Tidings of Joy

Under the artist direction of Douglas Mears, this massive musical ensemble of 300 singers with full symphony orchestra has created a beautifully produced recording with imaginative orchestrations and arrangements.  Herald in the season with the Fairfax Choral Society and Orchestra’s first release on Gothic Records!

Music for Christmas: Tidings of Joy is a program that follows the cycle of the Christmas season beginning with four Advent pieces, then five Nativity focused pieces, followed by six pieces of Celebration, and ending with five pieces of Adoration!

"Music has always been an integral part of Christmas. The glorious announcement of Christ’s birth by a choir of angels, the gentle lullaby of a mother to her newborn child, the jubilant rejoicing of shepherds as they returned from Bethlehem—virtually every aspect of the Christmas story has inspired poets and composers for centuries, and generations of singers have raised their voices in celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Each December since its founding forty-six years ago, the Fairfax Choral Society has joined in this annual tradition, presenting Christmas concerts that have gained in popularity over the years and have grown to include performances by over 300 singers of all ages with a full symphony orchestra. In addition to the extraordinary variety of instrumental and vocal color these musicians can create, Christmas music itself offers a vast array of contrasting styles and moods.

Recorded live, this concert of sacred and secular favorites weaves a rich tapestry of carols from fourteenth-century England to twenty-first-century America. As diverse as these carols are, they all share in the wonder and delight of the Christmas season as they bring to the world tidings of joy." -Douglas Mears

Tracklisting:
Advent
1. Berceuse - Jean-Michel Vaccaro
2. Lost in the Night - traditional, arr. by Kyle S. Haugen
3. Spašéñiye sodélal - Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov
4. Here is Joy for Every Age - from Piae Cantiones, arr. by Stephen Mager

Nativity
5. Gloria - Randol Alan Bass
6. A Manger Carol - Douglas Mears
7. Fantasy on What Child is This? - traditional, arr. by Barlow Bradford
8. Ding Dong! Merrily on High - traditional, arr. by Stephen Mager
9. The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy - traditional, arr. by Mack Wilberg

Celebration
10. Kling, Glöckchen, Kling - Benedikt Widmann, arr. by Stephen Mager
11. Three Little Birdies - Edmund Walters
12. Wassail - traditional, arr. by John Currie
13. Danse russe Trepak - Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
14. The Very Best Time of Year- John Rutter
15. I Saw Three Ships - traditional, arr. by Mack Wilberg

Adoration
16. Night of Silence - Daniel Kantor
17. Lux Aurumque - Eric Whitacre
18. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree - Elizabeth Poston
19. Il Est Né, le Divin Enfant - anonymous, arr. by Donna Gartman Schultz
20. Carol to the King - James C. Christian, arr. by Mack Wilberg

Click to purchase Music for Christmas: Tidings of Joy