Ponniah, Ben - Rejoice in the light

Written for a 2024 commission from Jonathan Harris for Newport Pagnell Singers, the music for ‘Rejoice in the light’ came to composer Ben Ponniah in a dream. It possesses a rugged, medieval character similar to, and therefore an ideal companion for, the well-known 16th-century carol ‘Gaudete’. The text, adapted from a 19th-century poem by Josiah Gilbert Holland (‘There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky!’) and portraying great joy at the birth of Jesus, is initially shared between the upper and lower voices before they come together, via a more lyrical verse and passages of canon, to the explosive climax of the piece. An upbeat addition to the modern Christmas choral repertoire, with no divisi, sure to be a favourite with audiences and congregations.