Arakelyan, Kristina - Jesu, Jesu (from A Christmas Offering) (SATB)

Jesu, Jesu is the eighth movement of Kristina Arakelyan’s nine-movement work, A Christmas Offering, a festive celebration scored for SATB chorus with harp (or piano) taking inspiration from Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. It was first performed in 2024 at Snape Maltings by Pembroke College Chapel Choir and Anna Lapwood. Like Britten, Arakelyan draws her texts from medieval carols in Latin and early English, which not only tell the nativity story, but also look ahead to Christ’s suffering and crucifixion. The musical language itself often alludes to a medieval sound world, but with a contemporary twist and drawing on her own Armenian heritage and other Eastern influences, Arakelyan brings the texts to life in this exciting new collection of carols. Also available for upper voices (SSA).

An extracted harp part is available here.