Newton-Rex, Ed - Als I lay on Yoolis Night

One of the lesser-known Mediaeval Christmas texts, starting ‘Als I lay on Yoolis Night, alone in my longing, me thought I saw a well fair sight, a may hiar child rokking’, provides the words for this Christmas carol by Ed Newton-Rex. A largely homophonic setting, the harmonic language is rich, with frequent gentle dissonance and divisi within the SATB parts, but it is written in such a way as to make it very approachable for intermediate choirs. The beautiful melody is also sometimes sustained by a soprano solo over slowly shifting ‘ah’ or hummed textures. Choirs are welcome to perform this carol using authentic pronunciation, but a guide to modern pronunciation is included.