Alice Parker - Glory Shone

These hymns and carols from the folk tradition evoke mental images of Christmas and the nativity scene, but the music itself, in melodies and settings, supplies what words can only hint at--the emotional context of the scene. Moods and rhythms are almost tangible in the singing, the vigor of colonial times, the wistfulness of Advent, the strumming Spanish guitar, the barren stable, chanticleer's rising song. We join in the bagpipes' dance, the children's exuberant 'touro-louro-ing', the cradle's portenteous rocking. If we listen rightly, we lose for a time our contemporary sophistication, to re-enter the word of childhood where the story and it's many characters are newly minted. We might even shout our own demands for figgy pudding at the end, and join the musicians in more feasting and singing to celebrate the season.