Torches: A Folk Carol for the Advent Season

SATB Choir & Piano with optional improvised guitar/ukulele, bass, and percussion. Torches is a lively, folk-inspired Advent carol about watchfulness, preparation, and the joyful anticipation of Christ's coming. Inspired by the parable of the ten virgins and their lamps in Matthew 25, the piece imagines those lamps as torches—flames lifted high against the darkness, sustained drop by drop as the faithful prepare for the Bridegroom's arrival. The musical inspiration comes in part from J. S. Bach's Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Sleepers, Awake), particularly its imagery of the watchman's call, the Bridegroom, and the waiting brides. Rather than imitating Bach's Baroque style, Torches transforms those ideas into an energetic contemporary folk carol, with a lilting dance pulse, recurring wordless "Woahoh" refrain, rhythmic piano accompaniment, and exuberant choral writing. The music moves from the darkness and quiet preparation of the verses toward the joyful refrain, "We will dance, we'll sing, / 'Trim your torch,' each voice will ring." The final section brings the watchman's call and the image of many torches held high together: "light the sky with the supply you're carrying." The result is an Advent piece that treats waiting not as passive anticipation, but as an active, joyful preparation for the coming of the King. Lyrics Woahoh, oh, oh, oh. When underneath the darkest sky we lift our torches to the wind with hope that they will keep on burning, oil once hidden deep inside transformed to light the dance of those who will rejoice at His returning. We will dance, we'll sing, "Trim your torch," each voice will ring. Yes, we'll dance, we'll sing, celebrating 'til the stars grow pale, this dawn the brides embraced by her dear King. Woahoh, oh, oh, oh. And drop by drop we fill each torch; we're saving day by day a little since the founding of our nation. Keep a keen and careful watch, that we might celebrate His coming, like the dawning of creation. We will dance, we'll sing, "Trim your torch," each voice will ring. Yes, we'll dance, we'll sing, celebrating 'til the stars grow pale, this dawn the brides embraced by her dear King. Listen for the watchman's call, "Great and small, leave ev'rything but your lamps and torches; hold them high, light the sky with the supply you're carrying."