for mixed choir (SATB with divisi) a cappella
Text: English (18th century, trans T A Lacey)
Duration: 3.5 minutes
Difficulty: 3/5

Composer’s note
The ancient and familiar carol ‘O come, O come Emmanuel’ expresses the longing of the people of God to be freed from darkness by the coming of the promised Messiah. In my setting I attempt to express something of that yearning by the use of a descending motif for the words ‘O come’, almost like a sigh, at the start of each verse and through the soft dissonances which colour the text. In the final verse the music breaks into five parts with the first soprano almost like a descant. Here the music intensifies chromatically and hovers around minor harmonies, conveying the sense of despair in the words ‘lingering gloom’ and ‘shadows of the tomb’ before the final exuberant ‘rejoice! Rejoice!’. The piece should be sung expressively and although the tempo is only Andante, there should always be a feeling of forward movement.

Text
O come, O come, Emmanuel!
Redeem thy captive Israel,
That into exile drear is gone
Far from the face of God’s dear Son.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Branch of Jesse! draw
The quarry from the lion’s claw;
From the dread caverns of the grave,
From nether hell, thy people save.

Rejoice...

O come, O come thou Dayspring bright!
Pour on our souls thy healing light;
Dispel the long night’s lingering gloom,
And pierce the shadows of the tomb,

Rejoice...

Becky McGlade
Becky was born in 1974 and grew up in Cornwall. She studied music at Royal Holloway, University of London, and after graduating, returned to Cornwall where she now leads a busy musical life as a composer, cellist, and piano and cello teacher. Becky developed a love of singing at an early age and her interest in sacred choral music grew during her time as a member of the Royal Holloway Chapel Choir. She now composes mainly choral music and draws much of her inspiration from her Christian faith. Her works, which include psalm settings, carols, and settings of other texts, biblical and secular, are written in a recognisable, engaging and personal style. Becky’s setting of Christina Rossetti’s poem In the bleak midwinter has become very widely performed following its premiere recording by Truro Cathedral Choir, broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and publication by Boosey & Hawkes. She has also written numerous songs for solo voice and works for string ensembles.