Seeing the Star

A light to guide us into the Christmas season, with festive works from the last 100 years. This December, Chamber Choir Ireland heralds the coming of Christmas with a selection of seasonal works from the 20th and 21st centuries. Led by guest director Andrew Synnott, the programme features Olivier Messiaen's triumphant 'Dieu parmis nous', James MacMillan's early work The Lamb has come for us from the House of David, Jonathan Dove's melancholy The Three Kings, and Benjamin Britten's eccentric Rejoice in the Lamb. In his Four Christmas Motets, Francis Poulenc depicts four scenes: the hushed awe of the nativity scene; the breathless excitement of the shepherds; the Wise Men travelling through a serene, starlit night; and an explosion of joy – ‘Christ is born today!’ The selection also features pieces by contemporary Irish composers, Eoin Conway and Eoghan Desmond. Conway's Silent Night takes this favourite carol on a journey from chorale form, through a lush romantic transformation, and on to a more contemporary final verse. Desmond's Awake Ye Drowsey Mortals All alternates between a chorus of shepherds and their lusty, rustic Dorset carol; and a choir of angels announcing the birth of Christ, before bringing their voices together for a jubilant "Alleluia!".