Resonet in laudibus

Resonet in laudibus is a new setting of one of the oldest traditional Christmas carols. The original carol text and melody are known from a 14th-century German Gradual and appear in many variants in both Latin and German, including the well-known “Joseph lieber, Joseph mein.” The composer has chosen to set two of the best known Latin verses.

In the first verse, the sopranos carry the melody, leading the choir in a lively, chorale-like texture with some polyphonic episodes, while the horn weaves its way between the vocal parts both reinforcing and embellishing the choral harmonies. During the first verse, there are some melodic hints at the original Resonet... melody in both the horn and vocal parts. These hints foreshadow the appearance of the full melody in the horn as a cantus firmus in the second verse, first in longer, then in shorter note values, during which time the choir has a written-out repeat.