Songs of the Season 2019

Happy Holidays from Perennial Music and Arts!

Ave Maria

Schubert's "Ave Maria" contains music that was originally meant to be part of a setting of the poem “Lady of the Lake” by Walter Scott which included the line Ave Maria and later the entire traditional, liturgical Ave Maria text was set to Schubert’s music.

Personet Hodie

“Personent Hodie” is a Medieval carol that was first collected by a Swedish Lutheran cleric in the 1500s. The melody is found in a manuscript from Bavaria and the melody has strong links to the music of Prague where Scandinavian clergy often studied. The melody was originally used for a song in honor of St. Nicholas “Intonent Hodie.” St. Nicholas later became Santa Claus and is the patron saint of children. That version would be performed on The saint’s day, December 6 or Holy Innocents’ Day, December 28.

Cherry Tree Carol

The Cherry Tree Carol is a traditional English carol based on a story from the Early Christian Apocrypha where a date palm in mentioned rather than a cherry tree. The song demonstrates how important oral tradition was to people in the medieval world as stories from the apocrypha or “hidden“ stories continued to circulate in Europe although they were not included in the Bible. This is one way that artistic literacy is important for understanding our history.

Judas Maccabaeus

George Frideric Handel is well-known for the Messiah Oratorio that has become a Christmas tradition. He also wrote the oratorio, Judas Maccabaeus, which tells the story of Hanukkah. One of the most well-known selections is “See, the Conquering Hero Comes.”

A Tender Shoot

“A tender shoot” is a featured for ad