Description
For SATB or TTBB chorus and English Horn or Trumpet, 3′
Commissioned by the First Universalist Singers of Denver
On “Chanticleer” by William Austin
About the Music
Wake, O Earth is a joyful carol celebrating both the birth of Christ and the new sun of spring arising from winter’s darkness. The text, from “Chanticleer” by Englishman William Austin (1587-1634), imagines the “chanticleer” (rooster) at night proclaiming a new light and urging “mortals,” “angels,” and “powers” to “wake and joy” to see the new “Sun” (symbolically interpreted also to mean the Son of God). I have adapted Austin’s original poem to a verse-refrain format that highlights his notions of waking, joy, and light.
