Completed in October, 2019.

Instrumentation: TTBB chorus, harp, acoustic guitar, piano, and percussion (one player — glockenspiel, vibraphone, tambourine, small bells (like sleigh bells), and tom-toms or bodhrán.

Commissioned by Chor Leoni.

Dedicated to Erick Lichte and Chor Leoni

Text: this piece uses the pre-existing tune and an adapted form of the pre-existing text from “The Seven Joys of Mary” (traditional, as printed in Christmas Carols New and Old, edited by John Stainer, and published by Novello in 1871). The text of “The Twelve Apostles” (also referred to as the “Dilly Song” or “Green Grow the Rushes, O“) is adapted from several sources, including English Country Songs (Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. Fuller Maitland, 1893) and A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-Songs (Hubert G. Shearin, 1911). The tune for “The Twelve Apostles” is newly composed here. All pre-existing material is in the public domain.

Program Note

This piece, Two Counting Carols, is a boisterous, rhythmic romp for men’s chorus and instrumental ensemble. It emerged after Erick Lichte, director of Chor Leoni, exposed me to two lesser-known (but still enormously catchy) traditional carols: “ The Twelve Apostles” and “ The Seven Joys of Mary.” The former is similar in structure to “ The Twelve Days of Christmas,” with each verse growing cumulatively longer as the singers develop a twelve-item list. The latter, though not cumulative in structure, still involves counting, with each verse listing one of Mary’s seven “joys.” I’ve set the first carol in a more delicate style, featuring the bright, clear tones of the piano, harp, and pitched percussion, while the second carol is more angular and extroverted, emphasizing the strummed guitar, low piano, and drums.