Classical Works Spotlight #623--Christmas In The Southwest

[erik]

It is not the usual Christmas fare in this Christmas edition of the Classical Works Spotlight, as the focus will be a recording by the work of the late American composer Conrad Susa that adapts Christmas carols from an all-too-frequently ignored segment of American society.

Conrad Susa: CAROLS AND LULLABIES (CHRISTMAS IN THE SOUTHWEST)

The Christmas holiday season has inspired some of the greatest works in Western music history, from the epic splendor of George Frideric Handel’s epic oratorio “Messiah”, to Tchiakovsky’s great ballet “The Nutcracker”, and Engelbert Humperdinck’s classic children’s opera “Hansel And Gretel”. Not often mentioned in the ambit, however, is what the United States has contributed to this specialized corner of classical music, save perhaps for Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1952 made-for-TV opera “Amahl And The Night Visitors”. Then in 1993, the American composer Conrad Susa, who had been educated at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Julliard School by, among others, Peter Schickele (alias “P.D.Q. Bach”) brought out an even more heretofore hidden aspects of Christmas in America with his work “Carols and Lullabies”, which focused specifically on how Hispanic and indigenous peoples living in the American Southwest, specifically New Mexico, Arizona, and southeastern California, celebrate the holiday. Sub-titled “Christmas In The Southwest”, the work is essentially a collection of ten Hispanic carols with the setting being a Christmas piñata party. The songs (all in Spanish) are: (1) Oh, Mi Belen!; (2) El Desembre Congelat; (3) Alegria; (4) A La Namita Nana; (5) Las Posadas; (6) Campana Sobre Campana; (7) En Belen Tocan A Fuego; (8) El Noi De La Mare; (9) Chiquirriquitin; and (10) El Rorro. Susa scored the work for mixed choir and a small ensemble of harp, marimba, and guitar, instruments endemic to the Hispanic population of the Southwest. The work was given its premiere by Phillip Brunelle during the Christmas holiday at the Plymouth Music Series in Minnesota to great acclaim, and recorded by them for RCA (with a later release on the independent Clarion label), and has become a great favorite during the holiday, particularly with listeners in the Southwest and northern Mexico.



Plymouth Music Series Chorus

VocalEssence Ensemble/PHILLIP BRUNELLE (RCA/Clarion)

Included (Welcome Christmas: Christmas Lullabies From Around The World):
Michael Fink: WHAT SWEETER MUSIC
Dale Wood: A SUSSEX CAROL (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)
Stephen Paulus: SING HALLELU!
Robert J. Batastini: PATAPAN (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)
Steve Barnett: GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)
Randal Davidson: CHRIST WAS BORN ON CHRISTMAS DAY (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)
Henry Walford Davies: O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
Robert Farley: THE FRIENDLY BEASTS (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)
Daniel Kallman: INFANT HOLY, INFANT LOWLY (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)
Chester L. Alwes: DING! DONG! MERRILY ON HIGH (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)
Monte Mason: TIS WINTER NOW (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)
Richard Storrs Willis: IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR
William James Kirkpatrick: AWAY IN A MANGER
Virgil Thomson: THE HOLLY AND THE IVY (TRADITIONAL ADAPTATION)

[egoodstein]

Sounds interesting and a nice 'variant' of Christmas music, much probably not so well known to a wider public. Thanks for mentioning.

[erik]

Since we have a huge amount of recordings of the Usual Suspects of Christmas Fare (Messiah; Nutcracker; Hansel and Gretel; and even Mariah Carey!), Susa's ode to the way Christmas is celebrated in the Southwest is a good collection to have. And besides, the culture that Susa highlights here is one that has been too often ignored among the rest of the American populace.