First is Benjamin Britten's setting of This Little Babe, from his "Ceremony of Carols". This poem was written in the 1500s by Robert Southwell, who was a Jesuit missionary and was eventually hanged, drawn, quartered, and beheaded. He was beatified in 1929 and canonized as a martyr in 1970. The full poem is entitled "New Heaven, New War" (read it here.) Britten set it to this amazing melody in 1942. His intense expression matches his music, I think. That and he looks like a broody Gary Sinise. I am also in love with his work Saint Nicholas.
The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Narrative Scenes
probably about 1263-4, Margarito d'Arezzo
Is come to rifle Satan's fold;
All hell doth at his presence quake.
Though he himself for cold do shake,
For in this weak unarmed wise
The gates of hell he will surprise.
With tears he fights and wins the field;
His naked breast stands for a shield;
His battering shots are babish cries,
His arrows look of weeping eyes,
His martial ensigns cold and need,
And feeble flesh his warrior's steed.
His camp is pitched in a stall,
His bulwark but a broken wall,
The crib his trench, hay stalks his stakes,
Of shepherds he his muster makes;
And thus, as sure his foe to wound,
The angels' trumps alarum sound.
My soul, with Christ join thou in fight;
Stick to the tents that he hath pight;
Within his crib is surest ward,
This little babe will be thy guard.
If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy,
Then flit not from this heavenly boy.
Here is a good performance of it (it is often heard by female choirs, so this is a little different). There are many more on youtube.
This song is known for its moderate difficulty (note the 3-part canon, each vocal part just a beat behind the next, with words and spit flying out everywhere to get the intense message across) and its brevity (less than 1:30). I love that Britten chose the original instrument to be a harp and that it's fast and the melody has some pretty difficult jumps....this ain't your Mama's lullaby! Most of all, I love the imagery in this carol....this tiny, innocent soul fresh from God as a little warrior in a feed trough. This newborn that makes hell itself quake just by being....he is described in terms of weaponry and artillery. A MAN's little tiny 8 pound 6 ounce baby Jesus! This picture of war and such a seemingly violent setting builds through the last verses and urges the reader to join in His fight. It almost makes you envision this little boy in his own Sons of Anarchy leather jacket, until you take in that last line....which Britten so brilliantly composed in a firm offset accent of change: If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy, then flit not from this heavenly boy! He takes down His opponents with joy, not violence! Not with joy like "Hey, I'm so happy to stomp a mudhole in you!" But He guards the one who joins Him in the fight with His lavish joy! (Sorry, Mark Driscoll, this is not your kind of ass-kicking Jesus.)
This musical masterpiece feels rough and harsh, filled with these conflicting ideas of war and infant joy....but in its flourish of emotion it is comforting and sweet. And doesn't it dig down to the bare nature of what we celebrate in the nativity? That Love Incarnate brought JOY into the world which would be our greatest weapon against our enemies (not of flesh and blood, but of loss, loneliness, anger, sadness, pride, anxiety, stress, lack of trust....) A deep, powerful, sharp-edged joy....the joy of His surest protection and care....the joy of our salvation!!
