This is my newest Christmas composition.  I wrote it for my Lincoln Chamber Singers for this year’s Christmas Festival, “From Heaven Above.”   Because composer Jocelyn Hagen had been commissioned to write a piece based on that hymn tune to serve as the concert’s finale,  there were to be no other arrangements of that hymn sung on the concert – and understandably so.  This piece, however,  makes ever so slight reference to the first couple of notes of that beautiful tune –  plus the first three words of the piece are “From Heaven Above.”  Otherwise,  it sounds nothing like a hymn, so I think we were okay.   About half of the lyrics are original to me, but the other half are excerpts from well known carols.  Listen and enjoy.

This performance is from the Friday night concert.  The fours soloists are Angela Yu, Austin Merschdorf, Madeline Wright and Chas Young. The flutist is Christopher Wojciechowicz.

From heaven above, there came a song of a bright new love. / The angels sang and the fields and hills and mountains rang./ with “Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings.” / From heaven above, there came a song of a bright new love. /  A love divine to make our darkest shadows shine. / “O Morning Star, how fair and bright- You shine with God’s own truth and light!” / From heaven above there came a song of a bright new love / a song of peace that hatred and fear and war may cease!/ “This newborn Child of lowly birth shall be the joy of all the earth!”/  From heaven above there came a song of a bright new love./ A love unknown – a love that calls us God’s very own./  “Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing.  Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord, the newborn King.”