For SATB Chorus unaccompanied
Words and Music by Craig Carnaham
"I have always been fascinated with the juxtaposition of the grandeur of Christ's birth-choirs of angels and kings bearing regal gifts-set against the humble manger scene in Bethlehem. As contradictory as this may seem, it is also a fitting representation of the reality (and miracle) of that sacred event: the Son of God come down to earth. That is the story I tried to capture in the poetry and the music of this piece. The text draws on the 'human-ness' of the Christ Child and everything He represents, punctuated by the descending scale heard in the angel's recurring motive 'Gloria in excelsis Deo' that represents the physical act of moving from heaven to earth. From that night on, our world could never be the same."-Craig Carnahan