ALfred Noyes

An Artsong about Christmas, but deffinitely not a Christmas Carol, Michael Head’s “Slumbersong of the Madonna” is an unexpectedly effective portrait of the human side of Mary, a mother tending to her little baby at bedtime. She calls him her baby and her King, and admits not being sure how to handle the balance of both the holy and maternal responsibility for the baby Jesus. The rocking triplets paint a picture of the young mother singing the baby to sleep, while unsettled harmonies reveal her sense of premonition. “Why should my [read more…]