WINGATE: THE NATIVITY ORATORIO
for Soloists, Mixed Chorus, Children’s Chorus, Organ & Orchestra

(THIS PROJECT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS)

Text:
The Lucan Infancy Narratives (KJV), specifically: Luke 1: 28-35; Luke 2: 1-20; 22; 24-32; 34-35; 39-40, as well as Psalms 150: 3-6, and texts from the Christmas Matins.

Notes:
Wingate’s Nativity Oratorio is a grand and impassioned setting of the Christmas story from the Lucan infancy narratives, scored for soloists, mixed chorus, children’s chorus, organ, and large orchestra. Using the 1611 King James translation, the oratorio puts these almost-Shakespearean verses into the mouths of its vocal soloists in a series of dignified dramatic settings, while surrounding them with a mantle of orchestral richness and splendor. The story itself is told by a baritone soloist, accompanied by a lush cello ensemble in rapturous recitatives evoking the famous cello moments of Debussy’s La Mer. Interpolated texts from the Christmas matins garland the oratorio with choral episodes, and a children’s choir sings the requisite cherubic lullaby to le divin enfant. The work concludes in extended fits of choral grandeur and rapturous amens adorned with soloistic embellishments.