Songs of The Season: Robbinsville School District Choral Music Department
Songs of The Season: Robbinsville School District Choral Music Department
Songs of The Season: Robbinsville School District Choral Music Department
We open with Betelehemu. This Nigerian Christmas carol opens with a steady
duple meter walking song before bouncing into an excited triple meter melody. The
piece employs polyrhythm and simple parallel harmonies which are hallmarks of
West African traditional style.
Stephen Schwartz is famous for his musicals like Pippin and Wicked and more.
He has also composed several choral pieces including The Chanukah Song (We
Are Lights). His musical theatre style seems to blend into the work through the
harmonies and the way he sets the text. The lyrics “we are lights of memory,
remembering times long gone” evoke a sense of connection to ancestors and
traditions. The sentiment segues well into Remembering Decembers which
explores more recent, personal, happy memories of the season. The song ends
with an invitation, “so now, come and join with me, make a memory.”
A la Media Noche is a fast paced Puerto Rican Christmas Carol. The “A” section
of the song includes a jaunty minor melody sung on “la” along with hand claps. To
contrast, the “B” section is sung with quiet excitement and entirely in Spanish.
Similarly fast-paced is S’Vivon, which is Hebrew for Dreydl. The song opens with
various repeats of the word “sov” which evokes the spinning of the dreydl. Layered
on top of the repeated harmonies, a small group soli sings the melody. The piece
ends with an exciting and mostly homophonic presentation of the tune sung on
“la.”
We hope to leave you humming with final two pieces of our portion of the concert.
Holiday Road was written by Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac fame for the
movie National Lampoon’s Vacation. We end with a unique arrangement of We
Wish You a Merry Christmas and with the sincere wish to all “for health, luck, and
prosperity...and a very happy new year!”
Brian Williams O Come, O Come, Emmanuel tackles the identity of universal hope by setting the
Robbinsville High School text in traditional english while simultaneously being recounted by others singing
in latin. We transition into Only In Sleep, a lush setting of a Sara Teasdale poem
Director
describing the people she remembers so fondly from her childhood. The set is
concluded with a simple quote set in an intriguing and powerful way. Shadows
Will Fall is a fascinating setting of a famous quote. By mixing up the order in which
the quote is read the audience is swept into despair and warned of the incoming
shadows. As the piece darkens and all hope is lost, a quiet rally of slowly shifting
major homophonic chords reminds the listener that perspective is everything, and
even the darkest days can be illuminated with the correct mindset.
Concert Choir begins with Climbin’ Up the Mountain, Children! The piece
recounts trials in which perseverance and belief saved others in times of strife, and
assures that continuing to climb even when the slope gets steeper will deliver you
to a happier life. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen is a fascinating arrangement of
the 18th century carol focusing on a lavish accompaniment and canonical
reinterpretations of the well known melody. The Dan Forrest arrangement of
Silent Night provides a new ascending motivic identity to the Germanic carol
while allowing the voices to flow masterfully around each other. We end our
holiday set with Bidi Bom, an upbeat and whimsical celebration of Hannukah, with
voices layering one by one to represent the individual candles being lit day after
day.
We end the concert with a set of three upbeat pieces, the most recognizable being
Snow from Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. This joyful song pining for snow is
contrasted by a similarly joyful yet robustly large Salmo 150. The South American
rhythms become a driving factor of the song as dotted eighth notes are juxtaposed
against straight triple meter passages in rather extreme ranges of the human voice
for high school vocalists. I Will Sing is a contemporary gospel piece of music
exclaiming how regardless of our journey or purpose in life, we will raise our voices
in song to fulfill ourselves and help those around us.
Songs of the Season
Pond Road 7th & 8th Grade Choirs
Mr. PJ Heckman, Director
Mike Gilch, Accompanist
The Chanukah Song (We A lamp that kept on burning, a miracle they say;
Are Lights) but the world has kept on turning are there miracles today?
Stephen Schwartz Everyone who lights the candles has a bit of ancient spark.
arr. Mac Huff We are miracles, lighting up the dark.
Sidney Davis, soloist
We are lights, lights of memory, remembering times long gone.
Elizabeth Harris, soloist
We are glowing, growing miracles.
We are lights shining on and on.
I’m remembering Decembers, spent with loved ones, filled with laughter.
Time was moving so much slower in those days.
There was wonder and joy in the small things.
I can still feel it now when the bells ring.
They ring just like they did before.
My heart is filled once more.
S'vivon (Dredyl Song) S’vivon, sov, sov, sov Dredyl, spin, spin, spin.
Tradition Hanukkah Song Hanukkah, hu hag tov Hanukkah is a great holiday.
arr. Nancy Grundahl Hag simcha hu laam A joyous holiday for the nation.
Nes gadol haya sham A great miracle happened her.
Sahana Iyer, Isabella Peroni,
Dreydl spin, dreydl spin, Hanukah to welcome in.
Lauren Poprik, Sydney
Dreydl spin, dreydl spin, let the holiday begin.
Regen, Elizabeth Reid,
Happy people on this holiday, burning candles guide us on our way.
Catalina Vasquez, small
We proclaim the great miracle which did happen for our people.
group soli
A miracle happened for our people.
We Wish You A We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Merry Christmas Good tidings we bring wherever we go;
Traditional Christmas Carol We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
arr. Emily Crocker Now bring us some figgy pudding. Now bring some out here.
For we won’t go until we got some, so bring some out here.
Ah, a very very, merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year!
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
We wish you a lot of presents.
We wish you the best of everything,
Good health, luck, and prosperity, and a very happy New Year!
A very, very, very, very, very, very, very merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!
Robbinsville High School Chamber Choir
Mr. Brian Williams, Director
Caty Butler, Cello
Meghan Doyle, Guitar
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel O Come, o come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.
Traditional French Melody That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.
Traditional Latin Text Translated
by John Mason Neale Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
arr. Trevor Johnson & Keith
McKay Evans O come, Thou Key of David, come and open wide our heavenly home;
Adapted Denny Crockett Make safe the way that leads to Thee, and close the path to misery.
Rafael Ferriera, baritone
Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse’s stem, from every foe deliver them
that trust Thy mighty power to save, and give them victory over the grave.
Shadows Will Fall Keep your face always toward the sunshine-
Daniel Elder and shadows will fall behind you.
Text Attr. Walt Whitman
Climbin' Up the Mountain, Climbin’ up the mountain, children. I didn’t come here for to stay.
Children! ‘Cause if I nevermore see you again.
Traditional Spiritual Im gonna meet you at the judgement day.
Arr. Rollo Dilworth Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
God Rest Ye, Merry God rest ye merry, gentlemen let nothing you dismay;
Gentlemen remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day,
Traditional English Carol to save us all from Satan’s pow’r when we were gone astray,
18th century O tidings of comfort and joy.
Arr. Molly Ijames
From God our heavenly Father a blessed angel came,
and unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same,
how that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name,
O tidings of comfort and joy.
“Fear Not,” then said the angel, “let nothing you afright,
This day is born a Savior of a pure virgin bright,
to free all those who trust in Him from Satan’s pow’r and might,”
O tidings of comfort and joy.
Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this place,
and with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace;
this sacred time of Christmas tide all others now deface;
Silent Night Silent Night, Holy Night! All is calm, all is bright
Stille Nacht, Franz Grüber round yon virgin mother and child;
Joseph Mohr Holy infant so tender and mild,
Arr. Dan Forrest Sleep in heavenly peace.
Salmo 150 Laudáte Dóminum in sánctis éjus: Praise Lord in sacred places his,
("Psalm 150") Laudáte éum in firmaménto virtútis éjus. praise him in firmament of power his.
Laudáte éum in virtútibus éjus: Praise him for mighty acts his,
Ernani Anguiar Laudáte éum secúndum praise him according to
multitúdinem magnitúdinis éjus. enormity of greatness his.
I Will Sing We’ve all been given our little corner of space and time.
Michael Engelhardt With the permission to do with it as we see fit for a while.
Dani Mirando, soloist So begs the question, what will I do with the portion given to me?
This one possession, so pure and precious.
Darkness and fear abound, but this song keeps calling out from deep within me.
It’s not that easy. Great are the doubts from within and without.
They won’t defeat me, not if I’m completely standing on higher ground
confident in the sound that lives within me.
I will sing forever more! I will sing with all my heart and my soul!
I have decided that with this one life I will sing!
We will sing with all our souls, we will sing with all our hearts!
We will sing forevermore; so we’re just getting started.
The Performers
7th Grade Choir
Ayush Ahluwalia, Paras Anand, Sana Anand, Anika Banda, Katherine Blando, Rithika Bodicherla,
Angella Brown, Dominic Cataldo, Raya Chaudhuri, Gianna Ciccia, Elise Dailey, Thea Danze, Sidney
Davis, Emma Dente, Kaitlyn Enciso, Seraphina Griffin, Jayme Hayes, Summer Heyburn, Claire Horner,
Sahana Iyer, Vidur Jannapureddy, Sanai Jones, Ashvinder Kaur, Noelle Kein, Parth Khera, Anamitra
Kugapalan, Grace Malunow, Ellison Mentzer, Harper Mosmen, Brianna Mosquera, Finn Motzenbecker,
Sandhya Muthukumaran, Anusha Nandan, Connor Nolan, Evan Novik, Elizabeth Reid, Ria Sharma,
Sydney Soriano, Hailey Tkacs, Catalina Vasquez, Emily Volchansky, Shruthi Yarraguntla, Ava Yen
Purchase tickets at
RHSMD.booktix.com
Students / Seniors : $8
Adults : $12
Upcoming Vocal Performances
5th Annual Java Jam January 11th
RHS Commons Area 7:00pm
"She has a voice. If you can't hear it, maybe it's because you're too busy talking."
-Scarlett Curtis
5th & 6th Grade Choir Musical: Alice in Wonderland Jr. May 19th
RHS Auditorium 7:00pm
Choirs from around the district team up after noon to learn music
to present a joint concert featuring the hard work of each ensemble.