{"id":5766,"date":"2022-12-03T10:15:28","date_gmt":"2022-12-03T16:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/?p=5766"},"modified":"2022-12-03T10:15:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T16:15:28","slug":"unwrapping-the-essence-of-christmas-music-in-cucs-lessons-and-carols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/?p=5766","title":{"rendered":"Unwrapping the essence of Christmas music in CUC\u2019s ‘Lessons and Carols’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rocking around the Christmas tree and sleigh bells ringing are the hallmarks of the holiday celebration. After all, Santa Claus is coming to town, and so is “Lessons and Carols,” the annual Christmas music performance at Concordia University Chicago.<\/p>\n

The Kapelle, M\u00e4nnerchor, Schola Cantorum, Chamber Orchestra, and Handbell Ensemble usher in the holiday season with one of the most cherished CUC traditions on Dec. 3 and 4.<\/p>\n

Christmas music is one of the most distinctive forms of celebrating the holiday season. After all, there’s no genre of music dedicated to Easter or Thanksgiving. When most people think of Christmas songs, they think of classic crooners like Bing Cosby or Burl Ives, smash hits like \u201cAll I Want For Christmas Is You\u201d by Mariah Carey, \u201cPlease Come Home For Christmas\u201d by the Eagles, or Michael Buble’s chart-topping album \u201cChristmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although senior Jesse Schultz loves songs like \u201cJoy to the World\u201d and Christmas radio hits, the member of Kapelle says the music you hear in church and at “Lessons and Carols” points to storytelling rather than holiday traditions. \u201cSongs on the radio tend to focus on secular Christmas elements like Santa, reindeer, cookies, mistletoe, and gifts \u2014 all not inherently wrong, but definitely serving a different purpose,\u201d said Schultz. \u201cChristmas music in a church service ultimately points its listeners to the magnificent Nativity event that took place in a lowly manger many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

The service held in the Chapel of the Lord at CUC features the story of Christ coming to Earth and His birth through nine lessons (referred to as carols).<\/p>\n

The nine lessons in the performance came from Oxford, England in the 19th century. With a growing worry that people elected to go to the pubs instead of church, the musical component of worship provided a reason for people to return to church.<\/p>\n

Charles Brown, DMA, is entering his 23rd year of directing the CUC choirs in “Lessons and Carols.” For him, it\u2019s more than just a holiday concert. \u201cThose nine lessons talk about the fall of humanity to the redemption that Christ gives,\u201d said Brown. \u201cEvery lesson goes from Old Testament to New Testament. You basically trace Christ\u2019s narrative from prophecy to fulfillment. And that\u2019s a beautiful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The history of Christmas carols dates back to Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Chorals came from the teachings of the time, and were closely related to carols. The English later translated the carols from German, to develop their own musical pieces.<\/p>\n

Brown says Michael Praetorius and Johann Pachelbel were two composers who celebrated Christmas and carols unlike anyone else during the 17th century. \u201cThey really livened it up all around church,” Brown said. “They would have the readings and music, and it provided a lot of opportunities for response to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dr. Charles Brown works with the CUC Kapelle group in practice prior to Lessons and Carols.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Lessons and Carols” tries to do the same for those in the audience, while remaining authentic and in-line with traditional practices. This means making slight changes to the music selection. Brown is excited for the audience to hear his arrangement of \u201cA Boy Was Born\u201d by Benjamin Britten. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of simple, but it talks about God takes on flesh, bares our humanity, and why Jesus came to go to the cross,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Brown draws inspiration from Martin Luther for the reason for including this piece. \u201cLuther said that if we fail to remember that\u2019s what Christmas is about, then we have missed the meaning of Christmas,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n

Members of the Kappelle express that same desire to convey Luther’s message. \u201cIt is incredibly evocative and warm, causing listeners to ponder the marvel of Christ\u2019s humble incarnation,\u201d said senior Schultz.<\/p>\n

Issac Conrad, a junior in the Kapelle and Schola Cantorum, says he feels the emphasis on breathing technique that he learned from Brown is what makes the songs resonate through the chapel. \u201cWhen you can reflect that in a piece when the music ebbs and flows as if you\u2019re not singing when you breathe out, but also when you breathe in, we really capture that in the piece,\u201d said Conrad.<\/p>\n

Brown attributes the popularity of Christmas music on the radio verse church music is the familiarity. \u201cWe associate Chirstmas with that warm feeling,\u201d said Brown. \u201cWhen you hear Faith Hill\u2019s \u201cWhere are you Christmas?\u201d and this warm invite to Jesus and Christmas, but the whole point is forgiveness and mercy as a result of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Members of the Kappelle singing in the Chapel of the Lord during an evening rehersal. (Carter Gledhill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For “Lessons and Carols,” the storytelling is more than just songs and musical arrangements. Brown says the environment within the chapel helps complement and enhance the service. \u201cThe design starts very dark, since the world was dark,\u201d said Brown. \u201cWe gradually bring the lights up, so by the holy birth reading, the chapel is full of light.” From there, the lighting gradually dims again through the finale of “Noel, Noel,” and attendees leave the performance in the dark.<\/p>\n

Sophomore Matthew Clayton says being in Kapelle and the Chamber Orchestra allows him to experience the service in a unique way. \u201cSinging is all about the text, and you can sing the message and see the text,\u201d said Clayton. \u201cIn music, it\u2019s harder, you\u2019re still reading a language and communicating it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown realizes Christmas time and holiday services may be one of the rare times people may sing along with performers, since the songs are familiar. \u201cWe think it\u2019s important for people to participate, or at least you\u2019re invited to participate whether that\u2019s sing and pray, or just to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lessons and Carols will host three performances in the Chapel of the Lord.\u00a0 On Saturday, Dec. 3, performances will be 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Sunday, Dec. 4, performance will begin at 4 p.m. A livestream of the service will follow at 6:40 p.m. at cuchicago.edu\/live<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rocking around the Christmas tree and sleigh bells ringing are the hallmarks of the holiday celebration. After all, Santa Claus is coming to town, and so is “Lessons and Carols,” the annual Christmas music performance at Concordia University Chicago. The Kapelle, M\u00e4nnerchor, Schola Cantorum, Chamber Orchestra, and Handbell Ensemble usher in the holiday season with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":5770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-showcase"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}