THE OXEN

[John Driscoll]

 

An SATB acapella setting of Thomas Hardy's poem "The Oxen".

Unfortunately, I only have a tawdry MIDI realization at the moment, but I have been trying this year to find a chorus to record it. 

Hopefully the score will give you enough of a sense of what's intended...

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
    "Now they are all on their knees,"
An elder said as we sat in a flock
    By the embers in hearthside ease.

We pictured the meek mild creatures where
    They dwelt in their strawy pen,
Nor did it occur to one of us there
    To doubt they were kneeling then.

So fair a fancy few would weave
    In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve,
    "Come; see the oxen kneel,

"In the lonely barton by yonder coomb
    Our childhood used to know,"
I should go with him in the gloom,
    Hoping it might be so.

https://on.soundcloud.com/HNwif

JDriscoll - The Oxen.pdf

[David]

at the beginning, I feared this was going to be just a rather routine English-style Christmas carol but with the soprano line in bar 36, we started to get into a much more evocative atmosphere and there were enough beautiful harmonic twists to keep the interest thereafter -- I'd be perfectly happy to sing this (many traditional Christmas carols I find pretty insipid so this is certainly above average).

Just on the rendering - I don't see much point in stock choir noises. If you don't want to invest in a choir that can sing text, it would probably sound better with a decent string quartet. Another alternative as a stopgap would be to take out a trial of Cantamus https://cantamus.app/ and this would render a rather beautiful version for you (although I'm not sure of they've sorted out gradual tempo changes yet). Obviously it would be nice if you could get a real choir to sing this.

[John Driscoll]

Thanks, David. Yes, it was intentional to start with something "traditional Christmas carol" and then move beyond it. I have always been intrigued by the idea of using musical style shifts as structure (a forever unrealized concept is an operatic version of Tartuffe that starts neo-classically and gradually moves into a 21st century style as they all realize he's a fraud).

Yes, points all well taken on the realization, which was really just a stopgap. I actually wrote this piece >20 years ago but dusted it off earlier this year when I heard a demo of MuseScore rendering a Bach Chorale. I am checking out Cantamus as I write this--thanks for the tip!

[John Driscoll]

Thanks again for the Cantamus recommendation, David. I spit through a couple renderings this afternoon and updated the SoundCloud file (now with words!!)

[David]

certainly sounds better now! I'd considered taking out a sub to Cantamus as I think they should be supported but in the end a) I really want to have more control over the output and not just rely on an upload to a website b) the voices are far from a general solution to the sort of music I write, although I think they work well in something like the Lux Aeterna I put on my Music page here as a demo and c) when I last tried there were a few bugs and limitations. But I plan to return form tme to time to see how things develop there.

[John Driscoll]

Yes, the site/processing is quite buggy, but none of the other "word-building" vocal VSTs even come close. I did add a fair amount of reverb and EQ'd in a lot more bass to give it a somewhat warmer sound. I will check out your Lux Aeterna!

[Mike Hewer]

Lovely John and such a big improvement using Cantamus, presentation matters immensely imo. All dissonances are easily sung, prepared or not as indeed are the parts in general. Your commitment to imitative counterpoint was nice and there where some slick harmonic modulations to flatter keys. The text was sensitively set too with no awkward stress on syllables. Very nice, how about a book of part songs for Xmas?

[John Driscoll]

Thanks, Mike. Right as always. I had hoped this forum was the last refuge for terrible MIDI realizations (can't you just get it from the score?), but I keep forgetting the world we live in is not the one in my head... And no Christmas song collections from me. This was a one-off!

[gregrorio j]

Wow! John.
This is beautiful. Glimmering shades with subtle yet dramatic shifts in harmonic perfectly placed. The words flow so naturally with the score. I listened to the first rendering here, and thought I was able to glean your intention, but with this new version, it hits me so much stronger (and not just with the added play of the consonants ) , and the words sung allowed me to see the treatment of the poem's rather complex psychology. I'd not read this poem before - a very interest choice for a "Christmas" meditation.
I could hear a bit of Tallis, but there is also something that reminded me of Monteverde's madrigals, which I love.
Great work here, John!

[John Driscoll]

Thanks for your kind words, Greg. And yes, I'm glad you got that the emotional core of the piece isn't really about Christmas!

[John Driscoll]

Thanks for listening and commenting, Jon. I take word-setting very seriously!

[John Driscoll]

Thanks for listening and commenting, Jon. I take word-setting very seriously!