for mixed voices (SATB div) & piano
Text: English (E H Geary)
Duration: 3'00''
Difficulty: 2/5
Use: Christmas


Arranger's note
This piece by Astor Piazzolla (1921–92) first appeared in a comedy theatre show by Kado Kostzer and Alfredo Arias called Famille d’Artistes, created for Centre dramatique national d’Aubervilliers in 1989. The original piece, La Chanson de la Naissance, had a French text. Piazzolla is best known for his development of Tango Nuevo through his many works that cross the boundaries between tango, jazz and classical music. This arrangement, which is true to his original tune and harmonic scheme, shows many of these traits. Here, the simple tune and chorus is passed around all sections of the ensemble – including an unaccompanied section – building to the choral tutti with the words ‘Joy to the world’.


Reviews
"A pleasant, gentle stophic tango with different scorings for each of the five verses. It's very straightforward to sing, with only a little divisi for ATB and none for the sopranos." (Marcus Huxley, Organists' Review, March 2015)

Hywel Davies
Hywel Davies was born and brought up in London. He is active as a creative artist, editor and arranger. An award-winning composer, he has a long-standing association with Kokoro (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s new music ensemble) and other musicians and ensembles across Europe and North America; he was also the recipient of an Arts Council England International Fellowship in 2003. As a sonic and installation artist he has created works for Arts Council England’s internal phone system, the former USAF base at Greenham Common and a ringtone to mark the handover of the Olympic flag from Beijing to London. His work as an arranger has been published by Boosey & Hawkes, Durand-Salabert-Eschig, Chester Music, Novello, and the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. For Boosey & Hawkes his arrangements include two volumes of pieces by Astor Piazzolla and a volume of works by Rachmaninoff; he has also compiled four anthologies of piano music for them – Animations, Contemplations, Fascinations and Gradations.