Christmas Bells
I wrote this piece for a competition in the USA in 2014. After lying around for several years, it was finally premiered in December 2022 by the Mörth Singers under my direction.
The text is a Christmas poem by Henry Longfellow that sings about the ringing of bells at Christmas. It is an plea not to lose faith in God even in bad times, because in the end the song "of peace on earth, good-will to men" drives away all worries.
"Christmas Bells", by Henry W. Longfellow (1807–1882):
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn the households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Choir: SSATTBB
Length: 3 min
Mörth Singers, Conductor: Julian Mörth, 2022