The House of Christmas

"The House of Christmas" is an original musical setting of the poem by G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936). With this poem, Chesterton claims that only in the "foul stable," and "the crazy stable" where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were homeless, are we truly at home. (The poet uses the word "men" throughout this poem to refer to all humanity. Because the concept of inclusive language did not exist during the poet's lifetime, and to stay true to the poem, the composer did not adjust the poem's wording to reflect today's language that avoids gender specific words when referring to all humans. The final phrase "all creation" was added by the composer.) The music is scored for SATB choir with organ accompaniment. Acoustic guitar or piano can play the chords provided in some verses of the score. However, depending on ensemble and instrumental resources, variations for performance can be made. Here are some suggestions: Verse 1 is written for two-part voices, with either acoustic guitar or piano playing the chords. The two voice parts can be sung with higher and lower voices, or just higher, just lower voices, or even one or two soloists Verse 2 The score provides SATB parts and organ accompaniment. It could also be performed using a unison choir singing the melody found in the soprano line. The 6/8 section of this verse has the tenor and alto voices singing the melody, but again, this could be sung by the entire choir in unison. If so, the organ would play the soprano and bass lines. Verse 3 This verse is scored for unison choir and organ accompaniment. Verse 4 use the same options as for verse one. Verse 5 has the sopranos singing a descant, the altos the melody and tenor and bass voices providing harmony. The organ doubles the voice parts. This verse could be sung in unison, or just with descant and melody. Dynamics have not been provided and can be determined by the conductor, based on the acoustics of the performance setting and the size of the ensemble singing each verse.