Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Word Made Flesh was composed as a Christmas anthem. As with the traditional carol genre, this work is strophic in form, albeit using an irregular text and more varied musical stanzas. The keen ear will detect something consistent in each stanza whether it be a melodic or harmonic fragment. In this way the work can be seen as a carol and an anthem. Also similar to the traditional carol is the joy and excitement in places, particularly in rhythm, stemming from the traditional form of the carol genre which was a dance. The organ features in this carol, and varied tone colours can be heard in the complex accompaniment. The organ is at the fore, however, with fanfares, interludes, and even some dialogue with the choir. The text is from the King James translation of the Bible, from Isaiah and John. Like the traditional Biblical readings in the Victorian Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, it traces the Old Testament prophesies of the coming of Christ, the Word; to his Incarnation, the Word made flesh. The text also uses the images of darkness and light: perfect imagery for a candlelight carol service.

Work Details

Year: 2017

Instrumentation: SATB choir, organ.

Duration: 4 min.

Difficulty: Medium — Organ part requires a competent organist.

The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc associated with this work:
Carol, anthem, Christmas, Incarnation