Hodie Christus Natus Est

• Text Source: Latin text                                                
• Vocal Part(s):  Three-part
• Vocal Range: Pt. I, d-a’; Pt. II, d-d’; Pt. III, d-d’
• Key: D minor
• Meter: 2/4
• Accompanying Instruments: Harp (or piano)

Target Age Group: Grades 3-6 (ideal for incorporating Grade 7-9 treble singers to assist the younger singers)

Description: This is an electrifying modal setting of the text Hodie Christus natus est by Parker Ramsay. Composed when Parker was thirteen, Hodie is one three works comprising Gaudeamus: Choral Celebrations for Christmastide for Treble Choir and Harp, winner of the 2006 MTNA National Junior Composition Competition. This anthem is an excellent choice for Christmas Eve. The accompaniment is easily adaptable for piano, and, with some imagination, for organ. The three-part setting is well worth the work, affording the treble choir a substantial learning opportunity and addition to their three-part repertoire.

Anthem Warm-Ups

• bars 1-10: unmetered singing of pitches or intervallic tuning pitches
• whole anthem: rhythmic chanting for exact rhythmic accuracy
• random bars for intervallic tuning

Teaching Points

• Rhythm/Meter: Accurately reading/singing 16th-followed-by-dotted-8th and 8th-followed-by-dotted-16th
• Vocal Production: Sustaining a lovely unified tone on higher pitches (g’-a’) in Treble I part
• Musical Understanding: Performing shaped 4-bar melodic that are accented and syncopated
• Tuning: Singing intervals accurately; tuning three parts
• Music Exploration: Listening to/watching a variety of settings of the text    by composers from different time periods on You Tube or DVD or CD