 |
Voices
The Storyteller: Tenor
The Tree: Soprano (from the chorus)
Angels: Semi-Chorus of children's voices SA
Trees of the Forest: Choir SATB
The text is adapted by the composer from the children's short story The First Christmas Tree by Eugene Field (1850-1895) with additional concluding lines from The Dream of the Rood and Charles Dickens' A Christmas Tree.
|
|
The trees of the forest hear the angels proclaiming a holy birth; the angels enter the forest and protect a small Tree which, in the fullness of time, grows serene and beautiful. The Master and his friends often come to visit the Tree, but one day he comes alone, distressed. The guardian angels disappear and into the forest come cruel men who fell the Tree and carry it away. The wind brings news that the Tree has been transformed into a Cross, and the Master has died upon it. However, the forest sees the Tree rising to the heavens, decorated with gold and jewellery; the angels have returned to it and, together with the stars, dance on its branches. Thus is the Tree celebrated at Christmas time.
|
