of themes and wonderful sense of waiting – of expectation – which has influenced composers through the ages to write powerful and beautiful music."