Dan’s Angel Song was given its World Premiere on Sunday, December 21 by the Choir, Chorale and Choristers of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 520 Summit Street in Winston Salem, North Carolina, as part of a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
Angel Song (A Christmas Anthem for SATB Chorus and Organ) was the result of a 2014 commission from John and P.J. Williams in honor of the music program of St. Paul’s Episcopal and its director, Organist/Choirmaster, Dr. John Cummins. This approximately five-minute anthem is a setting of a December 1863 Christmas hymn text by Moncure Daniel Conway (1832-1907) entitled, Now Let the Angel Song Break Forth!
Dan writes, “In Angel Song I have sought to musically capture the vibrancy, pain and timeless reflections found in Rev. Conway’s expressive words.”