Anonymously penned, the fifteenth century poem, I syng of a mayden, is a mystical meditation on the Annunciation and Nativity of Christ.
Components of Elizabethan polyphony mix with dreamy chromaticism in English composer Arnold Bax’ 1923 five-part a cappella setting of the textual content. Because the 5 verses unfold, the majestic melody offers strategy to variation, solely to return within the triumphant closing moments.
This 2017 recording options The Choir of Westminster Abbey, led by James O’Donnell:
Here’s a trendy English translation of the poem:
I sing of a maiden
That’s immaculate,
King of all kings
For her son she selected.He got here as nonetheless
The place his mom was
As dew in April
That falls on the grass.He got here as nonetheless
To his mom’s bower
As dew in April
That falls on the flower.He got here as nonetheless
The place his mom lay
As dew in April
That falls on the spray.Mom and maiden
There was by no means, ever one however she;
Nicely could such a girl
God’s mom be.
Recordings
- Bax: I Sing of a Maiden That Is Makeless, James O’Donnell, The Choir of Westminster Abbey Hyperion Records
Featured Picture: Westminster Abbey at nightfall in the course of the Christmas season
