Christmas Around the World
January 10, 2020
We’ve all heard the classics—”Jingle Bells”, “Silent Night”, “Gloria”—along with many more. But did you know many of our “American Classics” aren’t really American classics? Like our country with many type of diverse cultures, our music also comes from around the world also. Some may not think that, but over time songs have been transformed to suit our preferences and go along with our language, losing much of the original flare. However at this concert, you could listen to the original tunes and experience the original messages of the songs.
The full program included 12 songs, including ones from countries like Italy, Japan, Nigeria and many more! The first performance was “Silent Night” (Choplin) sung by the Combined Choirs in different languages, even in it’s original German too. Also included in the song was a solo by Senior Haley Dockins-Vogt. “I messed up a bit because we had to change the octave, but I still had fun singing it,” she stated after the concert. Continuing on with the program, the Mixed Choir sang “Sanna Sannanina” (Delanoy) from South Africa, “Gesú Bambino” (Burkhardt) from Italy, “Yuki” (Brownsey/Lantz) from Japan, and last “Calypso Cradle Carol” (Gallina) from Jamaica.
After a small intermission from Mrs. Lewis, it was time for the Men’s Choir. With a total of 7 men including Senior Gavin Moon, they sang “Huron Carol” (Gallina) which is commonly sang in Canada. Following the Men’s, it was time for the Women’s Choir. They sang “Pasko Na Naman” (Hernandez) in tagalog from the Philippines, featuring the Men’s choir imitating animals to give a visual of Southeastern village life.
Last but not least, it was time for Concert Choir. They preformed “Petite Enfant” (Schram) who’s origin was in France, and “Betelehemu” (Crutchfield) from Nigera. Following that was “Adorar al Nino” (Johnson) from Venezulea, and “Sleigh Bells” (Rentz) from Ukraine.
Ending the concert was a performance of a local original, “It’s a Snow White Perfect Black Cat Christmas” (David Stevens). Stevens not only wrote the song, but he appeared at the concert also, and it only took him 2 weeks to write and compose the song! Can you believe that! “I originally took inspiration from Marquand, which had their own traditional song, ‘Christmas in Marquand.’ I hope this song becomes a yearly classic, and I hope to hear it every year!” Stevens states.
