by William Bay
The Christmas season has always been special to me. It is a season that has crystalized the hopes, aspirations and faith of millions of people through the centuries. The amount of music written for Christmas is monumental. This book contains 14 scores from my Christmas Guitar Portraits recording. I selected various genres dear to me. First, there are selections from the early American sacred song tradition. The Babe of Bethlehem, Cherry Tree Carol, A Star in the East, The Shepherd's Star, A Virgin Unspotted are all from this rich heritage. I also picked a number of carols from the "Old English" genre. Away In The Manger, Green Grow'th the Holly and What Child is This are included. Then there are the Christmas favorites. In the Bleak Mid-winter and a medley of Baloo, Lammy; The First Noel and Silent Night make any Christmas complete. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is one of my favorite Advent hymns. Gaudete, Christus est natus is a rousing carol dating back many centuries. Finally, I included two originals. Lullay, My Liking is an ancient carol text. Many composers over the centuries have written melodies to these lyrics, most notably Gustav Holst. I could not resist the temptation so the melody here is original. Finally, Christmas Prayer is a new composition. I have always wanted to compose and arrange music designed to bring the plectrum or flatpick guitar to the concert stage. These arrangements were written with that in mind.