My Christmas piece for this year. It is a setting for small orchestra of Howard Carter's poem "Birth" (1987), with Sherry Crann as the vocalist.
Not band performances here; rather compositions.
Story behind the song
I was struck by the "moment in time" quality of the poem when I first saw it more than 20 years ago. I have written a piece of music for the Christmas season for quite a few years, and this year decided I would use "Birth." The author granted his permission and Sherry Crann agreed to sing it.
Lyrics
BIRTH
Mary told Joseph, "I'm scared,"
her mother, her kinsmen not there,
the pains coming harder each time.
"I'm scared," thought Joseph,
though he wouldn't tell Mary:
"what if I lose this wife of mine?"
At last the babe was born
and put to breast;
the parents smiled
and felt the grace
even of a king who cried
with a red, pinched face.
Albert Howard Carter III (1987)
